One individual, solo backpacking tents are very best should you’re thru-hiking, fast-packing, or backpacking massive miles and need to trim your gear weight as little as attainable. Extra livable than bivy sacks, one-person tents are designed for sleeping and dangerous climate safety. Whereas some solo tents are extra plush and spacious than others, you virtually at all times have to decide on between competing priorities, together with weight, ease of use, sturdiness, and price, when choosing one. This could make it powerful to decide on between tents, particularly since few shops have show fashions anymore.
Taking these totally different priorities into consideration, listed here are our picks for the perfect one-person backpacking tents.
1. Zpacks Pivot Solo Tent
The Zpacks Pivot Solo 1P is a single-person, ultralight backpacking tent made with Dyneema DCF that weighs 13.5 oz. It has a spacious inside in comparison with Zpack’s different pyramid-style single-person tents, with loads of room above your head as a result of its peak is on the finish and never within the center. It requires two trekking poles for setup and is surprisingly wind-resistant when staked out. Learn the SectionHiker Zpacks Povot Solo Evaluation.
2. Durston X-Mid Professional 1
The Durston X-Mid Professional 1 is a single-wall trekking pole tent made with ultralight Dyneema DCF. This can be very straightforward to arrange and requires 2 trekking poles. It has a really spacious inside with a 32″ broad bathtub ground and is lengthy sufficient to accommodate hikers as much as 6’8″ in top. Quite a few refinements make it fairly livable, together with twin doorways and vestibules, peak vents, and magnetic door toggles. The X-Mid Professional 1 is sort of storm-worthy and contains additional guy-out factors for excessive situations. Learn the SectionHiker X-Mid Professional 1 Evaluation.
3. Hyperlite Mountain Gear X-Mid 1
The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Mid-1 Tent is an ultralight single-wall Dyneema DCF tent that weighs 16 oz. It has a pyramid form with steep partitions and a really lengthy bathtub ground, making it very best for tall backpackers or these searching for extra inside area. The ground is floating and hooked up to the tent partitions with no-see-um mesh to boost airflow. The tent requires 1 trekking pole to pitch. Learn the SectionHiker Hyperlite Mid-1 Tent Evaluation.
4. Large Agnes Copper Spur UL1
The Large Agnes Copper Spur UL1 is a spacious, freestanding double-wall tent that’s straightforward to arrange and has a path weight of simply 32 oz. With a “porchable” facet door, a excessive vent, and two-way door zips, the Copper Spur affords loads of choices to vent extra moisture, improve airflow, and scale back inside condensation. The facet door makes getting out and in straightforward, and the big entrance vestibule allows you to retailer gear with out blocking entry. A ceiling pocket, media pockets, and inside cling factors assist maintain your gear organized and tucked out of the best way. A longtime backpacker favourite, the well-appointed Copper Spur strikes a superb stability between luxurious and low weight.
5. NEMO Hornet OSMO Ultralight 1P
The NEMO Hornet OSMO Ultralight 1P is a 29 ouncesultralight semi-free-standing double-wall tent made with a nylon/polyester rain fly that received’t sag within the rain. It has a single-side door with plenty of mesh for air flow and to assist stop the switch of inside condensation. The facet vestibule over the door offers ample gear storage with out obstructing entry or exit. However the factor that units his tent other than others is the poles, which, when collapsed, are solely 12.5″ lengthy, making it attainable to pack horizontally in virtually any backpack! An excellent lighter-weight however dearer model is on the market: the NEMO Hornet Elite OSMO 1P, which weighs solely 23 oz.
6. Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo
The Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo is an ultralight type, single-wall tent that’s pitched with a single trekking pole. Weighing 26 ounces, the Lunar Solo has a tub type ground to stop flooding within the rain and a facet door, making entry straightforward. The inside is sort of roomy, with a hexagon-shaped ground, offering room to retailer your gear within the tent, and loads of headroom to take a seat up inside. A big vestibule additionally offers gear storage. The Lunar Solo higher is made with a 20d silicone-coated polyester, lowering cloth stretch and packed quantity, whereas the ground makes use of a sturdy 40D cloth. Learn the SectionHiker Lunar Solo Evaluation.
7. MSR Hubba Hubba LT 1 Tent
The MSR Hubba Hubba LT 1 is straightforward to arrange and well-ventilated. Freestanding, the pole configuration creates an inside area with near-vertical partitions and an oblong ground plan, enabling using a large 25″ sleeping pad. Along with the entrance vestibule, there may be an inside gear loft and clothesline for drying your moist socks. With a path weight of two kilos and 6 ounces, the Hubba Hubba LT 1 is a bombproof shelter that’s nonetheless light-weight sufficient for one individual. Learn the SectionHiker Hubba Hubba LT 1 Evaluation.
8. Tarptent Rainbow
The Tarptent Rainbow is without doubt one of the few ultralight tents obtainable immediately that doesn’t require trekking poles to pitch. As a substitute, it comes with two poles, a protracted central one and a brief forehead pole that create a big inside residing area that may match a 25″ sleeping pad with ease and create two full-size vestibules that present ample gear space for storing. The Rainbow is straightforward to arrange as a result of the fly and ground are totally built-in, and the inside will keep dry even when that you must pitch it within the rain. It’s made with 20D silicone-coated polyester with a 30D silnylon 66 ground for wonderful energy and sturdiness, even in very heavy rain. Learn the SectionHiker Double Rainbow and Rainbow Li Opinions.
9. Durston X-Dome 1+
The Durston X-Dome 1+ is a spacious double-wall freestanding tent. At simply 35 oz (985 g), the X-Dome 1+ units up fly first and has a diagonal ground plan, offering extra coated vestibule area and an extended inside than comparable dome-style tents. The tent is made with 15d excessive tenacity polyester, so the fly doesn’t stretch when moist. The fly will also be pitched by itself, lowering the carry weight to 24 oz. Learn the SectionHiker X-Dome 1+ Evaluation.
10. Tarptent Notch Li
The Tarptent Notch Li is a one-person, double-wall tent with two vestibules and two doorways that weighs 21.4 oz. It’s a wind and weather-worthy shelter made with Dyneema DCF. Inside livability is great, with loads of headroom, area for a large 25″ sleeping pad, and enormous vestibule areas for gear storage, cooking within the rain, or a canine companion. Peak and finish vents assist preserve air flow even in crappy climate. The interior tent could be arrange by itself with trekking poles in dry climate, and a strong interior tent can be obtainable to increase the tent’s vary in colder winter climate. Learn the SectionHiker Notch Li Evaluation.
Tent Choice Standards
Listed here are an important variables to think about when shopping for a backpacking or tenting tent.
WEIGHT/TRAIL WEIGHT – The full weight of a tent normally measures the tent and all of its packaging, whereas the path weight is the load of its poles, interior tent, outer rain fly, minus any tent stakes. Why the distinction? Most individuals substitute the tent stakes that include a tent with lighter-weight or stronger ones and go away all the additional stuff sacks and packaging at dwelling reasonably than carry it.
TYPE – Trekking pole tents require trekking poles for setup. Freestanding and semi-freestanding tents include shelter-specific tent poles. Freestanding tents could be arrange with out being staked out and are fascinating as a result of you possibly can pitch them wherever, together with on rock ledges, sand, or snow. In distinction, semi-freestanding tents have to be staked down, which limits the locations you should utilize them.
DIMENSIONS – When choosing a tent, contemplate how a lot width, size, and top (headroom) you want. Do you utilize a large sleeping pad? How tall are you? Do you need to carry your gear contained in the tent at evening, or are you happy with storing it beneath a vestibule? Would you like to have the ability to sit up within the tent or change your clothes? These are all components to think about. When evaluating tent dimensions, notably if it’s a double-wall tent, be sure you perceive whether or not the acknowledged dimensions measure the width and size of the inside, not the width and size of the rain fly, which is commonly a lot bigger and may give the phantasm of spaciousness.
TENT POLES – Tent poles are made utilizing fiberglass, aluminum, or carbon fiber. Aluminum is probably the most sturdy of the three, whereas carbon fiber is often used solely in very high-end tents the place the main target is on low weight. Fiberglass poles are the least sturdy tent poles and break ceaselessly. A lot so, that we advocate avoiding any tent with fiberglass poles. All those above have aluminum poles or use trekking poles. Most producers who promote trekking pole tents supply common tent poles as an add-on buy.
DURABILITY – The ground of a tent is the a part of a tent almost definitely to be punctured or torn because of floor abrasion. Whereas utilizing a footprint on flooring which can be 20 denier thick or much less is at all times advisable, it’s far much less obligatory on 30 denier or larger flooring, besides on extremely abrasive or tough terrain.
DOORS – Tents with two facet doorways are sometimes preferable when buying a tent for 2 as a result of every occupant can get out and in with out disturbing the opposite.
INTERIOR STORAGE – Inside pockets and storage group is a plus in a multi-person tent. Search for inside pockets and equipment loops to hold gear from the ceiling. A gear loft is an added bonus. Vestibule area is at all times a plus, particularly if there are a number of doorways, in order that gear storage doesn’t block entry and exit.
VENTILATION – All tents expertise tent condensation, however good tent website choice and air flow are the perfect methods to keep away from it. Search for tents with plenty of mesh netting to enhance airflow, prime vents to launch moist air, and door tie-backs to roll up tent doorways and maintain them open at evening.
SectionHiker by no means accepts fee for gear opinions or editorial protection. If you purchase by means of affiliate hyperlinks on our website, we might earn a small fee at no additional value to you. Assist us proceed to check and write unsponsored and unbiased gear opinions, mountaineering and backpacking FAQs, and free mountaineering guides.
