PS: Looking for a lightweight 2 person backpacking tent? A nice collection of the best recommendations can be found in this article: best lightweight 2 person tents for backpacking and hiking.
A good weight for a backpacking tent
Ever wondered: “How much should a backpacking tent weigh?”. Well, I already gave you the short answer. As usual, there is also the longer answer. The 2.2 lb (1 kg) per person recommendation is mainly meant for backpackers or regular hikers (not ultralight). However, if you are the type of backpacker that doesn’t walk too many miles per day, you can definitely afford to carry a slightly heavier tent. If you are a hiker that does a lot of miles every day, with a lot of potential elevation gain, I would recommend an even lighter tent: an “ultralight” tent.
Because there are different types of backpackers and hikers, a more in-depth answer should be split up into different parts. Therefore, I will create three subsections, where I will discuss what the ideal tent weight is for you specifically. These subsections will target three types of people: backpackers/low intensity hikers, regular hikers and ultralight hikers.
Note that there are some additional factors to consider before you decide what your personal ideal tent weight is. These additional factors will also be covered in a separate subsection.
1. Backpacking tent weight
For convenience, I’m going to compare a backpacker with a low intensity hiker. The type of person that walks a lot during the day, but they are not gaining a lot of elevation and are not walking on technical/difficult terrain.
Weight is still very important here, but it’s not as important as for the ultralight hiker.
Therefore, I feel like there is more margin for a low intensity hiker or backpacker. I would say that as long as you don’t go over 4 lb (1.8 kg) per person, you should be good. Especially if you are travelling alone, and are carrying a solo tent, it might be less comfortable & more expensive to go with a lighter tent.
Does this mean that you absolutely can’t bring a heavier tent? No, in certain situations it might be fine to bring a heavier tent, but 4 lb is a pretty good guideline.
2. Regular hiking tent weight
As I said before, for the regular hiker, I would recommend a backpacking tent weight of 2.2 lb (1 kg) per person. This seems a good balance between not having to carry too much weight and not having to spending too much money. That said, lighter is still better, so if you can get a sweet deal on a lighter tent you should go for it.
If you are shopping in the ultralight section, you will soon notice that ultralight comes with a price tag. Lightweight gear that’s also high-quality is simply expensive. I feel like 2.2 lb per person is lightweight enough for a regular hiker to be comfortable and at the same time you can get a tent of a lower price range.
No need to pay hundreds of dollars more for an even lighter tent if you don’t really need it. A regular hiker definitely benefits from a lightweight tent, but having an ultralight tent is not really a necessity either.
3. Ultralight hiking tent weight
For the more extreme hikers/ultralight hikers/rich hikers getting an ultralight hiking tent will be worth it. As I said before, going with this option is not going to be cheap.
However, if you are doing a lot of miles, gain a lot of elevation, encounter difficult terrain, having a slightly lighter tent might make all the difference. There are even whole communities about ultralight hiking. Where people share there tips, tricks and gear recommendations for a good ultralight hiking experience.
So what’s the ideal weight for an ultralight hiking tent? Simple, as light as possible. That said, I can give you an idea about the average weight of an ultralight hiking tent. One of the most popular ultralight hiking tents is the Zpacks duplex, this tent weighs 1.19 lb (539 gram) and it’s a 2 person tent! This means that this tent would only weigh around 0.6 lb (0.272 gram) per person.
That’s pretty amazing right? But what about the price tag? Well, the Zpacks duplex currently costs around $600. If you want an ultralight tent (that doesn’t suck) you will have to pay quite a bit of money.
Additional factors to consider
At the end of the day, the weight of your backpacking tent is not the main thing that matters. What really matters, is the total weight of your backpack. The weight of your tent is obviously a big part of the weight of your total backpack. However, if all your other gear is ultralight, you have a bit more margin when it comes to the weight of your tent.
Another pretty important factor is budget. See ultralight gear is pretty expensive. A hiking tent that is the same quality, but weighs 0.5 lb (0.22 kg) less, will often be a lot more expensive. Therefore, budget is an important factor when it comes to deciding what the ideal backpacking tent weight is for you. So if you are a regular hiker on a budget, you might want to look at some of the slightly heavier alternatives in order to save some money.
I feel like 4 lb/1.8 kg per person is a good upper limit when it comes to backpacking tent weight (for regular hikers). Which is around the weight of one of my favorite (budget friendly) solo tents: ALPS Mountaineering Lynx. This tent is also available for 2 persons: ALPS Mountaineering Lynx 2-person. Note that it’s generally a more lightweight solution to bring a 2-person tent than to bring 2 solo tents.
Another factor would be tent poles. See, if you are going to walk with trekking poles, you might as well use these as your tent poles as well. This way, you save a lot of weight. This is also how the Zpack duplex was able to be so extremely lightweight, the poles are not included in the weight because there are none. I’ve written another article about the best trekking pole tents. Feel free to check it out.
Conclusion
Let’s do a quick review. The ideal backpacking tent weight is different for every type of hiker.
For the backpacker/low intensity hiker, I would recommend to stay below 4 lb (1.8 kg) per person.
The regular hiker does not have that same luxury. This type of hiker should aim for a 2.2 lb (1 kg) tent – per person.
If you are an ultralight/extreme hiker, it’s quite simple, the lighter the better. Use the Zpacks duplex as a reference: 0.6 lb (0.272 gram).