The Best Ultralight Tent Shelter for Backpacking

The Ultralight Shelter
OutdoorGearLab divides the global tent market in to four categories: Camping Tents are palatial estates best for car camping; ultralight shelter tents, the products included in this review, are best for backpacking when you move camp everyday; Backpacking Tents that include dedicated poles are good for both car camping and backpacking; and Four-Seasons Tents are bombproof tents for winter adventures.

Here we define the ultralight shelter as a floorless tent that does not come with dedicated, pre-tensioned poles. Most commonly, ultralight shelters pitch with trekking poles, which provide numerous significant advantages for backpacking (outlined in our Ten Reasons for Trekking Poles article). The performance gap between the products tested here and those in our Backpacking Tent Review is tremendous; ultralight shelters offer much more performance for serious backpacking. In order to best realize their benefits, however, you must sleep, or at least be lying down, more than you are awake in a tent. By extension, shelters are more comfortable if you spend more time carrying the tent than you spend asleep inside of it.

Floorless
Shelters without floors offer numerous advantages for backpacking. They allow you to enter immediately after pitching; no need to worry about dripping wet backpacks and rain gear. They save weight by allowing you to not carry a floor (a closed cell foam sleeping pad can go directly on the ground), or by carrying a groundsheet of your desired size and weight (cut your own from 2mm plastic or other materials). They’re safer to cook inside. You can dig down into snow to increase the interior volume. Most importantly, they can be used with modular accessories, such as bug inserts and water resistant bivy sacks, that can be tailored to specific conditions. Using a separate floor allows you to pack it separately, which can be nice when it’s dirty, and it’s cheaper to replace a damaged floor rather than an entire inner tent with a floor, wall, and ceiling.

Poles
Excepting the MSR Twin Sisters, the shelters tested here do not include poles. Use trekking poles, paddles, carbon fiber tarp poles, or other methods to support a shelter.

Livability
Here we assessed each shelter based on how comfortable it was to spend time inside of it. We considered the floor area, number of doors, peak height when the shelter is pitched tight against the ground, door design (can one person get out without forcing the other person to move), and how resistant to condensation each shelter was. In general, pyramid shelters with two poles offer more space and create doors that are easier to enter and exit than single pole pyramids. A-frame and flat tarps don’t have center poles and can therefore be nicer to sleep closer to someone or allow you to use a double sleeping bag under them. The MSR Twin Sisters is the largest and most comfortable shelter tested. The near bivy size integral Designs Element 2 has the least amount of space.

Weather Protection
Here we assessed how well each shelter protects against wind, insects, and all types of precipitation that fall vertically, are blown horizontally, and cover the ground. The shelters tested here offer a significant advantage over double wall tents with dedicated poles in that they allow you to built a shelter system that can adapt to environmental variation. Different types of shelters offer advantages in specific conditions: four wall pyramids excel in very exposed areas and for winter use; A-frame tarps have two open ends and require the most skill to use in exposed areas (it can be important to find protected campsites or to block one end with rocks, backpacks, snow, etc.). With its spindrift stopping snow skirt, the bomber MSR Twin Sisters offers the most protection in winter conditions. The Mountain Laurel Designs Trailstar is likely capable of withstanding the highest winds. Almost all of the shelters tested here are stronger and safer than backpacking tents in serious three-season storms.

Ease of Setup
With its single pole and quick adjust linelocs at all ground-level tieouts, the Mountain Laurel Designs DuoMid is the fastest and easiest shelter to pitch. Pyramids with two poles require slightly more balancing and more patience, but are still very quick to pitch. A-frame and flat tarps take the longest to pitch. Arguably more important than the time it takes to pitch a shelter is the ability to pitch it in a wide variety of sites. Shelters with larger footprints, like the Mountain Laurel Designs Trailstar, require roomy campsites that can be hard to find in rocky areas, higher elevations, and in other environments.

Adaptability
Flat tarps are the most adaptable type of shelter, followed by modular tarps like the Mountain Laurel Designs Trailstar, A-frame tarps, and pyramids. All of the shelters tested here are significantly more adaptable than double wall backpacking tents.

Durability
This variable represents our best guess estimate at the long-term durability of each shelter. Our ratings in this category are based on our field-testing experience and on manufacturers' fabric specifications. In general, nylon is more durable than polyester and silicone coated fabrics are stronger and more durable than polyurethane coated fabrics. (See our Buying Advice Article for more info on fabrics.) All of the shelters tested here are significantly more durable than double wall backpacking tents.
We believe the least durable shelter tested is either the GoLite Shangri-La 2 or Six Moon Designs Haven Tarp. Several cuben fiber shelters receive our top score for durability.

Weight
Fabric type and design complexity are the primary drivers of weight. We measured each shelter in its stock configuration without stakes and guylines and then after seam sealing and adding an adequate amount of guyline. Cuben fiber is the lightest material used in the shelters and several companies offer shelters in both silnylon and cuben versions. At 7.4 oz., without guylines, the Mountain Laurel Designs Cuben Fiber Grace Tarp Duo is the lightest shelter tested. The 31.9 oz. MSR Twin Sisters is the heaviest.

Stakes and Guyline
Only a few of the shelters tested here include stakes and none includes enough guyline. Recent advances in tent stake design make it possible to carry stakes without too much of a weight penalty; most of our testers carry six stakes and some more, especially on cuben fiber shelters (which, because they don't stretch, transfer more force to stake points than silnylon shelters). Easton Full Metal Jacket stakes and Dyneema IronWire cord are very good. Easton Nano Nail stakes and Bluewater 3mm Niteline are a good value.

Editor’s Choice Award: Hyperlite Mountain Gear Echo II
The Echo II Shelter System includes an 8.8 oz. two-person tarp, a 4.7 oz. vestibule, and a 14.8 oz. bug insert with waterproof bathtub floors and mesh walls. All components are made from top-of-the-line cuben fiber, constructed with the utmost attention to detail, and weigh a total of 28.3 oz. This is the lightest and arguably the strongest and most durable two-person double wall backpacking tent we’ve ever tested. The insert and vestibule allow two people to camp comfortably in any three-season condition, from exposed areas in high winds to hot and buggy summer nights. The Echo II’s modular design is what sets it apart from other A-frame tarps; we have yet to test another insert that offers as much comfort and protection. To save additional weight on solo trips our testers pair the 8.8 oz. tarp with a water resistant bivy sack or ground sheet for a sub-pound setup.

Top Pick Award For Weather Resistance
The Mountain Laurel Designs DuoMid presents the ultimate combination of bombproof weather resistance and low weight. This single pole pyramid shelter pitches ridiculously fast and easy, and has steep yet low profile walls that shed snow well and don’t catch as much wind as two pole pyramids. The DuoMid’s smaller size is its only significant drawback. Other mids offer more space but usually aren’t built to the same exacting standards that make the DuoMid so strong and so durable. Adding a 13 oz. two-person bug insert creates a sub-two-pound double wall tent.

Best Buy Award: GoLite Shangri-La 2 Tarp
At $150 the Shangri-La 2 offers hikers an ideal combination of weather protection, comfort, and affordability. This shelter is larger than the two mentioned above, has steep walls that make it suitable for serious winter trips, and it pitches easier and faster than many tarps. This wins our Best Buy award over more affordable A-frame tarps, namely the $110 Mountain Laurel Designs Grace Tarp Duo, because it’s so easy to use and so protective. The Shangri-La can be used not only for hiking, but also for winter mountaineering and backcountry ski tours. One affordable shelter to do it all.


Best Shelter For Specific Applications
People over six foot three inches tall: GoLite Shangri-La 2
Mountaineering: MSR Twin Sisters