The Best
Tents for
Sleeping
Under
the Stars
BEST (ACTUAL) T WO-PERSON
REI CO-OP HALF DOME 2 PLUS
$229Packed weight: 5 lb. 7 oz. Floor space:
35.8 sq. ft. Peak height: 3 ft. 7 in. Doors: 2Although this is a two-person tent, the
“Plus” means there’s extra room for tall
people, or folks who have a bit more gear.
Of course, with that room comes more
weight. But it’s a fair trade. The spacious
architecture starts at the wide doors that
almost completely unzip and stash away in
the overhead stuff pockets. Once inside,
we could sit up comfortably, and we didn’t
feel like we were on top of our bunkmate
all night. The hubbed pole was simple to
snap into place thanks to the color-coded
clips, allowing us to speed through setup.
We wish the zippers on the rain fly were
smoother—they were hard to operatewhen only one side of the door was staked
down. But carry two additional stakes (six,
if you’re rigging the guylines) in your kit,
and you’ll be set. Excellent weatherproof-
ing via the full fly and solid build makes the
Half Dome an option—if a slightly heavy
one—for the backcountry, too.MOST VERSATILE
BIG AGNES BIG
HOUSE 4 $380Packed weight: 13 lb. 3 oz.
Floor space: 60 sq. ft. Peak
height: 5 ft. 8 in. Doors: 2With plenty of cozy fea-
tures, the Big House 4 is
versatile and, well, large.
The two-in-one design,
which lets you use thefly on its own as a shade,
makes the premium price
more palatable. A few of
our short testers were
able to stand comfort-
ably in the middle of the
full tent, but taller peo-
ple will end up crouching.
We would have liked it if
the front door opened
just a bit more for greater
accessibility. The back
door, which folds down
completely, is consider-ably smaller; we didn’t end
up using it much, but it’s
a nice height for children
or pets. Everyone found
a place for their things
thanks to six interior
pockets and removable
corner shelves that act as
bedside tables. The tent
even has a welcome mat,
though the small fly led to
some water pooling on it
after a night of rain, even
if none entered the tent.W
HETHER YOU’RE
heading into the
woods or up a
mountain, the tent
you pack is one of
the most important
pieces of camp-
ing gear you’ll bring along. Thus a
tent, like hiking boots and a prop-
erly fitting pack, is worth investing
in. Yours should provide protection
from the elements, a place to store
your stuff, and a cozy spot to catch
some Z’s.
To find the best camping tents,
we considered the spaciousness,
features, materials, weights,
construction, and costs of doz-
ens of contenders. Because many
campgrounds were closed due to
COVID-19 concerns, we set up the
most promising ones in a backyard
and slept in them through rain-
storms, one severe thunderstorm,
clear nights, and as the tempera-
ture dropped near freezing. (For
consistency, we used either two-
or four-person sizes, though all of
these come in other capacities, too.)
Tents earned points for being well
ventilated and easy to pitch and
pack up. And to be certain, we veri-
fied or debunked the manufacturers’
weight claims with our scale. After
all that, these performed the best. PHOTOGRAPHY^ BY^ TREVOR^ RAAB64 September/October 202011
Outdoor Stuff
// BY ADRIENNE DONICA //