Never leave the dog at home, says our Washington-based tester, even if that means toting a larger shelter. With a three-person tent as light and packable as the Mineral King by Mountain Hardwear, your pup can become a backcountry regular. The tester and his partner regularly bring their 70-pound husky on multiday backpacking trips, and this shelter is plenty spacious for two adult humans and a sprawled-out pup. And at a little over 7 pounds, it’s hardly a chore to carry for many miles. The two-pole design is simple and space efficient and, divided among three people, the tent practically disappears. “I took the poles, [my partner] took the body, and [our other friend] the fly—I had to remind him he had it when we got to camp to set up.” 

The testers packed it on a five-day trip along Montana’s The Beaten Path trail without issue. The tent even kept them out of sopping overnight mountain storms. “We stayed comfortable and dry and, considering the generous head space (the tent has a 48-inch peak), we were able to sit up and play cards with another friend until things dried off outside,” one of the testers said. Almost 21 square feet of vestibule area make it even easier to stay comfortable in damp conditions. When the weather improves, users can roll the fly back to the peak, exposing the tent’s top half for primo stargazing. (The fly will continue to cover the back half of the tent to block any breezes and can be quickly replaced if a squall rolls in.) There’s plenty of interior storage, and the doors are large enough to make leaving and entering a cinch. Buy here. 

Other capacities: Two-person 

Got little ones who like to sprawl? The MSR Hubba Hubba LT 3 was a favorite with our testers who camp with toddlers, sporting an ample floor area of 47 square feet. That’s 90 inches of length and 75 inches of width for three campers (and maybe a cute pup) to comfortably lounge and listen to morning birdsong.

“For a 3-person tent, this is an extremely portable sleeping system that is ideal for backpacking, where weight and size are critical,” said a Washington tester who took the tent to the Cascade Range. Weighing in at 4 pounds, 13 ounces, the Hubba Hubba LT 3 is a lightweight, freestanding backpacking setup that packs down into a petite 20-inch by 6.5-inch package when not in use.

Also important: MSR has gone the extra mile to make this tent easier on the environment. It comes equipped with a PFAS-free durable water repellent (DWR) coating to keep out precipitation, and its solution-dyed fabric cuts carbon emissions by roughly 80% when compared with previous models of the same design. These changes don’t seem to have affected performance: One New York tester took the Hubba Hubba LT 3 beach camping on New York's Fire Island and said that the tent held up well when subjected to sustained wind and rain.

With all that weatherproofing, you can rest assured that your key gear, like packs, water bottles and boots, are safe within the spacious 8-foot vestibules—leaving more room in the sleeping area for late-night card games. Smaller accessories, like hats, lip balm and electronics, store easily in interior mesh pockets located along the shelter's top, toe box and ceiling. Note that the Hubba Hubba LT 3 does not come with a footprint but does pair with the brand’s Universal Footprint 3. Buy here.

Bigger tents come in bigger packages—a real bummer if you're planning on shouldering your shelter for a backcountry adventure. So rub your eyes and look again: The Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL lineup is spacious and light across the board, an impressive balance that earned it an REI Editors' Choice Award. The two-person variety tips the scales at just over 3 pounds, while the three- and four-person versions shave even more weight at 3 pounds 14 ounces and 5 pounds 11 ounces, respectively (or less than a pound and a half per person if you split up components). 

For a barely there tent like this, you might expect confined quarters or a lack of features, but the Copper Spur makes for a remarkably comfortable backcountry hangout. It has a whopping 14 (ish) feet of floor space per sleeper in all capacities—plenty of room to spread out after a day of hiking. Our testers appreciated the tent's high-volume architecture, crediting its steep walls and tall peak height. Another nice touch? Dual vestibules (with the exception of the one-person version) that are positioned on either side for easier entry and exit. And an additional zipper allows you to prop up the fly over trekking poles to create a veranda. 

Even durability isn't a trade-off. Our testers returned from a month in Washington's Cascades with nary a snag on the Copper Spur, even after camping in alpine zones with barnaclelike rocks. And the line's bikepacking-friendly version (in one-, two- and three-person capacities) features shorter poles, perfect for stashing in handlebar rolls, as well as a couple of other bike-specific features. Buy here. 

Other capacities: One-person, three-person, four-person 

Now in stock: We're currently testing this tent’s updated version. Buy the new Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 Tent here.

Four's a party. But in the ultra-spacious Tungsten from Marmot, a crowd of stinky backpackers hardly posed a problem. During a winter trip out to the Utah desert, the tent's generous 93- by 82-inch floor handled a quartet of puffier shoulder season sleeping bags (and their four occupants) with ease. One gray morning, more than 4 feet of peak height and vertical interior walls left enough room for everyone to sip coffee without jostling. Two giant doors make getting in and out smoother and the vestibules offer ample space for gear storage, keeping your belongings out of the sleeping area.

The Tungsten held condensation to a minimum—a rarity for high-capacity tents like this—thanks to big vents on top of the fly. Two lampshade pockets in the eaves held a light for some after-dark poker, too. Weight and packability are always a ding with tents this large and the Tungsten is no exception. At almost 9 pounds, this is a load you'll want to share with your trailmates. Buy here.

Other capacities: two-person, three-person

A brand-new pair of performance backpacking boots cost more than this tent—not bad for backcountry digs. On a trip to the Wind River Range, our testers lauded the REI Co-op Half Dome 2 for its ample space and plethora of pockets, all without realizing it was the most budget-friendly shelter in our test. This roominess, combined with an intuitive setup (even in strong winds, one tester noted), makes the Half Dome a win for backcountry beginners who want a tent that's both affordable and uncomplicated. (One Portland-based tester managed to set the tent up in the dark in just 5 minutes.) Another win for those who don’t want a fussy tent: It performed impressively in turbulent weather without any special adjustments. One New Mexico-based tester intentionally took it out to windy spots. “On the last night, I intentionally faced it crossways to the westerly wind and its sturdiness was impressive,” he reports. “I should note that I did not feel compelled to use the extra tie-downs. Just the standard stake-outs.”

The trade-off for the value and durability is weight (it's nearly 6 pounds), though our testers still deemed it big-mile-ready, especially when divided between packs. If you're new to the trail, chances are you're probably sharing it with a friend who can help shoulder some of the lift. And livability is top-notch. A generous, rectangular floor plan and steep sidewalls left enough room for a mom and her little one on a three-night outing, and for two adult hikers and a small dog to wait out a squall in general comfort. Buy here.

Other capacities: Half Dome 3 Tent

If you’re looking for a tent that toes the line perfectly between a weatherproof car camping palace and a light-enough backpacking shelter, look no further than the MSR Elixir 4. Testers loved this do-it-all tent for its super-sturdy design and roomy interior, with one Colorado tester saying that she could easily fit three people and loads of gear inside.

The Elixir 4’s minimum trail weight of 8 pounds, 3 ounces (with just the tent, rainfly and poles) hits that elusive sweet spot wherein it’s great for both off-grid vehicle camping and backcountry trekking. “It could be split up very nicely by three to four people and not take up much room at all [inside packs],” said one tester after a two-night backpacking excursion in Colorado’s Lost Creek Wilderness. Given the tent’s generous 88-inch width and 90-inch length, we’re confident that it would work nicely as a super-plush 2-person campground or festival shelter, too. Plus, the Elixir 4’s corner pockets and mesh upper gear pouch mean that up to four campers can easily stash their nighttime accessories and headlamps without tussling for space.

Multiple testers noted how weatherproof the Elixir 4 proved in the field. Our Moab, Utah, camper gave it special marks for excelling in a windstorm with 39 mph gusts, doing a great job keeping the wind out and blocking the harsh desert sun. A Washington tester praised it for its water resistance, too, but noted that one tradeoff of that thicker, more weatherproof rainfly material was that condensation gathered inside the tent more easily on humid trips.

The one place this tent didn’t excel? Setup. Our Colorado tester mentioned that the Elixir 4’s 7000-series aluminum poles might be tricky to bend into position if you plan on setting the tent up solo. Ultimately, this wasn’t a dealbreaker: “For a 4-[person] tent, it’s unlikely that you would be using it alone, anyways,” she said.

With the tent’s total weight being 9 pounds, 4 ounces (including stakes and footprint), we certainly wouldn’t consider this to be a count-your-grams ultralight shelter, but for a sturdy and roomy 4-person tent, it’s light enough for families or beginner backpackers to take out without blowing the bank on a more delicate (and thus pricier) model. Buy here.

When you don’t have the option of splitting a tent among a handful of inhabitants’ backpacks, you notice every ounce. But prioritizing weight savings can come at the expense of space and comfort. The Hornet by NEMO was both light and roomy option for solo trekkers.   

During a three-night backpacking trip in Silverton, Colorado, and in Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument, one tester appreciated the tent’s light weight (at 2 pounds and 4 ounces) and packability. “This thing compresses pretty small,” he said, “especially compared to other tents I’ve used made of DCF.” DCF (Dyneema® Composite Fabric) is used by a lot of premium ultralight brands for hyperefficient weight savings. “I’d definitely consider it on an ultra-endurance thru-hike, especially if I wanted something I knew could handle bad weather and high winds.” One 6-foot, 8-inch tester fit snugly but comfortably and still had room for toiletries, some food and a stash of clothes inside the tent; the rest of his pack lived in the vestibule.  

The Hornet is semifreestanding, meaning that a portion of the tent needs to be staked out in order for it to reach its full size. The Hornet has two corners on the foot-side that should be staked out—simple to do and not 100% necessary in good weather. Plenty of guyouts and attachments from the fly to the tent body help pull out the body to allow a little more shoulder room. A Nightlight Pocket™ makes it easy to organize in the dark, and the large door and vestibule make entrances and exits less of a chore than other 1-person tents. Buy here. 

Other capacities: Two-person and three-person 

Clearly, the designers at Sea to Summit are aliens who have never seen a tent before, tasked to make a lightweight backpacking shelter from scratch… and the out-of-the-box design they came up with is genius. During a winter of desert backpacking trips, our tester fell hard for the Telos' myriad innovations. The first stroke of brilliance comes from the upside-down looking brow pole across the top, which pulls the top corners of mesh way up and out. The result: You and your partner can both sit up and get dressed without your heads or shoulders brushing the tent material (plus, you get taller, easier-to-enter doors). A full-width vent along the very top of the tent kept things breezy during a warmer-than-usual spring trip to Moab, Utah. And three stuff sacks (for the body, fly and poles) separate easily to split up the load (and double as a light bar or storage), then reconnect for stashing. And on top of all that, the body of the tent easily clips to the poles even when the fly is already on: Our testers could set up the fly first in a rainstorm to keep the body dry, roll the fly back halfway on clear nights and set the fly up as a sun shelter big enough for three camp chairs. So, why is this shelter an Honorable Mention? While this tent is a similarly solid pic for small backpacking groups, the Mineral King (Best for Small Groups) won in the category thanks to providing slightly more space for campers. The Telos TR2 is a tighter squeeze. Buy here.

Thinking of pushing your tent into winter use? The REI Co-op Arete ASL 2 is a three-season tent that can pinch-hit in four seasons. When one pair of testers took it into Washington's remote Picket Range, 30 mph winds hardly ruffled their roomy mountain chalet, thanks to a beefy pole structure (two cross poles and two brow poles create a sturdy dome) and guyout points at every intersection. Nice touch: The stake-out points can accommodate skis, ice axes or ski poles, if you're camping in snow. The same sturdy architecture led a pair of co-op editors to declare the Arete "earthquake-ready" after a magnitude 4.6 shaker barely stirred our sleepers. ("That was an eventful camping trip," one said after the fact.) Inside the Arete, adjustable vents keep condensation to a minimum, and a large window on the top of the tent body keeps airflow churning (and becomes a giant skylight in good weather). Buy here.