By Michael Lanza
Switching from a standard backpacking tent to an ultralight tent can shave pounds from your total pack weight—which for many backpackers will be the biggest step they can take toward a lighter pack. But it can be confusing to sort through the various ultralight tents out there, and the specs on them can look like a big pot of numeral soup, leaving you wondering: How are they different? And ultimately, which one is best for you?
I’ve tested and reviewed scores of tents of all types over a quarter-century of testing and reviewing gear—formerly as the lead gear reviewer for Backpacker magazine for about 10 years and even longer running this blog. I love the best ultralight tents, but I’ve also used some that had flaws or shortcomings not immediately obvious.
This article will explain all you need to know to find the three-season, ultralight tent that’s best for you. See also my “5 Tips For Buying a Backpacking Tent.”
Please tell me what you think of my tips or share your questions, suggestions, or favorite ultralight tent model in the comments section at the bottom of this story. I try to respond to all comments.
Size Matters
Consumers of backcountry gear have grown accustomed to focusing on the weight of a product—which is smart—but not always paying adequate attention to other performance metrics. Think of your tent’s weight like it’s a prospective spouse’s feelings about starting a family: It’s a critical and potentially make-or-break factor, but it’s not the only question to ask when evaluating compatibility.
An ultralight tent is a two-sided coin: Before getting one, be certain that low weight ranks as a higher priority to you than other metrics like living space, or you might be disappointed.
Fans of them typically include ultralight backpackers, thru-hikers, climbers, and others who focus on the experience outside rather than inside the tent, who often spend much of each day on the move, and who don’t mind dealing with the inconveniences or quirkiness of a non-traditional tent design. Big people looking to trim pack weight may be smart to get a tent that’s not the absolute lightest, but still reasonably light while providing a bit more space (more on square footage below).
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That said, there are ultralight tents and shelters that do have adequate or even abundant living space, especially those employing non-traditional designs. Floorless tents and tarps that pitch using trekking poles weigh mere ounces while offering much more sheltered living area per ounce (or gram) than traditional tents. While not freestanding, when pitched and staked out properly they often stand up to strong wind as well as—and sometimes better than—any heavier, three-season, freestanding tent. Some have a single-wall or hybrid single- and double-wall design (see below) and optional mesh inserts for buggy conditions. Ventilation, of course, is almost never a problem under a tarp.
You may want a light ground cloth, and site selection and an adequately warm bag both become more important when you’re not in an enclosed tent. But if you really want to reduce shelter weight, when bugs aren’t an issue and you don’t anticipate relentlessly wet, windy conditions, a tarp or similar minimalist shelter is unquestionably the best choice. Plus, if you also want to move to a lighter, smaller-volume pack, you have to first reduce the bulk of your two largest pieces of gear: your tent and sleeping bag.
All of which leads to the conclusion: Yes, size matters. There are tradeoffs to reducing weight. For many backcountry travelers, though, the benefits of a lighter pack far outweigh any disadvantages of an ultralight shelter. Once someone switches to one, they don’t tend to go back to carrying heavier tents.
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How Light Should You Go?
What is an ultralight tent? There’s no hard definition, but I would include any kind of backcountry shelter that’s under about three pounds (1.4 kg). While somewhat arbitrary, that cutoff lumps in a wide range of products, from freestanding, double-wall tents that are significantly lighter than traditional models to shelters weighing a pound or less.
I’m not suggesting you ignore all tents over three pounds; there are two-person, three-season tents weighing mere ounces over three pounds that have their merits. What matters more are your personal needs and preferences in a shelter. That will dictate the design features you want, which (along with your budget) will largely dictate the weight of the shelter you choose.
See my picks for “The 10 Best Backpacking Tents.”
The weight of any kind of shelter (or any gear) basically depends on the type and amount of materials that go into it—a seemingly obvious fact, but one which affects everything from interior space to price. The visible differences include:
• Interior and vestibule space.
• One or two doors.
• Freestanding or requires staking (which includes semi-freestanding).
• Double- or single-wall.
• Whether it has dedicated tent poles or pitches using trekking poles.
• Whether it has a floor and/or bug-proof mesh walls.
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Freestanding or Not?
Tarps and some tents employ your trekking poles, eliminating the substantial weight and bulk of tent poles from your pack. These models can require a little more time and possibly some practice to pitch correctly—you’ll be wise to pitch it for the first time in your yard rather than during a rainstorm in the backcountry. But you’ll quickly familiarize yourself with the idiosyncrasies of one. And tent poles represent one of the single biggest chunks of weight you can remove from your pack, which is why these non-traditional shelters are the choice for serious ultralighters as well as any backpackers who simply want to pack as light as possible.
Besides, “freestanding” is a somewhat misleading term: While such tents do stand independent of stakes, they virtually always must be staked out, anyway, including their rainfly, to ensure that they stay put in wind and ventilate well.
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See my stories “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,”
and “5 Tips For Spending Less on Hiking and Backpacking Gear.”
What’s Best for You?
As I’ve basically laid out above, choosing any kind of backcountry shelter, and particularly an ultralight one, requires asking yourself a few questions:
• How high a priority is low weight to you?
• How much space do you need?
• Do you usually backpack in buggy seasons and/or wet and windy conditions?
• Will this be your only tent or an alternative shelter to use in circumstances appropriate for it?
In the final analysis, if your goal is as light a backpack as possible, nothing gets you closer to that goal than your choice of a shelter. Find the lightest one that still serves your essential needs.
See all of my reviews of ultralight backpacking tents and ultralight backpacking gear, my “5 Expert Tips For Buying a Backpacking Tent,” and my picks for the best ultralight backpacks.
NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all of my reviews and my expert buying tips.
I appreciate your expertise as my family and I begin backpacking together. If you have some pro tips on keeping food light weight, I’d love to read that article too!
Hi Joseph,
Thanks for the nice words, I’m delighted my blog is helpful to you. Check out my stories “How to Plan Food for a Backpacking Trip” and “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips.”
Good luck!
I wish there was a web site or something where I could type in my criteria and it would pop out a suggestion. Like the ones where you shop at Amazon, except more specific to lightweight tents. Here is my criteria: weight right around 3 pounds. Floor. Single wall ok. Trec pole ok (one). I am willing to sacrifice or be flexible about headroom, price, interior space. I usually camp in windy conditions so staked and low. What say you? I love equipment and spend hours pouring over reviews and such. Then I become overwhelmed and buy whatever is at Cabellas.
Hi Darwin,
Your criteria are broad enough to give you multiple options, so it’s hard to suggest just one tent model. Assuming you mean a two-person tent, there are several models under three pounds in my review of the 10 best backpacking tents. “Windy conditions” isn’t terribly specific but many three-season backpacking tents are tested to withstand 30 mph winds; for wind stronger than that, I’d suggest a low-profile tent with better wind resistance and that can be guyed out, like the Gossamer Gear The One or The Two, Hyperlite Mountain Gear Ultamid 2, or Slingfin 2Lite Trek.
Good luck to you. Thanks for the question.
Did I miss the the Henry Shires Tarptents?
Hi Jim,
I’ll admit, I’m overdue to try out a Tarptent model, it has been a few years. Consider it added to my list. Thanks.
I disagree about freestanding tents being faster to set up. Most have long flexible poles to assemble and insert. When hiking with a friend, I had my trekking pole supported tent up in no time (4 pegs and no poles to assemble) while my buddy was still working on his freestanding tent.
Hi Todd,
I think you’re right about a few non-freestanding tents that go up more easily. And perhaps you were simply more adept at pitching your tent than your buddy was at his.
In general, though, assembling poles, especially today’s hubbed pole systems, is fast and because it creates the tent’s structural shape, there’s little the tensioning and adjusting that’s necessary with many non-freestanding tents. The manufacturers of those ultralight tents generally acknowledge that to customers in their promotional materials and instructions, probably because they don’t want to mislead people about the product they’re buying (which can just lead to greater levels of consumer dissatisfaction and more returns, so it’s smart for the brands to be honest about their tents).
Thanks for sharing your perspective and you’re smart to use a lighter tent.
I love reading your articles! My husband is planning to hike for 30 days on the John Muir Trail in August. Any suggestions on what type/kind of sleeping bag and tent? Thank you!
Thanks for the nice compliment, Elizabeth. Congrats to your husband on his plans to thru-hike the John Muir Trail. His 30-day itinerary will be much more leisurely than the seven days that I took hiking the JMT with friends, but he’ll also be carrying substantial food weight, so I would urge him to go as light as possible with gear.
On the JMT in August, he will be fine with a 30-degree sleeping bag (down is the lightest), and an ultralight tent, and possibly an ultralight pack if he can keep his max pack weight at no more than 30-35 pounds with all that food he’ll be carrying. He should check out this menu of all of my reviews of ultralight backpacking gear, as well as my reviews of the best ultralight backpacks, and the 7 (very) best backpacking tents, and “The Top 5 Tips for Better Ultralight Backpacking.”
If he’d like my detailed help with planning his trip, covering everything from the best campsites to gear and answering all of his questions (and perhaps some he may not think of), check out my Custom Trip Planning page.
Thanks for writing and keep in touch.
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