Big Agnes sneak peak at new UL tents for 2026

I wonder if perhaps the need for innovation has overcame the need for function. I’d have to see more. Interesting designs.

Big Agnes has released some real duds before.  Who remembers the Scout series?  These were basically A-frame tents (probably why they used “Scout” in the name).  They never took off and were discontinued.

Whenever I see 1.5, I’m interested enough to take a look because I really just need space for me and a dog, and 2P tents are overkill. Those bump-outs are perfect for a dog. One vestibule is plenty and I want to keep the footprint compact. But based on the specs posted, it doesn’t save me any weight (because no Dyneema), so I doubt I’d invest in yet another tent.

I love many things about my Durston X-Mid 2 pro, and it’s a really clever design, very large for its weight. But I really don’t need the volume, and the footprint is huge compared to my needs. I almost always have trouble finding sites to accommodate the whole thing. Someday I suppose I’ll have a smaller dog again and go back to my Plexamid.  :-(

Nice to see more polyester and fly first pitching tents.

In particular, it’s nice to see another brand moving to polyester instead of nylon. I’ve been passionate about poly because it’s non-sag and faster drying, and it’s pretty neat to see it change from being a rare and controversial choice when we got started, to being something that most of the big brands are doing now. I kinda miss the old days though when it was so polarizing.

It’ll be interesting to see how things go with the Sarvis freestanding tent being a singlewall. Compared to their Copper Spur it is nice it pitches fly first, but then a lot of people willing to spend weight to get freestanding might also prefer a doublewall tent, so I’m not sure the market for freestanding + fly first + singlewall is quite there. I suspect the singlewall/hybrid style will be a better fit with the customers looking at their trekking pole and semi-freestanding option who are more weight conscious and thus more likely interested in that tradeoff.

The BA HyperBead silnylon fly is 15D whereas the silpoly is 20D. Perhaps BA believes they need a higher denier for silpoly in order to match silnylon’s strength. The 20D is probably about .20 oz per square yd heavier, maybe a little less.

BA rates the new silpoly at much higher waterproofness than the silnylon (4000 mm vs 1500 mm). That’s good because BA tents are notorious for leaking in sustained heavy rainfall events.

The BA Scout looks a lot like the S to S Escapist. Not a bad design, simple as it is. Entrance is a bit difficult. Once a frontrunner, BA is starting to fade in the background. The market has shifted towards the relatively newcomers. They had their shot and they hit the target, but somebody moved the target. Not naming names. He might just be DareDevil.

“Once a front runner…The market has shifted towards the relative newcomers…”
<p style=”text-align: left;”>Let’s see this play out a bit. This tent may not be the most popular here on BPL, with Thru-hikers or even at REI and mountain shops, but it will probably get the attention that comes along with a big company marketing push and the army of click-bait influencers that will talk about it. Plus it will likely be produced at volumes DD and Zpacks have yet to achieve.</p>
This is the reality of “the Market” overall, as fractured and financially tentative as it is today.

How the innovation filters down from bespoke makers to the popular tents sold at REI and mountain shops is an interesting dynamic. Maybe it’s possible for some to bridge to larger volume and become a major supplier like BA, but BA, Nemo, MSR and the like will not give up easily. Maybe this is a sign of that. Didn’t BA have a dyneema fly option?

I am certainly not the demographic for these tents, and suspect few of those in this community are.  Also perhaps I am a bit of a curmudgeon, but there was nothing presented here that blew my skirt up.  Plus, to my eye at least, they were all pretty darned unattractive.

Certainly, to me, they are nowhere near as attractive functionally or cosmetically as the XMids.  Will be interesting to see how they fare in the market…and just how wrong I am :)

three of the tents on the first post, and the big agness tent have these sideways wrinkles when they’re set up

I looked at xmid1 and same thing, but maybe not as much

I wonder if that makes any difference – completely taut panels will sustain higher winds before failure?

Or, maybe it’s just aesthetic.

I wonder what a tent maker could do about this – making all the panels completely taut.

Tight panels are going to deflect less, and will stabilize the structure better if the fabric is connected to the structure (e.g. trekking pole tent).

When you see loose fabric, it is often not so much an issue with the tent as the pitch. Quite easy to get wrinkles on any tent if someone has it adjusted wrong. Usually the tent can theoretically pitch pretty much perfectly, but in the real world will come vary distances away from that depending on pitch complexity, user skill, and uneven ground.

I understand that the knee-jerk reaction at BPL is that a mass-market brand can’t make anything worth buying, but personally I would consider the String Ridge VST 1.5 alongside some trekking pole cottage manufacturer tents  if I didn’t already own a couple of DCF tents that serve the same purpose for me. 19oz for $550 in polyester for a jumbo 1P tent. Functionality is TBD, but I don’t see any obvious reasons to trash it.

“Once a frontrunner, the market has shifted toward the relative newcomers”

That’s true for the ultralight backpacking community but remember we’re the minority. The backpacking masses tend to look at things a little differently. Just click onto campsaver, backcountry, REI or any of the big outdoor gear sites and you’ll see more Big Agnes tents than anything else. They’re the masters of marketing and to be fair they were one of the first mainstream companies to produce light and ultralight tents. BA got connected with the major retailers early on and have been riding the wave ever since. Nemo and MSR have stepped up to challenge but BA still has the bigger chunk of the market. They get their tents cranked out in Asia with cheap labor and then sell to major retailers for about half MSRP.

The Copper Spur and Fly Creek series have been huge sellers for BA. I bought a Fly Creek 1 when they first came out and quickly sold it after one windy night, but the semi-freestanding Fly Creek has been a hit because of its light weight and ease of set up. The Copper Spur is BA’s best tent IMO. Their main issue has been a low HH rating of 1200 mm, however the new HyperBead silnylon is supposed to be much more waterproof.

I’m with JCH, the new BA tent’s don’t tempt me in any way. I can click onto Tarptent or Durston site and see better tents at a lower price without the middleman. BA has seen the huge interest in silpoly in the past few years and is smart to bring something to market made with the material. Many potential buyers won’t even consider a silnylon shelter anymore.

My comment wasn’t exclusive to BA. I’ve been a fan. They did have their heyday. My comment is more on the state of the market. Like being a rockstar. When they grow old, they set up residency in Vegas or REI, hashing out their old hits. Trying to stay relevant. I wish them well.

In the more mainstream market, I feel like the BA Copper Spur 2 was king of “light enough” backpacking tents for a long time.

For a lot of people who walk into a retailer like REI, they probably still are, and I agree with the sentiment that those of us who live on BPL kind of live in a niche bubble.  Steve from MyLifeOutdoors has done some videos where he attends the big trail days event on either the PCT or the AT, and I was super attentive when he walked through the backpacker’s camp trying to gauge tent popularity.  The “sage green” has certainly made a big impact, based on the video he did this year from the PCT event.  Two times I section hiked the JMT and was passing through Vermillion Valley Resort and Red’s Meadow, they were similar opportunities to walk around and see what kinds of tents people were using.  Frankly, there aren’t a lot of opportunities to do that sort of casual research.

It’s also my impression that as things have gotten more expensive, people have discovered that the Asian brands (3F UL Gear, NatureHike, FeatherStone, One Tigris) are now “good enough” for a lot of people suffering from sticker shock walking into an REI or similar retailer, but wanting to avoid the Ozark Trail level of stuff at Walmart or Dick’s Sporting Goods.  In 2011, a BA Copper Spur retailed for $400 but could be often had for less (According to the web.archive.org).  That same tent now cost $550.  The Durston X-Dome 2 with AL poles is $439.

This is an interesting discussion. I appreciate reading the differing opinions everyone has and time will tell whether BA sees any success in the market with these new products.

time will tell whether BA sees any success in the market with these new products.

We may never really know because the market for expensive and lightweight trekking pole tents is probably not that large, and maybe it’s not worth their while. I’d imagine that BA has a different way of measuring success than smaller manufacturers (who often can’t even keep up with demand), and if it doesn’t generate big revenue, they may just discontinue it after a couple of years. Or maybe they’d really like to stake out a position in the lightweight space for credibility’s sake, even if it isn’t a huge money-maker. That said, this is just speculation, but we have a close friend who lives in Steamboat and she is friendly with one of the founders, so maybe I can ask her if she knows what they are thinking.

In my anecdotal conversations with casual backpackers, I often find that they would like to reduce pack weight and money is often not an object, but certain things are intimidating, like pitching a tent with trekking poles and guy lines, or using an alcohol stove. To be honest, I need to refresh my memory each season before my first trip. Or if I pull out a tent that I haven’t used in a few years, I don’t generally remember all the little tricks I learned to make it pitch right.

As an irrelevant aside, I was looking up at Big Agnes during my Labor Day trip while walking up the Encampment River meadows, before I fell and broke my wrist while bushwhacking up to a lake, ending my season. :-(

Buying from Asian countries in many cases is only bypassing the middle man. I’ll pay extra for cottage craft while saving for it through AliExpress. Often for products that aren’t available elsewhere.

but certain things are intimidating

Growing pains. REI is closing stores .The Internet is less intimidating than it once was. Customers are getting educated, younger and more adaptable. There’s a lot more competition in the ultralight market. Companies like HMG, once a front runner in the use of sailcloth, now generally seen as overpriced. Those dominating the market now in many ways are facing the same fate. Many just end up selling clothes. It’s a hard market.

I think, almost by definition, “sleeping in the woods underneath a piece of fabric” is a niche endeavor.  As such, the market for ultralight shelters is naturally constrained.

I’m often surprised at how often I hear people talking about camping, and camping trips, and camping vacations to discover they are talking about RVs or driving multiple vehicles to a campground and unloading several hundred pounds of gear. Not that there is anything wrong with that, just not what I think we talk about at BPL :)

It’s rare for me to meet people who are interested in leaving the trailhead with 25 lbs on your back and not returning for days.