The BEST and WORST Tents Of 2020!

hey everyone devon here with back country exposure today let's discuss the best and the worst shelters that i've used here in the year of 2020. now it's not fair for me to say that a product truly is the best product on the market without being able to do extensive testing of every single product out there we're going to talk about for me personally of what i've been able to use the best experiences that i've had with shelters and the worst experiences with these seven different shelters that i've been able to use over the various trips that i've done in 2020 so we're going to start with the worst tent the worst experience doesn't mean it's necessarily a terrible product i just not did not enjoy it as much as the best experience that i had with this particular product so the first product first tent that was at the bottom of the list for me and just the worst experience is the kyle's dragonfly one person tent now what does this tent have going for it it's super lightweight it is easy to pack down to a really small package and it's a pretty cool design it's got a tunnel style shape so an arc pole that comes over and so it's going to be very like wind and weather resistant in that kind of aspect but what is the issue with this tent why did i have the worst experience with this particular shelter no i didn't have any weather issues with it as i've been out using it sleeping in it the biggest issue for me with this tent is the fact that it is so narrow and there is so little livable space inside of the tent when i've got other products here on the market that are roughly the same weight and they have way more livable space inside of the tent so that is the biggest issue with this particular product also the setup of it the setup of it was the probably the most frustrating of all of them that i have here on the table getting that pull into the grommet once you've got everything seated is incredibly difficult to do and if it is cold outside your hands are cold that is not a fun situation to be in and it's super frustrating all i want is a very easy setup of my shelter so as appealing and awesome as this tent is on paper and in photos it just does not check enough boxes of comfort and ease of setup that it is a go-to shelter for me so i don't know that i will actually use this anymore it's also pretty expensive it's like 500 for a seal nylon tent so that is at the bottom of the list moving on to the second up from the worst is the zero gram uh thru hiker 1p what are the good things about this tent well the design is really cool it has a small vestibule at the head end of the tent and then you've got pretty good livable space the foot end of the tent comes up on a good vertical wall so you don't have to worry about the foot end of your of your sleeping bag getting covered in condensation but that is the biggest issue that i had with this particular shelter is as much livable space as there is in it even with a two wall or a double wall shelter the condensation in this that developed was crazy and it goes to the design of the tent that is a little bit of a flaw the fact that the side wall on the outer of the tent goes literally all the way to the ground you have one small vent at the top of the tent but aside from that it uh it's not as light as other one-person tents and it just doesn't check as many of those boxes that i would like to see from a one-person tent that you might get from something like the gossamer gear one that we'll talk about here in a second but it's a lot heavier than the kylis but more livable space but it does not have as many of the ventilation features that you would want out of a semi-freestanding tent but will i use it more yeah we'll still use it but it's not my favorite of everything that i've used here on the table today so the next shelter that we'll talk about is the sierra designs sweet suite ii now i don't have that shelter anymore not my possession a friend of mine now owns that shelter because i have plenty of tips here at my disposal but what did i love and not like about the sweet sweet too now if you saw my review of the sweet sweet you know that i really enjoyed it and in fact i truly do enjoy the sweet suite but as i used a different sierra designs product this year the studio 2 it pushed the sweet suite down the list even more now it is now a discontinued product in the sierra designs line so ebay or something would be the way that you would have to acquire that but it is not as lightweight as many other two-person shelters out there on the market and the price point of it was a bit steeper than some other options out there on the market so yes it had great livable space and ease of setup was awesome for a semi-free standing tent and just the design was great good ventilation it was the first tent that i used in the 2020 season on my solo winter trip to capitol reef national park so moving on to another sierra designs product this is a shelter called the flashlight 2 fl this has been discontinued for some time but i absolutely adore this particular shelter this came out with me on my trip with my daughter in june it was my first trip out after uh really being cooped up from quarantine in the covid situation but this is a non-freestanding tent that comes with all the poles and stuff that you would need to be able to set up it doesn't require trekking poles although you can use your trekking poles in in place of them it's not as light as some other two-person shelters and sometimes the setup of this can be a little bit finicky not as exciting or as easy i should say to set up as some other uh non-freestanding tents but this has amazing amazing livable space in it my daughter and i plus gear inside of the shelter it doesn't have traditional vestibules that come out it has an awning that comes over the top and then little gear closets as well as not being quite under that two pound range this has some things that it could use some work on but man for the design that this shelter is i absolutely love the flashlight 2 fl from sierra designs discontinued but it's a great great shelter to have so now the next shelter that we're going to talk about is the sierra designs studio two yes three sierra designs shelters uh here on the list and i absolutely love sierra designs and their products i do think that in some ways they're a little bit overpriced but my experience with the studio 2 was amazing and i am excited to continue to use this because in situations where i'm not going for super long hikes and i'm not looking to save a ton of weight and i might be experiencing a bit of weather i may end up spending a bunch of time inside of the shelter waiting out a storm this is going to be a fantastic option for that so it is a semi-freestanding tent that is very lightweight just over three pounds in total weight and it's a front entry tent so no it's not quite as ideal for two people as a two door two vestibule tent like the sweet suite was but unfortunately this is also now discontinued i got this for a super low cost on sale and i kind of figured at that point that sierra designs was more or less liquidating this product and so it's not available anymore unfortunately but if you can get your hands on one of these for a low cost this is a great great shelter i love the design i love the way that the uh the pole structure really creates a ton of livable space inside of the tent everything about it is trying to save as much weight as possible but also not skimping on important things that create comfort for yourself in the backcountry so really really enjoyed this particular product and excited to keep using it for the future now second to last product and just a quality experience and basically like i'm gonna put this and the big agnes copper spur so this is the gossamer gear the one and the big agonist copper spur hvul2 so many different letters and stuff for that basically at a tie because they serve two different purposes in their uh the way that they fit into a backpacking system so the one is a true non-freestanding shelter that has a ton of space in it i would encourage you to go check out my recent video about the gossamer gear the one this is 29 ounces with the poles that i carry with it so it's very lightweight and what surprised me the most about this shelter that i have loved so much and can't wait to keep using is the fact that there's so much space inside of the inside of the tent it pitches really really easy and you get a nice tight pitch every single time with it even in the desert when trying to get a nice tight pitch in the sand when it's loose and stakes pull super easy when you have a lot of tension pulled on your lines this was amazing and i i just love this this shelter i'm really glad that i bought it even though it was an impulse purchase i didn't need it in any way obviously you can see behind me i have plenty of shelters to choose from but this is a great shelter that i've been very surprised at how much i have enjoyed it so the gossamer gear the one so now my absolute favorite shelter and i did not anticipate this to be the case this year as i use so many different tents but the big agnes copper spur ul uh hv2 is at the top of the list for me as my favorite shelter that i've used uh so far now i can't speak necessarily to the weatherproofness and how it has performed in weather situations but this thing is incredible with how thin the fabrics are it still feels very burly and it like it's going to be able to take a bunch of abuse which is really nice in a tent like this but full freestanding shelter i pitched this on top of a slick rock bench before dropping into death hollow with my friend will and the amount of space and organization options that you have inside of the copper spur is amazing it's got this really cool front and or foot and elevated 3d pocket that you can stuff jackets and just all sorts of clothing items and things in there that keep it off the floor you've got pockets at the head end and just a lot of organization the awning feature of the rain fly is super cool it pitches really easy and it is super lightweight it's right at that three pound range for a two person tent to be able to split that between you and somebody else and have something that is gonna just provide an awesome camping and backpacking experience i have loved what this tent is so if you're in the market i would say that a copper spur hvul2 would be the tent to buy over anything else if a freestanding tent is what you're looking for i think it's like 450 dollars but absolutely worth that price 100 so there you go guys that is my list of the best and the worst backpacking shelters that i've used in 2020 i've got links in the description for you to check those out of actually what's available and not discontinued but i really appreciate you guys watching today i'd be curious to know what your favorite and the best shelter is that you have carried in 2020 on your backpacking trips and maybe a tent that i'll want to try and uh use in the year of 2021 when hopefully we can all get out on the trail a lot more than we've been able to in 2020. so thanks for watching guys if you're not subscribed to the channel please do subscribe i hope you have an awesome day we'll catch you on the next video see you later [Music] you

Channel: Backcountry Exposure

Views: 220,162

Rating: 4.812603 out of 5

Keywords: backpacking, backpacking tent, best tent, copper spur 2020, ultralight backpacking, camping, budget backpacking, the one dcf, gossamer gear the one dcf, the one dyneema

Id: mjXWq7roGFw

Length: 13min 12sec (792 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 12 2020