Best One-Person Tent

Hello, it turns out that I need to buy a one-person tent for an upcoming trip to Chilean Patagonia. I was wondering if there is a general consensus on what the best single person tent is considering the usual variables: light weight, packability, etc.

Thank you!

Daniel Guerra wrote:

Hello, it turns out that I need to buy a one-person tent for an upcoming trip to Chilean Patagonia. I was wondering if there is a general consensus on what the best single person tent is considering the usual variables: light weight, packability, etc.

Thank you!

MSR makes a great one person tent- humorously entitled the “hubba hubba.” The free-lite is their lighter version- less weight at the cost of durability. If you’re going through Patagonia the wind is a big factor. If you’re going ultralight/simple you can’t beat black diamond’s pyramid tents. Super light, super durable, easy setup, but does require some practice to get the right tension/square shap. BD would be my personal vote. It is a four person tent supposedly, but if you’re soloing it’s nice to have a dry pack in the morning. 

Samaya Radical 1

https://us.samaya-equipment.com/products/samaya-radical1

How tall are you? The MSR Advance Pro 2 is pretty sweet, but comes at the cost of being a tad short. At 6'2 I have to sleep diagonal otherwise head & toes are pushing up against the walls. While advertised as a 2-person, you'll be sleeping on top of each other. 

Nick U wrote:

How tall are you? The MSR Advance Pro 2 is pretty sweet, but comes at the cost of being a tad short. At 6'2 I have to sleep diagonal otherwise head & toes are pushing up against the walls. While advertised as a 2-person, you'll be sleeping on top of each other. 

I'm short. about 5 foot 6 inches. so shouldnt be a problem.

What's the use case for this tent? Will you need to fit all your gear inside when it's raining?

If I was heading down to the Paine for climbing I'd bring a Bibler I-tent. The extra room is nice when waiting out a storm. And it’s comforting to know you’d stay dry even if your poles broke. 

I don’t think a flimsy Hubba style tent will stand up to the Patagonian winds. In any case, no matter what tent you get, always pitch it taut. 

Daniel Guerra wrote:

I'm short. about 5 foot 6 inches. so shouldnt be a problem.

Check out the MSR; "professional" review here. Aside from the [aka my] size issue, I wish it had a bug fly and did a slightly better job with condensation. If money was no object I would go with the Samaya myself. 

Slingfin just released a one person portal Portal 1  I have a slingfin portal 2 and it is really great and I think much more robost that other 3 seaons tents.  Take look at their videos about pitching the tent for bad weather.  video

Crotch Robbins wrote:

What's the use case for this tent? Will you need to fit all your gear inside when it's raining?

If I was heading down to the Paine for climbing I'd bring a Bibler I-tent. The extra room is nice when waiting out a storm. And it’s comforting to know you’d stay dry even if your poles broke. 

That's exactly what I am doing. Central Tower. Having said that do you stand by your recommendation for the Bibler I tent?

Rab Latok Mountain Tent may be an option.

Bomber, enough room for tall person. Not $1500 USD.

I used it as a single in Peru, low and high, and it worked great.

Daniel Guerra wrote:

That's exactly what I am doing. Central Tower. Having said that do you stand by your recommendation for the Bibler I tent?

In that case a Whillans box is the right call hahah.

I-tent 100%. Maybe there are lighter tents that are just as bomber now; I do t know, I haven’t looked in a while. Paine will put your tent to the test and the I-tent is battle tested and proven in this environment. 

Jimmy Strange wrote:

Second the Samaya Radical 1. Does well in the rain too. 

I didn’t like it - too short for me at 5ft 11. 

I love the idea of Samaya tents. I don't love paying minimum $1200 for them

Hilleberg Niak is light, very packable, and extremely robust for a 3 season tent. Borderline 4 season. Great in the wind. Tied downs are really easy to use and well thought out. It’s 2 person though, so Hilleberg has lighter options.

They are well known for bomber construction but the prices match the quality (high). 

climber pat wrote:

Slingfin just released a one person portal Portal 1  I have a slingfin portal 2 and it is really great and I think much more robost that other 3 seaons tents.  Take look at their videos about pitching the tent for bad weather.  video

The portal 1 seems the most comparable option to the Samaya Radical 1 and is a lot more reasonable from a pricing standpoint. Would you consider this  a 4 season tent? 

Daniel Guerra wrote:

The portal 1 seems the most comparable option to the Samaya Radical 1 and is a lot more reasonable from a pricing standpoint. Would you consider this  a 4 season tent? 

I have the portal 2. I wouldn't say it's a full four season tent but could def get you further into the shoulder months than most other three season tents 

Daniel Guerra wrote:

The portal 1 seems the most comparable option to the Samaya Radical 1 and is a lot more reasonable from a pricing standpoint. Would you consider this  a 4 season tent? 

I think it depends upon what you mean by 4 season tent and how you expect to use it.  I agree with Lou in that it might not be what someone would call an expedition level 4 season tent but it is certainly designed for some snow and lots of wind.  Slingfin also sells more robust poles to enable the tent to handle even more snow and wind, of course adding some weight.  Also Slingfin sells tents designed for expedition use.  

I had a tent from a different manufacturer advertised as 3+ season collapse on me in fairly mild conditions.  It is not fun and the tent becomes a bivy sack at that point.  That manufacturer erased my review rating the tent as a 1+ season tent.   I learned that a robust tent is a wonderful thing and the lightest tent is a very bad purchase if it fails when you really need it to work.  

After my failed tent I tried a Hilleberg Enan.  I think the Enan is a good tent and the yellow rating is appropriate (3 season, no snow).  I think the slingfin portal falls into Hilleberg's rating system in between Yellow and Red level. I interpret Red to mean 4 season but not the absolute worst weather you can imagine.  The worst weather you can imagine is Black in Hilleberg's system.   Hilleberg specifies that at the Red and Black tents can close off all mesh areas and the Black level get thicker poles. (red 9mm, black 10mm) as well as the material get heavier.  You can upgrade the SlingFin Portal's poles from 8.7 to 10.65.  Slingfin uses great quality material but the portal is still a mesh inner body.  The mesh body matters if you have lots of wind.  The wind will blast through the tent bringing dust or snow taking away warmth.  My Enan's tent body comes all the way to the ground with the inner body being thin nylon (not mesh) and I have to put a rock or something under it to help ventilation during mild weather.  It is a very warm tent.  The Portal's outer body is a couple of inches off the ground with a mess inner body and much cooler and better ventilated. 

If you are climbing and considering a tent for on route, then you need to consider foot print.  You might need a small foot print self supporting tent.  The Portal and the Samaya Radical 1 are both self supporting but not my Enan so the Enan is unsuitable for that application even in mild weather.  Black Diamond's firstlight and similar designs (single wall, two pole rectangular tent) are often recommended for this role and as far as I can tell all of them suffer from condensation problems.  The condensation problem appears to be so bad that some people think of them as 1 season tent (winter).   Slingfin is trying to address the ventilation problem with some of the expedition tents having two two wall.   Most of the tents mentioned above in this thread are self supporting but you have to beware of some of the ultralight tents available are not quite self supporting and might cause problems. If you are on a trekking expedition then I think the slingfin would likely be fine especially if you spend to the time to find a sheltered location to pitch your tent.  (Patagonia is well known for the winds and sheltering your tent is a good idea).

Unless you just absolutely must have the lightest option available I recommend a 2 person tent over a single person tent.  The weight penalty is minimal and the comfort gain is huge. 

You could also call up slingfin and see what they think.  They have a large product line.  

I spent last spring and summer trying to buy a tent and it was frustrating.  No one had stock of good tents.  Hopefully supply is better now and you can actually buy something but you might have to make do with what you can actually buy.

+1,000,000 to all of what climber pat said

You should probably contact the manufacturer to see what they think. Ultimately, they are unlikely to want to sell you a tent that isn’t going to work and risk having negative experiences/feedback/vibes.  They seem to say that this category of tent is kind of 3.5 seasons.

I don’t think it would be reasonable to put this up against the Samaya Ultra series tent. I own an Samaya Assault 2 Ultra and it is clearly made for serious serious conditions. 

If you want to get something a little lower cost but still high quality, I’d look at something like the TNF Assault 2, Rab Latok, or some of the MSR offerings. Sure they’ll be a bit heavier (..+2lbs?), but that’s the price trade off and they’ll serve you well and give you peace of mind. 

Alex Fletcher wrote:

Hilleberg Niak is light, very packable, and extremely robust for a 3 season tent. Borderline 4 season. Great in the wind. Tied downs are really easy to use and well thought out. It’s 2 person though, so Hilleberg has lighter options.

They are well known for bomber construction but the prices match the quality (high). 

Im strongly considering the Akto 1 Person Tent. Thoughts? 

The sling fin may stand up fine in the Patagonian winds, but it will probably be a very drafty, and cold tent for those conditions. The fly is a few inches above the ground, and the  solid material on the long sides only comes up maybe 6”, and a bit higher on the short end walls. Blowing spin drift will probably get thru the mesh. If they made it with a solid inner tent, it might be better for your needs.