Lightweight tent that doesn't use trekking poles

[Deli]

I need a tent for an upcoming CO Sept Elk hunt. This is my first backcountry style hunt where we will likely be packing up camp each morning in the dark and setting up at night after hunting, so ease of setup and weight are concerns of mine. I don't feel quite comfortable doing a tarp/bivy setup (maybe in future) and I'd prefer not to be messing around with trekking poles to pitch. It'll be just me inside as my buddies have their own tents already. I'm 6 ft and about 190 lbs with a large sleeping pad (25x72) so having a bit of space in the floor to stretch out would be nice. I've been searching on the forums, but some of the posts are old and there's been updates to a lot of the tents recently, so hopefully it's okay to start a new thread. These are the tents I'm considering, but any feedback or addition recommendations would be much appreciated.

Tarptent Moment DW - Best ease of setup and weight I could find in this category, but a bit concerned about space and gear storage. This is what Henry Shires recommended for this kind of hunt.
Tarptent Rainbow - Best price and also looks easy to setup. Not as weather resistant and heard concerns about condensation.
Tarptent Double Rainbow DW - Probably overkill for one person? Henry said it's not that warm if temperature dips.
Tarptent Scarpa 1 - Love the design and could be used as a 4 season tent, but heaviest and most expensive on my list by quite a bit.
Nemo Hornet 2p OSMO - Nice design, and looks easy to setup but a bit concerned at the thinner fabrics.
Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 - Same concerns as the hornet. Lots of people recommend this on backpacking forums.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ram94]

Not sure I understand the reasoning of not wanting to mess with trekking poles. They’re very simple tents to pitch

Check out the Durston XMid. He sells carbon tent poles if you still decide against trekkers

 

[BBob]

I’ll add to the above. Almost all trekking pole tents have an option for poles instead of trekking poles now. Some like Tarptent offer them directly as an option and some you can source poles to use rather than trekking poles. That should open up your options a lot.

 

[Eagle]

I've used a tarptent rainbow or double rainbow for the last 12 years and love the tents. Condensation isn't a problem with one person in the tent, but has been with two in the double rainbow. The single rainbow has plenty of space for one person and gear. I actually have a VERY lightly used tarptent rainbow li for sale in the classifieds if you're interested in the lightest option.

 

[*zap*]

SO Cimarron.

 

[Deli]

I've ran into issues with my trekking poles getting gunked up and didn't want to run into an issue bending a pole while packing out or something and then being screwed for my shelter. The extra carbon poles is a valid point though and something I'll look into as I hadn't considered it since I've only ever used tents with arch pole support. I'm not ready to go floorless so the SO cimarron is out even though I fully understand this would give me the most options for future hunts. Also trying to keep my footprint small to give me more flexibility finding places to pitch. Keep the recommendations coming!

 

[Brontosaurus]

I'll be trying out the tt rainbow this season and I'm stoked!!! So far just setting it up outside I've been impressed with the quality and build structure.

 

[Sierra Hunter]

Love my Nemo, design and size is unbeatable

 

[Sierra Hunter]

Forgot to mention I’m 6 1” 195 so basically the same size and it works well. As to the material, you can’t be light and also extremely durable. That being said I don’t use a floor and that’s the only place I have a couple holes, otherwise it’s held up to normal wear with about 5-10 nights a year over the last 4 seasons.

 

[mtwarden]

I was on a 7 day traverse in the high Sierra's last summer and my buddy had a Moment- he really liked it and it did really well on a couple of high wind nights.

If you want more room look at their Stratospire (you can get poles from them vs using trekking poles)

 

[sivart]

after camping in loose ground/high winds, a couple weeks ago w/ my Durston, I came to forget the advantage of a freestanding tent, like my old copper spur. I couldn't get my tent pegs to hold up with the durston. Had me wishing i had a freestanding design. The durston is awesome for weight savings, and packability. But there are times I miss the freestanding frame.

 

[MountainTracker]

I’ve had the moment is some good wind and it held up great, I will say for me the vestibule is a little small, if you go that route a light weight tarp could be used to add a little more covered space, in case you you find yourself in your tent for a day.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[passinggas33]

I too have a Moment and really like it. You can actually adjusted the floor width and “increase” vestibule space. I’m similar in size to you and have plenty of room for a pack, boots and gun in there. If you were in there for extended periods of time, it would get a little tight. But for me, it’s awesome.

 

[BBob]

after camping in loose ground/high winds, a couple weeks ago w/ my Durston,

If I am remembering correctly that was part of the impetus of the new Tarptent Dipole designs (very similar to the Durston), a slight weight penalty but a more stable tent. Just something to note.

 

[ELKOHUNTER]

Love my double rainbow

 

[jayrad313]

I’ve been running the Nemo hornet and it’s a sweet little tent for the price. Recently switched to a durston Xmid and though I’ve only used it in the yard and a couple overnighters I’m pretty impressed

 

[Wapiti Hunter]

I have used the Nemo Hornet 2P--The older version-not the OSMO. I am 6-3 so I pretty much fill it up, but I've used it in rain and snow and it has performed great. Mine weighs in at about 2 pounds plus the footprint at a few ounces. Volume-wise it packs up small. I don't generally set up or take down in the dark, so I can't help you there, but the Hornet 2P is a great lightweight tent for one person and gear.

I just ordered a Seek Outside Cimarron in order to have a hot tent option for colder trips, but weight and volume will be quite a bit more than the Hornet 2P.

Mike

 

[chizelhead]

Dumb question: If this is your first backcountry style hunt, why are you planning on moving camp everyday? I've never found the need to move camp so much. Just curious.

 

[Deli]

Dumb question: If this is your first backcountry style hunt, why are you planning on moving camp everyday? I've never found the need to move camp so much. Just curious.

Not a dumb question at all. I'm not sure we'll need to pick up camp everyday, but want the option to have lightweight gear that's easy to setup and take down if we need to be mobile. None of us are from the area and will have very limited scout time, so just having the right gear opens up more options. Don't want to have to hike 3+ miles back to camp in the dark if we are into elk when it's easier to pitch right there in a matter of minutes.

It sounds like everyone has been pretty happy with their setups and no real negatives on some of the tents I'm looking at. I'd like to thank those that pushed me to look more into shelters with trekking poles as I had no idea how easy they were to set up now and had wrote them off based on past experience and old technology. You don't know what you don't know which is why I love these threads.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

imo, freestanding designs are best if you're doing a spike set up, while a trekking pole supported tent makes more sense if you're putting camp on your back every night. Otherwise, your tent poles are extra weight all day, and your trekking poles are idle all night.

Do pay attention to how many stakes some of these tents take, the first one I had was a floorless and needed something insane, like 16 stakes, to fully pitch. good luck finding 16 evenly spaced, rock free spots centered over a flat area in the mountains.

i've been really happy with my REI dash 2, from your list the NEMO is the most similar.