Two man tents

[whitestone]

Following our little jaunt around Brittany where circumstances forced us to use our tarps for camping* we are looking for recommendations for a reasonably lightweight two man tent for touring. Ideally it should be free standing, at least for the main compartment, pegs will obviously be needed for the vestibules. Cost not a factor within reason (I'm not getting the Terra Nova cuben fibre tent at £1200!) We'd like something with a bit of room so tents with sloping sidewalls like the Lasercomp are out as once you shove an inflatable mat in there there's not much room. Quite like the idea of two doors.

Currently considering:

MSR Hubba Bubba
MSR Freelite
Six Moon Designs Lunar Duo
Trekkertent Drift 2 (not freestanding)

There's a good few on this page https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk ... -tents-c26, I've no experience of Big Agnes tents for example. The Hubba Bubba is probably about as heavy as we'd go. We've seen the two MSR tents this last week and have seen Mike's Lunar solo. I've a Trekkertent tarp so have experience of their workmanship.

* It must be said that our use of tarps did attract a lot of comment, odd looks and finger pointing

[Bearbonesnorm]

Karl has a Drift Bob. Might be worth a word when he's back.

Have you considered any of the pyramid type shelters? I used to have a Go-lite Shangrila 3 (sold it to Wenchie years ago) and for two, it was fantastic. They're long gone but there's a few others of a similar vain.

[whitestone]

Ah, worth a chat with him then*. We've a friend with a Hubba Bubba so can have a look at that. Something we can split between the two of us when carrying is also useful. One downside to the MSR tents is that they pitch inner first and the inner has substantial areas of mesh - great for a Scottish hoolie

Hadn't considered pyramid style tents/shelters. A quick search comes up with the DD hammocks pyramid tent, outer and inner for £150 at about 1kg (excluding pole).

* Edit: assuming he doesn't get attacked by a herd of yaks

[Bearbonesnorm]

Have a look at this Bob: https://www.twistmoto.co.uk/three-man-t ... jYQAvD_BwE

Now, it's not light but you could shed weight quite easily and reduce pack size. Use inner / outer together or each on their own and you'll never want for more space.

[fatbikephil]

Friends use a Force 10 nitro 200+ if you want the luxury option - I think they are called something else now but the porch provides tons of room for getting out of wet gear and they are bomb proof weather wise for a total weight of around 2 kg's

[whitestone]

Friends use a Force 10 nitro 200+ if you want the luxury option - I think they are called something else now but the porch provides tons of room for getting out of wet gear and they are bomb proof weather wise for a total weight of around 2 kg's

We've currently got a Vango Spirit 200+ which is either very similar to or an earlier version of the Nitro. It suffers pretty badly from condensation - bad enough that before last year's HT I thought it had sprung a leak

[Jamesh]

I have a Big Agnes Copper Spur 2, can't recommend it enough. Would think the downside would be current uk price (also look for deals which include the footprint) as I purchased it from REI. Have used MSR Hubba hubbas in the past but much prefer the BA I have now. Tent is about 1.2kg, plus maybe 150g for the footprint.
I'm 6'3 and there is acres of space, sidewall shape is very vertical so no chance touching the sides and the internal height seems a bunch higher than many brands i've used before. Doors either side, with a pair of decent vestibules.
Poles are of a comforting quality and fold up at the right length to fit in a large Tangle bag or stapped on a front harness with no interference.
It's free standing by design (which l was after when l was purchasing) and the outer layer can be used on its own or with the footprint leaving the tent inner at home. I've used it in this fashion a views times as a more spacious weatherproof faux bivvy. Really it packs down so small and light even though the internal room is BIG for one I seem to take it on most extended trips.

[benp1]

Friend of mine has the hubba hubba, he loves it. I have to admit it looks pretty good, though I bivvied out the night we were proposing to use it in the alps

[windjammer]

i have one of these nemo dagger 2p tent thinking of selling it https://www.nemoequipment.com/product/dagger/

[Blair512]

I have a Hubba Hubba and it's been great, starting to get to the end of its life now but it's been properly abused for over 5 years. I'll be replacing with the same again soon I think

[TheBrownDog]

Ive got a Lunar Duo and can recommend them. Pretty light, goes up very quickly and as long as you dont peg it too close to the ground its not too bad on condensation. Ive had it up in heavy rain and it managed fine but its not been up in a gale, not yet anyway. Its a big tent too - easily copes with two and we managed three in a pinch.

[Scattamah]

As always, I say go Zpacks - you'll want to look at the Duoplex with the Flex upgrade if you want free standing.
http://www.zpacks.com/shelter/duplex-flex.shtml

Without the Flex upgrade, the tent comes in at under 540g which for a 2 person tent is pretty decent.

A pittance compared to that TN you've just mentioned.

Greetz

S.

[Asposium]

Terra Nova Voyager (the full fat version)
Fairly spacious for two; certainly fit two thermarests, though would need to be the tapered type
Good size porch
Lightweight
Poles fairly short; can measure if of interest
Freestanding (except porch)
Good strength, even better when extra guy lines added by Terra Nova (cost me £15 a point)
Fully taped seams on outer
Continuous pole sleeves
Double door (mesh and solid)

Only downside (depending on opinion) is it's inner pitch first

[ton]

and a cheaper option is what i bought last week.
a alpkit ordos 2. i use it at the weekend on the moors 100 thing.
goes up in 5 minutes, faster with use i reckon.
dont really weigh a lot
and as you know, i am as big as you and your lass together, and i had loads of room in it.

[benp1]

I have a Scarp 1, scarp 2 must be a good option

[lune ranger]

I'm a big Hubba Hubba fan as a moderately light two person option.
Even use it solo sometimes for longer trips in bad weather.
It's not so heavy compared to two people carrying a properly weather proof tarp/ groundsheet/bivibag combo each.
Loads of room.
Two vestibules
Free standing
Fly only or inner only option
Yes it's inner pitch first but it really only takes a couple of minutes to get the fly on.
Me and Mrs Ranger used one on a tour through 2 continents and three seasons and it served very well except when faced with wind + snow. It has a reasonable size gap between the fly and the ground and the inner is all mesh which resulted in a dusting of snow all inside the tent. Not great but not terrible. We found it to be very rain proof when in Iceland where the free standing pitch also was a god send.
I can fit the poles in a half frame bag on my CX/gravel bike. The fly and inner are about 7L total volume. This again compares very favourably to 2x individual tarp set ups.
I think MSR now do a lighter version of the Hubba Hubba as well

[ripio]

Robens Raptor?
http://www.robens.de/en/Products/tents/ ... via/raptor

[whitestone]

Tony - hadn't looked at the Alpkit Ordos, mainly as it's single door and we'd had condensation problems with the Vango single door but the mesh panel on the inner might counteract that. I had considered a Jaran 2, I saw one on show at their Ambleside store, very similar to the Hubba Bubba.

Lune ranger: US designed/oriented tents all seem to have a big gap between fly and ground, I think it's to deal with condensation rather than UK style horizontal rain Any two skinned tent with large mesh panels on the inner is going to suffer the same way in snow, they are only sold as 3 season anyway.

Scott: ZPacks, hmm, definitely a left field choice there! I've seen Fitz's Hexamid and was impressed. I'd be looking at quite a price once duty and VAT are applied.

Asposium: I've heard that TN aren't the best quality these days. The firm/range have been through a lot of owners since Ben and Marion Wintringham started it.

The Hubba Bubba, Lunar Duo, Alpkit Jaran, Nemo, etc. are all very similar

[Moder-dye]

I have the jaran 3. Good space for 2 adults, light (2kg) and easy to put up. Worked for 2 adults and an 8 year old for 2 weeks in Norway, just space wise.

The main failing is inner first erection, but having had to put it up in heavy rain its not soooo much issue once you've got fast at putting it up. Its also largely mesh inner, but in don't mind that 3 season wise.

My friend and I used it our last trip split to roughly 1kg each, so lighter than our cheapo bivy & tarp options.

[benp1]

Bob, check out the Scarp 2. Tarptent do a UK version of the inner with less mesh, which is what I have in my scarp 1

It's very comfy for 1, two vestibules with two doors, big enough for me as well. The 2 is just a bigger version

I have a Wild Country Zephyros 2XL as well, probably a bit heavy for your requirements but it's a 2 man tent with a similar design to the Scarp. Worked well with my son, it's pretty sizeable inside

Both pitch outer first or both together, which for me is pretty essential in UK weather

[whitestone]

We've been playing at tents on the living room floor measuring out the quoted inner sizes and seeing what works or not. The Alpkit Jaran 2 is too narrow really at 106cm wide, something at least 120cm is much more liveable.

We reckon that having vertical or near vertical side walls on the inner makes things much easier so pyramid tents are out, sorry Stu.

Current short list is (in weight order)

Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL 2. 1030g, floor is 132x218cm (but it's a tapered design so narrower at the foot)
MSR FreeLite 2, 1160g, floor is 127x213cm
Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL 2, 1250g, floor is 132x224cm (again a tapered design)
MSR Hubba Hubba, 1610g, floor is 127x213cm

I just weighed our current two man tent (Vango Spirit 200+) - 3kg! So all of the above will feel light by comparison

[Scattamah]

...I'd be looking at quite a price once duty and VAT are applied

Agreed. Not a cheap choice. Roulette on whether you get hit for duty or not. If the cost of duty and VAT is more than a ticket to Florida, go pick it up and have a weekend away. Enjoy the palmetto bugs. :)

I'll have my Solplex @ BB200 if you want a peek at the build quality.

Greetz

S.

[metalheart]

I recently bought a Hubba Hubba but not used it yet. I got it from EMS rather the ULG as it was cheaper (and found EMS to be good to deal with so would recommend them). Came with free groundsheet too.

The only draw back with the HH is the volume the poles take up (esp compared with my Lunar Solo poleabear jobbie...)

Got friends (a couple) who have used the hell out their one. A little bit cosy if not that well acquainted (not that this applicable in your case...).

[rudedog]

Another vote for the Big Agnes copper spur, I've got the 3 man version and it's humongous. Unlike many ultralight 3 man tents it comfortably fits 3 adults with standard air mats so I'd image the 2 man version is equally comfortable for 2.

The 3 man is only 1.8 kg on the scales and it's hard to believe how much space you get for the weight. I also got the optional ground sheet as the tent floor is quite thin. It adds another couple of hundred grams but even then it only adds up to around a kilo each when splitting the tent and ground sheet between 2.

[Fat tyre kicker]

I have the tent Stu's put a link on for above, it's a great tent