A while ago, I had packed up everything and set off on the road trip to a nearby lake which was around 100 miles from my town.
I had all of my belongings, and all stuff packed up, but I was badly hit with it not bringing one thing.
What I did worst, I had not bought it when I was shopping the list out. Or better say, I forgot to count it during the preparation and regretted it the whole time.
Just because of it, I had to spend the night in the motel, and then return to the lake every day (spent three days there minus the nights as I had to rent out the room for three nights.)
That cost me is a hefty amount in the form of renting the room.
If I had it, I would have conversed a lot of bucks while living close to nature day and night.
What I really missed there was purchasing the camping tents that are way under the $100 mark!
List of 8 Best Budget Backpacking Tent under 100
| Photo | Title | Buy |
|---|---|---|
|
ALPS Mountaineering Tent | Check Price |
|
River Country Products Trekker Tent 2 | Check Price |
|
Mobihome 6 Person Tent | Check Price |
|
Featherstone Outdoor UL Granite 2 Person | Check Price |
|
Coleman Hooligan Backpacking Tent | Check Price |
|
Pacific Breeze Easy Setup Beach Tent | Check Price |
If you so dare to spend the whole time in the open sky and close to nature, we have already compiled the list of 8 best budget backpacking tent under $100 that would not really put a lot of strain on your wallet.
1: ALPS Mountaineering Lynx 1-Person Tent
- Theres no assembly frustration with our Lynx tent Series; This free-standing, aluminum two-pole design is a breeze to setup
- Polyester tent fly resists water and UV damage while adding one vestibule for extra storage space
- The Alps Mountaineering Lynx tent is on our best sellers list; it’s a must-have for your next adventure.
The Verdict
Supporting a single person with the fact the expediters mostly go alone.
This mountaineering tent is a breeze and easy to set up, just take the two aluminium-made and free-standing poles out first, securely erect them on the ground, snap up to the tent and clip them over the poles.
Over the mountain, you cannot predict when it does not rain. But if you can evaluate, the mountains’ atmosphere is always wet and moisture-rich.
The UV-resistant having made with the best quality of 75D 185T polyester fly along with the taped seams protecting it against the water leakage to keep the inside fully dried.
Lengthier in the design, the overall length of 7’6” can easily accommodate the tent area of up to 20 sq. ft. to store your backpack as well as the layers of blankets, and what more you got.
In Summary
The budget camping tents should never be anywhere low in price, but they have to own a variety of features, and robust build quality to last the days camping up in the mountains.
With that being said, ALPS Mountaineering Lynx best fits your expectations.
So, enjoy your single self in the mountains and hit the summit!
2: River Country – Best 2 Persons Ultralight Backpacking Tent
The Verdict
The lush green ground close to the mountain cliff on your days-long trekking, out of the food and essentials, the core important part of the preparation is to have the tent all along.
Made for the ultimate trekkers where it fills all the gaps evaluated out of the countless trekking trips, River Country Products Trekker Tent 2 would never disappoint.
Convenient to set up, it merely takes five minutes for the secured installation. But do not expect it to withstand the harsh and windy conditions where the flapping voice would leave you uncomfortable.
In Summary
Size-wise, this trekking-ready tent wraps up to the size of American football when fully packed and stored inside its transparent storage pack.
Increasingly lighter than a hammock, the compact size (when packed, and wrapped), it would not occupy so much out of the backpack to further stuff it with a lot of your essentials.
3: Rakaia Designs – Best Portable 2 Person Camping & Backpacking Tent
The Good
It is never done alone; the outdoor camping.
And if you ask us, accompanying your life partner should give you an outstanding experience to explore the beauty of nature with your beauty beside you.
The free-standing set-up includes the tent body, its fly tarp, and the structural pole (that seems too much to hold) that merely takes a couple of minutes without running into any issues.
Waterproof-rated and the covered floor is made with 210T polyester capable to soak in up to 5,000mm of water but that is gonna give you cramps when laying straight on the bare floor, so get the fitting footprint to avoid backaches (link to footprint mentioned above.)
The Less Good
Rated for two seasons, do not try camping out in the shivering cold. Yes, the daytime may (or may not) work in limited cases, but not at the time of harsh cold.
Let the hard wind blow, and it would create a lot of hissing noise, so make sure to bear this noise during sleep.
A Great Choice If
It is better than most — the single pole design is dominant, reliable, and super convenient to set up.
So, if you are trying to find the same set-up out of hundreds of best camping tents, you rightfully chose Rakaia Designs to act best in such rough terrains where you cannot survive the night being in the open.
4: Rakaia Designs – Best Portable 2 Person Camping & Backpacking Tent
The Good
Mobilehome, in its full form, Mobihome is the proud maker of this home-alike tent that spaciously provides accommodation to up to three persons.
With that, they all can easily lay down, sit up, and not walk out of it without disturbing everyone (why is that so, we will cover that part a bit later.)
The dome-shaped tent gives the adequate space to enter inside it without much bending and most of the tents end up forcing the people to lay down straight the moment they enter it because of less room.
As with MobiHome, this tent allows all three folks to sit in a straight position, play cards, and talk out things without bending their heads due to the spacious room overhead.
The Less Good
Remember a thing we told you a bit earlier? “You cannot walk out of the tent without disturbing everyone.”
If the third person is sleeping on the second edge of the tent, it has one door and for any reason, if the third person wants to go out of the tent, it would turn out to be no less than a challenge to not everyone turns awake.
This is the part you would feel stressed in such a situation but why stress about it when you are out in the open to enjoy the time living close to nature.
A Great Choice If
Never dwell on not buying this tent from MobiHome because you do not always have to have three people joining you all the time.
Even if you go with two people, this provides ample space to comfortably sleep with your long blankets, and every piece of luggage joining you on the trip.
So, just forget about running out of space to compromise on not including your valuables on the go.
Get adequate space and enjoy the starry nights, and the sunshine slipping inside it when you do not want to leave the tent to witness these two beauties. Remove the rainfly and get to view the romantic sky through its ventilated top mesh.
5: Mobihome – Best 3 Person Tent for Camping
The Good
Lightweight like a feather, sturdy like a stone, and the guarantee to deliver a boundless view of nature — This Featherstone outdoor tent is the best to take along on your trips to explore the beauty of nature.
For those who feel compelled to live too close to nature and want to forget about the busyness of the metro life, this goes well-fitting within their requirements.
Its free-standing structure is impeccably lightweight which a person can easily lift with a single hand where you can just move and relocate without disassembling everything.
Perfect combo for the couples to spend some good time close to nature, the micro-mesh fabric allows you to experience the 360-view of nature (without rainfly), and when it feels the moisture building up, apply the rainfly not to feel sagging at all even though the increased humidity level.
The Less Good
The lightweight construction may turn out to become an unpleasant experience for many. It requires proper setup or getting ready to face the flapping and dismantling of the tent the whole night when you face the harsh windy conditions.
Properly install the stakes and everything not to leave it loose from any angle to avoid this unpleasant situation.
A Great Choice If
Every backpacking tent has its own importance and advantages (minus the disadvantages) but its ultralightweight can be a naysayer for many to purchase.
Not that it would not perform any good in the wet conditions, but the windy ones, we doubt it.
Under such a price tag, we believe MobiHome should do well in terms of;
- Secured installation
- Way lesser in price
- Dome-styled offering the spacious room
- A bit heavier
So, go with your instincts, and we are not forcing you to drop your intention to look over Featherstone, after all, its all-mesh fabric is a 360-degree view without stepping out of the tent and includes a footprint of its own.
6: Featherstone – Best Lightweight 3-Season Tent
The Good
Let it be the colour or the design, but we would ultimately focus on the extremely-useful feature namely the WeatherTec system as it involves the following;
- Protected Seams
- Zipper protection
- Waterproof floors
- Wind-storage frame
This particular feature is the decisive point to immediately own Coleman Hooligan. Wherever you go and camp, the torrential rain would not be a problem anymore.
Accommodating over three persons, the spacious floor area of up to 56” with a maximum height of 4.83 feet let everyone sit, and sleep in a relaxed form.
So, never think of compromising the quality of sleep it would bring and the need of dropping one person to hit nature with two companions in the wake of shrunken legroom.
Merely takes around 10 minutes to set up, that is going to be an increasingly interesting time!
The Less Good
While the weight puts a lot on backpacking, it adds a bit of strain on your back. With Coleman Hooligan doing the same, it is somewhat heavy, bringing up pressure on your shoulders.
For car camping, what to do with the weight? 🙂
A Great Choice If
It (Coleman Hooligan) is going to be your best choice when it comes to bringing in three people to enjoy nature but if the budget is the real problem, let’s sneak peek over our list of 10 best backpacking tent under $50 mark!
7: Coleman Hooligan – Best Rounded Backpacking Tent
The Good
Hitting a beach is a day-long outdoor activity, and most folks feel unlucky in finding the proper shade.
The sun rays are adequately powerful and reactive to the body on the beaches, and there comes the need to fight against the increased ultraviolet light.
You are in the open, there is no chance to get enough ultraviolet protection. The only solution is to get the UPF-rated tent to enjoy the beach time.
While the adults can sit relaxed somewhere when the rays of sunshine are too intense but what about the kids? Of course, they are prone to go unleash and enjoy playing with the sand (if not water.)
Rather stop them, get the Pacific Breeze and let them stay busy in playing!
The Less Good
Place it in the opposite direction than the sea because it would let the sand blow right into the tent as it does not have the zipper closure or any shield/door to shut its entrance.
So, do not ever place its entrance facing the sea, or get the wind and sand ruin the whole experience!
A Great Choice If
Beach time is a fun time. Never want to end the day once you hit the beach.
Expecting an option out of the beach tent, we have KITADIN!
It definitely is lightweight (than Pacific Breeze), simple, and easier to set up without rushing into all the hassle.
8: Chillbo CABBINS – Best 2 Person Festival Tent
The Good
All the tents seem similar at work, but not all of them have the rich colour to look extremely different.
Stun the campers with your choice. The colourful tent body seems to give a perception you had it painted all by yourself.
Wherever you take it, keep your anger in control as the good folks would be coming your way asking where did you buy it from? 🙂
Designed exclusively for the funky adults who do not feel satisfied landing on the normal and general-looking tents and want something new to introduce in the town.
The Less Good
How hard you try but the condensation develops anyhow and it requires opening the zipper door to let the fresh air pass in.
And it is kinda heavy. Its increased weight of over 8.65 lbs. would turn your backpack heavy to handle.
But that is good, isn’t it, as this brings you style and the on-lookers turning stunned.
The Great Choice If
We love its design and the breezy colour that is extremely unique to find out of the camping tent.
For Chillbo CABBINS, we would not deliberately bring any of its replacements just because of its funky design! 🙂
Some General Tips to Cater Way Before Buying a Camping Tent
What we know here is the definite point; the camping tents under $100 but what should they involve.
The claims. The features. And the specified guarantees if they really work up to mark.
Once entering into the market to get your best budget backpacking tent under $100,
Quality of zippers
Never form a decision to purchase any of the tents (despite their high price and all) without double-checking the zippers.
And do not go with the claim of the seller. Check the zippers by intensively closing and opening them down to ensure they do not flap the tent, stuck between the opening and closing, and break down.
Though it is not advised to go rough with the zippers, the testing purpose needs to ensure they work expectantly well.
Waterproof
Almost all the tents are (claimed) waterproof but do not wait to go camping outdoors to test the claim.
Once you purchase any tent, you are entitled to a warranty. So, get it set up in the backyard to test for its claim of waterproof by pouring the tap water all around it to see if it leaks from anywhere.
And if it does, you know what to do!
Floor
Some of the tents have the footprint involved while mostly come up without it.
Trying to spend the camping experience without the proper footprint and taking the layers of blankets/thick fabrics instead, get ready to experience the unevenness.
The longer you sleep, it would press whatever you have laid upon the floor to cause itching and such.
And the more you carry to avoid investing some bucks on the footprint, it would turn your backpack super heavier and stuffed.
We advise: NEVER do this!
Learn Setting Up The Tent In Advance
We do not know about your experience level but if you feel shaky and puzzled to open, set up, and dismantle the tent, camping is not for you.
Before hitting the real outdoor camping, learn to set up the tent as it would not be any difficult task because of the provided guide.
The Buying Guide for Best Camping Tents under $100
We know the price tag, isn’t it? While we do it, there are a couple of vital questions to ask your inner self to make sure you know the purpose of buying the backpacking tent meeting fully or close to your requirements.
Let’s have a deep look over the questions;
What is a good tent weight for backpacking?
The backpacking tent should not exceed more than 2.5 lbs for one person (under normal circumstances.)
Is it better to put a tarp under a tent?
Yes, it always does. Covering the ground with a tarp makes the tent floor remain dry and warm.
Remember the word under ‘under’, so that you lift the tent or lay the tarp before setting up the tent and not inside the tent. This way it also protects the tent floor not to rubbing against the sharp pebbles or such to avoid getting the cuts.
How much should an ultralight tent weigh?
The ultralight tents should weigh about 1 to 2 lbs and no more than that as the ultralight tents are best used for hiking to withstand the windy and chilly conditions.
Does waterproof spray work on tents?
For long-lasting results, there are waterproof sprays available but get the silicone one which will fade away longer than the second type of waterproof spray, the water-based.
Even if you are in a rush, and want something for quick action, apply the water-based waterproof spray when the tent is slightly wet, or else it would not work.
How often should a tent be waterproofed?
And when it starts leaking.
Well, if that is your mindset, be ready to face the hassle when the time comes because you may not have the waterproof spray all the time.
Do it once a year not to get caught with such an issue on the outdoor trip.
Do tents lose their waterproofing?
Despite the seams applied with the waterproof coating, this would wear off by the time. So yes, the waterproofing can lose by the time.
Conclusion
Backpacking tents can be a great investment for campers looking to save some money. We’ve found the best budget backpacking tent under $100 that is sure to make your camping trips more enjoyable.
With this affordable option, you won’t have to worry about sacrificing quality or features. Have you tried out this budget-friendly backpacking tent?
Let us know what you think in the comments below!