All purpose shelter for two people and large dog

We were able to fit in our Tarptent Cloudburst 2 with our old dog. It was snug, but it worked. He was about 60 lbs to give you an idea of the size. You might have to stick your packs under the vestibule, though.

Our new dog is no longer allowed inside the Tarptent. He ripped a hole in the bug netting last year when he decided he wanted to chase after something…

I don't think a tent for three will be a good solo PCT shelter. I have a 3 person Tarptent weighing 40 ounces. My solo shelters (sublite or Solomid) at 20 ounces or less. I have not taken our 77 pound retriever mix hiking only car camping and have a big cheap tent for that. I suggest two tents specific to the job at hand.

I believe the Lightheart Duo would satisfy your needs.

I'd stick to floorless shelters for use with a dog. My recommendation would be the MLD Speed Mid.

I have used MSR Twin Sisters for 2 persons and a dog. It's doable but not a great solution. My dog often wants to sleep against the wall, then she gets wet from condensation during the night and tries to enter my sleeping bag to get warm again :(

What's even worse, the Twin Sisters requires an open door most of the time to keep the condensation at bay. Open door = invitation to go chase wildlife in the night. Of course this is not a problem if the dog shows zero interest in wildlife.

The Speedmid with perimeter netting would at least help on the wildlife issue on my usage as my dog leaves the netting alone. Can the Speedmid's perimeter netting be extended so that the whole front door could be left open and still be protected from insects (+ have a "door" in front of the dog)?

You'd have to ask Ron if he'd be willing to do a custom for you (he probably would be). If he isn't, you can always MYOG it.

Why not get a regular tent and have it modified to add a dog door?

–B.G.–

If you can forgo the floor, then a tarp is the way to go. A 10×12 would probably be sufficient for 2 people + a large dog. As for solo, you might check out a 6X8.

Many people are fans of 5X7 solo tarps, but I find they have two drawbacks: (a) they don't protect very well against side driven rain, which means that a bivy needs to be taken along (especially if using a down bag); and (b) they can't be enclosed, so you're open to the elements (bugs), which also necessitates a full and/or net bivy.

If you go with a slightly larger tarp, then a half-pyramid can wrap around the front to about 3-4 ft, which is sufficiently narrow to cover with some bug netting. IOW, you can create a complete floorless tent @ half the weight.

As an added plus, if you add guy stays (3' para 220) at each of the tie-outs, you can elevate the tarp in either pyramid and/or A-frame to create a really breezy sun shelter or even night time tent if there aren't any bugs or you have a net bivy.

Grab a big piece of Tyvek for the floor (wash it two times in cold water with no soap to soften), and you're ready to rock & roll.

It kinda depends. Does the dog stay put at night and curl up or sprawl and if you went with a floorless shelter will the dog stay in it, they only need one time of finding they can lift bug screen with their nose. Do you want to try to use a leash at night tied to what… you? I have never had a tent floor damaged but a dog but all that I have brought are well behaved. What happens when your dog hears sees squirrels, chipmunks or pikas. I had a TT rainshadow that worked well for two people and a large AND medium dog plenty of room and it almost meets your weight criteria if you use trekking poles. I carried it solo with one dog But it seems huge to be in alone with one dog and this year I carried my Heavier old non ul zoid 1 cause I hated all that extra space I felt like I was in a circus tent. If it was me and I could swing it I would get two tents and that sixmoons scout is priced really sweet right now if you can wait till july for the solo. The recommendation for the lightheart duo might work also I recently bought a solo its huge on floor space. How tall are you and the wife, how big is the dog.

For my girlfriend and I and our 90 lb lab, we've been using a TT Rainshadow 2. It provides plenty of space for the three of us and seems to meet your other criteria more or less (solid floor, around 2.5 lbs, etc.). The only thing is, it's way overkill for you to use on your own as a solo shelter. It really provides a ton of room!

If your dog is a little smaller and is good about settling down and staying put, you might be able to get by with one of the more spacious 2-person tarptent models. I'm not super familiar with all of the various options, but I think my girlfriend, our dog and I could fit in our TT Squall 2 if we had to. It'd be cozy though. It's much better for just two.

At the beginning of the year, I picked up a MLD Trailstar. As a tarp-like shelter, it provides plenty of room for the three of us. You can use a tyvek or polycyro sheet for a floor, and it's possible to batten down all the panels and corners to more or less fully enclose it. I also picked up a Bearpaw Wilderness Designs Pentanet 2 inner net tent to use with the Trailstar. My girlfriend and I have only used it without the dog so far, but it seems like there should be enough room for us to add him in there. With everything seam sealed and guy lines added, the trailstar/pentanet 2 combo comes out to around 2.5 lbs, maybe slightly more. But you get the benefit of being able to use the trailstar without the inner net for solo missions or with the inner net when the dog and/or significant other comes along. I'm really liking this option so far and am looking forward to continuing to play with it.

Well I talked to my wife a little more about it and she doesn't like the tarptents I have been showing her because she says she will freak out if she can see anything outside the tent….(hahahahaha)

So I think what I will end up doing is getting a double walled tent for the trips I go with her and the dog and a one person tent for when I go alone.

So between these two tents: Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 or the Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2, which one would you guys prefer? Might I mention that the Copper Spur is on sale at REI for $300 now. And would you guys recommend a footprint for either tent?

I'll do some more research later on solo tents, but at the moment the wife will only let me get one :/

Thanks for all of the input fellas :)

Casey,

Good deal on joining the site, aside from the forums there are lots of great articles to read as well.

I would try to do more convincing to your wife on the Double Rainbow, I have the the single version, it is really more like a tent than a tarp, your gear should fit in the vestibles, my Border collie mix and I fit just fine in the single version. It is a versatile shelter, well made, good value. I do worry about the floor and netting though.

I may have the same problem that you do in the future, my girlfriend is going to try backpacking this summer too, and while our dog is getting older he can still come on the shorter trips. As stated a couple of times above I like the Speedmid with netting, then just use a partial tyvek ground cloth, I actually think my girlfriend may like the extra space but it would be a two month wait to get one.

Another option would be a Golite SL2, when solo you could use the tarp for just you and the dog (roughly 25oz?) and then bring an inner and/or a floor when your wife comes along. Golite inners are heavy but you could split it between your packs.

The Twin sisters was mentioned as having condensation problems but maybe with the large peak vents on the SL2 it would help?

I think Tarptent has a return policy as long as it is like new, you could order one and set it up in the yard on some plastic to see if it will work.

Good luck, but I'd get a Tarptent before the Big Agnes.

the big agnes tents I have seem but not used and the ul2 in either most likely wont fix the three of you maybe the ul 3 but now your weight is going up