Tourist in MSN

That is similar to my old REI SoloLite. One person tent that I bought over 20 years ago.

Anything sold back then is not that light by today standards, but back then a tent that was only a bit over 5 pounds for a solo was considered light. Later they added a third middle pole to it because the middle hung down quite a bit.

Had a small vestibule in the front, the netting door to the tent interior was vertical under the large hoop, so you could store a small amount of stuff in the vestibule area if you did not mind tripping over it to get in or out.

REI still as a lot of data on their vintage stuff archived. Photo is lacking the rain fly.
https://www.rei.com/rei-garage/produ...-sololite-tent

Sorry the photo cut off part of the tent. This trip is the last time I used it, that was eight years ago.



This was a vehicle supported trip on White Rim, thus no panniers or rack, the truck hauled our gear, food, water, etc.

indyfabz

I had a Northface Slickrock 2P back in the day. 4.75 pounds, but not a full fly. Really liked it. During 2000 I was living with some interns a Mesa Verse NP at the end of a tour there from Seattle. The park caught on fire while I was in town. My friends rescued my Beckman panniers, stove and some other things but didn’t have time to get my tent before they had to evacuate. When the tent was finally brought down it looked like Swiss cheese from the falling embers. The government reimbursed me.


https://www.rei.com/product/667683/t...slickrock-tent

indyfabz

That probably would not go over well with campers and residents. The campsite is basically part of the town. The free roaming deer and goats are enough. We watched a deer harass an RV camper who was walking her little yappy dog. She kept waving one arm to shoo it away. We thought the deer interpreted her action to mean she had food to toss it. Funny and sad at the same time.

polymorphself 

I was also able to grab a new in box jetboil stash for only $70 from the same person I got the $220 hubba hubba from. That worked out as I needed a stove.

stardognine

Ha, I just made friends with about 5 or 6 bluejays this morning. They're usually kinda shy about food, preferring to wait till you leave, to eat, but apparently, they REALLY like cheesy bagels with cream cheese. 😁

EDIT: BTW, I just missed seeing another rattlesnake this morning, too. An older lady warned me to watch for it, she was coming the opposite way, and she said a squirrel was in a staring contest with it. I wonder who won. 🤔😉

dvdwmth

Two person. When I'm tired and need to find stuff I like to have a little room.

I have an inexpensive marmot and it's an acceptable size and weight.

staehpj1

I always liked those two pole tents where the poles are hoops and you just stake the ends out. Not free standing but easy to tie the ends out if pitching under a roof. Always a pole, picnic table or something available and barring that a line run off the edge of the pad to the ground will suffice. I often pitched my Spitfire 1 with only two stakes if it was dry and four if it might rain. Great if the ground was difficut to drive stakes also nice to not need to carry many.

Tourist in MSN

That SoloLite with two hoops, it needed two stakes on each end, and a fifth if the fly was used. I originally bought it for light weight solo camping, but within a few years it was no longer considered light weight.

In post number 9 above, I have a two person version called the NiteLite that had three hoops. It weighs a lot but I still use it for canoe tripping. I used it for several bike tours until I finally got tired of the weight. Nice tent.

Both were pretty good in wind, but the two hoop solo one would flap a lot. But it was not going to get blown over being that low.

The tail end of both of them, the fly poured water onto a waterproof section of the tent, that needed frequent seam sealing. The two person one in photo below. The dark blue is waterproof fabric and the seam between that and the floor needs good seam sealing.



It was so windy in the day below that I used the extra lines on the side to stake out the three hoop two person one.




In Europe I have seen a lot of Hilleberg tents, but they are not cheap and I see almost none of them in USA. Several of theirs have a hoop design.
https://hilleberg.com/eng/tent/

Trueblood

This one looks really very cool. I do not own it, but it is fairly inexpensive, a little over 3 lbs, and has a great canopy feature. There are reviews on Youtube. I am thinking about getting this one.

OneTigris Backwoods Bungalow Ultralight Bushcraft Shelter 2.0

Brett A

I always tour alone I have the same tent in a 1 person and a 2 person. (A Marmot Tungsten). Turns out the one person was a waste of money. There's no advantage to it. The weight doesn't make a 1% difference in the total I am pedaling. The two person tent is palatial and I can fit everything but the bike in it if I need to. Not to mention it has two doors and two vestibules. The 2p Tungsten weight 5 pounds BTW.

Yan 

I do the opposite. For two nights I can tolerate a **** ultralight setup, but for the long haul I use a two person tent for comfort. I can't use an ultralight setup for several months straight. Too cramped.

indyfabz

That's what I do. For long weekend or overnight trips I use my REI Quarter Dome SL 2. For longer trips I use my BA Fly Creek HV UL2. IIRC, correctly, the latter is 1/2 lighter. The former has two doors and is more spacious.

Symox

I prefer a tent I can sit up in. I find it easier to change, rearrange stuff and get comfortable. It can be a single person (it actually is in my case). Alps lynx is large single person is enough for me and my two Ortlieb bags to fit pretty comfortably.

thumpism 

Two person ALPS Meramac. No vestibule but two doors, freestanding and plenty spacious. Not a lightweight at 7 pounds but it works.

stardognine

Too many thieves & vandals here in the U.S. 😟 Some of those look to be worth the investment, for winter camping, but like I mentioned, you just can't trust people here.

steine13

For a short time, I had a North Face 1 person tent, much like the two-hoop Marmot @staehpj1 showed above.
No thank you. It wasn't not the floor space, it was being unable to sit up in it. The friend I passed it on to came to the same conclusion and has been using a Flashlight 2 for many years, very happy with it. Not free standing but sturdy and light weight.

For solo self-supported, which I hardly do at all, I have a Eureka Spitfire 1, which has just enough floor space for me and some gear, plus room to sit up. My 2 person Alps Zephyr is well made and not too heavy, but I think at 5 lbs + I'd leave it at home and make do with the Eureka. One thing nobody's mentioned yet: With a larger tent, if you've pitched yourself on a rough spot, you can usually find a comfortable way to sleep. With a one person, well: there you are.

Many moons ago, the wife and I used a Timberline 2 on a weeklong trip. Run what you brung.

The Zephyr seems to have doubled in price in a couple years. Ouch. The not-free-standing Spitfire 1 is no longer available. That one is a great choice for biking if you can find it.

cheers -mathias

staehpj1

FWIW, I agree. I posted that only to identify what indy was talking about. I tend to use a hoopless bivy (basically just a bugproof envelope) and tarp much of the time. When I do use a tent my fav of the ones I own is the Spitfire 1.

.Yeah, true, but the obvious answer is to either just take care in placing it in the first place or move it a little. If a tent doesn't need a gagillion stakes moving isn't a big deal. Laying on the proposed spot for a few minutes before pitching can save moving or a fitful night.

cyccommute 

Earlier this summer I was lulled by the Siren song of a larger tent. I have a 3 man Big Agnes Copper Spur. Lots of room…and damned cold! I use it twice…once on the plains and once on the other side of the mountains which is only slightly higher. In both cases, it was a very cold night. Later I used my one man Big Agnes Fly Creek in much colder conditions and was much more comfortable. While a tent isn’t that well insulated, a smaller space is easier to keep warm with your body heat than a larger one.

veganbikes

Yeah I made a similar mistake as Stuart on a trip, I had brought my own tent a Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 but decided to sleep in a co-workers tent thinking a second body would make more sense but it was such a spacious tent (6+ person tent) that we were colder I didn't think at the time to put my tent inside the other tent as I think at that point I was just lazy and didn't want to deal with having to unpack and repack my tent in the winter conditions we were out in.

However in no cold weather conditions I much prefer more space and just got myself a Tiger Wall 3 Bikepacking tent (also Big Agnes, she is after all the Mother of Comfort) for that reason. Plus I now have a proper 4 season mountaineering tent I can borrow from a co-worker which is a 3 person tent but was super warm in a snow storm (just heavy as heck).

Tony Marley

Bigger tent gives you space to keep gear in the tent with you and even spread it out a bit on a rainy night to dry wet jersey and shorts.

stardognine

It finally rained here in Sacramento, and last night, I found out that my REI Quarterdome T2 isn't as waterproof as I thought. 🙄 I've only slept in it a few times now, and think I need something slightly bigger, anyways. Plus these poles are just weird, I prefer a normal dome tent to this design. 😋😉

Pratt

My NEMO Hornet is "2 person" if they are small, flexible and intimate. It is nice for one, waterproof, easy to set up, and pretty light.

fiddlehead1A

Definitely a two man tent! On a recent 2700k bike tour in Japan using a two man Nemo Hornet I was very crowded with my gear even though I was touring alone. It was a very rainy summer and I was stuck in a humid crowded tent. The Nemo Hornet is not suited to multi month tours. The materials are first class but too light and delicate. Before you buy a “two man “ tent be sure it really is a two man tent. For a long term tour you need a spacious, robust tent for spending time in the tent during bad weather and space for your gear. My Nemo Hornet could not stand up to the demands of long term touring and is more suited to shorter tours.

10 Wheels

Coleman. 6 inch Bath Tub Floor to stop water.

bwilli88 

Dunston has a really nice tent problem is it is back ordered.
https://durstongear.com/product/x-mid-2p