Jump to:
If you’re going to do any camping in the coming months, you’ve likely thought about what kind of tent you should get for the occasion.
Knowing what makes for a good tent is not the simplest thing, so read on to learn about our top choices for the best 2-person tents and the most important things you should look for in any tent you might purchase.
What’s the Best 2-Person Tent?
For us, the best 2-person tent is the Wakeman 2-Person Camping Tent. It features everything you need to sleep comfortably, and it’s inexpensive.
However, there are several other exceptional 2-person tents that you may like, and the following list features all seven of our top picks for the best 2-person tent.
Our Top 7 Picks for the Best 2-Person Tents:
- Best Overall: Wakeman 2-Person Camping Tent
- Best Waterproof Tent: Night Cat Backpacking Tent
- Best for Easy Setup: BISINNA 2-Person Lightweight Tent
- Best for Inclement Weather: HILLMAN 3-4 Season Windproof Camping Tent
- Best for Size: Clostnature Lightweight Backpacking Tent
- Best for Pop-Up: Abco Tech Pop-Up Tent
- Best for Budgets: Go Time Gear Emergency Survival Shelter
While each of these tents specializes in one area, they are equally great for giving you a comfortable place to sleep outdoors. That’s the ultimate goal of any tent, and it’s the main reason you should get one.
Why You Need a 2-Person Tent
Mangostar/Shutterstock
Whether you’re going out on a long or short trip that will have you and someone else sleeping outdoors overnight, a 2-person tent is a must-have. 2-person tents strike a perfect balance between one-person and 3-person tents because they are an incredibly convenient size.
You’ll be able to house one other person comfortably, and if you’re sleeping alone, you’ll have that extra legroom that you wouldn’t usually get with a one-person tent.
For traveling purposes, you also don’t have to worry about lugging around something overly large like you would with a 3-person tent. The price of 2-person tents is very reasonable considering how much they offer, making them a good investment for anyone.
They are also a perfect place to start if you’re unfamiliar with tents. The sections below will go over our top seven picks for the best 2-person tents in detail and familiarize you with everything you need to know about 2-person tents in general.
Best 2-Person Tents: Our Top 7 Picks
Here are our top 7 picks for the best 2-person tents in 2022. All of these products are available on Amazon.
1. Best Overall: Wakeman 2-Person Camping Tent
- Multipurpose for backpacking, hiking, or the beach.
- Comes with a removable rain fly.
- Sizable interior storage pocket.
- Can be challenging to get back into its bag.
- Zippers are not the best quality.
The Wakeman 2-Person Camping Tent takes the top spot for best overall on our list because it offers a complete package at an affordable price. This tent is fantastic for two people to use in most environments and provides a wide range of desirable features.
The rain fly is excellent for protecting the tent from outside elements, and it will keep you dry much better than tents that don’t feature a rain fly. It’s also fully removable.
The mesh-style door allows for good ventilation in the tent and keeps the air inside from getting stuffy overnight, which is a fairly common issue for some tents. The only major downside of this camping tent is the low-quality design of the zippers.
Some customer reviews mention that the plastic of the zippers is not ideal for lasting a long time. So, you may experience issues with them if you use this tent frequently. Getting the tent back into its storage bag can also prove to be a challenging task.
2. Best Waterproof Tent: Night Cat Backpacking Tent
- Great waterproof material.
- The tent bag is very portable.
- High-quality zippers.
- Can be a bit of a tight fit for two people.
- The air inside can get stuffy.
If you know you’re going into an environment where rain will pour down for a long time, investing in a tent with a solid waterproof design is a good idea.
The Night Cat Backpacking Tent is among the best waterproof tents, thanks to its waterproof PED fabric and waterproof tape on the seams. Being a smaller tent, it’s more portable than others, making it excellent for longer backpacking trips if you need light travel.
The additional pegs are well designed and sturdy enough to hold up even in heavy wind, so you won’t have to worry about the tent blowing away or shaking constantly.
While this tent can fit two people, many customer reviews say it makes for a tight fit with two people not under six feet tall.
Because of this, you may find it very difficult to fit two people inside along with any hiking gear you may have if you’re out on a hike. This tent also does not have the best ventilation, so the air inside can get stuffy quickly.
3. Best for Easy Setup: BISINNA 2-Person Lightweight Tent
- Very easy to set up and take down.
- Double layers and door design.
- Features a window for ventilation.
- No tarp type of bottom.
- Not made of the most durable material.
The BISINNA 2-Person Lightweight Tent is easy to set up and takedown in under ten minutes, making it an excellent choice for spending little time setting up your tent.
The double layers on this tent offer an extra level of resistance against nasty weather, and the Velcro vent helps keep out rain while letting air in simultaneously. There’s also a media storage pocket on the interior, allowing you to store any smaller items that you have overnight safely.
One of the only significant problems with this tent is the lack of a tarp-type bottom to keep out water effectively in case you put it on very wet ground.
Some reviews also note the tent’s lackluster material because it’s not the most durable. Keep this in mind before purchasing this tent, as it may not hold up well if you constantly use it in bad weather conditions.
4. Best for Inclement Weather: HILLMAN 3-4 Season Windproof Camping Tent
- Holds up well under tough weather conditions.
- Inner and outer tent fly.
- Sturdy aluminum poles.
- Lacks good ventilation.
- Can get cramped if you have a lot of gear.
The HILLMAN 3-4 Season Windproof Camping Tent is an excellent choice for something that can keep you safe in even the harshest weather conditions. It’s not the most compact tent, but it will get the job done.
The aluminum poles do an excellent job of giving the tent a sturdy frame, and the breathable nylon mesh material is perfect for dealing with all types of weather.
The inner tent and outer tent fly also provides excellent protection against rain and the cold, and it’s very easy to put the outer tent fly on after the initial setup. For downsides, the ventilation in this tent is a bit lackluster.
According to customer reviews, it isn’t an issue unless you plan to spend much time in the tent outside of sleeping. While reasonably spacious, the shape of this tent is not the best for accommodating people who need to store a large amount of gear inside.
5. Best for Size: Clostnature Lightweight Backpacking Tent
- Features a spacious interior.
- Lightweight and easy to carry.
- Rain cover that snaps into place.
- Zippers can sometimes get stuck on the material.
- The design of the stakes is a bit flimsy.
The Clostnature Lightweight Backpacking Tent has the rare combination of being large without being overly cumbersome. The interior has a great deal of room to fit two people comfortably, but it’s not so big that packing and carrying it is difficult.
Its easy-to-use rain cover keeps a good amount of rain out in light showers and doesn’t block the large doors that allow for easy exit and entry.
The interior mesh walls have a thin yet sturdy polyester material that’s perfect for a 3 season tent, but it won’t perform well against snow, heavy winds, and other more severe forms of weather.
Some people report having trouble with this tent’s zippers sometimes getting stuck on its material due to their placement, and getting them unstuck can prove challenging. The stakes on this tent also don’t have the sturdiest design. However, this is only really an issue when dealing with strong winds.
6. Best for Pop-Up: Abco Tech Pop-Up Tent
- Opens on its own.
- Features Velcro window flaps for privacy.
- Mesh windows allow for excellent airflow.
- It can be challenging to pack up.
- Mesh’s weave is not tight enough to keep out bugs.
Pop-up tents are an excellent investment if you want a tent that doesn’t require any effort to set up. Abco Tech’s Pop-Up Tent sets itself up on its own every time, and all you have to do is throw it into an open area and secure it with stakes.
The Velcro window flaps on this tent offer plenty of privacy, and the windows come with shades you can roll up to increase airflow inside the tent.
You can enter from either side by using the double doors that open with a zipper, and if you have any supplies that you need to store somewhere, you can use the tent’s nylon tabs and accessory bag.
In contrast to how easy this tent is to set up, packing it up is more difficult, according to customer reviews.
Getting it back inside its carry bag requires some work, especially if you’re doing it yourself. Also, note that the mesh weave on the windows is not super tight, so there is a chance that bugs will slip through.
7. Best for Budgets: Go Time Gear Emergency Survival Shelter
- A great affordable option for a tent.
- Optimal for use when you’re in a pinch.
- Nylon waterproof material design.
- Won’t provide the most protection from the elements.
- Not suitable for regular use.
The Go Time Gear Emergency Survival Shelter is a very affordable option that’s not at all bad for temporarily providing you with a comfortable sleeping experience.
This easy-to-set-up survival tube tent has an interior reflective mirror to maintain body heat, waterproof nylon that keeps out snow, and puncture-resistant coating. It can double as a sleeping blanket if you already have a tent and need something extra to keep yourself warm in cold weather.
With this tent, you won’t get the best protection from bad weather because it doesn’t have the strongest material. Because of this, many customer reviews don’t recommend using this as your standard tent unless you have to.
Finding the Best 2-Person Tent for You
Sergey Ryzhov/Shutterstock
If none of the above options offer what you’re looking for, here are some points you can use to structure your search when looking at other tents.
Material
Most of the tents you find will feature polyester or nylon as their primary material. This is good because those are the two types of material you should look for in any tent.
They have good versatility that holds up well in most situations and can last for a relatively long while, so you’ll be able to get the most out of your tent.
The last thing you want is to get a tent made of cheap material because it’ll tear or puncture very easily, especially if you use it on terrain that has lots of sharp rocks and edges.
Ventilation
Ventilation is a critical component in tents because the airflow inside a tent can drastically affect your comfort level when inside. Suppose it’s stuffy inside of a tent. In that case, you may have a more difficult time falling asleep, so ensure you find a tent with good ventilation.
You can generally look for tents with more than one window if you want to get one with extremely good ventilation. However, tents that only feature one window are also perfect as long as the window is of a decent size.
Water Resistance
A tent without good water resistance is just as bad as a tent made of cheap material. Not only is it uncomfortable to sleep when you’re wet and cold, but it’s also potentially bad for your health in the colder months of the year.
This alone is reason enough to invest in a tent that can keep you dry when it rains. Look specifically for tents with rain flyers, as these often provide extra protection.
Also, look for tents with double layers. Having an additional layer of material to ward off the rain can go a long way and keep you protected from even heavy snowfalls.
Size
Always check the occupancy number before buying any tent and see if it’s a 2-person tent. In some cases, you can consider getting a 1-person tent that is very large, as that’s an equivalent of a smaller 2-person tent.
However, it’s difficult to judge how big or small a tent is compared to the size you’re looking for if you only read its dimensions.
Instead, check customer reviews for any images people post of the tent. These will give you a much better sense of the tent’s overall size that you won’t usually get from the pictures of the product put up by the seller.
Frequently Asked Questions
trek6500/Shutterstock
Here are answers to some questions about 2-person tents that you may still have.
Is a 2-person tent big enough for backpacking?
Yes, a 2-person tent is big enough for backpacking most of the time. Because you generally bring gear with you when backpacking, a 2-person tent can feel tight if two people try to fit inside with all their gear, but it’s certainly doable.
How much does a 2-person tent cost?
On average, a basic 2-person tent of good quality costs $50-$70. You’ll only find yourself paying significantly higher prices if you want a larger 2-person tent with several additional features.
Is a bigger tent better?
A bigger tent is not necessarily better if it comes down to getting a good night’s rest, as a smaller tent can do that just as well as a large tent. For backpacking and hiking, you don’t want to travel heavy when walking long distances, so a smaller tent is preferable for its compactness and lightweight.
Can two people sleep in a one-person tent?
Yes, two people can sleep in a one-person tent. The only issue is that the limited space may make it difficult for two people to fit comfortably, even if it’s a bigger one-person tent.
Will a tent keep you warm by itself?
No, a tent can’t keep you warm by itself. Especially not if you’re camping in a cold or rainy environment. Because of this, it’s always best to bring a blanket or something else that can maintain your body heat.
So, What’s the Best 2-Person Tent?
Our top pick for the best 2-person tent is the Wakeman 2-Person Camping Tent for its versatility and low price.
- Multipurpose for backpacking, hiking, or the beach.
- Comes with a removable rain fly.
- Sizable interior storage pocket.
- Can be challenging to get back into its bag.
- Zippers are not the best quality.
It’s a great tent, especially if you’re new to camping and want an entry-level tent to get started. However, if you’d like to see what other quality tents you can find, be sure to follow our helpful tips!