The Best Two-Person Tents Of 2024, According To An Avid Backpacker

Total weight: 3.1 pounds | Packed size: 18 x 6 inches | Peak height: 40 inches | Floor area: 29 square feet | Vestibules: 9 square feet/9 square feet

Best for: 

• Car campers who like to backpack 
• Backpackers who like to car camp
• Hot sleepers who want to turn their vestibules into awnings

Skip if: 

• You’re a gram counter who values extreme weight savings over creature comforts
• You’re backpacking on a budget

Typically, the lighter a tent gets, the less comfortable it becomes. Big Agnes’ award-winning Copper Spur HV UL2 is an exception to this rule. First off, Big Agnes uses premium materials–silicone-treated double ripstop for fly and floor, ultralight double ripstop mesh and grid for the body and featherlight DAC poles–that help keep the weight low. It sports a trail weight of 2 pounds 13 ounces, comparable to ultralight competitors. 

However, the Copper Spur is much more comfortable than most tents in this weight class. It has a decent 29-square-foot floor area and a generous 40-inch head height, allowing you to sit up comfortably. But our favorite feature is definitely the easy-entry twin 9-square-foot vestibules. They’re not just spacious and effortless to access, but they unzip from both sides, converting to airflow-amplifying, sun-blocking awnings when paired with a pair of trekking poles. 

Additionally, Big Agnes equipped the tent with mesh pockets and shelves for excellent internal organization. If you like to keep your tent tidy, this one’s for you. 

Total weight: 5.9 pounds | Packed size: 5.9 x 24.4 inches | Peak height: 42.1 inches | Floor area: 30.1 square feet | Vestibules: 8.1f square feet/8.1 square feet

Best for: 

• Beginners 
• Car campers who are getting back into it or replacing old gear
• Campers on a budget 

Skip if: 

• You plan to backpack more often than not

There are cheaper tents on the market, that’s for sure. But most budget options can’t compete with Marmot’s popular Tungsten 2P when it comes to weather protection, performance and durability. Indeed, Marmot’s affordable yet capable Tungsten series is best-suited for campers who want bang for their buck, although it’s quite heavy for backpacking, with a minimum trail weight nearing five pounds. 

The easy-to-setup design is great for beginners (and veterans, too), with color-coded poles and tent attachments. The seam-taped rainfly is stout and durable, as is the floor and included footprint, providing solid weatherproofing for seasons to come. 

Once set up, the double-doored, easy-to-enter tent is spacious, with a 30.1-square-foot floor area and a lofty 42.1-inch peak height. The Tungsten also has mesh pockets and shelving for internal organization–features you might expect Marmot had slashed given the affordable price point. 

Our main complaint is simple: It’s heavy. If you’re backpacking, spending extra money to shave off a couple of pounds is well worth it. However, for car campers, or new backpackers who would prefer to save money and carry extra weight, the Tungsten 2P is a smart play. 

Total weight: 2.5 pounds | Packed size: 5.5 x 18 inches | Peak height: 39 inches | Floor area: 28 square feet | Vestibules: 8 square feet/8 square feet

Best for: 

• Backpackers who value weight savings over all else

Skip if: 

• A tear in your tent will cause spiraling sadness and feelings of despair

The Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 is the lightest tent in this guide–and it’s not close. It has a minimum trail weight of just over 2 pounds and packs down into a 5.5 x 18-inch cylinder. Big Agnes shaved weight by using featherweight materials, namely an ultralight polyester mesh that’s so fine it’s nearly transparent. However, negligible trail weight comes with a cost. The floor area, vestibule area and head height are all a touch less than the more comfortable and spacious Copper Spur. Additionally, the zippers and mesh aren’t beefy–quite the opposite, in fact, and we’ve torn mosquito-inviting holes in this tent’s doors. As such, you do have to baby the Tiger Wall a bit. Still, if you don’t mind making some durability and comfort sacrifices to have a superlight tent, this is a fantastic option. 

The Tiger Wall is also semi-freestanding, meaning it uses a combination of poles and tension from included guylines and tent stakes to stay erect. The setup is quick and easy, as the tent corners are color-coded and guylines are reflective. The tent also features a single-pole design, which further minimizes setup time and reduces chances of misplaced gear. 

Total weight: 3.1 pounds | Packed size: 5.5 x 19.5 inches | Peak height: 41 inches | Floor area: 29 square feet | Vestibules: 10 square feet

Best for: 

• An assortment of clever features
• Color-coded poles and clips for easy setup
• High-strength OSMO fabric

Skip if: 

• You’re looking for a two-person tent with a bit more room
• You’d prefer a tent that’s easier to pack

The problem with most ultralight backpacking tents is the tradeoff between weight and comfort. For every ounce of weight you eliminate, you also do away with convenient features that make a good shelter just a little more welcoming at the end of a long day. Fortunately, the Nemo Dragonfly OSMO’s trail weight maxes out at 2.62 pounds for the tent, fly and poles, and a slew of simple features make it feel well-appointed. For example, small sleeve pockets inside keep phones close by and gear lofts store small essentials in the tent’s roof. We also really like the color-toned nightlight pocket that dilates a headlamp’s glow to produce more warm light. And the Dragonfly OSMO is made from Nemo’s proprietary OSMO fabric that adds water repellency and reduces unwanted stretch.

The only real complaints we have with the Dragonfly OSMO are its interior dimensions and packability, or lack thereof. In spite of being a two-person tent, it’s a bit more narrow than we’d prefer, though there’s room to store gear inside the tent at your feet or under the spacious vestibules. And the OSMO fabric is a little harder to pack down inside the stuff sack, but we’ve managed to cram it into even smaller stuff sacks to save on space when bikepacking. All in all, it’s a great option that balances an ultralight design with features any camper can appreciate. 

Total weight: 3.3 pounds | Packed size: 5 x 19 inches | Peak height: 43.5 inches | Floor area: 28 square feet | Vestibule: 19.5 square feet

Best for: 

• Adapting to the weather–and adventure–at hand
• Backpackers and campers who appreciate multiple pitch styles
• Fast-and-light trekkers who want to ditch the tent and keep the rain fly 

Skip if: 

• You’re just going to use the rainfly. In that case, an ultralight tarp shelter is preferable (check out Sea to Summit’s Escapist, for instance) 

We’ve been testing Sea to Summit’s Telos Freestanding Ultralight this summer in the Sierra, and it’s easily one of the most versatile and ingeniously designed tents we’ve ever used. 

There are several reasons we recommend it so highly. It’s well-made, using materials that strike a balance between lightweight and reasonable durability. We love the full mesh canopy for ventilation on hot summer treks–and the stargazing is top-notch, too. The rainfly offers solid weather protection, and it has a built-in, zippered vent at the peak of the tent that allows warm air and condensation to escape. If you’re camping in warm, wet environments, this feature alone is worth adding the Telos to your gear closet. 

Speaking of the peak of the tent, the Telos features Sea to Summit’s “Tension Ridge” technology. Essentially, the tentmaker uses short poles that jut perpendicularly up and out from the center pole, lifting the top corner of the doors and vestibules. This design ensures the Telos’ impressive 43.5” peak height isn’t limited to a single central high point, making it easier to enter and more comfortable to sit up in the tent. 

Another intriguing aspect of the Telos is the packing system. Instead of one large stuff sack, the Telos comes with three: one for poles, one for the rain fly and another for the canopy. The separate sacks fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, or they can be parsed out between partners to share the load. 

We could stop this review here, and the Telos is already a winner. But what really sets this tent apart from the competition—and what makes it our top pick for versatility–is a mind-boggling multitude of pitching options. In addition to standard pitch modes (canopy with and without rainfly), the tent has several other pitch possibilities, among them: 

• Partial Fly Mode: Unsure if it’s going to rain? Already pitched the tent and want more ventilation without taking down your fly? Just unclip the fly from the corners and roll it toward the center of the tent to engage Partial Fly Mode. If it starts raining, you can quickly unfurl the fly without much headache. 
• Fly Only Mode: Going fast and light? Leave the canopy at home and just take the rainfly and poles. The rainfly can be set up independently, providing basic weather protection while shaving weight from your kit. 
• Hangout Mode: Whether you’re chilling on the beach or hammering out a thru-hike, Hangout Mode is a nifty addition to your pitch arsenal. Essentially, it’s the same as Fly Only Mode, but you prop up one side of the tent using trekking poles, creating a shady awning.

We have very few complaints regarding the Telos. However, the floor area isn’t noteworthy (28 square feet), and it’s heavier than the lighter options in this guide, with a minimum trail weight of 3.25 pounds. However, in our eyes, the feature set and pitching prowess make the Telos well worth a few extra grams. 

Interior: 84 x 48 inches | Exterior: 85 x 51 inches | Peak height: 40 inches | Weight: 135 pounds

Best for: 

• Campers who want a semi-permanent camping solution installed on their vehicle
• Campers who have trouble sleeping on bumpy, uneven ground and flimsy sleeping pads
• Campers who have ir/rational fears of critters and creepy crawlies

Skip if: 

• Four-digit price tags for a tent seem exorbitant

There are a ton of reasons why campers invest in rooftop tents. They’re extremely comfortable and offer campers much better protection from unwanted visitors compared with standard tents. Many rooftop tent buyers are also enticed by the purported ease of setup, but the truth is that many roof top tents are actually time-consuming and tricky to deploy. But not the Roofnest Sparrow Eye 2, which pops open like a clamshell, erecting in a matter of seconds–not minutes. 

The ABS shell exterior is coated with Line-X for exceptional durability and longevity, while the 320 GSM, blackout sidewall fabric is similarly overbuilt and tough. The shell is designed for compatibility with Roofnest’s crossbar system, allowing campers to carry up to 160 pounds of gear in a roof box or other aftermarket accessories. 

Climb the 8.5-foot collapsible aluminum ladder, and the 2.8-inch mattress is quite comfortable. There’s an LED light strip for nocturnal navigating, and a surprising amount of space for gear, bedding or clothing storage.  

Our biggest gripe is that it’s extremely pricey–double or more than many competitors. Also, it’s fairly bulky for long-distance drives. Finally, the ladder positioning means that one camper needs to clamber over the other if they have to use the bathroom during the night. 

Total weight: 9.6 pounds | Packed size: 8 x 24 inches | Peak height: 38 inches | Floor area: 40 square feet | Vestibule: 1