camppal 1 Person Backpacking Tent Review
The case for a cheap tent is that it lets you find out whether you like bikepacking before committing four hundred dollars to a shelter.
The verdictFine as a first tent and a poor long-term one. Buy it to find out whether you need something better.
There is a real argument for buying cheap first. A rider who is not yet sure whether they enjoy sleeping outdoors should not spend five hundred dollars finding out, and a tent at this price removes the barrier without leaving them with a tarp and no experience.
Over a thousand ratings tell a consistent story: it keeps rain out, it is heavier and bulkier than the specifications suggest, and the fabric and zips are where the price shows. That is exactly what a seventy dollar tent should be, and the reports do not describe anything worse.
On a bike the weight and packed size are the real cost rather than the durability. A budget tent typically packs to half again the volume of an ultralight one, and on a loaded seatpack that is space you needed for food.
Treat it as a season or two of use rather than a decade of it. Riders who carry on bikepacking almost always replace this kind of tent, and the genuinely useful thing is that by the time they do they know exactly which specification is worth spending money on next.
What works
- Under seventy dollars
- Over a thousand owner reports
- Removes the cost barrier to a first trip
What doesn't
- Heavy and bulky for a bike
- Fabric and zips are where the price shows
- A season or two of use rather than years
Buy it if
A first tent, or a spare for a friend to borrow
Skip it if
You already know you will do this regularly
Others we scored in this category
Naturehike Mongar 2 Person Tent
Naturehike Star-River 2-Person Backpacking Tent
Naturehike Cloud-Up 1 Ultralight Backpacking Tent
Naturehike Star Trail Ultralight Tent (1P)
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