The best backpacking tents you can buy

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

The Insider Pick:

• Sacrificing weight while backpacking is common, but you don’t have to sacrifice comfort, too.

• With the Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL 2, you get a roomy backpacking tent that has one of the largest interior volumes of any we’ve tested. Since it weighs just a touch over three pounds, even ultralight backpackers can haul it deep into the backcountry.

Spending a weekend living out of what you carry on your back while hiking 10-plus miles a day may seem like a chore to some, but to backpackers, it’s a way of life. Absent are designated camping spots a few paces away from your car or any semblance of a working toilet, yet this brand of weekend warrior takes joy in seeking out these amenities (or lack thereof).

Though stuffing a backpack full of clothes seems somewhat straightforward, the tent you sleep in while miles from civilization can make or break any trip through the backcountry. Tote along a tent that’s too heavy, and you’ll be huffing and puffing mere feet from your starting point, but packing a tarp and some shoddy poles will have you rethinking that idyllic concept of sleeping under the stars. Rather, a tent needs to hit the sweet spot between being light enough to pack for hours on the trail yet strong enough to provide adequate shelter.

Ultimately, the type of tent you pick to join you on the long haul depends on the type of trip you intend to take. Short trips can err on the side of a heavier tent while longer, multi-day trips may call for an ultralight option. No matter the scenario, tent makers like Big Agnes, MSR, and even REI have a sea of available options designed specifically to keep you cozy while catching some shut-eye.

Here are our top picks for the best backpacking tents:

• Best tent overall: Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL 2
• Best tent for ultralight backpacking: Nemo Hornet 2P
• Best tent for couples: MSR Hubba Hubba NX
• Best tent for 4-season backpackers: The North Face Mountain 25
• Best budget-friendly tent: REI Co-op Half Dome 2 Plus

Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.

The best backpacking tent overall

Big Agnes

Why you'll love it: The 3-pound Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL 2 has a roomy interior, an innovative hub that increases its stability, and two doors and vestibules to allow for easy entry. 

To seasoned campers, the Big Agnes name is synonymous with quality and dependability, and its Copper Spur HV UL 2 tent is a spitting image of that description. Not only is it our pick as the best backpacking tent but it could very well be one of the best tents for any outing, backpacking or otherwise.

With a packed weight of just over three pounds, it’s light enough for weeks spent on the trail, allowing more room in your pack for socks and underwear — an absolute boon on longer trips.

Its light weight is crucial, but where the Copper Spur truly shows its worth is with its incredibly roomy sleeping area. Often, backpacking tents sacrifice interior volume to shave off precious weight, but Big Agnes figured out how to offer more room in the head and shoulder area while also giving it steep walls to let you sit upright comfortably. This allows you to feel less cramped during the night and affords ample space to change each day.

Adding to its convenience are two doors and two vestibules that offer added space to store gear (while still being sheltered) and more than one way to enter or exit. Its two-tone mesh grants privacy to those who like to do a little stargazing at night, too.

Perhaps our favorite aspect of the Copper Spur is its color-coded tent poles, which makes setting it up take a mere matter of minutes. When you’re at the end of a long day of hiking, this feature is critical.

At $450, it’s certainly not the cheapest option on the market but tents offering similar features that weigh just three pounds either cost more or simply don’t exist. There’s a reason so many gear reviewers (including me) have given it their stamp of approval in reviews.

Pros: Large interior offers 20% more volume than similar tents, 4-way hub increases strength and stability, two doors makes it easy to get in and out (even with a partner), 2-tone mesh offers outside views without sacrificing privacy, and it weighs just over three pounds, making it one of the lightest on the market

Cons: Condensation and waterproofing can be an issue

Buy the Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL 2 at REI for $450

The best ultralight backpacking tent

Nemo

Why you'll love it: If you fancy ultralight backpacking, you’ll swoon over the Nemo Hornet’s minuscule 2-pound-and-5-ounce packed weight and its extremely easy setup system.

A brand of camping in its own right, ultralight backpacking takes a wholly different approach to spending time on the trail — one concerned with packing as little weight as possible. When it comes to the proper ultralight tent, no one does it better than Nemo and its Hornet 2P tent.

With a packed weight of just 2 pounds and 5 ounces, the Hornet is as light as it gets and packs lighter than almost anything else you’ll bring along for the trip — save a pair of socks or some underwear. It even comes with an innovative stuff sack that allows you to split the contents of the tents between two bags, further reducing its overall weight.

Thankfully, the Hornet’s light weight doesn’t mean it lacks in other areas. For starters, it still comes standard with two side doors and vestibules, meaning you’ll have multiple access points and areas to store excess gear — like almost every pick on this list.

By designing it to use triangulated guyouts, Nemo was able to avoid the interior feely overly cramped. Instead, its 28 square feet of floor area provides more than enough space for a single backpacker and, if need be, a cozy setup for two.

Setup takes only minutes due in large part to its single hubbed pole that features ball-and-socket tips. Its DAC aluminum poles also weight lighter than any pole setup on the market yet maintain a high level of durability — even if you’re consistently packing the tent for three-season use. Whether you’re fully invested in the ultralight movement or not, Nemo’s Hornet is the best way to reduce weight without reducing comfort.

Pros: Packed weight of just 2lbs., 5 oz., triangulated guyouts offer more interior space, easy set up and takedown, divvy stuff sack makes it easy to fit in a backpack, and its extremely durable aluminum poles are some of the lightest on the market

Cons: Tends to leak during rain storms

Buy the Nemo Hornet 2P at REI for $400

The best backpacking tent for couples

MSR

Why you'll love it: With more headroom and elbow space than most backpacking tents, MSR’s Hubba Hubba sleeps two backpackers with ease (as if the name didn’t already allude to that). 

Backpacking is best done with friends and sometimes, those friends also happen to be your significant other. But when packing light is the name of the game, strapping on a cumbersome two-person tent isn’t exactly ideal. Enter MSR’s Hubba Hubba NX, a backpacking tent designed specifically for couples — if the name didn’t already give that away.

To accomplish this, MSR designed the Hubba Hubba to feature an innovative pole configuration which increases headroom and elbow space, giving both partners ample room to cozy up for the night without feeling cramped or cooped up. This added space doesn’t do much to its packed weight, either, as it weighs just 3 pounds and 13 ounces. While it is heavier than Nemo’s Hornet and the Big Agnes Copper Spur, it won’t break your back if you need to haul it for hours on end.

Despite its unique pole configuration, setting up the Hubba Hubba still only takes a few minutes as its color-coded design makes it incredibly easy to simply align the poles to the hubs. For camping in wetter climates (or when that out-of-nowhere rain storm hits), the tent features two of MSR’s patented StayDry doors, which guide water away from the doors when they’re open — assuring the interior (and your gear) stays dry.

Not only is this a feature we’ve tested and can attest to its efficiency, but there exist a number of similar customer reviews via REI’s site that echo the same experience. So many tents have issues with waterproofing but MSR gets it right with the Hubba Hubba.

When breaking down the tent, it packs into an incredibly compact compression bag that’s perfect for fitting inside a backpacking pack, or securely fastening to the outside. As mentioned above, its light weight proves perfect for trips calling for several hours of hiking each day. If you’re looking for a dependable backpacking tent capable of comfortably sleeping you and your partner, the Hubba Hubba is for you.

Pros: Sleeps two people comfortably by providing increased headroom and elbow space, weighs just over three pounds, StayDry doors keep rain from entering the tent and away from gear, easy to set up and take down, and its compression sack makes it easy to stow

Cons: Doesn’t provide much warmth in colder temperatures

Buy the MSR Hubba Hubba NX at REI for $400 

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

See Also:

• The best soda makers you can buy
• This $200 smokeless fire pit that took Kickstarter by storm may be the most innovative portable grill ever made
• 30 appliances and tools that we swear by in the kitchen, from a $6 fish spatula to a $340 Dutch oven