2 person vs 3 person tent for wife and I

To keep a new hiker happy and enjoying herself, no question – Copper Spur UL3.   Eat the modest weight penalty for much more room, accessibility, privacy.   Backcountry have it 20% off in a sale that started today.   If she falls in love with hiking and gets the UL bug herself, you could sell it on next season anyway – there’s always demand for a used Copper Spur, it’s an excellent design that has stood the test of time.

Ralph has sound advice, but I would also ask the question about how much time you spend in the tent.  With most of my outings in SoCal, it’s been years since I had to hunker down for long periods of daylight.  My son and I started out car camping – so yes bigger is better – I can stand up in my Kingdom 4 tent, but the last couple of years we have moved to backpacking and hammock camping.  The few times I had extended rain, we just keep hiking or setup the tarp facing away from the wind to stay dry while we cook or eat or just relax.

My wife’s not interested in our adventures, so take this for what it’s worth.  If your style, because of typical weather, bugs, etc, is to sit in the tent and play cards or hang out, then by all means the bigger tent.  If you are planning long days hiking or just aren’t the type to hang out in the tent, then minimize the tent and bring a small tarp.

I would from the information you had provided select a tent:

• 30 sqft + floor space

• 10 sqft vestibule

• Tent weight of 2.5 – 3.5 lbs

• Single or double walled design depending on your weight requirements and internal moisture likes/dislikes

• Interior length of at least 7.5 ft

• Bathtub floor design

• Bug proof netting if you plan to use it where bugs are an issue OR a wife that feels bugs are an issue

• two doors if over age 65

I went with the three person tent.  I had the RainShadow II and transitioned to the BA Copper Spur UL3.  The BA has better usable space as the RainShadow II has quite a slope to it (on the sides).  Additionally, 2 side doors VS 1 door at the head was a big improvement for my wife.  I am about the same size as you and my wife is 5′ 7″.  I also use a quilt and flop around a lot, she uses a sleeping bag.  I hike in the Sierras and it was nice to have a bigger tent when the mosquitos were out and feeding.  My 2 cents.

Thanks for all the input. I think the 3 person is the way to go, and I suppose the weight penalty isn’t so bad if we split up the tent a bit. I won’t put off a trip because of rain, isially, so having the option to have more room in bad weather is definitely appealing. The sale that was mentioned definitely helps with the decision. Also, I do prefer the double side entry doors. I don’t think she would like the tarp option too much. I think it makes people feel more vulnerable for some odd reason. I can take the 3 person when it is me and my two children, and think I can probably fit them in the copper spur 3 no problem. I hope to get to the local rei sometime this week, to hopefully get a hands on look at it.

Hey Myles, my wife and I really like the Stratospire 2. Dual side entry, easily fits our two 23″ pads, interior space inside the bug net is nice and tall – very usable, and the vestibules are large as well. In fact, vestibules are large enough our young daughter fits in them inside of a pop-up beach “tent”. Have only tried this in the backyard so far, will be using the SS2 on our trips with her this summer.

My wife and I use a SMD Lunar Duo when its both of us out. Thing is a palace..to us at least.

There isn’t a standard for tents that tells us what the minimum size is for each person.

So for example both the Double Rainbow and the SS2 mentioned by the OP can take two x 25″ wide mats yet some “doubles” can’t take 2 x 20″ mats without overlapping…

FYI REI has a 20% off sale for members the 20th-30th as well if you wanted to pick the copper spur up locally for ease of return should it not work out.

Pro tip from when I had a copper spur…I added line locs to the four corners of the floor (where you would normally stake it out) with a few feet of line. This gives you the ability to move each stake around so you can avoid roots and rocks, and most importantly, being able to tension the corners of the floor gives you an insane boost in floor space. it’s hard to get the floor that taught when you’re just staking right through the floor loops.

I will definitely check out the sale at REI. Thanks for the input, Franco. That is why I have the SS2 in my choices. I had a SS1 for a bit, and that tent had an amazing amount of space. So, I assume the SS2 would be even better in that aspect. Also, as was mentioned, the vestibule space it provides is a definite plus. Especially in bad weather, where I would have to cook for two in one of them.

Thanks for the lineloc tip for the copper spur. I would have never thought of that on my own, but it makes sense. I haven’t really read any negative reviews, except for one person mentioning condensation. But, as most of us know, that happens on most tents.

I actually have a lunar duo outfitter I purchased on sale a few years ago during Valentine’s day, and that is a very nice tent, and we liked using it. Unfortunately, it took a football through the tent on a car camping trip, and is tore all to heck. That is one of the reasons I am in the market for another 2 or 3 person shelter.

Is the ground sheet necessary for the copper spur 3? I have owned numerous tarptents, and just found with sure selection, I have never really need a ground sheet. I see that it offers a quick set up option of you have one, but am not sure if that is necessary. Oh, also I came across the platinum series of tents from BA, but think those are maybe hat a bit too expensive.