True enough. But if you LIKE your girlfriend, and want her to continue to enjoy backpacking with you, get a two-person tent and carry it.

With every piece of backpacking equipment, there are compromises. The basic criteria are weight, quality of construction, cost, and integrity in weather. If you are only taking trips when the weather report calls for clear skies, you may not need a tent at all--depending on where you live and how accurate your local weather man is. We did a trip like this in Death Valley this spring.

But those of us who hike regularly know that even a nice forecast can turn nasty in the mountains. In that case, we want at least some basic protection from rain and wind. If it can snow where you hike, then that adds another element to the mix, and you need a better/stronger tent.

I hiked for years as a younger person with a $5 tube tent that weighed less than a pound. It had no screens, so sometimes the bugs drove me wild. It was more or less waterproof, and that's all that mattered to me. And I had some great trips.

Now that I hike with my wife, we want screens, and we hike where it can snow or sleet sometimes. That means a better. more expensive, and heavier tent.

The REI Half Dome is a good starter tent. Anything less expensive than that would worry me. The malfunction of a single zipper on a tent can make the whole trip a lot more difficult.

And if you get serious about backpacking, you'll eventually want a lightweight tent. You don't need one for a few overnight trips a year. But when you decide to hike for six days and have to carry all that food, the extra two or three pounds for the tent seem a lot heavier. But by that time you'll be married, and your wife will want to participate in the decision...to get a really good tent because you both love backpacking so much.