Leaving it all behind on a dedicated hike with your trusted pack is the kind of camping trip that gets imprinted on your memory for a very long time. Evidently, you can't leave absolutely everything behind, which is where a lightweight two-person tent eagerly steps into the trekking, hiking, bikepacking and backpacking conversations.
This style of tent needs to tick several boxes to make it worthy of a place in your pack, and luckily, brands like Vango, Terra Nova and Geertop have met these requirements with good weatherproofing, low weights and small dimensions. We've ranked the 10 best light and ultralight tents for every budget on Amazon, Argos, Decathlon and more to bring you protection from the elements when it counts.
Quick List - Top Lightweight Two-Person Tents
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A lightweight two-person tent is designed specifically to be carried with you wherever your adventurous bones see fit. For this reason alone, it needs to have a specific set of features that will keep you comfortable, weather the inevitable storms and be as light as possible. This simple buying guide will shed some light on these defining features.
At their very core, lightweight tents need to not skimp on the features that make them worthy while also being incredibly light. Of course, their weight will be a defining factor when it's time to fill your backpack, bike or car and head off to the great outdoors.
High-end camping and trekking brands take this integral aspect very seriously, with lifelong professionals spending years perfecting the balance of specs and weight. You'll find that these market-leading tents weigh no more than 2 kg in total, with the pinnacle of lightweight 2-person tents barely scraping the 1.5 kg mark.
Within the mid-range and budget offerings, most weigh around 2.5 kg, with the heaviest coming in at 3 kg+. This doesn't sound like a lot, but if you're planning to carry your tent with you for even one full day, then you'll feel every last kilo on your back.
Tents that aim to be lightweight in nature are inherently smaller than you'd probably like them to be. This makes scoping out their sleeping quarters – along with any extra porch space – valuable considerations to ensure you don't end up sleeping on top of your hiking companion.
Depending on whether you plan to share your tent with a friend, your partner or a hiking buddy you hardly know, the sleeping pod size will either be a major sticking point or something that's a little less important.
Obviously, with this style of tent, space isn't something that can be overstated in any way. You'll find most brands really aiming to tuck you in at night with dimensions of H 90 x W 100 x L 200 cm at their largest points.
If you think this simply won't cut the mustard and you're happy to carry a little extra weight to keep some distance between you and your mate, then look for sleeping pods in the H 125 x W 140 x L 260 cm range.
Another hot topic when looking into lightweight two-person tents is whether they have been graced with a porch and how easy it will be to store this component in your backpack or amongst your belongings.
As has already been explained, sleeping pods are barely big enough to house the persons they're intended to, let alone the hiking backpacks that come with them. This makes a porch incredibly useful for storing gear and for cooking, so as not to stink out the pod too early on!
Although each brand tends to size their porch a little differently, the most notable info to consider is whether a porch can fit in a hiking backpack or two. With a standard 80-litre trekking backpack measuring in the 35 x 85 x 25 cm range, it's smart to factor in this times two, alleviating any wet gear or potential of having to spoon your pack.
Looking beyond the bells and whistles and directly into a tent's construction and waterproof rating will help decipher how effective it'll be when up against the wet and windy odds.
Most tents in the modern day will be constructed from polyester, nylon or a combination of both. These synthetic fabrics are popular choices for tents through being incredibly durable and offering a good level of weather resistance.
Although not always included, look for any available information as to the quality of the materials used in a tent's construction. One of these is ripstop technology, which indicates a higher level of interwoven magic destined to stand the test of weather and time.
There's also the denier count, a reference to a synthetic fabric's thickness. Tent denier counts range from 30 D to 300 D, whereby the lower the number, the lighter the fabric. Lightness is always desirable where weight is a consideration, but you'll also want to scope out the waterproof rating alongside the denier to give you the best chance of tent success.
Rain always seems to be looming over the UK and none more so than the mountainous ranges people are attracted to for hiking. This makes acquiring a tent with a high waterproof rating essential no matter the trip you have planned.
A tent's waterproofing is often measured in millimetres of pressure (mmH20). This rating is determined by applying water through a column onto the tent's fabric until liquid starts to leak through. A waterproof rating of 3000 mmH20 will, therefore, handle 3000 mm of water coming down on it before it starts to leak into its interior.
Where lightweight two-man tents are concerned, they will, for the most part, include a flysheet with a rating of between 2000 mm and 6000 mm, with higher-cost tents sitting at about 5000 mm. Some brands will also include a rating on the tent's integrated groundsheet, which should always be higher than the flysheet.
Lightweight tents are very bare-boned pieces of kit, making the odd useful feature or two not go unnoticed. This is where each brand aims to get an edge over their competition, which seems to be very fierce!
We recommend keeping an eye out for features like darkened sleeping pods, inner pockets, air vents, mesh pole sleeves, snow skirts and anything else that you might help your final decision along.
One other feature relating to a tent's build is whether it is freestanding and geodesic in design. These styles allow for greater stability in the harshest of weather through an increase in cross-over poles. Geodesic tents have at least 5 cross-over poles, while semi-geodesics come equipped with 3.
Products | Image | Click to purchase | Key features | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Terra Nova Laser Competition 2-Person Tent | ![]() | An Extremely Lightweight Tent for the Intrepid Trekkers | |
2 | Vango 2-Person Mountain Tent|F10 | ![]() | An Award-Winning Freestanding Geodesic Mountain Tent | |
3 | Geertop 2-Person Tent | ![]() | An Inbuilt Snow Skirt Enables All-Condition, All-Season Camping | |
4 | Crua 2-Person Tent | ![]() | Spacious, Comfy and Light Enough for a Hiker's Pack | |
5 | Berghaus Brecon 2-Person Tent | ![]() | An Epically Protective Semi-Geodesic From Berghaus | |
6 | Forclaz 2-Person Trekking Tent | ![]() | Two Doors and Two Porches for Privacy and Space | |
7 | Olpro Pioneer 2-Person Tent | ![]() | Basic Features Make for an Impressively Low Weight | |
8 | Coleman Bedrock Two-Person Tent | ![]() | Hike the Mighty Mountains With the Ultralight Bedrock |
Making a good case for the lightest 2-person tent the outdoor adventuring community has ever seen, the Terra Nova Laser Competition weighs in at a jaw-dropping 1.25 kg. Despite this, the nylon flysheet has a good waterproof rating of 3000 mm while the groundsheet will repel any dew of the night with its 5000 mm rating.
A fairly small sleeping pod makes this tent more suited to couples, however, it luckily doesn't skimp on length at 230 cm. With a 40 cm porch running the entire width of the tent, you can just about tuck two backpacks in at night. An extremely light offering for the keenest of trekking beans.
The Vango F10 All Weather trekking tent features a multi-award-winning geodesic design with a focus on quality and strength above all else. Firstly, there's the 30D nylon ripstop construction, which is a defining sign of the durability of this top-shelf tent.
There's also the axial-hub pole structure, which allows for increased assembling efficiency, strength and various pitching options. Although this does up the weight to 3.46 kg, this design gives the tent a sturdy structure that will have zero qualms protecting you from whatever unpredictable weather you're likely to face in the UK and beyond.
Geertop are at the forefront of modern tent design, creating impressively lightweight tents that retain a high level of function. The flysheet has the highest waterproof rating on this list at 8000 mm, entering this tent into the winter alpine arena.
With a dedicated snow skirt to match, there really is no place or weather condition this tent won't excel in. It also hits the right notes on weight at 2.1 kg, so it's clear Geertop have a high amount of experience and knowledge when it comes to minimising the often cruel hand of the elements.
With more sleeping room than every other offering on this list, the Crua Duo is a spacious and comfortable hiking-specific tent. Luckily, Crua Outdoors have put this product's weight as high up as its other priorities – at 2.2 kg, they've allowed you the extra space without any extra weight.
They manage to achieve this by keeping the construction light on the feature front while still retaining a 5000 mm waterproof rating on the flysheet. This is a commendable tent that deserves every hiking fanatic's attention.
While it's not the lightest of tents with an above-average weight of 3.3 kg, this semi-geodesic epic from Berghaus will keep you inextricably warm and dry at night. It boasts a 5000 mm waterproof rating, so you can sleep easy knowing you and your gear will weather any storm coming your way.
The higher weight is likely down to the mesh pole sleeves, though they may well be worth it as they ensure an increased level of wind resistance while also shortening the assembly time. Alongside its ripstop polyester construction, you can be sure that the Brecon 2 from Berghaus will not let you down.
Here's another tent with two doors and porches, giving friends their own access points when confined to very close quarters. The Forclaz trekking tent comes under the desirable 2 kg mark, while also accommodating with a well-sized sleeping pod and porch space for two 50-70 litre backpacks to fit.
It also features a self-standing design that aims to lean on itself when you're pitching in some unsavoury conditions. Unfortunately, there's a slight note of concern with the flysheet only rated at 2000 mm, which, for the price, is on the lower end of what you might expect.
The Olpro pioneer is genuinely lightweight, coming in at 1.9 kg for the whole pack. This low weight is put down to the pulled-in sleeping pod and almost featureless design, giving hikers exactly what they need and nothing more.
The impressive waterproof rating of 5000 mm for both the fly and groundsheet instructs that this tent can handle the wettest of weather. The two porches are 80 cm at their widest point, allowing two backpacks to comfortably tuck in out of the cold and wet. A clever tent that puts its worth where it counts.
Coleman's ultralight two-person hiking tent is a good mid-range option in terms of quality and price. The sleeping pod is a good size at 260 cm, so even the tallest campers should be able to stretch out after a day of activity.
This tent will help friends who maybe aren't so accustomed to sharing a sleeping space with one another too, thanks to the dual porch and door configuration. It is, however, constructed of polyester with a 2000 mm rating on the overhead flysheet, which results in a moderately waterproof tent that the price reflects.
No. 1: Terra Nova|Laser Competition 2-Person Tent
No. 2: Vango|2-Person Mountain Tent|F10
No. 3: Geertop|2-Person Tent
No. 4: Crua|2-Person Tent
No. 5: Berghaus|Brecon 2-Person Tent
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