bikeguyinvenice

I'd like some recommendations on good to very good brands of tents, I'd like a two person tent, for use for bicycle / motorcycle / car camping. I've been browsing around and see so many brands I don't even know where to start.

Lionheart

I have a North Face "tadpole". Mine's from about 1990 but still holding up and I still use it. The tent is fairly light. It claims to be a two-person tent, but is a tight squeeze for two.

Randolfo

Eureka! makes some nice tents as well. My hiking tent is a three man Eureka, and it has held up very well. If you want to save weight, there are some minimalist options out there like bivy sacks and one man hking tents. Hikers believe in aluminum poles, and I have to say after watching a friends fibreglass pole shatter once, I can see why. Aluminum can be fixed fairly easy. Fiberglass has to be thrown out.

Cyclebum

The Eureka Spitfire 2 at 34 sq ft is probably the best bang for the buck in a two man tent. I can testify to it's durability. Good peak height, double door, no crawling to enter, lots of room.

Downside is it is a bit heavy and bulky for bicycle camping, but that can be managed by splitting the parts between both cyclists.

Like most things, tent choice usually involves trade offs.

Machka 

We've been using a Quechua tent since 2007, and have been quite pleased with it. It's been through a lot of different sorts of weather, and has held up.


Rowan is Australian, and I'm Canadian, and we decided to get together in Europe in 2007 ... and we decided not to bring a tent with us. So on our first day in France, we stopped in at a Decathlon and picked up a tent.
https://www.decathlon.fr/C-498393-ten...laces~3-places

They don't appear to sell the one we've got anymore, but it is something like this ...
https://www.decathlon.fr/tente-3-plac...d_8245651.html

And I actually like the front of that one better than what we've got. The front of ours is more solid. That one looks like it might have a bit more ventilation.

cyccommute 

I a real big fan of Big Agnes. I have a Seedhouse SL2, a Seedhouse 1 (not the SL) and a Fly Creek UL1. The Fly Creek is a great tent for a single person. The Seedhouse SL2 is a very good 2 person tent and an excellent single person tent. They are both east to set up and take down and the Fly Creek is incredibly light.

Big Agnes also makes quality sleeping bag and pads.

fietsbob

REI carries a brand of their own , and several others, at least they are there if the thing fails..

now you have a Year to return things for refunds ..

lots of outdoor gear is also off shore made like Bikes are .. China ..
so .. " 'X' makes quality stuff" is probably more contract specifications ..

License2Ill

Go light. Tarptent. https://tarptent.com/ Some, but not all use trekking poles but you can still get poles for those models.

Other than that, Big Agnes would be my preference, like the Copper Spur line. Light and good quality.

REI tents aren't bad for the money in terms of weight and quality.

Ventilation is key. I like a double wall so I can use just the bug net or just tarp it when conditions are right, and double wall makes for better weather protection in cool, moist temps. But if weather is good and you want to go light, the silnylon tarptents are the way to go. Some of their options are double wall too. Side entry is preferred by me for more than one person, especially if you're using a 2-person for 2 people. For car camping my preference is a big standing height ceiling 4-6 person option, but if I gotta carry it, it's going to be 2lbs/person or less.

MichaelW

Hilleberg are good for Northern climates: cooler conditions, extremely high winds, driving rain.
NZ-made Macpac have a solid reputation.

wahoonc

Most major name brand tent companies make multiple models that would work depending on your needs. I have a couple Eureka tents that I use, one is pushing 30 years old and is still usable, it happens to be the Timberline model. Not a light weight by any means, but has served me well. I also have a Coleman Exponent Inyo (I don't think they make it any more) that is pretty light weight and works for me.

Aaron

Booger1

These tents are all quality tents.....Hilleberg being as bombproof as tents get,heavy but as good as it gets.

Tarptent and Terra Nova being among the lightest and most innovative.

Black Diamond is known for single wall tents,mostly for mountaineering.

The rest are somewhere between Helleberg and Tarptent for weight,toughness,innovation.

I have nothing to do with this company,it's just a place that carries quality goods.

There are lots of other tent makers around the world that make good stuff,this is just some.

https://www.backcountrygear.com/campi...ght-tents.html

Tents made for 1 person are normally just that,1 person......there actually big bivies.....some you might be able to sit up in.....if your a midget....They tend to be on the small side,that's the whole idea..If every gram counts and all you do is sleep in your tent,there great.Not much fun for a day in the rain though,sort of a toss up between that and a tarp bivie combo.Single tent will give some privacy that you won't get with a bivy and tarp.

2 person tents give 1 person a palace or 2 people a place to sleep.Split between 2 people,weight can be real light with a good choice of tents.They are all over the board on actual size and comfort for 2 people.Some have lots of room for 2,some not so much.

3 person tents are a palace for 2 and are not so bad on weight if it's split between 2 people.You will need to pick carefully to try and keep the weight down if that's one of your goals.

Eureka Spitfires 1 -2 both have a good following,deservedly so and are solid choices.I agree,they are among the best tents for the money you can buy in a non freestanding tent.

Personally I carry a Sierra Designs Lightening HT 2:


Freestanding,you can erect the tent under the fly while raining if need be,well vented,erects in under a minute if you try,you can open both doors in the pouring rain,light colored roof so it isn't so gloomy inside,comes in a normal color(I'm not looking to be rescued..)....not the lightest,just well thought out.

BohicaX

Hilleberg Staika has served me well with plenty of ventilation options plus it's totally free standing. If you want to use the inner tent you will need to purchase the added hardware to make it free standing. Outer tent can be used if you don't want to sleep in the inner tent so options for all conditions. Just spend the time to seal the 4 corners of the inner tents bathtub floor. Large storage in the 2 vestibules and worth the extra cost to purchase the footprint. If all zipped up I found in light windy conditions due to the shape even with no pegs or guy ropes it's stays put.

License2Ill

To add for perspective, the Staika is a serious 4-season(winter) hardcore weather option. The cross pole design would make it or a similar Exped Orion my choice for the worst of wind and snow.

Konasutra

I use either my Kelty Gunnison 2.1 or my MSR Hubba Hubba. The MSR is a net body and I like it when I am camping in hotter weather for more air flow.

calyth

Basically going to an REI or MEC would get you a nice servicable tent for those purposes. I've hard a good time with MEC's designs, so I would expect REI's designs to be pretty much the same.
There are also other brands, and they're all good for that purpose.

Like anything else with camping gear, cheapness, durability and lightness, choose 2.

Shifty

I agree, you can't go wrong with Big Agnes tents.
I also really like my MSR tents, they have never let me down and pack well. https://cascadedesigns.com/msr/tents/...eries/category

PlanoFuji

My current favourite is the MSR Hubba.

I am happy with the room, design, and implementation. I really like the ability to just use the fly with the footprint in areas where bugs aren't a problem (American southwest desert) and the ability to be free standing or staked is useful.

Many other's share these same qualities, so IMO just about any well known brand is going to be pretty good. Certainly much better than the tents available in my youth...

AAZ

+1
And the selection will be very good.

Fullcount

+1 on the Big Agnes and the MSR Hubba Hubba. I have the Hubba Hubba, a two man version that sets up easy and has options for a full net / fly set up, or just the footprint and fly set up. I also have the Jacks R Better Bear Mountain Bridge Hammock. The hammock is my preferred sleeping arrangement when I am backpacking on the AT.

For touring on a bike, I am thinking my Hubba Hubba is my first choice only because of the options for stealth camping. A hammock sits up too high and can be seen at eye level.

When you look for your tent, consider a color like green or brown if you plan to stealth camp. Stealth camping with bright yello or orange, while good during hunting season, is not good if you just plan on pulling over to an undeveloped camp site in Farmer Browns back forty.

Another resource is www.whiteblaze.net which is the forum for through hikers on the Appalachian Trail (AT). There are a lot of resources on light weight tents. Best of luck on your search..., but if all fails, try the Hubba Hubba or the REI counterpart called the Half Dome.

fietsbob

Stevenson Warmlight is a nice US cottage industry made tent ,
not cheap as all the work is done in New Hampshire USA,


but custom sewn with a variety of color and construction options.

License2Ill

And who doesn't love the catalog, right?

rifraf

I'm a big fan of Macpac gear.
www.macpac.co.nz
I have two of their tents (a two man Minaret and a single Microlight) and a bivybag (Cocoon).
I stick with their green for stealth options.
I have a lot of their other gear too and wont be changing brands anytime soon.
If I was, the Hilleburg Soulo and Staika would be very high on my list of alternatives.

alhedges

Asking for good brands of tents is like asking for good brands of bikes - there are a lot of choices.

But I want to echo what Booger1 said about tent sizes - do you want a two-person tent or a tent for two people? From the point of view of most people, a two person tent is a tent for one person; a three person tent is a tent for two people, etc. A two person tent means that there is room for two people to lie next to each other, shoulder to shoulder, but there is not room for much else.

I would suggest going to REI and looking around - they tend to have a lot of tents set up, so you can crawl inside and see how large they actually are. It's also good to look at the packed tent, if possible, to see how it would fit on your bike.

If you want a tent for two people, I would suggest *something like* an REI Quarter Dome T3 - a "three man" tent with two doors. (Doesn't have to be by REI; that's just the basic design to consider). It's nice not to crawl over someone/be crawled over by someone in the middle of the night. This also gives each person their own vestibule to store shoes and other items that you want to keep out of the weather, but not necessarily in the tent.

I would also consider getting a separate, larger tent for car camping - I use a generously proportioned 4 man Eureka tent for car camping (it must weigh 8 lbs), but there's space for cots in the tent, and I can *almost* stand up in it. (I do have 5 tents, but still, two is not too many...)

Machka 

Do you know where to start yet?

Cyclist0094

I also use the Spitfire II. Great little tent! I like that it packs down to less than 18" in length and at roughly 4 lbs it isn't more than a pound or so heavier than the ultra-lights that cost 3 times as much. What is nice about the double door is you can easily get your bike inside and keep it dry and secure when touring solo.