One size fits all? Not when you’re talking about tents. Check out these four new shelters, fit for soloists or big families.
REI Hobitat 4 Yes, the Hobitat is a tent, but you’d be better served thinking of this as a modular home. The four-person tent comes standard with a rainfly and mini vestibule, but it’s also built with a special “connect tech zipper” that allows you to add a full-sized garage. Pop open the garage’s awning and you’ve got shaded outdoor lounge space; close it down completely and you’ve got weatherproof storage for all your gear. Not that the tent isn’t spacious enough on its own. The odd pod-shaped design gives you more headroom throughout the tent, and tons of mesh pockets and hang loops keep your family’s gear off the floor. 16lb 8oz. $269; rei.com
Sierra Designs Lightning HT 2 Compared to most two-person tents, which are really only big enough for one regular-sized person and a dog, the Lightning HT 2 feels like a roomy amphitheater. The square footage isn’t revolutionary (28.5 square feet) but a few smart design features enable the Lightning HT 2 to live big. An extra ridge pole adds head room, then double doors keep you from having to step over your buddy every time you have to pee. And the rain fly has two separate vestibules, so you each get your own space. It’s a fully mesh tent, so if the weather’s right, ditch the fly and the entire forest becomes your bedroom, minus the bugs. 3lb 14oz. $279.95; sierradesigns.com
The North Face Meadowlands 6 The trouble with big family tents is that they often require an engineering degree to pitch them. The North Face simplifies the process as much as possible with the Meadowlands, a six-person behemoth, by giving you color-coded poles and exterior pole clips, so you don’t have to fish the poles through 13 feet of tubing. As for space, the Meadowlands has it: 90 square feet to be exact. There’s lots of mesh for venting, but the tent is burly enough to hold up to winds that might cripple lesser family digs. 14.4 pounds. $429; thenorthface.com
Big Agnes Lynx Pass 1 The Lynx Pass isn’t the lightest single-person tent on the market, but it could be the easiest to set up. Thanks to Big Agnes’ efficient single pole design, you can have this tent pitched in under two minutes, which is no small comfort after a long day of hard miles. And this is no emergency bivy. The Lynx Pass has plenty of headroom, and an ample vestibule for gear, so you don’t have to feel like you’re sleeping in a coffin on your next solo mission. 3lb 8oz (pole, fly, tent). $179.95; bigagnes.com
The Wringer:
What’s your sleep number? You want a minimalist sleeping pad that weighs next to nothing? Take your pick. But if you’re looking for a sleep pad that has more cushion for the pushin’, your options are limited. Enter the Cosmo Air Pillowtop, by Nemo. While other companies are cutting ounces and shaving material, Nemo goes the other direction with this backcountry bed. The pad has three-inches of air loft, more than twice the loft of most other air pads, plus an additional Pillowtop sleeve for an extra one inch of foam padding on the surface.
The Cosmo Air has a few cool design features that add to the overall plush feel. It has horizontal baffles, instead of vertical baffles, which do a good job of eliminating any “sink” zones in the middle of the night. It also has an integrated foot pump so you don’t have to go dizzy inflating the thing. And the Pillowtop has extra padding at the head of the pad to create a built-in pillow.
I slept on the Cosmo Air on two different car camping trips, and it’s the most comfortable sleep pad I’ve experienced. Firm, but comfy, I felt like I was sleeping on a high-end mattress, not a camping mat. The four inches of loft and padding act as a warm barrier on cold nights, and the integrated pillow is a stroke of genius. No longer do you have to rest your head on your jacket because you forgot your camp pillow.
The built-in foot pump can be a bit slow. And the Cosmo Air Pillowtop probably weighs more than your tent, so forget about using this system in the backcountry. But for car camping, when comfort is king, you’d be hard pressed to find a more plush bed. 3.9 pounds. $199; nemoequipment.com
