Looking for a vegan tent to go hiking? Well, spoiler alert, pretty much ALL tents are vegan. The overwhelming majority of tents are made out of natural and synthetic materials like polyester, nylon and cotton.
So, why create a page dedicated to vegan tents? Well, because if you’re like us once upon a time, we had no idea that most tents were vegan. When you live a vegan lifestyle you almost always assume all products have some form of animal product in them until proven otherwise.
Having said that, we did spend a little over 9 hours over the course of two days researching and putting a list together of what we found to be the best (vegan) tents on the market. We poured through countless expert and customer reviews on multiple websites. So, like we say on all our recommended gear pages – if you’d like spend a few days researching all this stuff yourself, by all means, go for it. If that doesn’t sound like fun to you, don’t worry, we’ve already done all the work for you.
Now, this is part of the article where we tell you that we are an affiliate website, meaning if you click on some of the links in this article and make a purchase we will (at no extra cost to you) make a small commission. This is how we pay for this site and are able to continue to bring you quality content.
We detail below our three favorite tents for hiking and why we chose these three. If you want more information into what makes a good tent for hiking, like:
- Is there a difference between a tent for camping and hiking?
- What’s a vestibule?
- What’s the difference between packed weight and trail weight on tents?
then scroll down towards the end of this article where we explain the answers to these questions.
Ready to check out some tents? Us too! Here we go!
Marmot Tungsten Tent: 1-Person 3-Season
Sleeps How Many?: One (Designed for one, big enough to hold two if necessary)
Material: Canopy – 68D polyester taffeta, 40D no-see-um mesh, Fly – 68D polyester taffeta(1800mm), Floor – 68D polyester taffeta (2000mm)
Set up time: under 10 minutes
Floor Area: 20ft
Measures: (packed) 18 x 6in
Measures: (when set up) 36 x 84 x 38in
Weight: 3lbs 8oz (trail)
Price: 178.95 (4/20/2020)
Purchase the Marmot Tungsten Tent at BackCountry.com
Why we love the Marmot Tungsten Tent: Couldn’t sum up all the features better than this. So here is a review from John M. on BackCountry.com:
At 3 1/2 lbs, lightweight if not ultralight. The tent comes with a foot print, but you’ll only need it for the fast pitch option. The heavier denier allows you to set up anywhere without a footprint. The door is on the left, so a left zip sleeping bag is a plus. The vestibule is big enough for a pack and a good amount of gear. The vent is above your head while sleeping, so it’s easy enough to open or close without fully leaving the tent. I make sure to guy out the back of the tent in hot, wet or humid weather. I carry the parts separately: the fly and body in a compression sack, the stakes and poles in the Marmot provided sacks. Switched out the stakes for MSR groundhogs for guylines and vestibule, and mini-groundhogs for the tent body. I made lightweight guy lines out of 1.8 mm paracord which saves space and weight. The tent comes with 4 guy lines, you’ll need 5. The only complaint: why no guy line tabs on tent fly ends? I haven’t had any moisture build up and seep into the tent from the end walls, but it is the only place it could happen. To prevent this: guy out the tent fly’s back wall, tighten the fly buckles, and open the top vent. There is a plastic J clip on tent’s ceiling that you can hang a lantern from. There is a lampshade pocket that fits a headlamp and provides ambient light. I would recommend for any solo backpacker. It’s my third one person tent, and the best designed and lightest I have used.
Kelty All Inn Tent: 2-Person 3-Season
Sleeps How Many?: 2
Material: Wall – 15D no-see-um mesh, Floor&Fly – 40D siliconized nylon ripstop (1500mm)
Set up time: under 10 minutes
Floor Area: 27.71ft
Measures: (packed) 18 x 6 x 6
Measures: (when set up) 84 x 52 x 43in
Weight: 3lb 9oz (trail) 3lb 14oz (packed)
Price: (as of 4/22/20)
Purchase the Kelty All Inn Tent on BackCountry.com
Why we love the Kelty All Inn Tent: The unique design of the tent helps maximize space on the inside. Easy even for taller people to sit up inside and not feel cramped. Features 2 doors which is not always the case with 2 person tents. This comes in super handy for being able to get in and out without disturbing the other person. Holds up great against the rain. All this in a tent that packs small and super light.
Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL3 Tent: 3-Person 3-Season
Sleeps How Many?: Three
Material: Body – nylon and polyester mesh, Floor&Fly – nylon ripstop (1200mm PU coating)
Set up time: Under 10 minutes
Floor Area: 44ft
Measures: (packed) 6.5 x 21.5in
Measures: (when set up) 90 x 62 x 44in
Weight: 3lbs 11oz (trail) 4lbs (packed)
Price: 424.96 (15% off as of 4/22/20)
Purchase the Big Agnes Copper Spur Tent at BackCountry.com
Why we love the Big Agnes Copper Spur: All of the space and features of a 3 person tent that still packs small and light. Just understand that the material is going to be super thin. This is how the Big Agnes is able to give you so much room and keep it’s weight down. Super easy set up. Everything is color coded to help make setting up smooth and can be done in as little as a few minutes.
While it’s specified as a 3 person tent, don’t get too caught up on that. If you’re bigger (I’m 6’4 240), you may just want a little extra room for two people. Or maybe you’d like room for your dog(s). The point is, if you want maximum space with minimum weight and you don’t want to sacrifice quality, this is the perfect tent.
Hiking Tent FAQ
Now that you’ve read our favorite 1, 2 and 3 person tents. You may have questions over some of the ‘tent lingo’ that’s discussed here. We’re going to try to cover a few of the questions that we get the most.
What’s a vestibule?
Think of a vestibule as the covered porch of your tent. A vestibule on a tent is a space that is created with the outer material of tent that extends out to create an extra covered space. This space can be used to store gear where they can stay dry, but not in the tent. This helps keep mud and water from your gear from dirtying up the interior of your tent.
What’s the difference between packed weight and trail weight?
The packed weight includes everything that is included with the tent when you purchase it. This includes the tent itself, rain fly, poles, stakes, guy lines along with anything else that comes with the tent like repair kits, extra storage pouches, etc.
The trail weight is bare minimum of what you would need to theoretically set up the tent. The tent body, rain fly and poles.
So, which should you focus on? First off, the difference between the two is usually somewhere between 6 to 8 ounces so we’re not talking about a huge difference. Having said that, as any backpacker will tell you, every ounce counts when you’re carrying it on your back for 12 hours a day. Most people are not taking a tent out and not bringing stakes or some of the other accessories that come with their tent. So the answer is somewhere in the middle, maybe a little more toward packed weight.
What does 3 season mean?
3 season means exactly what you’re probably thinking it means. It’s a tent that is designed to be suitable for 3 seasons out of the year. If you’re hiking in decently warm weather, it’s going to function great. A 3 season tent is designed to be lightweight and well ventilated. However, they’re not designed to help keep you warm in cold temperatures. For hiking in the winter (or any time you’re going to encounter cold temperatures) you’re going to want a 4 season tent.
Final Thoughts
A lot of times when I’m picking out vegan gear it reminds me when I was 13 years old and my parents would take me to store to buy tennis shoes. We’d walk into the store and an entire wall of the store would be nothing, but rows and rows and shoes. Then when I’d say when I’d ask for a size 13 I’d be walked over to one single row of 5 or 6 shoes that were 13+.
Fortunately with tents this is NOT the case. You should be able to get exactly the tent you want with the features you want and still feel great about it. We hope our research helps you in your tent search!
Happy Trails!
