Ultralight backpacking tents have turn out to be more and more common, notably these made with an ultralight materials known as Dyneema DCF. Sadly, they’ve additionally turn out to be very costly, placing the lightest weight tents out of attain of most individuals. However many high-quality ultralight backpacking tents can be found immediately that value far lower than Dyneema ones; they’re nonetheless fairly light-weight and simply as a lot enjoyable to make use of. They’re made with extra standard materials like siliconized polyester, siliconized nylon, or ripstop nylon with a well-established historical past of sturdy use.
If spending an arm and a leg on an ultralight Dyneema DCF tent is out of your attain, listed here are the ten Greatest AFFORDABLE Ultralight Backpacking Tents, each single-wall and double-wall tents, that we suggest.
1. Gossamer Gear “The One”
2. Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo
3. Six Moon Designs Skyscape Trekker
4. REI Flash Air 1
5. Tarptent Protrail
6. 3FUL Lanshan Professional 1
7. Tarptent MoTrail 2
8. Durston X-Mid 1
9. Durston X-Mid 2
10. 3F UL Lanshan 2
SectionHiker is reader-supported. We solely earn cash if you buy a product by way of our affiliate hyperlinks. Assist us proceed to check and write unsponsored and impartial gear critiques, newbie FAQs, and free mountaineering guides.
UL Backpacking Tent Choice Information
The backpacking tent producers who make ultralight tents use a variety of supplies and designs. When searching for a tent, it’s vital to grasp the tradeoffs of the fashions you’re contemplating and the way they will complement your adventures.
Ultralight Tent Supplies and Worth Factors
Trekking poles tents can be found in a wide range of totally different supplies and at totally different worth factors. Dyneema DCF is the lightest weight materials and the most costly, partly as a result of it requires specialised manufacturing processes. Tents made with siliconized polyester (silpoly), siliconized nylon (silylon), and Polyurethane (PU) coated silnylon are a lot cheaper than Dyneema as a result of they are often sewn utilizing standard strategies. These three materials are additionally roughly comparable in worth. It’d be troublesome to say which is the very best to make tents with as a result of cloth high quality varies extensively relying on the producer and specification to which it’s made. That mentioned, ultralight tentmakers are starting to change away from silnylon to silpoly as a result of it has much less stretch when it will get moist than silnylon and absorbs much less water.
- Tents made with Dyneema DCF are very costly, but additionally very light-weight, waterproof, and powerful. They’re extra inclined to wreck from daylight over the long run, however that’s seldom a difficulty for most individuals. Dyneema tents have to be folded when packed not stuffed, however can nonetheless be surprisingly cumbersome regardless of their low weight.
- Tents made with siliconized polyester (silpoly) are a horny different to Dyneema DCF as a result of they don’t stretch a lot in a single day or once they get moist from rain. They’re additionally far cheaper and a few are seam-taped, so you should use them out of the field with none seam sealing.
- Tents made with PU-coated silnylon are typically extra waterproof than common silnylon, however that you must examine their waterproofing specs to make sure. The chief good thing about the PU coating over common silnylon is improved UV resistance and the truth that the fabric could be manufacturing facility seam-taped.
- Tents made with silnylon are nonetheless widespread as a result of it’s a simple materials for producers to work with. Whereas silnylon does stretch at night time and when it will get moist, it’s not as large a deal as folks make it out to be. Silnylon tents have to be manually seam-sealed earlier than they can be utilized in wet climate. Whereas you are able to do this your self, my recommendation could be to pay the producer to do it for you so that you get a tent that’s prepared for use when it arrives.
Single-wall vs Double-wall Tents
Ultralight backpacking tents can be found in single-wall and double-wall fashions, with separate inside tents. Whereas each are prone to inner condensation, the benefit of a double-wall tent is the moisture collects on the underside of the rainfly and never on a wall that has contact together with your sleeping bag, quilt, or different gear. The inside tent and rainfly on many double-wall tents will also be used independently from each other, for instance as a standalone tarp or as a bug bivy, which may lengthen their utility. The benefit of a single-wall tent over a double-wall one is often lowered weight.
If tent condensation ever turns into a difficulty for you, we suggest carrying a small absorbent face towel to wipe it away. Tent condensation is a small worth to pay for lowered gear weight and it received’t kill you except you’re a witch (wizard-0f-Ozreference).
Headroom
Many ultralight backpacking tents pole tents have a pyramid form which may restrict the quantity of headroom and foot room out there below the sloping ceiling. Mendacity in your again and looking at a ceiling that’s three inches out of your face could be unpleasantly claustrophobic. Be sure to look at the size of the tents you’re contemplating, along with their peak heights.
Trekking pole tents that require two poles to arrange often have two peaks, which may improve the quantity of livable area overhead, in comparison with a one-pole tent. Some tent producers additionally cut back the slope of the ceiling to create extra headroom. The perfect instance of that is Tarptent’s use of carbon fiber finish struts to extend the quantity of room below the ceilings on the head and foot ends of their tents. The draw back of those finish struts is that it may make tents tougher to pack horizontally in a backpack.
Vestibules
Vestibules are good for gear storage, particularly moist gear storage, and for cooking below cowl in windy or wet climate. Most one-pole tents have a single vestibule, whereas two-pole tents typically have two. When shopping for a two-person tent, you’ll positively need two doorways and two vestibules so you’ll be able to every have your personal entrance and kit storage space. It will also be fairly helpful to have two doorways and two vestibules on a one-person tent, particularly when you anticipate stormy climate circumstances the place you might need to hunker down in your tent for a day. For that matter, many individuals use two-person tents as solo tents, one thing that’s possible and not using a main weight penalty since most ultralight backpacking tents are fairly light-weight.
Pole Size
Once you select a trekking pole tent, you need to make it possible for it’s appropriate with the make and mannequin of trekking pole you employ you probably have a choice. Mounted-length poles that aren’t adjustable could be troublesome to make use of with trekking pole tents which have very particular top necessities. As well as, you need to make it possible for your trekking pole handles are appropriate if they’ve a non-standard grip.
Test Out All of SectionHiker’s Gear Guides!
SectionHiker is reader-supported. We solely earn cash if you buy a product by way of our affiliate hyperlinks. Assist us proceed to check and write unsponsored and impartial gear critiques, newbie FAQs, and free mountaineering guides.
