A tent is a critical piece of equipment for a wide variety of activities such as camping, hiking or backpacking. But tents can also get expensive, especially when you want a good one, and so looking for a cheap tent is a good idea if you want to have some money left over for other outdoor gear, like sleeping bags and backpacks. A sale is always a good place to start when looking for a cheap tent, but if you know what to look for you can find some high quality, yet cheap tents.
Cheap Tent
What you want to see when reviewing cheap tents.- Weight – Sad to say, if you’re looking for a lightweight tent, you’re not likely to find many cheap options. Better, lighter materials and improved construction techniques means that lightweight tents tend to be more expensive, even if they do use a bit less material. There are, of course, a few exceptions, if you know where to look.
- Capacity – Bigger tents that are made to fit more people tend to be more expensive, so if you’re looking for a cheap tent, consider getting a 1 or 2 man tent, and let other people worry about their own shelter. The main reason for buying larger tents is to save on weight, but tents start getting heavy very fast at about the 4 man point anyway, so smaller is sometimes better in that way too.
Best Cheap Tent
Some of the very best cheap tents to choose from.- REI Camp Dome 2 Tent - If all you want is a good, basic cheap tent that you can do a little camping with, then the Camp Dome from REI is an ideal choice. This particular one has room for 2, but there is also a 4 man version. It's a basic rectangular design with two poles, though it has two doors which can certainly come in handy. No vestibule on either door, unfortunately, and at 4 pounds 15 ounces, or 2.24 kilograms it's not the lightest tent in the world, but the low price really is the best feature of this tent.
- Eureka Alpenlite 2XT Tent - 4 season tents are not generally cheap, but this is definitely one of the cheaper options out there. It has room for 2, and comes with plenty of ventilation options to ensure that you wont wake up with condensation coating the walls. It features an impressive 6 poles, which adds an impressive amount of strength, plus a low profile that will prevent it from catching too much wind. At 8.85 pounds, or 4.01 kilograms it's not all that lightweight, but then 4 season tents rarely are.
- Tarptent Contrail - If you're looking to go lightweight backpacking but don't want to have to shell out a whole lot for a fancy, lightweight tent then the Contrail is an ideal choice. At 24.5 ounces, or 700 grams it's light enough and small enough that you'll hardly know you're carrying it. Innovative features like a single wall design and the option to use trekking poles as tent poles are what help make this a lightweight option. It only has room inside for 1, but the weight savings are well worth it, and the smaller capacity helps to keep the price down. So an ideal cheap tent for those that want to save weight.
