What is a good back packing tent 2 person.
We are using a cheaper tent that is heavy and lets some dew soak threw. I would like to stay around $ 250 . We are not long distance hikers 4 or 5 days at a time.
There are a ton of options but I'm personally addicted to Tarp Tents. I use the Rainbow and it' definitely the best tent I've ever owned. It's a single person but could fit 2 in a squeeze (definitely the wife, maybe not a guy friend). They also have the Double Rainbow.
http://www.tarptent.com/double-rainbow.html
Smile, Smile, Smile.... Mile after Mile
Tarptent Stratospire 2. We can sleep with our packs in it, and still have room, plus it has extremely large vestibules on both sides.
lots of room in a zpack duo
Check out the REI dome tents. Good value for the weight
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I love Six Moon Designs tents! a Lunar Duo could be great for you at $160-$310 depending how light you want to be. Also REI Quarter Dome T2, Big Agnes Seedhouse 2 or Pioneer 2, could work and are within your price point.
I'm considering the Marmot Force 1p or 2p. I know they aren't the lightest but the material is heaver than some of the lighter weight options. I'm willing to sacrifice a little weight for durability
YEah, like this one, $299 and 20% off if you are a member, that will get you below $250, great little tent for the money:Originally Posted by Cotton Terry
http://www.rei.com/product/862423/re...tent#tab-specs
If you are bigger than the average hiker, you might consider a 3-person tent. My son and I like the larger tent when we go together for the extra room. Some 2-person tents are not very roomy.
you shouldn't have durability issues with any of the quality manufactures. UL or not.
Smile, Smile, Smile.... Mile after Mile
I used a 6 moons design then upgraded to a lightheart mid trail, both 1 man tents, but I will say i saw a lot of people with the MSR hubba(1 man) and the Hubba Hubba (2 man) tents. These things seemed to hold up well, were relatively light weight and more importantly kept their occupants dry. It seemed to me that if you don't go with a custom tent then both MSR and Big Agnes made pretty good tents that survived the AT.
You should look at the REI Half Dome series and also the MSR Hubba Hubba. We've had the HH for 8 years and it's still going strong.
hubba hubba
Ditto. Lots of so called two person tents are pretty cramped for two and leave very little, if any, room for gear or moving around. Check the specs or better yet, see the tent in person before buying. I'd think about going with a 3 person tent, which are generally only 1/2 lb to 1 lb heavier.
"That's the thing about possum innards - they's just as good the second day." - Jed Clampett
I've read and heard of issues with punctures or tears in the floors and flys of some of the UL tents. I think I read a thread either on here or maybe another forum about people who went from heavier tents to UL tents and are now going back to heavier tents because they weren't happy with the durability or performance of the UL tents in foul weather. While I don't have any personal expierience with UL tents, all my previous tents were bomb proof in foul weather but weighed in at around 5 -6 lbs. I though the Marmot might be a good compromise.
The passage 2 has never let us down, is only $159 before discount, and while its just under 5lbs, we split the weight and only carry 2 1/2 lbs each. A great tent http://www.rei.com/product/810115/rei-passage-2-tent
Doin' the trail one section at a time
You can read about my adventures at http://happyonthetrails.wordpress.com/
Ha! This reminds me of when my son and I were Boy Scout camping. We shared a Coleman 2-person backpacking tent. It was too narrow to sleep shoulder-to-shoulder, so we slept nose-to-toe. PEW!!! Lol!!
I very much like the point Thinspace made about UL tents.
I own some of those heavier weight tents that I use when I take my son's camping with me, and a BA Copper Spur (UL) when I'm camping on my own. It takes me a long time to setup that Copper Spur because I have to spend so much time checking out the ground under the tent site to make sure I don't have things that can poke thru the floor or ground cloth of the tent. I've found there are even certain seeds I've encountered that have sharp points I feel I must remove from under the tent site before setting up one the Copper Spur. But the Kelty tents, check the ground for large sticks, rocks and roots and then go.
As to answering the OPs question, you have to determine what is important to you. Are you looking for light weight (UL) and willing to baby it to protect it? Are you looking for really light weight and will look into tarps or tent/tarp crossovers? Do you like to have extra space or are you just looking for enough space for the people?
At the end of the day, you simply have to look at tent specifications, check out a few tents in person, and see what best fits your needs.
So you've already heard the good/bad of UL vs Heavy Weight.
Another thing to consider is that EVERY tent specification you will find seems to be quoting the foot print of the tent... NOT the usable space inside the tent. As an example, I read the specs on a tent that said it was 66" wide. I thought, that's perfect, enough room for my 25" pad, my son's two 20" pads, and still have 1" left over. WRONG. When I found one set up in a store, I tried to fit three 20" pads inside the tent and it was IMPOSSIBLE... even alternating the direction of mummy shaped pads. So when ever you see the dimensions of a tent, remember that that is just the foot print. You have to subtract about 3"-4" off each side (i.e. 6"-8" off quoted dimension) to get usable space.
Don't bother listening to a tent calling itself a 2P, 3P, etc... other than to know that in the same model line, the 3P is bigger than the 2P. You've got to look at the dimensions (and remember the rule above about footprint). You will find that some 2P tents are actually big enought for 2P and some gear, and that other 2P tents barly have enough room for 2P using the smallest of possible sleeping pads.
The other issue is that you JUST missed the season on clearance of last year's tents. If you watch carefully, you can usually find a great deal sometime between Christmas and Easter. But most of those deals are drying up quick.
The one exception I can suggest if you like "Bomb Proof" over UL and extra room over saving a few ounces, check out the Kelty Gunnison 2.2 at Sierra Trading Post. They have this tent on sale for $175... and you can constantly find online coupons for them... sometimes as good as 35% additional off with free shipping. But even if you can't get that good of a deal, it's still a good deal on this tent. My 1st tent was the Kelty Vortex... the predecessor to the Gunnison. I've not owned the Gunnison 2.2 but I do have a Gunnison 3.1 that I picked up at the killer price of like $135 a few years ago watching for those Christmas to Easter deals. I find the Gunisson 3.1 to have plently of space for my 25" sleeping pad, my son's two 20" sleeping pads, and enough length to include enough room for gear (like clothing bags... not your entire backpack).
Hubba Hubba, we're on our third one, the NX model and have used them in every possible condition save arctic cold. I cracked a pole on our latest AT adventure (my fault) and they over nighted a replacement to the NOC in Gatlinburg no questions asked. I'm a believer.
"every day's a holiday, every meal a feast"
ERW3599C is valid through tomorrow at midnight and knocks 35% off $125 with free shipping over $100. It would bring the Gunnison to $114.37 plus tax.
Alternatively, SFBWD4115 is good for 40%. To get free shipping, order through the Android or iOS app and your total (after coupon) needs to be over $150.
In addition to the Gunnison, consider the Alps Zenith 3. Just over 5 lb's with very comfortable room for 2 and separate entrances. It's about $10 cheaper than the Gunnison after coupon.
Alps Mountaineering Zenith 3 AL
Last edited by CalebJ; 04-01-2015 at 20:55.
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