Backpacking Tents – My Journey

There are too many backpacking tents on the market to even count. In this article I’m going to tell you about some of the tent selections I have made over the years and what I’m using today. Similar to my experience with backpacking stoves, in some ways I’ve come nearly full circle…

When I first started backpacking in the late 60’s, we packed cheap and light. We almost always just slept on a tarp under the stars and packed a tube tent just in case. The tube tent is basically just a tube of plastic that you set up using a line tied between two trees or hiking poles. This system works in a pinch but the material is more fragile than I was comfortable with. It is also pretty difficult to keep the rain out if wind is blowing, etc. So, this system did not last long.

My first step up, shelter wise, was to a small, single wall, pup tent. They no longer make the style that I used, but the Wenzel tent, shown on the left, is very similar. I have used this small lightweight tent in the past and found it adequate. It is quite small though, and for me it was just to cramped to be comfortable with. Also, in real weather you need to close up all the doors and windows and it can get a bit stuffy and damp inside.

Now is probably as good a time as any to talk about some of the things you need to consider before you go out and buy a tent. First, you need to decide if you are backpacking to camp or are you camping to backpack. By that I mean, where do you want to be more comfortable? In camp or on the trail? If you are going on relatively short backpacks and spending a lot of time in camp then you probably want to sacrifice some trail comfort and get a tent that is a little larger and probably a little heavier. If you’re spending most of your time on the trail and only camping because you get tired and it gets dark, then you probably want to sacrifice some camp comfort and get a tent that is as light as you can get.

The somewhat heavier, camp comfort oriented tents, like the one shown on the right, tend to be free standing with bathtub floors, roomy, with double walls (mesh inside waterproof fly outside). This style of tent can be set up almost anywhere, most are very weather tolerant, and they are easy to set up. The down side, like I said, is that they tend to be heavier than other alternatives. We’ll give some examples shortly.

Lighter, trail oriented tents, like the one shown on the left, tend to be smaller, and not free standing. A tent that is not free standing needs to be staked out which, unlike the free standing type, means that it is very difficult or impossible to set them up if the ground is too rocky.

If you are really focused on putting in the miles and willing to make more significant sacrifices in camp comfort, then single wall, floorless tents, like the Appy Trails Mark III, shown on the right, are the way to go! This style tent is generally significantly lighter than the other varieties. Of course, this weight savings comes with a price. Being not free standing, and floorless, one has to be much more careful about planning where to camp. Most ultralight backpackers try to plan their camps for lower elevations in areas with some weather protections, and, of course, where the ground isn’t wet. Another consideration is bugs… Many of the ultralight tents do not have bug screens so you may have to bring your own or rely on repellent.

Another thing to consider is what type of weather conditions do you anticipate? If you are going to be snowshoe backpacking, or you want to camp near the top of high mountain passes or peaks, then you may need to make the weight sacrifice and get a four season tent.

If you are backpacking in the summer, and are willing to plan your campsites for lower elevation, more protected environments, then you can probably make due with some of the lighter alternatives.

So, those are some things to think about… If you’re like me, then eventually you will have one tent for snowshoe backpacking, one for short, camping oriented backpacks, and one for fast and light backpacks… and maybe a few more collected along the way.

As young parents, involved in Boy Scouts, we were often adult leaders on the Scout backpacks. For the most part, these backpacks were short and very camp oriented. We seldom went much more than 5 miles, so carrying a little (to me more accurate… a lot) more weight was worth the comfort in camp. The Timberline tent by Eureka, shown on the right, was our first double walled, free standing, backpacking tent. At over 6 lbs, this is definitely a “camp oriented” tent. While the timberline was a great tent, there were a couple things that made me look for alternatives after a few years. First, this particular model is a strict A-Frame style tent meaning that the walls get very narrow in a hurry. This makes it pretty much impossible for two people to sit up or kneel in the tent at the same time. The other issue, is that for all its weight, this tent is still not a 4 season tent. So, when we started going snowshoe backpacking we needed to shop for an alternative.

The first four season tent we got was very similar (except the color) to the Eureka Alpenlite 2XT tent shown on the left. It is similar to the Timberline except that it has an additional hoop in the middle, some additional tie-outs, and a built in vestibule (which mine did not have). The hoop in the middle helped spread the walls of the tent, making it a lot more roomy inside. It was large enough for myself and another scout leader to get in and change out of our snow gear.

The extra room and sturdiness of the Alpenlite come at the cost of added weight. This tent weighs in at a hefty 8+ lbs. That’s heavy, but not out of line with other 4 season tents. One of the really great features of this tent, in my opinion, is that setting up the frame does not require stringing poles through sleeves. Instead, the frame sets up without the tent at all, and then the inside part of the tent clips to the frame. I personally found this to be a lot easier to do when cold and with gloves on.

We still have the version of this tent that we bought probably 2o year ago and use it from time to time for car camps.

After a couple years of lugging the Alpinelite on snowshoe backpacks, I decided to give an alternative a try. The Black Diamond Megamid is a large, single wall, floorless tent that is shaped something like a circus tent, similar to the Mega Light shown to the right. It has a single pole in the middle. My wife and I have taken this tent on snowshoe backpacks in the past and it has survived some pretty significant weather. Once, it was snowing so hard that I had to get up and dig us out because the snow was stacked over a foot on the sides, blocking our fresh air. On another occasion, I made the unfortunate decision to not bother packing the snow down completely level. Later that night, as the wind howled around the tent, I kept slipping out from under the bottom of the tent because my groundcloth was slick and it was sliding down hill even though the slope was barely noticeable. For me it was extremely frustrating but my wife almost split a gut laughing so hard.

At just over 3 lbs, this tent became my 1st choice for snowshoe backpacking. When properly staked out, (and snow leveled), it has withstood some pretty severe weather for us. The Mega Light, shown here is a bit lighter at about 2 lbs. This tent is HUGE inside with room to sleep 4 or 2 along with all their gear and room to spare. For summer camping the downside is that it does not come with a floor or bug screen. You can buy one separately but that adds more weight and expense.

The next step in my journey was to get a 3 season, free standing, double wall tent with more room to move about. I wanted the room, and bug protection that the Alpenlite afforded, but without so much weight. While the tent I actually ended up with is no longer made, the Marmot Aura 2, shown to the left, has many similar characteristics and is highly rated by users. This two person, double walled tent has lots of room inside, and is about 3 lbs lighter than the Alpenlite! The Marmot Aura 2 tent shown here has some really awesome features that mine did not. One of the coolest features is that with an optional “footprint”, the fly, poles, and footprint can be set up stand-alone with no tent body for a really light weight option! If you’re looking for a backpacking tent for two people, in the “camp comfort” style, this tent or one of the many modern tents like it would be awesome! With everything the Aura weighs about 5 lbs. The tent I have weighs about a pound and a half more.

As time went on, I found myself more an more frequently going solo. Either I was actually backpacking by myself, or I was with a group but not sharing a tent. When sharing a tent, we usually split the weight also. However, when going it alone, I had to carry the whole tent and all its pieces even though I did not need all that room. So, at some point I decided it was time to lighten up a bit more. I wanted enough room to sit up, change my clothes, and keep my gear protected, but a full size 2 person tent was way more than I needed, What I decided to go with was a tent very similar to the Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight shown to the right. This tent is smaller than the Aura or the Apenlite, but there’s enough room for two cramped, or one comfortably with gear. It has a good sized vestibule area outside the door to keep your boots and cooking gear dry and is designed to make it easy to sit up but minimizing unneeded “head” room at the foot of the tent.

Not only was this tent lighter by over 2 pounds (about 4 pounds total), but it is much more compact and easy to carry if you’re going it alone.

Several years ago, I got interested in ultralight backpacking. Ultralight backpacking is not just about cutting the handle off your toothbrush to make it lighter, it’s about making gear and hiking style choices that work together to substantially reduce the weight of your pack. One of those decisions is to go bare bones on the shelter. Back when I decided to go this route, there were very few ultralight tent (other than in name only) commercial choices. So, I decided to learn how to sew and make my own. The tent you see on the left was made according to instructions found at the thru-hiker.com website. They also sell kits. I made a few modifications of my own but learned the basics from this site.

Later, I designed and built a fancier version with some surface tension optimization thrown into the design. The picture on the right shows the results. I call this my Taut Tarp Tent. Both of the tents I made are floorless but they have bug netting that goes to the ground. I’ve taken the blue one out in the Hoh Rain Forest for a several day backpack where it rained every day and it worked great!.

Since the time when I made my tarp tents, a lot of commercial options have become available. For example, take a look at the Appy Trails Mark III shown at the beginning of this article. Another one that really looks interesting to me is the MSR Twin Sisters shown to the left here. With most ultralight shelters it’s best to plan on camping at lower elevations in areas that are as protected from harsh weather as possible. From their description, it sounds like the Twin Sisters was designed for more harsh conditions.

If you’ve ever tried the Twin Sisters, make sure an comment on this article!

These days, there are three tents that I would choose from for backpacking, depending on the circumstances.

For short, 3 season camping oriented backpacks where I am going to be sharing a tent, I would take my equivalent of the Aura 2 and split the weight between me and my tent mate.
For snowshoe backpacking (or cross country ski), I would take my equivalent to the Mega Light, or the Twin Sisters if I owned one.
For any trip where I was hiking or camping solo (never in the snow!), I would take my homemade tarp tent.

Hope you’ve enjoyed the article! Please tell us about your own choices and experiences or ask questions either through comments to this article or in our forum!

Thanks,

joe