4 Person UL Shelter- Is Hogback the Best?

When my kids were in that age range we used a cheap / mass produced tent with a full coverage fly and aluminum poles (Mountainsmith, alps, etc). It was mostly car camping, but served us well for a handful of years.

Now that we’re doing more hiking, we carry two 2 person tents in place of a single/larger one. That has been beneficial for both finding spots to camp (2 smaller spots is often easier than one giant one) as well as giving them independence in setting up camp.

All of that being said, if you’re locked in on a 4 person setup I’m sure the Hogback is a great option!

@ Adam. Since there are currently only 2 adults and one small child, sounds like today you only need a three-person tent but are wanting a 4-person tent, contemplating the 2nd child.

If you shop for a double walled 3 person tent under 4 lbs and under $600 you have a lot more options from Slingfin (the Portal 3), TarpTent, MSR and Big Agnes.

But if you want to buy now for the future, I would say the Hogback might be the best 4 person double walled option in terms of weight and cost because it might be the only option.  But think through how the family will sleep in it. Who gets to sleep in the middle, how will folks get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom etc. My family like Jason ended up using 2 2 person tents.

When my kids were younger we used a Golite Shangri-la 5 and it worked OK.  It’s long discontinued, but any big mid should be similar.

Back in the day we went with Nemo Firefly 2p and Nemo Dagger 3p tents. I always found freestanding tents easier to pitch with all these people sleeping in them. Sometimes its hard to find rhe right spot where no one will have roots or boulders underneath them.. at least with freestanding tent you are able to pitch it, then move or rotate them around easily if needed, without having to take it down and try elsewhere.  Finding the right spot for 3 or 4 people to lay comfortably and be happy..

If you limit usage to good and warmer weather, would your family object to something like an 8½’ x 10′ sil-poly flat or cat tarp? Much more reasonable in cost than DCF and very little weight penalty.

I hate to offer unasked for advice, but what the hey….  When I first started backpacking with my son (he was 5 at the time), I tossed weight concerns out the window.  Partly this was because he was unable to walk long miles anyways, the longest backpacking trip I recall taking him on as a child was 4 miles, with 2 miles being much more typical.  So weight became less of a concern.  Of more importance to me, with regard to shelters, were durability and liveability.  I desperately wanted my son to grow up loving camping and backpacking, so I didn’t want him to feel cramped or uncomfortable in a tent.  With that in mind I might pick up something relatively spacious and heavy, along the lines of an REI Trail Hut 4  https://www.rei.com/product/185593/rei-co-op-trail-hut-4-tent-with-footprint

I bought a hogback a number of years ago. It has been a great family tent for our family of 3. Loads of room makes family camping easier. The weight made packing in easy before the kid could haul stuff. I did encourage being gentle with the tent – it isn’t fragile but it also isn’t bulletproof. We’ve even taken it to Iceland for car camping – it did amazing in the wind and the rain. When I intro friends to backpacking I loan them the hogback. At 4lbs it is a great intro tent for 2 people since it is so spacious. New backpackers appreciate being able to have all their stuff in the tent. Pitching it is easy. It’s been a great purchase. I did need to add some silicone on the floor since it was too slippery.

Thanks all for the responses. I have a heavy and durable 4 person shelter I use for car camping and campsites. I am locked in on a 4 person ultralight shelter with floor and bug netting. I want room to grow. I anticipate having another kid and anticipate not being in a position to use 2 x 2-person tents for a good number of years (at which point my kid(s) would get the copper spur 2 and I’d treat myself to something new and flashy). I also may try to use the tent to introduce a friend and his 3 year old son (my son’s friend) to “backpacking”. From what I can tell, there is no reason not to get the hogback, given my criteria.  I was hoping someone had a suggestion for a flashy new 4-person unit which was far superior, but I guess there’s something to be said about a design that has been in use for over a decade.

I appreciate the suggestions about a free standing tent. That was my initial plan but I felt the 4 person ones used even more fragile materials and were much more money. If the hogback is too inconvenient for me, you’ll see it for sale on the gear swap and I’ll be in the marker for a new tent from MSR or Big Agnes.

hello !! For years, on my travels, I have taken a tent for camping with a car ( Luna 6 with net tent by Bear Paw Designs) and another for backpacking ( triplex zpacks). I have a family with two children, 13 years old and 5 years old, the one with zpacks already has many holes, the Dynnema is damaged by time. I am looking for a new tent, very light, for backpacking for 4. I asked Zpack and they told me that they have no intention of making a tent for 4, I wrote to Henry of Tarptent asking if they are going to make the Hogback with Dynnema and they told me that it is not possible due to the design, so my best option is a Bear Paw Designs Luna 4 modified with bathtub floor and perimeter netting. I have also thought about two tents for 4. I need something light because we almost always carry a Forager Packraft

Dyneema isn’t very wide and has limitations. Perhaps with the Ultra being wider, there may be plans for a 4 person tent. It sounds like TarpTent is planning a 3 person.

> Dyneema isn’t very wide and has limitations.

Yes, LOTS of limitations, notably the extremely narrow 54in width and the 9m limited roll length. Without extra bonding to make it effectively wider that rules it out for the Hogback design not to mention all the fabric wa$$te that it would create. Continuous rolls and wider (at least 60in) material is the only viable way to make a shelter the size of the Hogback.   A Hogback in Ultra would be sweet. The Scarp 1 in Ultra (coming out in about 10 days) is next level compared to the silnylon version in terms of structural stability and the Scarp 1 is already very strong.

Thanks Henry for continuing to innovate, it’s great 👏🏾

My only concern with the Hogback would be that there doesn’t seem to be loads of vestibule space. I know the floor can be pulled in a bit like many of the Tarptents, but assuming you do want decent space inside and have it at full width, it then seems tight to store your gear etc in the vestibules.

While I realise you’ve already said its not your preferred option, I’d also mirror suggestions by others for two smaller tents. When you have the ability to connect them together you can set them up next to each other and put a tarp across the gap, which gives some extra room for gear storage and makes it feel like one big tent with 2 bedrooms (I spent a couple of very memorable trips this way going round the European alps, a group of us with our Vango Force 10s joined in pairs with tarps), but if you are unable to find a single big space suitable to set up, you can then set the two smaller tents up where needed.

I was actually supposed to be doing this tomorrow night, had planned to take my nephews away on their first camping trip, and the plan was to set up my slingfin Portal and Crossbow together door to door with the NFT tarp stretched across the space and pulled down to the ground at the back.  It was just at a campsite for their first night away, get them used to it, so weight wasn’t the same concern, but the same can be done with lighter shelters. The trip fell through but if/when we organise it again I’ll get some pics.

Kev

^ “A Hogback in Ultra would be sweet.”

A Hogback in Ultra would be sweet. The market may be small, but without competition.

I would set up a tarp for a vestibule, or even consider a separate 1 man tent with a light and a pee bottle as a utility tent.

I have a small 5′ x 7′ DCF 1.0 tarp (a Triplex ground sheet in fact) that I have used many times as a porch over the shelter entrance.  It’s a great 6oz addition when rain is expected and a true luxury to be able to don/doff rain gear outside the tent.  I have spent several rainy evenings on the porch in my chair just sitting and listening.

Hello ! For me, when I travel to country bears, “psychologically” I am calmer in a tent of 4, although it is not necessary. I have also thought about the idea of ​​uniting two zpacks tents, like this https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/this-is-mucho-awesome/

I have also thought about the idea of ​​uniting two zpacks tents, like this https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/this-is-mucho-awesome/

This is almost the exact set up I mentioned above, with our triangular shaped Force 10s back in the 90s. The only difference would be that we would put them a few feet apart, and stretch a tarp across the space. The tarp comes all the way down to the ground at the “back” and is pegged/staked down, and comes up over the ridge and overhangs by a foot or two. provides shelter and a huge big extra vestibule space, and leaves enough room to crawl inside the tents. doors are protected from the wind for the most part so were just left open so we could all chat.

Will try and sketch a quick picture…….

I’m planning to try something similar soon with two dome tents and a tarp, see if the set up would work for taking my nephews camping, so will get some pictures when I do.

<p style=”text-align: left;”>This is amazing Kevin, I like it. It may be a good idea with two UL tents like X-Mid Pro 2, Duplex or Stratospire Li . Thank you so much</p>

When my kids were young a two tent solution worked best. However you specified that you do not want this.

In this case, I would buy the Hogback. Haven’t used one, but I have owned a Scarp 1 for 13 years — fabulous shelter for poor weather. Design is similar to the Hogback, only a much smaller shelter. Silnylon has been fine.

Don’t know if the longer spans of material would cause much more sagging with the Hogback — but I haven’t read any complaints regarding this.