Small Tent

I'm hoping someone here can point me to a freestanding, one person waterproof tent that packs really small and light. Something in the $300 range.

Thanks Tony

The Tarptent Moment is on my Wishlist and might meet your needs also.

I got a moment and I can put it up in under a minute with just 2 pegs. Great tent and light too.

The TarpTent Moment is not a freestanding tent, but the Tarptent Rainbow is just a tad bit heavier and might fit the bill. The rainbow is semi-freestanding, and if you add two trekking poles at bases of the two ends, it becomes fully freestanding.

If you're open to discussion about this, I suggest that you lay out your reason(s) for wanting a freestanding tent. Unless you camp on wooden tent platforms or that sort of thing a lot, my limited experience in discussing this with folks is that they ultimately drop the "freestanding" requirement after they've worked through the issues and trade-offs.

That said, the rainbow isn't a bad choice, but even there --- I wonder how often folks put it up in freestanding mode vs. just staking it out??

Bottom line is that you have a lot more choices, and so can optimize for other things if you accept a non-freestanding tent.

And what do you mean by "waterproof"? I.e., do you mean something really specific in terms of mm of hydrostatic head, or do you just mean that you don't want a tent that leaks like a sieve, or ... ? For example, with silnylon you can get 'misting' which I don't find to be much of a problem; cuben is more waterproof and lighter, but also a more expensive fabric.

Another question: do you use trekking poles? I.e., would you have a pole or two along with you to act as a tent pole?

From the Tarptent Moment web page
"Free-standing with optional 7-ounce pole"

I've not actually used the tent to verify this. Can an owner of a Moment comment?

You might want to check out the Big Agnes tents. The Fly Creek single is under 2 pounds at around $300, and they have a Copper Spur that is something like 2lb6oz. I have the Fly Creek 3 man at 3#3oz and it holds up in the rain quite well. I think the Fly Creek's can run a bit tight; I got my 3 man for use as a roomy 2 man (I'm 6 ft 4 in tall).

I have had the Moment for several years now and have mixed feelings about it. It definitely has more condensation than other Tarptent designs, unless it has been modified (bigger vents) lately. Condensation IS a big issue for me. Even with the door wide open I get condensation. It does dry quickly if you can leave it up for about a half hour in sunshine. For me that is difficult since my style of backpacking is to get up very early and be on the trail by 7AM. I would go with the extra weight and get a Tarptent that has two doors so you can get cross ventilation. On the positive side, the Moment is very wind-worthy. It is fairly storm-proof, but I have exceeded its limits a few times. I got caught in a major storm at 11,000 feet elevation last year (4 inches of rain in a few hours) and my site became flooded (looked like good drainage when I set up!). It did mist, but more seriously, the floor leaked through. So it depends where you plan on using it.

In addition to the single-wall tents you might want to consider the Big Agnes Fly Creek. I have one and it has worked well for me in light snow, high winds and in heavy, windy thunderstorm rain. It is sorta free-standing without the fly, small and light; 2 lb with stakes for mine. It has been reviewed by a number of people, just Google reviews for this tent. Most, but not all, reviewers liked the Fly Creek.

With the extra X pole the Moment is indeed freestanding, however if the reason for the freestanding mode is to set it up on platforms or hard soil I find that it is just as easy to connect the ends to the platform (it stands up with just two pegs) or to pile up rocks,logs over the end triangular guyout system.
As in this photo. I am using rocks, my mate is using the extra pole.


Franco
franco@tarptent.com