Best lightweight camping tent

[HankIV]

I should have added that I don’t use hiking poles either, so the weight savings from dual use aren’t there for me.

[nsherry61]

I too use a 2 person CF tarp 75% of the time. I'm not a fanatic about any of my hiking gear and switch shelters, sleeping bags, packs, stoves, etc. based on my hike.

10-K you are a sage. I think this sums it up quite nicely.

There are many effective solutions to most of our backpacking needs. There is no one best solution as was requested by the OP.

Those of us with the luxury of having done this a while and accumulated a lot of various types of gear for various situations can pick what we want for each experience. My partly flippant and partly earnest point in the previous posts in this thread is that many people jump to the idea that a tent is needed. And, until one has experimented with a tarp and/or seen good examples of tarps being used, it seems that many in our community often jump to the idea (which I suggest is false) of a tent nearly always being the optimal solution.

That's all. I don't think everyone should use a tarp, and I don't always. BUT, to me the default question should NOT be what tent to buy, but what shelters would be optimal and why. AND, I would like to see our community continue to question the built in assumptions we all make when asking and answering questions in these forums.

Mostly, I want to see us get outside and keep having fun regardless of our flawed ideas.

[Franco]

I just noticed that the last one to post in the tarp users sub forum was me , about 10 months ago.

[10-K]

I just noticed that the last one to post in the tarp users sub forum was me , about 10 months ago.

Nature of the beast. I haven't been active here in years and it's like I never left. There's only so much to talk about.

[HooKooDooKu]

So does a bug net. . . albeit, I admit, in the worst bug situations, I won't wine about using a tent. . . just the other 85% of the time.

While not universally true, those using a tarp are often doing so to save weight. Adding a bug net is counter to that goal.

Now if you were only referencing the light-weight head cover... well that still keeps your arms and legs exposed.

Yea, there's tarps with bug liners... but I see such devices as being closer to a modified light weight tent than a true tarp.

[nsherry61]

While not universally true, those using a tarp are often doing so to save weight. Adding a bug net is counter to that goal.

Now if you were only referencing the light-weight head cover... well that still keeps your arms and legs exposed.
Yea, there's tarps with bug liners... but I see such devices as being closer to a modified light weight tent than a true tarp.

I actually use tarps primarily because I prefer the openness of them where I feel more a part of the world around me instead of isolated from it.
Second, I use tarps because they are exceptionally simple and light weight compared to a tent. And, simplicity is an important aesthetic for me in the backcountry.

I'll agree with you about a mesh tent practically being a tent. But, as a whole, even with a mesh tent, a tarp system is generally still a bit lighter than a tent and still a bit more open instead of being a "sealed box".

As for what bug nets I use? It varies completely. I use all you listed, plus just a loose piece of bug netting thrown over your head area at night also works. BUT, most of the time bug nets just aren't needed. So, even if I have a bug net with me, I generally don't use it, so I get the more open aesthetic of the tarp without the netting unless the netting is needed.

And finally, to be completely candid, I really like attention I get from people that think tents are necessary or even important while I'm sleeping out under the starts or under a tarp being completely comfortable, with room to move even in foul weather.