Choosing a Bikepacking Tent: Guide + Popular Model Pros and Cons

Your bikepacking tent should be your sanctuary, a cozy home away from home. But choosing the best bikepacking tent for your needs is tricky when there are so many different types of “bikepacking.”

Minimalist singletrack shredding? Long-haul international touring? A local weekend overnighter? All of the above, eventually?

I’ve bikepacked over 20,000 miles on six continents in a number of styles, from casual to fast-and-light. And I’ve done it with a variety of tents, both solo and with a partner. I’m here to help you sort through all the specs and marketing fluff to find the perfect tent for your specific bikepacking aspirations.

Do You Need a Bikepacking-Specific Tent?

Most tents used for bikepacking are technically backpacking tents. The backpacking market is bigger and older, and backpackers tend to be even more weight-sensitive.

These days there are enough of us bikepackers that gear manufacturers are starting to pay attention. Big Agnes, Nemo, MSR, and Big Sky International are a few who produce bikepacking-specific versions of their tents.

Generally this means the poles fold up shorter to fit into space-constrained bikepacking setups, and the stuff sack might be burlier to handle the rigors of being strapped on a bike.

As much as I love that bikepacking-specific tents are a thing, I recommend you don’t limit yourself to tents with “bikepack” in the model name. Many backpacking tents work perfectly well too, and I’ve included several in the following roundups of the best tents for bikepacking.

Related: Lightweight Solo Backpacking Tents Ranked by Price and Weight

What’s Your Bikepacking Style?

The term “bikepacking” can refer to many kinds of travel by bike. Just like with bikepacking bikes, many tents can work but some will be better than others depending on the type of bikepacking you have in mind. Here are the two ends of the spectrum as I see it:

Shorter nature-focused trips in remote areas: a weekend overnighter on local trails, a few days on dirt forest service roads, or maybe a ride like the Great Divide that’s longer but consistently focused on low-population areas. If this is your primary bikepacking style, you might like the single-wall non-freestanding shelters often used by lightweight backpackers (especially if you also backpack).

Long-distance bike travel through varied regions: a multi-country tour, round-the-world adventure, or dirt road expedition through a foreign country. These types of rides tend to be less predictable, cover a wider range of seasons and climates, and bring us through more populated areas. A more robust and versatile double-wall freestanding tent, possibly in a larger size than you technically need, can be worth the extra ounces.

Those are just generalizations! Many people blur the lines between these styles or use the same shelter for both.

A Great Bikepacking Tent Is…

Lightweight

If you’re shopping for a new bikepacking tent and want something reasonably lightweight that won’t bog you down on the climbs, aim to at least stay under these generous thresholds:

• 1 person tent: under 3 pounds
• 2 person tent: under 4 pounds
• 3 person tent: under 5 pounds

If a lightweight bikepacking setup is a priority for you, aim to beat each of those thresholds by at least a pound. For example, around 1.5 pounds is a good weight for a lightweight solo tent (single wall and non-freestanding — see below for more on those).

The absolute lightest tents will generally be ultralight backpacking tents, usually single walled (more on this below) and trekking pole supported. You can still use them for bikepacking, even though most of us don’t bikepack with trekking poles, by purchasing a lightweight folding tent pole to use instead.

Here are a few popular ultralight tents for bikepacking. All weigh in at under 2 pounds. They vary in price from under $300 (Six Moon Designs is a great value) to over $800 (ZPacks is the premium pick).

• Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo
• Gossamer Gear The Two
• Zpacks Plex Solo
• ZPacks Free Duo / Trio

Not Too Bulky

While BACKpackers are especially weight-sensitive — they feel every ounce in their shoulders and knees — BIKEpackers can be more sensitive to the size and shape of our gear. Instead of a roomy backpack we have to Tetris our gear into nooks and crannies on our bike, especially when using a bikepacking bag setup.

This is the main benefit of bikepacking-specific tent models, which usually shorten folded pole length to 12 or 14 inches. This is an easier length to strap to a seat bag or stuff into panniers, and it can even fit between drop handlebars. The shorter length isn’t strictly necessary – I’ve used 18 inch tent poles on drop handlebars by strapping them out in front of a handlebar bag – but it can be helpful.

Related: 7 Ways to Carry Your Tent While Bikepacking

Freestanding?

A freestanding tent doesn’t need stakes to maintain its structure. You might still choose to stake out the corners for stability, but it’s not critical. While staked tents work well for wilderness adventures and are usually a bit lighter, freestanding tents are less fiddly to pitch and very handy for camping in more populated areas.

While bikepacking I’ve pitched my tent on patios, in garages, inside someone’s living room as mosquito protection, in abandoned buildings, and on concrete parking lots – all much easier without stakes. In my experience a freestanding tent is important for bikepacking abroad, or even long-haul bike routes within the US, and all the unpredictability those types of trips entail.

On the other hand, if you plan to stick with shorter trips in unpopulated areas and you prefer a lightweight gear list, a non-freestanding tent will be lighter.

Some tents are semi-freestanding and only need a couple stakes, a compromise that can make life a little easier when stakes aren’t an option. A tent that only needs a few corner stakes will still be less hassle than one that needs 6-8 stakes.

Double Wall?

The traditional tent design is double-walled: a mostly mesh interior with waterproof floor, and a separate rain fly that can optionally be attached over the top. This is ideal for versatility, weather protection, and preventing condensation, but it’s heavier.

A single-wall tent is made from one layer that aims to keep weather out while still ventilating in key locations. Single-wall tents are often lighter but can collect condensation inside. They’re usually lightweight 3-season backpacking tents and aren’t suitable for really nasty weather. They’re also less comfortable in hot weather, something to consider if you’ll be bikepacking in tropical climates.

To choose between single-wall and double-wall, think about the type of bikepacking you’ll be doing. For a long trip through varied climates double-walled is much more versatile. On a hot muggy night you can use the mesh inner alone for bug protection, and in a nasty storm the separation of the rainfly and inner will offer more warmth and better weather protection.

If you plan to mainly bikepack in unpopulated areas and want to keep your gear list light, single wall is a good choice. Single wall tents work well in alpine and desert environments where weather is generally cool, dry, or both.

Single-wall tents are likely to be lighter, often pyramid-shaped, and sometimes supported by trekking poles or a standalone tent pole. Here are some popular examples:

• Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo
• Tarptent Double Rainbow
• Gossamer Gear The Two

Stealthy Neutral Color

Bikepacking, especially on long-distance routes, often involves wild camping or “stealth camping” in places where we’d rather not call attention to our home for the night. For these cases it’s nice to have a tent that blends into the landscape. The muted greens and browns of most tents listed below work well against a variety of backdrops (forest, desert, etc), and grey isn’t bad either. Avoid bright oranges and reds, obviously.

Here are a few tents with especially stealthy coloring:

• Big Sky Soul 1P
• Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL (olive green color)
• Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo

Appropriate for the Weather

Tents are usually designated as 3-season (spring, summer, fall) or 4-season (winter-capable). Four season tents are heavier but more robust and can handle more wind and snow.

For most fair-weather bikepackers a 3-season tent is best. If you plan on winter bikepacking or want to travel through varied climates and seasons on your bike, a 4-season tent — or at least a robust double-wall 3-season tent — is a good idea.

Among double-walled 3-season tents, some inners are mostly mesh while others (like the MSR Hubba Hubba) use larger panels of fabric. More mesh is good for ventilation in hot and humid climates while more fabric is good for cold and windy weather.

Roomy Enough

Most tents are designed to fit exactly the designated number of sleepers side-by-side with little room left over. Filling all the spots in your tent is the best way to minimize per-person weight and bulk, but it’s not ideal for long-term use and a good night’s sleep.

Solo bikepackers on long-haul trips sometimes prefer a 2 person tent so there’s room to stretch out and bring more gear inside. Similarly, couples on long trips can benefit from the extra space of a 3 person tent; I know we appreciate this when my husband and I bikepack together!

If your tent is just for sleeping, you can err on the smaller side. On a long trip where you might need to hunker down for a few days to wait out weather or take a rest day, err on the side of more space.

On sharing tents: Sometimes friends want to save weight by sharing a tent on a bikepacking trip. My personal recommendation is: don’t do it! Individual tents only, unless you’re a couple or really good friends. Bikepacking is tiring and a good night’s sleep is precious.

Footprint or No Footprint?

Many tents come with footprints and ground sheets. Do you really need these? My opinion is that they add extra unnecessary weight. I prefer to be a bit selective about where I put my tent down and simply let the tent’s floor double as a ground sheet.

That said, a ground sheet will prolong the life of your tent floor if you log a lot of nights under the stars. A lightweight semi-disposable groundsheet made from Tyvek or polycryo is a good compromise.

1 Person Bikepacking Tents

Now that you know the basics of what to look for in a bikepacking tent, let’s dive into some specific models. Here’s a selection of the best 1-person tents for bikepacking currently on the market.

2 and 3 Person Bikepacking Tents

The right two person bikepacking tent can be a roomy palace for a solo traveler or a lightweight shared shelter for a couple. A three person tent makes a cozy family shelter or a spacious upgrade for a couple on a longer trip. Because so many of these tent models come in multiple sizes with similar designs, I’ve grouped 2 and 3 person versions together in the descriptions below.

Comparison Table: 3 Person Bikepacking Tents

If you need a 3-person bikepacking tent for family bikepacking, a couple with a dog, or just a pair that appreciates personal space, these are the standout options. This list is shorter than the others, as there just aren’t that many lightweight 3-person tents to choose from.

Click on a tent name to jump down to its description, or keep scrolling to see them all.

Ultralight Bikepacking Tents

Most of the tents in this post are reasonably lightweight for their class, but a few stand out for their focus on ultralight design and materials. These tents are more expensive and can require a bit more care to keep them in good shape. Most are single-wall and non-freestanding, and generally lack bells and whistles like gear lofts and pockets. If you’re in search of an ultralight fully-enclosed shelter (i.e. not a tarp or bivy) for bikepacking and don’t mind the tradeoffs, these are your standout options.

Most Affordable Bikepacking Tents

For those on a budget, here’s a selection of the best cheap (as in affordable, not low-quality) bikepacking tents available.

If you’re looking for a budget bikepacking tent, don’t forget about used gear! Here are some places to look for lightly used tents at reduced prices:

• GearTrade
• REI Used Gear
• Outdoor Gear Exchange
• eBay

More Bikepacking Resources

If you found this helpful, you might also like these:

• Bikepacking Food Guide
• The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route: Essential Q&A
• How to Find Riding Companions for Bikepacking and Touring

Or visit the bikepacking section for lots more!