Backpacking tents are getting increasingly expensive, especially ultralight tents made with specialty fabrics. But take heart. Plenty of good values and budget tents are still available if you know what to look for. Here are our recommended picks for the best budget backpacking tents priced at $300 or less. These tents are lightweight enough for backpacking or camping and offer a great bang for the buck.
The REI Trailmade 2 Tent is a two-person freestanding tent with two doors so you can get up at night without disturbing your partner. It has an X-pole configuration, which makes this tent easy to set up and increases the vertical space at the ends, with a symmetrical rectangular floor plan so you can face each other inside. The rainfly doors roll up over the roof for a clear view of the sky, while numerous internal pockets and gear loops help organize your essentials. The Trailmade 2 is made with polyester, which resists sagging when it gets wet, so you can have a taut pitch whatever the weather. The tent has a minimum trail weight of 4 lbs 10 oz and includes an optional footprint.
The Kelty Late Start 2 is a 2-person, freestanding tent with one front door and vestibule. It has a trail weight of 4 lbs and comes with two pre-bent aluminum poles that slot into external sleeves at the corners, making setup easy and providing a strong structure. The freestanding design means you can pitch the tent and move it around to find the best site. Except for the bathtub floor, the walls and ceiling of the inner tent are all mesh, providing excellent ventilation. The Late Start 2 is less expensive than comparable 2-person dome tents because it only has one front door and a vestibule, making it slightly more difficult for occupants to enter and exit without disturbing each other.
The Marmot Tungsten 2P is a freestanding double-wall one-person tent made with low-stretch polyester that helps reduce internal condensation transfer when it gets wet. The tent includes a footprint and has a fully seam-taped rainfly and floor that offer rain protection when the deluge hits. An internal lampshade pocket holds your headlamp to provide ambient light with interior pockets for small gear organization. A shorter folded pole length makes it easy to pack this tent up for backpacking, bikepacking, kayaking, or all three. The Tungsten 2P has a trail weight of 4 lbs 15.7 oz.
The Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo is an ultralight style, single-wall tent that’s pitched with a single trekking pole. Weighing 26 ounces, the Lunar Solo has a bathtub-style floor to prevent flooding in the rain and a side door for easy entry. The interior is quite roomy, with a hexagon-shaped floor that provides space to store your gear in the tent and plenty of headroom to sit up inside. A large vestibule also provides gear storage. The Lunar Solo upper is made with a 20d silicone-coated polyester, reducing fabric stretch and packed volume, while the floor utilizes a durable 40D fabric. Read the SectionHiker Lunar Solo Review.
The 3FUL Lanshan 1 Pro (24.2 oz) is an ultralight single-wall trekking-pole tent with a side door and vestibule that can be rolled back in good weather for ventilation and views. The interior has a fully integrated bathtub floor, so you can pitch the tent in the pouring rain and still keep the interior dry. The tent is available in silnylon (siliconized nylon) or silpoly (siliconized polyester), depending on the color you choose. I recommend getting the silpoly version since it will sag less if the tent gets wet. Read the Section Hiker Lanshan Pro Tent Review.
The Six Moon Designs Lunar Duo Outfitter is a spacious single-wall tent for two people with two doors and two vestibules. While it is a trekking pole tent, it comes with two curved roof supports that create a 45″ high vaulted ceiling that provides extra headroom. Weighing 57 oz, the tent is made with very durable polyester fabric that can easily withstand a dog’s claws if you like to bring Fido along on your trips. Ventilation is excellent when the doors are left open and at 54″ in width, the tent can easily hold two 25″ wide sleeping pads.
The Tarptent Rainbow is one of the few ultralight tents available today that does not require trekking poles to pitch. Instead, it comes with two poles, a long central one and a short brow pole that create a large internal living space that can fit a 25″ sleeping pad with ease and create two full-size vestibules that provide ample gear storage space. The Rainbow is easy to set up because the fly and floor are fully integrated, and the interior will stay dry even if you need to pitch it in the rain. It is made with 20D silicone-coated polyester with a 30D silnylon 66 floor for excellent strength and durability, even in very heavy rain. Read the SectionHiker Double Rainbow and Rainbow Li Reviews.
The Six Moon Designs Skyscape Scout is an inexpensive 40-ounce, one-person, trekking pole-supported tent. Measuring 100″ x 45″, it offers a generous floor plan that accommodates the tallest backpackers. It requires two poles to set up, which are slightly offset from the center of the tent, providing extra headroom when lying down, making the Skyscape extremely rigid when guyed out, and creating a structure capable of riding out the worst storms. The Skyscape is a Hybrid Double Wall tent: over 80% of the canopy is separated from you by a mesh wall, while the vestibules can roll back. The tent must be seam-sealed before use. Read the SectionHiker Review.
The Dan Durston X-Mid 1P is a one-person 1 lb 12 oz double-wall tent that is exceptionally easy to set up. It has two doors and requires two trekking poles to pitch. All seams are taped, and the inner tent is optional, so you can use the rainfly if desired. The X-mid can be set up fly-first in the rain to keep the inner tent dry and has plenty of interior gear storage space. This mid-style tent is quite stormworthy and includes extra guy-out points for extreme conditions. Read the SectionHiker review.
The Featherstone Backbone 2P is an affordable ultralight single-wall tent for two people that requires two trekking poles to set up. Weighing 2 lbs 11.5 oz, it’s relatively inexpensive yet offers many features found on much more expensive ultralight tents, including peak vents, corner struts, line-loc tensioners, TPU waterproof door zippers, and dual vestibule hooks. It’s made with PU-coated silnylon, so it’s seam-taped and comes complete with 15 tent stakes. Rather than having symmetric sides, the pole positioning ratio is offset 40/60 to provide more overhead room at the head end for sitting up and moving around. Struts, inserted at the foot end corners, further increase the room above your feet without requiring a larger footprint so that the tent can fit into smaller tent sites. Read the SectionHiker review.
Here are the most important variables to consider when buying a budget backpacking or camping tent.
WEIGHT/TRAIL WEIGHT
Budget tents are almost always heavier than ultralight tents because they’re made with heavier, more durable fabrics. The total weight of a tent usually measures the tent and all of its packaging, while the trail weight is the weight of its poles, inner tent, outer rain fly, minus any tent stakes. Lightweight budget tents are usually around 4 to 5 pounds, which isn’t too bad when split between two people.
TENT POLES
Tent poles are made using fiberglass, aluminum, or carbon fiber. Aluminum is the most durable of the three, while carbon fiber is typically used only in very high-end tents where the focus is on weight. Fiberglass poles are the least durable tent poles and break frequently. So much so that we recommend avoiding any tent with fiberglass poles. All the ones above have aluminum poles or require trekking poles, which can be aluminum or carbon fiber; it doesn’t really matter.
DURABILITY
The floor of a tent is the part of a tent most likely to be punctured or torn as a result of ground abrasion. While using a footprint on floors that are 20 denier thick or less is always recommended, it’s far less necessary on 30 denier or higher floors, except on highly abrasive or rough terrain.
DOORS
Tents with two side doors are often preferable when purchasing a tent for two because it means each occupant can get in and out without disturbing the other.
INTERIOR STORAGE
Interior pockets and storage organization are a plus in a multi-person tent. Look for internal pockets and gear loops to hang gear from the ceiling. A gear loft is an added bonus. Vestibule space is always a plus, especially if there are multiple doors, so gear storage does not block entry and exit.
VENTILATION
All tents experience tent condensation, but good tent site selection and ventilation are the best ways to avoid it. Look for tents with lots of mesh netting to improve airflow, top vents to release moist air, and door tie-backs to roll up tent doors and keep them open at night.
SectionHiker never accepts payment for gear reviews or editorial coverage. When you buy through affiliate links on our site, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Help us continue to test and write unsponsored and independent gear reviews, hiking and backpacking FAQs, and free hiking guides.
