10 Best Ultralight Tents In 2021

Offering 4-season weather protection, the Black Diamond Firstlight mountaineering tent is the best tent for climbing and winter adventures. It won’t slow you down during the day yet it will provide a cozy and warm shelter for a good night’s sleep on snowy grounds. The best thing about it is the NanoShield fabric it’s made of. It keeps the weight down without compromising strength and weather protection.

Weight, Packability, and Setup

For a three-person tent, it’s amazing how ultralight and compact the Alpine Black Diamond is when packed. It packs down to a 7 x 9-inch package. Being a robust 4-season tent, its weight is a little bit on the higher size at 4 lbs. 1 oz. The minimum trial weight is 3 lbs. 7 oz. The freestanding design with a two-pole structure makes setup easy.

Size and Comfort

Offering 33 square feet of space inside, this three-person tent is ideal for two adventurers and their gear. The peak height is 46 inches so there’s plenty of room to sit comfortably. To keep condensation at bay, the tent has zippered mesh panels at the door and the back.

Construction and Weatherproofing

The use of an innovative NanoShield fabric is what enables the Alpine Black Diamond mountaineering tent to stay lightweight while still providing 4-season weather protection. Despite being a single wall tent, the material is tightly woven to keep out the elements, and tough enough to stand up to harsh conditions. The floor is a 70-denier polyester with impressive resistance to abrasion and punctures. 

By eliminating the need to carry tent poles, the River Country Products trekking pole tent manages to be one of the lightest backpacking tents on the market. You can use it with your trekking poles, sticks over 42 inches tall, or tie it between two trees. When set up, the tent is large enough to accommodate two campers. 

Weight, Packability, and Setup

The entire package comes complete with a carry-bag, guy lines, and 8 aluminum stakes. It weighs 2lbs 12oz and packs down as small as a junior football. The best thing about it is that you don’t have to lug around tent poles — you can use your trekking poles, sticks, or trees. Setup is simple and fast — simply stake down the corners and put in the trekking poles.

Size and Comfort

Extending 7 feet long and 5 feet wide, this ultralight 2-person backpacking tent offers enough room for one backpacker and their gear or two backpackers without the gear. With 42inches of headroom, you can also sit up in the tent and change comfortably. Back vents allow air to flow in and out and minimize condensation. 

Construction and Weatherproofing

Though this tent is thin and ultralight, it’s still tough enough for the outdoors. The canopy fabric is a solid nylon fabric while the floor is made of a tough poly tarp material. With the waterproof floor and sealed seams, all you need to add is a tarp fly and the tent interior will stay completely dry in the event of heavy rain.

The REI Co-op Flash Air tent is one of the lightest and most packable tents on the market. It has a minimum trail weight of 1lb 15oz, making it the best ultralight tent for backpackers, hikers, and bike-packers. The 16 x 7 inches pack-size easily fits in backpacks and bike panniers. Despite being so light, the Flash Air offers plenty of living space and two roomy vestibules.

Weight, Packability, and Setup 

Since this is a non-freestanding tent, it utilizes 4 poles for stability, and staking is essential. Carrying the complete setup with stakes, guylines, tensioners, poles, and pole hubs isn’t difficult though, as it only weighs 2 lbs. 8 oz. and packs down to 16 x 7 inches. To keep the weight as low as possible, you can also leave the vertical poles at home and use your trekking poles for pitching. This will reduce the weight to 1 lb. 15 oz.  

Size and Comfort

One of the benefits of its design is that it maximizes living space. The foot poles increase the volume at the end while the almost 90° hubbed roof poles provide plenty of headroom. Measuring 88 x 52 inches, the REI Co-op Flash Air is large enough for a couple and peaks at 42 inches allowing you to sit up. In friendly weather, you can rollover the roof for stargazing or pitch it out into a large awning.

Construction and Weatherproofing

Even though this is a hybrid single-wall tent with a one-piece fly and body, the vestibule areas have a mesh canopy separated from the rainfly and the big screen doors make for great ventilation that minimizes condensation issues. This makes it a great summertime tent. Thanks to the fly and strong poles and stakes, the tent performs admirably in stormy conditions. The floor is ripstop nylon with impressive resistance to puncturing.

The MSR Hubba Hubba NX 2-Person tent strikes a nice balance between durability, weather protection, weight, and price. The design maximizes livability and stability, while the lightweight yet strong materials offer top-level durability backed by a 3-year warranty. Overall, this might be the best backpacking tent when it comes to quality and weather protection vs weight and price. 

Weight, Packability, and Setup

While this isn’t the lightest tent on this list, the 3.9-pound package weight and 3.5-pound minimum trail weight are still easy to bear on the trails, especially when you consider the livability and durability of the tent. The package size is 18 x 6 inches. Thanks to the unified hub-and-pole system and color-coded clips, the freestanding design takes seconds to configure.

Size and Comfort

The pole geometry and non-tapered floor maximize the livable space making the MSR Hubba Hubba 2-person tent one of the best lightweight tents when it comes to livability. The tent offers a 29 square feet interior space and towers at 39 inches. Thanks to an adjustable, cross-ventilating rainfly with a kickstand vent, and a rollup vestibule, ventilation is top-level, and the stay inside is pleasant.

Construction and Weatherproofing

When it comes to weather protection, the MSR Hubba Hubba lightweight backpacking tent offers you two options. The first configuration is meant for fair weather camping and features a DuraShield waterproof coating and DAC Featherlite NFL poles. Made robust for extreme conditions, the second configuration boasts an Xtreme Shield waterproof coating and Easton Syclone poles that can withstand even fierce winds. The tent materials are 20D ripstop nylon and 15D nylon mesh.

Boasting 38 square feet of interior space, the Big Agnes Tiger Wall YL3 tent is the most spacious tent on this list. Despite being a full-featured 3-person tent, it is spacious enough for two adults and a child. It is equipped with two large doors, each with its vestibule and the complete setup only weighs 2lb 15 oz.    

Weight, Packability, and Setup 

Due to the use of ultralight materials, the entire package including rainfly, inner canopy, poles, stakes, and stuff sack adds up to 2lb 15oz only. The Big Agnes Tiger Wall has a semi-freestanding design, which means that it requires stakes at the foot. The single-pole architecture, precise guylines, and pre-attached tensioners make it very easy to set up after a long day on the trail.

Size and Comfort

Measuring 88 x 66/60 inches, the Tiger Wall UL3 3-person tent is one of the most spacious backpacking tents for its weight. It works great for two adults and a young child. The vertical walls and structured foot-end corner maximize livable space. As for comfort, this tent excels when camping in fair weather conditions. Thanks to a mesh canopy and low vents, ventilation is excellent and condensation buildup isn’t a big issue even in humid conditions.  

Construction and Waterproofing

When it rains, a silicone treatment on the ripstop nylon fly and floor, taped seams, storm flaps on the zippers, and a dry-entry design ensure water doesn’t make it inside. Thanks to the sturdy 9.3mm poles and included stakes, the tent also holds up well in the wind. Though the ripstop nylon material is lightweight and thin, it’s pretty tough and can take a beating. 

Unlike the other ultralight tents on this list, the Winterial single-person tent is a bivy-style tent and this design saves a lot of weight. With a 2 pounds 9 ounces minimum trail weight, it’s very easy to carry when backpacking or thru-hiking but opens up into a spacious shelter for one person and their gear. Featuring a reinforced rainfly, taped seams, and open mesh, it’s very good at keeping out cold, rain, and bugs while minimizing condensation.

Weight, Packability, and Setup

With the stakes and cords included, this tent weighs 3 pounds 3 ounces and packs down to 18 x 4.5 x 4 inches. While it isn’t a freestanding tent, assembly is easy thanks to the two-pole hoops. The tent comes with 14 heavy-duty stakes that can withstand staking on tough grounds and 3 bundles of guyline rope for securing it so it will hold even in a storm.

Size and Comfort

Measuring 38 x 28 x 90 inches when set up, the Winterial is pretty spacious for a one-person tent. It even offers room to bring your pack inside the tent. To ensure ventilation isn’t a problem on warm summer nights, the tent has a mesh roof that lets in a cool breeze and gives you a view of the night sky when the rainfly is removed.

Construction and Waterproofing

This three-season bivy tent has a full-coverage rainfly and sealed seams that keep out rain and wind ensuring you stay dry throughout the night. Made of high-quality materials including a reinforced rainfly, it’s tough enough to hold up well in the wilderness.   

Thanks to the trapezoidal floor plan complemented by vertical sidewalls, the REI Co-op Quarter Dome SL 2 tent is a true 2-person ultralight backpacking tent that can accommodate two people comfortably. Carrying it on the trails is a one-person task though, as the complete package only weighs 2lbs 14oz.

Weight, Packability, and Setup

With the tent, rainfly, stuff sack, stakes, guylines, tighteners, pole repair tube, and the two carry bags, the package weight is 2lbs 14oz and the packed size is 7 x 20 inches. The tent can stand without stakes and the fly/footprint/poles minimalist pitch option will only add 2 pounds on your back. Even though this is a semi-freestanding tent that requires stakes at 2 corners, setup is easy thanks to the hubbed and shock-corded pole system and color-coded components.

Size and Comfort

Covering an 88 x 52/42inches area when set up and featuring a unique design that maximizes livable space, the Quarter Dome 2-person tent is the best lightweight tent for two people. It’s large enough to accommodate two sleeping bags and pads side by side. To increase airflow and minimize condensation, the tent features a roof vent.

Construction and Waterproofing

The Quarter Dome tent is equipped to withstand most 3-season abuse. The rainfly and stakes enable it to withstand rain or windstorms without breaking. The construction quality is superb. With the floor and rainfly made of ripstop nylon, this tent is tough enough for rugged terrain. Exterior guy-out loops and rainfly rollback loops give you the flexibility to adjust the tent to suit the weather conditions.