Best 1-2 Person Tent

The Swiftline from Yama Mountain Gear is around 34oz.
The DuoMid with Net liner from MLD is around 2 pounds and you can skip the net liner for a light weight shelter around 16oz.
ZPacks has the Duplex and Triplex for <24oz.
Big Agnes has the Fly Creek UL2 HV at around 2 pounds
MSR has the Carbon Reflex and Freelite, both around 2 pounds.
Several others . . .

I think the swiftline is the only one you listed that would compete with the SS1 for price, weight, side entry, and space. DuoMid looks cramped with little headroom, Zpacks is super expensive,  FlyCreek is front entry and I have used this tent and didn’t really like it for that and other reasons, MSR looks really nice but expensive.

SMD Haven tarp + inner. 34oz includes attached guy-out straps (so you may not need to add guyline), 2p (snug but definitely enough space), dual side entries, modular design so you can take just tarp, just inner or both.

Very cool. Looks like a good design. Would you think this setup is better than SS1, Rainbow (single) and the Yama MG? If so, why?

They are all good shelters. The advantages I see to the Haven:

• Compared to the TT choices, the Haven has a true 2p interior width. You can get almost the same width out of the SS1 if you flatten out the bathtub floor, but with the Haven you get that width (actually a little more) and still have the bathtub floor protection.
• I’m not particularly familiar with the Yama, looking at their website it seems that neither side wall is truly vertical — it appears they are near-vertical by the pole on each side but it looks like each side wall slopes inward as you move away from the pole. Compared to that, the Haven has true vertical walls on both sides, maximizing the headroom for the space it offers.
• If you really want to shave weight, the Haven offers a cuben option for the tarp.

In addition, SMD has had a year-end sale for the last few years so if they do so again this year you could pick one up shortly for 20% off. The other vendors may have year-end sales as well.

If what you really want is a 1p shelter than can be stretched for a tight 2p on occasion then I believe the TT options are just as good as the SMD. But if what you really want is a 2p shelter that isn’t overly large to be useful as a roomy UL 1p then I think the Haven hits the mark best.

Hoping Franco can chime in here, no one can tell you more about the TT options than he can.

The many shapes and forms on the market today are mind boggling! I’m impressed by the way huge interiors are created at low weight, but sometimes wonder how they perform at unprotected sites in adverse conditions.

Being a bit of a traditionalist, I use a 6 sided mid called the Silvertip from Seek Outside. It’s supported by two trekking poles adjusted to 5′, and right at one kilo all dirty with 6 stakes and heaps of guy lines. There’s nothing flimsy about the materials and construction, and the storm worthiness is beyond reproach. But you can’t keep the doors open when the bugs are out.

If you are looking for a 1 person plus dog (inc large dogs) both the Rainbow and the SS1 will do.

As for condensation, a mesh inner will not make any difference except that it helps in not brushing against wet walls.

If you are in a high humidity areas and particularly if it rains too , then you can still get drips through the mesh (dislodged condensation)  but you could get a fabric inner for the SS1 or a liner for the Rainbow.

For two adults (more than just once in a while) you would be better off with the Double Rainbow or the SS2.

Nemo Hornet 2p needs to be considered, though it isn’t the cheapest one suggested so far, it has 2 doors and is right at 2lb.  I have one I happened across at a garage sale, I thought I would be a tarp guy for life, til I looked closer at this tent.  It takes cuben to be lighter for full double wall, then you are looking at 2 to 3x the cost.  I take this when its a 1 man + 1 woman trip.

The SS1 is a good tent but in high winds it needs to be very well nailed down and guyed out. Some of the tents mentioned that use arching poles may be a better choice.

I’ve used a Double Rainbow a lot and I recommend it. That’s a reasonable size for one plus. I’ve never seen a Rainbow and they are said to be spacious,  but as a wild sleeper I need extra space. ( Side note: I sleep walk and look forward to this happening on a trip…)

I purchased a SS2 with solid inner to experiment in cold wet outdoor living this winter. I now feel obligated to use it but I think I’ll go back to the DR.

Even if you use trekking poles to walk (I never have) the arch pole in a sleeve seems a more reasonable approach to erecting a tent. One slip of the trekking pole and you could easily puncture the fly of the Stratospire, as it appears the previous owner did to mine.

For the Double Rainbow I have the carbon pole instead of aluminum which ups the risk of breakage but also hasn’t flexed in high winds. People opt for trekking pole tents to shed the weight of the dedicated poles but mine weighs just ~5 oz so I don’t see any reason.

Most importantly to me, the arch pole means the stakes are less crucial to the structure. If you’re careful you can unstake the DR and move it, still semi-erected. I’ve also had a corner stake pull out of some moss and I slept through heavy rain without  issue.

Pay a little extra and get the ZPacks Duplex, amazing tent.

More thoughts leading me back to my Double Rainbow…

I view the ‘condensation management’ benefit of a double wall w/ netting as moot (as Franco mentioned.) Condensation management with a sponge is very simple if there’s no netting wall separating sponge operator from the condensation. If you’re separated by a netting wall that’s a bit of a puzzle to me. Pack up and you have wet walls and wet netting….options are to dab the netting to ‘dry’ it, or to seperate the whole inner and dry the  inside of the fly while walking all over your inner tent.

This is all conjecture because I haven’t slept a night in my Stratospire 2. All my negative feelings towards double walled tents come from my old cramped Terra Nova Solar Photon II, which I loathed,  I hope I rave about the SS2 this spring but I’m not so sure.

“Pack up and you have wet walls and wet netting…’
takes about a minute to separate the inner from the fly of the SS1/2.
As a reminder, you twist those mitten hooks from the ring, no need to push the tongue of the hook in.
(hold the ring with one hand and twist the hook out of it with the other)

Thank you, Franco, that will help me a lot. I previously found it necessary to get totally prone and use both hands to undo those hooks.

I’m still more comfortable with the single wall but time will tell.