Hi all...

I've got a couple of good Marmot tents from years ago (Zoom 2-person and Monarch 3-person), but they're a bit big/heavy for carrying while backpacking or bicycle touring.

I'm going to be doing a 2-week bike trip soon, and want to get a light 1-person tent to lighten the load, and have broken it down to about 3 of them (based on my desire for a simple tent with only 2 or 3 poles). Here's the answers to the FAQ's questions first:

1. I've traveled all over the world with a backpack, though my backcountry experience is limited to about 3 weeklong trips and a few long weekend trips. Lots of car-camping though.
2. Basically just need a lightweight 1-person tent; expense isn't important, I like good quality; must be free-standing and pack reasonably small for fitting on a bike rack
3. Will be using this at first for bike touring, but in the future for solo backpacking trips of varying lengths
4. I just need a 3-season tent, mostly May-September
5. Price is not important (within reason - less than $500)
6. Most important to me are easy/clever setup, high quality and durability, good design
7. I'm 51 years old, 5'11", good at carrying loads
8. I don't like the newer tents with complex pole systems (split poles at the end, poles going over the front/top to add more width or height, etc.). My first tent was a Moss Starlet, just 2 sleeved tent poles, very simple.

... so, here's the tents I've found that fit the bill:
  • North Face Stormbreak-1
  • Marmot Tungsten 1P
  • MSR Hubba NX 1-Person

The first two are reasonably cheap, the third much more expensive. Also, the Stormbreak-1 has less netting in it (which is good for privacy), and the top 3/4 of the Marmot is almost all netting... I'm a bit concerned about privacy and maybe always having to use the fly on the Marmot due to that.

So... does anyone have any recommendations for a small solo tent of quality? Any opinions about the above?

For reference, here's a Moss Starlet - in my opinion, the most perfect tent I ever had (tho' a bit heavy by today's standards, and mine has lost its water resistence):



- Tim


Edited by Timby (05/12/15 10:07 PM)