What Backpacking Tent Is The Best To Buy?!

Hopefully, you’ve got some kind of better level of education and understanding that might help. You know how to choose the right tent for the backpacking trips, the backpacking style, that you primarily focus on and all of that so here on the table, I have got several different options and I really wanted to go outside and set up all of these tents And share them with you, but i’ve got, I don’t know eight different tents here and that would be very time consuming.

So we’re not going to do that. Rather i’m going to roll in some b-roll shots of different styles of tents. That will help illustrate the point of what i’m trying to accomplish today. The whole point of this article is to help you understand that there is not one tent, that rules them all and is the perfect answer for all of the backpacking that you’re going to be doing. If you are somebody that is very infrequent in your backpacking, you can get away with one tent.

That typically, would be a freestanding tent or a semi-free standing tent. We’ll talk about that a little bit more as we go, but usually people that go out a little bit more infrequent one or two times a year are going in the summer months, fair weather, just really simple types of conditions and predictable conditions that don’t warrant having To save a ton of weight and need all these fancy things or get really complicated with the type of product that you’re going to be using.

So we’re going to start with a freestanding tent to talk about all of the different conditions and then we’re going to move through everything down to more of a minimalist, simple style of shelter. Now, some of the things that I want to talk about, because there are a lot of aspects that go into all of the variables when it comes to choosing the right tent for backpacking. And what I mean by that is your location, the weather, that you will be experiencing the environment that you are in and the season is all going to contribute to making a decision on.

Is this the right shelter for what i’m doing now, a freestanding tent? Isn’t necessarily always the best option and a tarp is also not always the best option, nor is a floorless tp style shelter for every situation. So what you need to ask yourself when you are getting ready for a backpacking trip is what is my location? What season am I going in and what weather conditions am I going to experience while i’m out, and then you want to select your shelter that fits the check boxes of all of those things that you are going to be experiencing for the particular trip that you Are going on so, let’s move to talking about freestanding tents, then semi freestanding tents, non-freestanding, tents, tarp, style, shelters and then more of your specialty type of shelters like a freestanding four season tent and then into like floorless, teepee style, shelters.

So freestanding tents. Why would you choose a freestanding tent? Well, usually, they are very basic, very simple. To set up. They have a really simple pull structure that gives the tent the shape that it needs to stand up on its own doesn’t always require you to stake it out. So if you are in a place that is very rocky, like uh on a shore of a river or like on the edge of a river where you might have like stream, bed and stuff or if you are on slick rock in the desert.

These are great options and the other cool thing about this is there. You can find really budget friendly types of shelters, for example the perea bryce one person. This weighs about four pounds in total weight and it’s fairly compact, but you do have like a full rain fly coverage. You’ve got a full internet body with a bathtub floor, and this will run you under 200, in fact under 150. I believe for this particular tent.

So very budget friendly easy to get into and if it’s your first time backpacking this makes the most sense. There are other like variables and things to consider as what you are trying to accomplish with your backpacking. But if you’re a weekend warrior type person, then the just full freestanding dome style tent is going to be a really great option for you and your backpacking moving on to a semi-freestanding tent.

This is something that is becoming kind of its own niche in the tent market of the outdoor industry, and what this is is, yes, it has a pole structure. This particular tent is the sierra designs, sweet, sweet. Two now usually, you’ve got two ends of the tent that are set up with the pole structure and then you’ve got some kind of center pole that comes down and the other two corners of the tent require stakes to pull it out to tension, the tent and To create all the space or livable space within the inside of the inner tent, so it does require some kind of stake inserting into the ground to get the full pitch and structure of the shelter the benefit of a semi-free standing is it will handle like wind And everything really well it’ll handle weather very well.

This has a full coverage. Rainfly inner tent bathtub floor, just like you have with your full freestanding tent, but this saves a bunch of weight. You’ve got less pull structure to add weight to the tent and they are just a little bit more minimalist, but they give you a lot of the benefits of having that full structure. So other options that are similar to this are like the nemo hornet or the big agnes tiger wall ul.

Those are all semi-freestanding tents. Once you’ve moved from semi-freestanding, you are going into non-freestanding shelters, now notice the size difference of the shelter of this one-person tent versus this one-person tent a lot. A lot of difference in the in the size of the tent, so yeah already you’re, going to be saving a bunch of weight with this option. But the thing about this is now you’re.

Getting into more of the scenarios of. I can take this and use this anywhere as a freestanding shelter to. I need to be a little bit more picky about where i’m taking this shelter for the environment or the area that i’m going to be backpacking. If you are in a very sandy location, then you’ve got to change some things up to make pitching a non-freestanding tent a lot easier and more effective. So this style of tent is going to use some kind of pull structure.

That absolutely requires you to stake. The tent out to pitch the tent like this sierra designs tint. This does come with pre-cut aluminum poles that are made for the tent, but it’s still non-freestanding, because I have to stake it out for it to stand up on its own. The other thing that’s cool about this – is you – can save even more weight with most of your non-freestanding tents, by using a trekking pole, using a trekking pole to pitch the tent, and so you’ve got this, which you’re probably going to carry with you anyway, as you’re Hiking and then you’re not carrying all of that extra weight of the aluminum poles.

You can take your trucking pole, use that to pitch your tent. That way, so a lot of benefits to this, but they sometimes are not as like stormworthy as a freestanding tent or a semi-freestanding tent or a tp style shelter. So you have to be careful with these, because you don’t want to get something that doesn’t match the conditions in the environment in the situations that you would be finding yourself in, because then you’re ending up with a tent, that’s constantly falling down on you, it’s impossible To get a good tight pitch and when it comes to weather, a good tight pitch on your tent is critical to a good experience, keeping yourself protected from rain coming in wind blowing rain in all of those kinds of things that you might be experiencing.

So, moving on to even more simplistic is a full on tarp tent. Now this is different than using say a flat tarp. That is like a eight foot by ten foot tarp, because this does have like a full design to it. It’s got structure that requires you to stake it out in specific spots, and it’s got like a shape to it. It’s not something that has the ability to pitch this in a lean to, or an a-frame or a diamond, or around trees.

That kind of thing this does require you to use trekking poles to pitch the tent, but the biggest benefit to this is. I can compress this really tiny, so I don’t have any kind of pull structure in here and it’s very lightweight. The inner tent and the body of this tent is just over a pound, very, very lightweight, versus the almost well over four pounds total with the footprint that you get on this one person tent.

So one person tent also one person tent one person tent, there’s a huge weight difference between this one with the poles, as well as this one that doesn’t have the poles, and so this is a great option for somebody. That’s looking to save a ton of weight in their backpacking system. This happens to be the sierra designs, high route 1 and really really cool option. I can make this even more modular, because often times with these tarp style, tents, you’ve got an inner tent.

That is totally removable, so, like the original og lan lanshan, one that is very cheap on amazon, you can run that as a tarp only outer tent uh. That then makes it floorless you’ve also got uh like tarp tent, for example, the brand. They have a lot of different options of these style of tents that save a bunch of weight. But once you start getting into this realm of non-freestanding tents, you’re starting to spend a lot more money, so keep that in mind, because these are not always the most cost effective type of product for you to get.

Now. I want to talk about going from a tarp style tint to something that is just totally minimalistic, and that is your full on tarp shelters. So if you’ve got a eight foot by ten foot, flat tarp, which you can get these for pretty much like any outdoor company has got some kind of tarp. So this is perea outdoor products. This is the sanctuary siltarp. This is very lightweight you’re, going to use a trekking pole to set this up, and the best thing about using a tarp is.

This is more so of like i’m with the mindset of. I only need the absolute bare minimum for what i’m going to be doing, and i’ve got other ways to protect myself from the elements, and I know how to pitch this in different ways that make it a little bit more stormworthy for what type of weather and Elements that I might be experiencing for, where i’m going to be so, yes, a lot smaller in size and weight.

This weighs about, I don’t know 12 ounces total as a sil nylon tarp. The thing about it is that you’ve got to understand how a tarp pitches and they’re a little bit more finicky. They take more time to set up and they’re just a little bit more work than just setting up a full freestanding, tent or a even a non-freestanding tent. So they are an amazing option if you are in places that pretty mild situations or you’re.

Looking for a little bit of extra coverage over some kind of area that you’re in uh wind protection, sun protection – or you are just looking to save a bunch of weight and you’re not having to deal with bugs and you’re, not worried about being more part of. What’s around you, then a tarp is a really really solid option and that’s what I like about this particular tent, the a-gate from marmot, because this is what I would call a modified tarp, which means that it does pitch in one type of way.

And it’s got specific cuts to it. It’s got a certain design to it. That is pretty similar to this option here, but it uh it doesn’t have an inner tent with it. So if I want any kind of bug protection, i’ve got to sleep with a bug net over my head or some kind of other bug netting to go around me to get bug protection. So, yes, it is pretty much in the category of a tarp tent, but it doesn’t have an inner tent with it.

But this is also incredibly lightweight. It weighs one pound and like half an ounce, total, so very, very light white and it’s super easy to set up really really cool product, and so this is a great option, then you’re moving into more of your floorless and specialty type of products. So let’s talk about a floorless, tp style, shelter. Now tp tents go back to just very basic design. You’ve got a center pole that sometimes pitches with a trekking pole or you’ve got a longer pole.

That’s included with the tent teepee style. Tint is exactly what it sounds like: it is: a conical shaped shelter that is really going to provide amazing weather protection. I have loved like this is the lux hex peak and i’ve loved this shelter for the times that i’ve been out in heavy wind, heavy rain. Even in the snow like this thing just handles the weather incredibly well, but you have to again use some kind of inner tent that you can purchase separately and the cool thing about this is.

I can use this for when I absolutely need it to either increase the the warmth inside of the tent or for bug protection, or I can run the tp without the inner tent and use a footprint underneath me, and that is going to be the way that I keep my stuff, my gear protected, my sleeping pad and everything from popping potentially then you’re moving into four season style, tents. This is the black diamond highlight.

Basically, this is a single wall, shelter that has limited ventilation. It is designed to handle pretty extreme conditions, and so i’m not going to spend a lot of time on this. But four season. Tents are pretty specialty and they’re cool products, but they’re not always the lightest weight they’re, sometimes a little more bulky, but they work for just those extreme cold weather conditions that you’d experience or like heavy uh weather.

That is to kind of be a pain to be in now. The last specialty type of product that is going to pair in some way with a tarp or be a standalone item is some kind of bivvy. This is the enlightened equipment, recon bivvy. This is more or less a bug, shelter that has a bathtub floor to it. That is waterproof, and so I would need to have a tarp over top of me to make this as ideal as possible for the weather and things that you might experience with it.

But there are bivvy systems that are fully waterproof, and I mean that’s what the idea is you bivvy you set up something in a really like tight location, small location. All it is, is your sleeping bag sliding into a sleeve with your pad underneath you, and that is your weather protection, but this is really really tiny. It’s like six or seven ounces in total weight, and so, when you add the two together, if it is a beautiful night, but i’ve got a lot of mosquitoes and i’m okay feeling a little bit more claustrophobic, then this is an amazing option.

But it’s not everybody’s cup of tea, so i’m not going to spend a lot of time on it, but there’s a there’s a lot of options here, guys a lot of things to consider, and so again it goes back to what kind of conditions are you going To be experiencing, where are you going what’s the weather going to be like, and what do you want to have your shelter accomplish for you, while you’re out in the backcountry? Do I want space for me as a single person to have a lot of room in my tent to move around and be okay with carrying a little bit much more a little bit more uh weight in my backpack, then this is kind of the option that I would choose that way.

Am I looking to go super simplistic, very easy, and I just want something: that’s very lightweight and i’m not going to have crazy weather conditions. Then this full non-freestanding, tarp style tent, is going to be a good option. I mean it could go on and on and on and on i. I hope that that gives you some kind of better understanding of the different styles of shelters, what they’re good for and how you might choose something that makes most sense for you and the style of backpacking.

That you’ll be doing. I really appreciate you guys reading today. If you have questions or things that you want to add to the conversation drop it down in the comments section, I would love to have that conversation with you guys. I appreciate you reading, like I said, hope you have an awesome week. If you’re not subscribed to the blog, please do subscribe. I would love to have you as a dedicated viewer, but yes, guys have an awesome week, we’ll catch you on the next article.

See you later, you

I know that I keep mentioning Spunks, but I like these pumpkin seeds and you should try them too! They are just great for camping and other fun activities. The video below is a little bit of a look into the shop that makes Spunks.