1P tent recommendations

[BasicUtahrd95]

Really solid build and from a great company, I know the owner is active on here and customer service is great

I have bought one tent per year the past 4 years trying to figure out what works best for me. I have spent at least 14 nights in each of the following: six moon designs lunar duo, kifaru paratarp, sea to summit telos tr2, and now the Argali owyhee 1p. For my style of backpack hunting the Argali Owyhee has by far been the best solution for the following reasons:

1. Versatility. I have the tarp, the insert, and the center pole. The ability to choose what components I want to bring based on the style of trip is invaluable. For fair weather trips where I am moving camp every day I just grab the tarp and run it with a bivy and a trekking pole. If I am setting up a base camp and am expecting some bad weather I can grab all the components and be ready for anything the lower 48 can throw at me while having access to both trekking poles throughout the day. Plus, the ability to store the insert and the tarp separately when wet is huge.

2. Room. For me (6’1” tall 190 lbs) the owyhee has the PERFECT amount of room for one person plus gear. I use the long rectangular thermarest neoair xlite nxt sleeping pad (another long journey of too much money spent) and still have room inside the insert for gear, plus backpack and weapon inside the vestibule. The vestibule does get pretty tight with a backpack and a bow, but it is workable. Without the insert, I have no issues fitting everything inside, there is much more room.

3. Silpoly exterior. If any of the tents you are considering are made of silnylon, cross them off the list. Silpoly is vastly superior in its ability to hold its shape in the rain. I got rained on every single day of my week long early season elk hunt and never had to deal with sagging tent walls and never had to readjust stakes or tighten guy-lines because the tent never changed shape in the rain.

The Cons:
1. Within the first 10 nights of use I busted two of the aluminum carabiners that attach the insert to the tarp in the corners. One just stretched out so it doesn’t lock correctly, but is still useable, the other broke in half. Because of the way the insert attaches to the corners of the tarp I was still able to attach the insert to the tarp using the provided 2mm cord, so the failures were not critical. I have yet to repair the tent and have spent at least 7 nights in it since the failures without further issue. I have not reached out to customer service yet, but I will. Another issue concerning build quality is the stakes. They are very light and prone to bending. So far, I have been able to bend them back in the field (smash it with a rock until it’s straight enough), and continue to use them.

2. Like most trekking pole tents, it can be finicky to pitch, especially in uneven terrain. This is a lot of the reason I busted the carabiners mentioned above. I was having a difficult time getting everything as tight as I wanted, so I just started yanking on things until they broke. This is more of a learning curve and setup time thing than anything. If you don’t mind spending a few extra minutes getting it setup, it can be pitched in a variety of places with a relatively small footprint.

 

[rclouse79]

Durston Xmid. I have owned a lot of tents. This one is my favorite and second place is not close.

 

[EdP]

I've got a Kuiu SummitStar. I got the whole package, tent fly, nest, and floor. There is plenty of room for me but I'm only 5'8". More importantly, there is plenty of room for my gear with the extra space inside the nest and under the vestibule. It has a tall pole at one end and a short pole at the other. You can use a treking pole for the tall pole or buy the pole. The nest gives you a tub floor and protection from condensation on the fly. It is harder to lay out and set up than a tent with a sewn in floor, but it works nicely for me.