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2 Person Tent Suggestions

Bradkap

New member
Can I get suggestions on tents

Low cost,
Well constructed
Light weight
Easy to assemble and take down
 
You need a three person tent for 2 people. Winter months are a good time to buy. Check REI, Campmor, EMS, and others. I like a free standing tent with two poles, tend to favor Eureka. Main thing is pack size. Not many tents have poles short enough to fit in a side case. Yeah, and get aluminum poles.
 
You need a three person tent for 2 people. Winter months are a good time to buy. Check REI, Campmor, EMS, and others. I like a free standing tent with two poles, tend to favor Eureka. Main thing is pack size. Not many tents have poles short enough to fit in a side case. Yeah, and get aluminum poles.

+1

Your requirements are:

Low cost,
Well constructed
Light weight
Easy to assemble and take down

Unless you find a bargain on a used tent, your first requirement will be hard to meet.

Measure the largest bag on your bike and then try to find a tent with poles short enough it will fit. Very, very hard to do.

If you can't find one that will pack inside and have to strap it on the bike somewhere, then bigger is better. Room for your gear in addition to two people requires a 3 person tent at the very least.

Big Agnes tents meets three of your four requirements.

Good Luck

BTW I currently have 3 tents and only one will fit in my topcase. It's a 2 person with very little headroom.
 
I have a eureka backcountry that i like very much. keeps me dry and packs down to something like 5 x 15. Works great on the bike, even fits in a side case. I used to use the eureka timberline which is a great tent but the poles make it too long to fit in a side or top case. If you don't mind strapping gear on though, that tent is absolutely my all time favorite.
 
We have found that a 3p tent for a long weekend with all our gear (and inclement weather) is small. We just got a 4p tent from Dick's for $100. It's a field and stream, go figure! It is big, high enough to almost stand inside, and has one big door and vestibule. We knew we would be putting it on top of the dry bag and so we didn't care much about the poles fitting it or even being so light, but it does pack up pretty small. We are going to try it next year and if we don't like it, we are only out $100. We just couldn't stomach the smaller tents that cost a fortune!
 
I have a three-person Northface tent that I got on sale. I don't mind the extra packed size or weight (I'm not on a bicycle) and the extra interior room comes in handy.

Find a good quality, well-reviewed, name-brand tent on sale unless money is no object.
 
For two people, I suggest a four man tent. My 3 person Big Angus, complete with two vestibules, works fine for me and my gear; don't know how I'd fit a second person and their gear inside. :laugh
 
Cost, features, and quality: Pick any two.

I'm new to motorcycle camping, and this summer went out a couple times with a cheap, borrowed Tahoe Gear 2-person tent, <$50.

Pros:
Cheap
Easy to set up
Packed well for my purposes

Cons:
Really just one: Too small. Nominal dimensions are long enough, but even with my sleeping pad set diagonally, my head and toes were brushing the sides of the tent.
I had all kinds of gear piled up inside once I unpacked a bit. So you need at least one person greater "capacity" than you will have actually sleeping in it.

That model packed down to about 30" in length. That worked out just fine, as I had it strapped across the passenger seat and my side cases are about 36" wide.

If I planned to use it heavily, or camp in "real weather," I'd step up the quality quite a bit. For a couple of summer weekends in California, the quality of this was perfectly adequate.

You'll also want a tarp or footprint so the bottom of your tent isn't sitting on the ground. And a small thing - if you have the room, get an extra piece of tarp to use as a "doormat" so your feet don't go from dirt straight into your tent.
 
I have a eureka backcountry that i like very much. keeps me dry and packs down to something like 5 x 15. Works great on the bike, even fits in a side case. I used to use the eureka timberline which is a great tent but the poles make it too long to fit in a side or top case. If you don't mind strapping gear on though, that tent is absolutely my all time favorite.

I bought a Back Country tent last year because the poles are, as you say, 15" long and it will fit in my top case. But................

It's just too darn small for me and all my stuff. :D
 
For two people, I suggest a four man tent. My 3 person Big Angus, complete with two vestibules, works fine for me and my gear; don't know how I'd fit a second person and their gear inside. :laugh


I remember at the RA Rally you had a LOT OF STUFF! :wave

I'm thinking a 3 person "something" will be my next tent. Strap it on in lieu of a top case and good to go.
 
I remember at the RA Rally you had a LOT OF STUFF! :wave

I'm thinking a 3 person "something" will be my next tent. Strap it on in lieu of a top case and good to go.

Yeah, he's really overkill, eh? Hope to see you both in NS next year!
 
Great Tent

I've been using a Cabela's 4-Man XPG Tent for the last 3 years and it's got lots of room
for one person and could easily accomodate 2. The price was very reasonable and the
performance has been excellent. I had the XPG Deluxe which isn't listed here, I'm wondering
if this tent (link) is what they replaced it with...........a good time to buy a tent as they
are on sale. Good luck with your choice.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabe...Ntt=xpg+tent&WTz_l=Header;Search-All+Products
 
Those BackCountry Tents come in a couple of different sizes, definitely get at least a 2 man if you're traveling solo. Actually that's true no matter what tent you get, my Timberline was a 4 Person and while it was more than I needed it was nice to have all of the extra room for my stuff.
 
I remember at the RA Rally you had a LOT OF STUFF! :wave

I'm thinking a 3 person "something" will be my next tent. Strap it on in lieu of a top case and good to go.

Maybe Bud, but that 3 person Big Agnus tent, along with other camping items, packed into my left case, clothes were in the right, and the camera (and a spare shock) were in the top box. Not really a lot, but when I unpack, yes, it does seem like a lot of stuff.

Now when I'm going to spend decent amount of time in one location, I take "my house tent". It is an English tent, a Wynnster Monaco 4, similar in size and setup, but lower than the Redverz tent. It has a large "mud" room, which leaves the actual sleeping area very tidy. :dance
 
I purchased a used Redverz tent off this site a few months ago, although I have yet to use it. I set the tent up in my LR on a rainy day and was surprised by it's size.

re3ezy4a.jpg


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susereda.jpg


By way of reference that is a 55" TV on the wall. It does not pack small, if there is interest I will take and post a pic of it packed on my bike.

I have camped off the bike using my 2 man back packing MSR tent and found it to be really cramped even traveling 1 up with my gear, especially if it is raining.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
2person tent

+1on 3 person tent.

Try the Nemo brand. The 3 person tent, entitled Nemo Losi rolls up into its own pack that fits neatly on the rack on my Givi Topcase. What's even better is that it uses its own straps to tied own and is waterproof to boot. Plus it's a great tent.
 
The types, sizes, and cost of tents are mind boggling, the options are so wide ranging.
From your asking, I might guess or assume you are totally open to suggestions, and might not know exactly which way to go with a tent choice.

If I may suggest it, you might consider what kind of weather you are willing to put up with before purchasing a tent. I personally wouldn't be put off by weather- I've even camped in a Hurricane! SO, one of my top priorities is having my packable home-away-from-home be as completely water/weatherproof as it can possibly be. Unfortunately, this comes at a cost...

BUT you can get a really pretty darn weather resistant tent for less, sometimes a LOT less.

For a reasonably well constructed, weather resistant, and easy to set up tent, I suggest a 3, 3&1/2, or 4 season backpacking tent made by a reputable outdoor goods manufacturer. I, too, wouldn't buy anything smaller than a 3 person tent. Get one with TWO vestibules- one large one, and a smaller vestibule "out back", for maximum storage options.

For the biggest bang for your buck, look for a sale, a close-out, or a re-sale. OR save your money and get enough $$$ to just buy an awesome and weatherproof tent.

I myself often buy gear online from Sierra Trading Post.

FWIW, I have a 3 person Marmot tent, and a 2 person Sierra Designs tent. The latter is too small for two people, BUT has 2 equally sized vestibules which allows for increased storage options, when I am out solo. It is technically a 3 season tent- but has a mesh top... I reserve it for strictly summer use.

I am currently scouring the web for a bigger, 4 person tent. I would love to have one with a HUGE, porch style vestibule on one end, similar to those I have seen in Europe and England. But here in the U.S., they are hard to find, and expensive when you do find them. The best and most expensive tents I've seen are North Face, Hilleberg, MSR, Mountain Hardware- companies such as these.

Here is a pretty comprehensive 24 tent review that has many - and more- of the tent companies I'm looking at right now. Admittedly these are all smaller 4 season tents, but all are expedition grade. However, one benefit of this review is side-by side comparisons of features and companies. From here, you may choose to look at other options from the various companies presented.

http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/4-Season-Tent-Reviews/ratings
 
tents

[ My wife and I have had many tents ranging from a 2 person Eureka Apex to a REI TAJ3 and others to the tent we have and love now, the Big Agnes King Creek 4. We love having the extra room and it is not that much larger packed. I'm 66 and my wife is 62. We camp a lot and find the extra room much better for storing equipment, dressing and just sleeping. We love it and will never go back to the others. The King Creek 4 is a real quality product.
 
I use a 3 person Marmot with 2 entrances and vestibules just for me and my gear and there is no spare space once I've removed stuff from the bike to inside the tent.
A taller 4 person would be minimal for 2 people if staying in one place for a while and you want to get your stuff off the bike and into the tent- so you don't have to head outside to get extra clothes if it gets cold and rainy. Bigger yet would be better.
You will want to store boots and similar outside and out of the rain (except maybe where scorpions and nasty snakes are common but maybe even then- you can always shake the boot out) unless you really like cleaning the inside of a tent. So covered vestibules need to be large enough and protective enough.
Some designs aren't very wind resistant- bottom line is any tent worth owning has to be solid to at least 45 mph or it risks being torn out or damaged in the first serious thunderstorm. I've used mine at velocities around that with no issues at all but I also carry better pegs in 2 styles and always set up all, not an abbreviated version as some do with other tents.
A separate layer rain fly works best at ensuring water doesn't penetrate but needs to go low enough to the ground and far enough over any edges of a taller tent so wind doesn't drive water inside. Also look for a deep "tub"- no seams at ground level that will encourage water wicking as the tent ages. Tents can get hot and humid inside quickly in the SE in summer- good ventilation matters but it also has to be weatherproof in wind - being able to ventilate even while closed against rain matters a bunch if you're stuck in the tent.
Aluminum is lighter than fiberglass but some are more easily bent
 
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