Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
Every year, tents get lighter, stronger, and more sustainable. 2024’s batch of three-season shelters was no exception, with ultralight trekking pole designs, purpose-built bikepacking bivvys, and cleverly guyed-out basecamps. The eight winners of this year’s exhaustive testing process proved themselves over and over in wind, rain, and even snow.
At a Glance
- Editors’ Choice: Durston X-Mid Pro 1 ($549-639)
- Best Bikepacking Tent: MSR Hubba Hubba Bikepack 2-Person ($580)
- Best Budget Tent: Mountain Hardwear Meridian 2 ($275)
- Best Basecamp: Seek Outside Twilight 3P ($480)
- Best Strength-to-Weight: SlingFin Portal 3 ($600)
- Best Ultralight 2-Person: Zpacks Offset Duo ($799)
- Most Spacious 1-Person: Argali Owyhee 1p ($345)
- Most Improved: Exped Mira II ($449)
- How to Choose a Tent
- How We Test
All gear in this guide was tested by multiple reviewers. When you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission. This supports our mission to get more people active and outside.Learn more.
Note: All tent weights are “packaged” weights, not minimum weights.
Editor’s Choice
Durston X-Mid Pro 1
Weight: 17.8 oz (DCF floor); 1.2 lbs (sil-nylon floor)
Interior Space: 20 square feet
Peak Height: 45 inches
Pros and Cons
⊕ Incredibly lightweight
⊕ Tall peaks
⊕ Weatherproof
⊕ Small footprint
⊗ Setup has a learning curve
With the Durston X-Mid Pro 1, Durston Gear has perfected its signature asymmetrical tarp-tent design to create the most comfortable, storm-worthy one-pound shelter we’ve ever tested. The secret sauce behind founder Dan Durston’s ultralight success, both in his one- and two-person tents, is a deceptively simple offset design: Where many other trekking-pole tents are set up with poles at the midpoint of the tent, the X-Mid’s poles sit with one towards the feet and the other towards the head. That means 45 inches of peak height at both ends, which lends an airy, vaulted feeling and enough room to change. Offset poles also mean that there’s no obstruction in front of the mesh doors, which can be operated easily with one hand thanks to two easy-sliding zippers.
“It felt positively palatial for a one-person tent,” said one tester after backpacking on the Art Loeb Trail in the Pisgah National Forest. “And yet, it weighed less than my sleeping pad, and was small enough to get lost in my pack.”
Interior space is optimized, too, with a parallelogram (instead of rectangular) floorplan that sits diagonally under the Dyneema fly. With 90 inches of floor length, it’s possible to store all of your clothes, electronics, and ditty bags inside while an astonishing 22 square feet of vestibule space is more than enough for even the most gear-heavy ultralighters.
The X-Mid Pro 1’s double-pole pitch, steep walls, tall bathtub floor, and ten stake-out points (plus four guylines) give it the edge over competing tarp-style tents, allowing for increased sturdiness in windy and wet conditions. One tester put it through a late-season windstorm in Vermont’s Green Mountains, with 40-mile-per-hour gusts that flattened a freestanding tent in the same campground. There are lighter Dyneema tents on the market, but few that can handle those windspeeds.
Two generous top vents and an all-mesh interior to minimize the dreaded single-walled condensation factor. Durability is solid for an ultralight Dyneema tent, but careful campsite selection is a must. Thankfully, the one-person footprint is svelte enough to squeeze into the tightest third-choice nooks.
Best Bikepacking Tent
MSR Hubba Hubba Bikepack 2-Person
$580 at REI $580 at Backcountry
Weight: 3.75 lbs
Interior Space: 29 square feet
Peak Height: 42 inches
Pros and Cons
⊕ Portability
⊕ Weather protection
⊗ Livability
⊗ Ventilation
It’s a testament to the growing popularity of bikepacking that the folks at MSR decided to release a brand-new version of their long-running Hubba Hubba tent to cater specifically to those exploring the wilderness on two wheels. Our testers were unanimously glad they did, touting its portability and weather protection.
Weighing a tick over three pounds, the Hubba Hubba Bikepack is just 3 ounces heavier than the original, with shorter poles and increased vestibule space (17.5 square feet total) to stash bike shoes and helmets. Inside, a gear loft holds electronics while a clothesline dries out wearables. An average peak height of 42 inches allows most folks to sit up and change clothes, and its 29 square feet of interior space is small but acceptable given the Bikepack 2’s weight and portability (though two broad shouldered bikepackers should be prepared to get cozy).
Despite its low weight and small size, this tent doesn’t skimp on protection and durability, utilizing lightweight aluminum poles and 20-denier ripstop nylon for fly and body (with 10-denier poly for the canopy.) Its lack of mesh improves weather and wind protection, but makes for poor ventilation. “I felt stuffy at lower elevations when the temperature was about 50 degrees,” reported one tester from Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina. Best of all for our bikepacking testers, the whole thing packs down into a waterproof stuff sack, which is roughly the size of a small paper towel roll—just right for most handlebar shapes.
Best Budget Tent
Mountain Hardwear Meridian 2
$275 at Amazon $275 at Mountain Hardwear
Weight: 5.6 lbs
Interior Space: 31.8 square feet
Peak Height: 43 inches
Pros and Cons
⊕ Price
⊕ Easy setup
⊗ Weight
⊗ Lack of features
⊗ Durability
The Meridian 2 occupies a special bottom-shelf status in the backpacking tent world: It’s cheap, reliable in moderate rain and wind, and made by a bonafide outdoors brand with longevity and quality in mind. You can go lower at a sporting goods store, but it won’t do you any favors when an afternoon thunderstorm rolls through. “This is a no-frills tent that you can rely on when the weather turns sour,” reported one tester after a trip in Moab, Utah.
Mountain Hardwear’s entry-level shelter is both the most affordable and spacious two-person tent we tested this year, with a near 32-square-foot interior, an ample 43-inch peak height, and 18.3 square feet of vestibule space. Five interior pockets allow the interior to stay free of clutter.
At nearly five and a half pounds, the double-walled Meridian is also the heaviest tent in our testing class. The increase in weight comes from heavy materials, including a 68-denier polyester floor and fly with a perfectly serviceable 1500mm waterproof coating that kept us dry during light afternoon rainstorms, but showed signs of seepage in more sustained, heavier rains. A bathtub floor and side panel provide coverage halfway up the tent at the entrances, and the included groundsheet bolsters that weatherproofing prowess. But thanks to a full mesh upper canopy and easily-secured rollback fly, stargazing is still an option.
Best Basecamp
Seek Outside Twilight 3P
Weight: 4.2 lbs
Interior Space: 105 square feet
Peak Height: 72 inches
Pros and Cons
⊕ Massive floor plan
⊕ Versatile
⊕ Stove-compatible
⊗ Finicky guyline setup
⊗ Extra cost for stove/poles/mesh insert
By far the largest tent in our testing group, the Twilight offers an excellent space-to-weight ratio with a gigantic 105 square-foot floor plan that can be used in a variety of ways. Our testers loved it as a floorless basecamp, with ceilings tall enough to allow for standing, plenty of room for three sleepers and gear, and a stove jack that allows it to convert to a hot tent using a lightweight titanium stove (sold separately, starting at $309). “It was cold and raining when we woke up in the morning, so we set up our chairs inside, threw some wood in the stove, and cooked breakfast by the fire,” reported one tester from Grand Mesa National Forest in Western Colorado.
The non-freestanding Twilight can be set up using two carbon fiber poles (sold separately, $150), or three trekking poles with a hitch to connect two of them together. Like all mid-style tents, it needs to be guyed out extensively to provide proper weather protection. Setup is made a bit more complicated than a typical pyramid owing to the two-pole design, but most testers were able to pitch it in fifteen minutes or less. With nine guy-out and eight stake points, the Twilight stood tall in 20 mile-per-hour wind gusts and kept the interior dry during storms. That waterproofing is thanks to the silicone-coated 30-denier Nylon 6.6 ripstop body which has a 3000mm waterproof coating. A peak vent helped keep condensation at bay, although airflow was never an issue when running the shelter floorless. In bug season, a half-mesh insert can be installed (sold separately, $200), with the other half serving as a giant vestibule.
Testers were split on Seek Outside’s proprietary zipperless technology, which forgoes a traditional zippered door on the vestibule and instead allows entry by sliding the bottom edge of the tent along a fixed guy line. In the pro camp: No stuck zippers from ice or dust and dead-quiet nightly pee breaks. Cons? Some testers felt the zipperless technology was difficult to operate from the inside, and that its setup required patience.
Best Strength-to-Weight Ratio
SlingFin Portal 3
Weight: 4.2 lbs
Interior Space: 41.5 square feet
Peak Height: 44 inches
Pros and Cons
⊕ Bombproof
⊕ Durable materials
⊗ Livability
SlingFin’s new double-walled Portal 3 is the bigger brother to the brand’s bomber Portal 2, adding about fifty percent more space while maintaining a reasonable 4-pound weight.
There’s nothing flashy about this tent on the surface: The Portal 3’s setup is quick and straightforward, using two poles connected with a swivel as well as one cross-pole to create a standard freestanding pitch. But, like the two-person variant, the Portal shines in the details of its construction materials and weather protection, including thick, lightweight aluminum poles, a 20-denier PE-coated bathtub floor, and 10-denier Nylon 66 Ripstop silicone-coated fly that wards off inclement weather. Ten external guy-out points (with included lines) and the two internal pre-installed guylines allow for increased stabilization in high winds. “By the time we staked out all ten guy lines, it was clear that this tent would survive just about anything,” one tester reported from Kaibab National Forest in Arizona. “We had gusts of 25 miles-per-hour and the tent didn’t move.”
Sleeping in the 41-square-foot interior was more or less shoulder-to-shoulder for three people, but the generous 44-inch peak height, 20 square feet of vestibule space, and eight pockets—including one that runs the entire width of the tent—lend a feeling of spaciousness. An all-mesh body allows for stargazing on clear evenings, while kickstand vents on the fly aid with ventilation during inclement weather.
Best Ultralight 2-Person Tent
Zpacks Offset Duo
Weight: 1.2 lbs (does not include stakes or stuff sack)
Interior Space: 31.4 square feet
Peak Height: 48 inches
Pros and Cons
⊕ Livability
⊕ Weight
⊗ Price
⊗ Condensation
The Zpacks Offset Duo came as a bit of a shock to ultralighters who thought the brand’s popular Duplex was the peak of ultralight two-person design. Weighing just over 1.25 pounds while offering more than 31 square feet of interior space, 100 inches of length, and a peak height of 48 inches, our testers raved about its space-to-weight ratio, which bests the Duplex in almost every regard.
One tester who took the Offset Duo to the Lost Lake Trail in Chugach National Forest, Alaska, was able to comfortably fit two people and a medium-sized dog without issue (watch those claws, though). The non-freestanding Dyneema shelter owes its voluminous shape to a pitch that utilizes one small 32-inch carbon fiber support pole at the foot of the tent in addition to the usual double-trekking pole setup found on most tarp-style tents. All three must be securely guyed out to ensure a solid pitch, so patience and experience is required to prevent collapse in high winds. The foot pole also introduces a potential weak point in windstorms, although testers never encountered any issues.
It’s single-walled with a built-in tent body, so condensation was a factor, though air circulation is aided by two vents and a mesh interior. In dry conditions, magnetic toggles make rolling the doors up a cinch. Vestibules are small (two-by-six-and-a-quarter square feet) but adequate for ultralighters with limited gear.
Most Spacious 1-Person Tent
Argali Owyhee 1p
Weight: 2.1 lbs
Interior Space: 27.91 square feet
Peak Height: 50 inches
Pros and Cons
⊕ Livability
⊕ Storage space
⊗ Add-ons increase price
Because many one-person tents lack large vestibules or adequate interior space, some solo backpackers end up carrying a two-person tent, taking on extra weight and bulk in the process. The new Argali Owyhee strikes a much-needed balance, offering the low weight, quick setup, and packability of a one-person tent paired with the increased storage of a two-person tent.
“One-person tents usually don’t have enough storage for me,” one tester said after a climbing outing in Colorado’s Uncompahgre National Forest. “But I could fit all my gear in the Owyhee with room to spare.” Sporting a generous interior floor plan of nearly 28 square feet plus more than 11 square feet in its front-door vestibule, it weighs a hair over two pounds and can be pitched with a single trekking pole or carbon fiber pole (sold separately), packing down to the size of a liter Nalgene.
An all-mesh body and top vent keep air moving, and a peak height of 50 inches will allow most to sit up and change. Utilizing 20–denier Nano-Ripstop SilPoly fabric—an increasingly popular cottage industry fabric choice that doesn’t sag like silnylon—with 2000mm double silicone coated waterproofing, aluminum stakes, and six stake-out points (with 5 additional guy-outs), the Owyhee kept us dry during moderate rain and stood up tall to 15 mile-per-hour winds in the Uncompahgre.
Ding: The mesh insert is sold separately ($130); otherwise, it runs floorless without interior pockets. Double-ding: Seam sealing will cost you another $45.
Most Improved
Exped Mira II HL
Weight: 3 lbs
Interior Space: 30 square feet
Peak Height: 42 inches
Pros and Cons
⊕ Easy setup
⊕ Solid weather protection
⊗ Durability
The latest version of Exped’s double-walled Mira II HL boasts a lower weight and speedier setup, two improvements that made our testers love this weekend warrior even more than the previous iteration.
First, the new tent drops roughly three ounces from the previous version thanks to material changes, using slightly thinner 15-denier ripstop nylon on the body and 10-denier on the fly; a footprint is recommended for rocky sites. The Mira II HL’s packability is a huge improvement: “For a freestanding tent, this one is fairly light and really compact—it packs down as small as many trekking pole tents I’ve used,” said one tester after an outing on the Art Loeb Trail in North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest.
Another big change? The tent now uses DAC’s lightest type of 8.7mm pole, hubbed together for a much easier and more intuitive setup. Weather protection still punches above its weight thanks to a beefy pole arch design running the length of the tent and a half dozen guy out points.
Inside, livability is the same as the previous version, with 30 square feet of interior space, a 42-inch peak height, and more than 18 square feet of vestibule space. One downside: The tent is technically freestanding, but the foot needs to be staked out to take on its full shape.
How to Choose a Three-Season Tent
Capacity, Size, and Vestibules
The first thing to consider when buying a tent is its size. You’ll want to know the number of people it’s designed to hold, but also look closely at the square-footage to ensure it will work for your specific needs. Check the length of the tent if you are more than 6 feet tall—a couple inches of head and leg room are critical for a good night’s sleep, and not all tents are created equal. Pay attention to the amount of vestibule space a tent offers, especially if you plan to backpack in colder, more gear-heavy months.
Weight vs. Durability and Weatherproofing
While the best tents offer a lightweight balance of livability, weather protection, and durability evenly, those qualities often come at a weight penalty. Consider how far you’ll be hiking and how much weight you can comfortably carry over that distance. Some folks are happy to carry a five-pound tent that has a large floorplan and ample headroom, while others will prefer to minimize weight at the cost of comfort. Once you get a sense of your maximum weight, think about the weatherproofing you’ll need in the environments you plan to visit. Campers in Florida have different needs than campers in Colorado. An all-mesh tent body will improve ventilation in hot climates, but let heat escape in cold climates. If heavy rain or bad weather is the norm for you, invest in heavier-weight, more waterproof tent fabric and thicker, stronger poles. Burlier floor materials also add weight to the tent, but offer more durability on abrasive ground.
Freestanding vs. Semi- vs. Non Freestanding
Another thing to consider is the type of pitch a tent uses. Freestanding tents are supported by a set of structural poles and can be pitched anywhere, without the use of guy lines or added tension. They are the easiest to pitch, but offer minimal customization in foul weather. Semi and non-freestanding tents all use poles of some sort (structural aluminum poles or trekking poles), but need to be staked out using guy lines. This requires more patience and know-how when pitching, however it also allows the tent to be pitched in a variety of ways, making it easier to fit into tight spaces. Non-freestanding and semi-freestanding tents also typically weigh less than freestanding tents because they don’t come with as many—or any—poles.
Finally, a Pro Tip
Know the return policies. The only way to truly know a tent is to spend a couple of nights in it. Some stores and brands allow you to return used products without a penalty.
How We Test
- Number of Testers: 11
- Number of Products Tested: 12
- Number of Miles Hiked While Testing: 382
- Number of Nights Slept Outside: 88
Our testing group spanned the country, in wilderness areas from Maine to Hawaii. Testers come from a variety of backgrounds, genders, and professions, from public school teachers to park rangers. All of them are backpackers, ranging from veteran trekkers to weekend warriors. Over the course of two months, these testers evaluated tents on a multitude of criteria, including livability, ventilation, design, weather protection, setup, and price, among other intangibles. Those that didn’t stand up to the elements, were uncomfortable to live inside for weeks on end, or simply weren’t worth the price tag, didn’t make it onto this list
Meet Our Lead Tester
Will McGough has been writing about the outdoors and testing tents for Backpacker and Outside since 2015. Specs aside, he believes the most important quality of a tent is how it makes you feel—a good tent should make you feel at home, regardless of climate and conditions.
When you buy something using the retail links in our stories, we may earn a small commission. We do not accept money for editorial gear reviews. Read more about our policy.
