The best two-person tents for 2025: Tested by our team of wild camping addicts

We reviewed the 3-person Dagger OSMO last year, and endorsed it with both thumbs. The OSMO is a long-standing model, and this latest 'Ridge' edition is the most refined version we've ever seen.

The most obvious update is a roomier shape, with taller doors, a higher peak, and wider vestibules – all without significantly bumping up the weight. It's still sub-2kg, but now has 109cm of headroom, 223cm length, and a fully rectangular floorplan with near-vertical end walls. Internal space is excellent, and you can easily get two wide mats side by side.

The tent’s standout fabric – NEMO’s own OSMO ripstop – is now even more waterproof, with 3,000mm HH on both fly and floor. It also stretches less than sil-nylon, and doesn't sag in the wet.

The Ridge also swaps in all-metal tensioning hardware and adds extras like the waterproof ‘Landing Zone’ porch gear tub, Nightlight Pockets, and intuitive one-handed door toggles.

It’s not ultralight or the cheapest around, but it balances liveability, build quality, and all-weather versatility better than most. For UK backpackers and wild campers, it’s an ideal mix of comfort and performance for three-season use.

Read our full Nemo Dagger Ridge OSMO 2P Tent review here.

The Vango Apex Compact 200 is effectively the popular Vango Nevis 200 with an eco-friendly upgrade. It’s made from the new and upgraded Protex Eco fabric, which is a 70-denier polyester made from recycled single-use plastics, and is part of Vango’s Earth Trek Collection.

The Apex Compact 200 is a solid option – unbeatable at this price, we reckon – with a proven design, clever features and impressive stats. We found it’s comfy enough, but it is 'cosy' for two people and not as spacious inside as some of the other two-person tents we tested.

In terms of weather resistance it copes reasonably well in windy conditions – it has a relatively low-to-the-ground profile, the tunnel shape is aerodynamic with wind flowing over it smoothly without buffeting, and the structure feels pretty sturdy and stable.

The Apex Compact 200 also boasts impressive hydrostatic head ratings. The Protex Eco flysheet has a 3,000mm hydrostatic head rating, while the inner’s groundsheet (which does not feature recycled materials) is rated at 6,000mm.

While the weight makes it a bit heavier than some of its significantly pricier competitors, at just over 2kg it seems reasonable considering the affordable price-point. All-in-all the Vango Apex Compact 200 is an affordable, entry-level tent with a proven design and good features.

Read our full Vango Apex Compact 200 review.

We've been big fans of MSR for a while now – especially their 2-person offerings like the MSR Tindheim 2 which won 'best tent' in our Gear of the Year awards last year. The US brand has once again impressed with this solid all-rounder.

It isn’t the lightest or sleekest tent on the market, but what the Elixir 2 lacks in minimalism, it makes up for in durability, stability, and trail friendliness. It’s a freestanding two-person tent built for three-season adventures, with enough weather resistance and comfort to make it a reliable pick for wild camps or longer trips with a partner.

We found it impressively sturdy in high winds thanks to its clever pole geometry and robust 75D polyester flysheet. There are two roomy vestibules, solid waterproofing, and excellent interior space for two full-size mats — plus headroom good enough to sit up and sort gear in bad weather. Thoughtful details like colour-coded poles, glow-in-the-dark zips, and big mesh storage pockets round out the experience.

Yes, it’s heavier than its MSR stablemates, and inner-first pitching isn’t ideal in wet weather. But the Elixir 2’s balance of comfort, value and long-term reliability make it a brilliant tent for UK conditions — especially if you’re not counting grams. It even comes with a footprint as standard, extending its lifespan and boosting protection on soggy ground.

If you're not going ultralight, this is one of the most dependable tents in its class.

Read our full MSR Elixir 2 review here.

If the words 'air tent' make you picture something the size of a small bungalow, think again. The Alpkit Aeronaut 2 brings inflatable simplicity to the world of lightweight backpacking.

Instead of poles, a single air beam creates the tent’s structure, making pitching as easy as a few pumps with your bike pump — yes, really. It’s quick to erect, super simple to pack down, and weighs in at a very respectable 1.5kg.

As you’d expect from a tunnel design, the interior is more sleep station than social lounge. Two people will fit – just – but it’s better suited to solo missions where weight and weather protection are key.

Waterproofing is strong, with a PU-coated 15D ripstop nylon flysheet and taped seams holding up well through sodden Welsh weather. The internal mesh and well-placed venting kept condensation at bay throughout testing.

The porch is small but usable, the pegs could be tougher, and the single entrance isn’t ideal for late-night exits. But thoughtful features like hanging loops, internal pockets, and the ability to stow the door neatly make it feel well-considered. For £199.99, this is a brilliant-value shelter for fast-and-light 3-season adventures. Just don’t forget the pump.

Read our full Alpkit Aeronaut 2 air tent review here and see our full group test of the best inflatable tents for more.

The Copper Spur UL2 hits that elusive sweet spot between weight, comfort and liveability. At just 1.36kg, it’s one of the lightest freestanding double-wall tents we’ve tested – and it still manages to pack in solid weatherproofing, smart features and decent interior space for two.

There’s good headroom at the apex thanks to its hubbed pole design, plus two large doors and clever awning-style vestibules that can be porched out using trekking poles. Inside, we found plenty of thoughtful touches – huge overhead gear bins, internal pockets, and easy-to-use zips that make those midnight exits less of a scramble.

You do pay for the premium materials – like Big Agnes’s new HyperBead fabric – which is light, strong and PFAS-free, but also pretty thin. A footprint is highly recommended. It’s not the most bombproof tent in wind either, and the inner-first pitch isn’t ideal in a drizzle.

Still, for spring and summer use, this is a seriously appealing option. If you want a genuinely trail-worthy tent that feels more like a home than a shelter, the Copper Spur UL2 delivers – with just enough clever extras to earn its high price tag.

Read our full Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 review here.

Oppland, meaning ‘the upper countries’ in old Norse, is the Norwegian county that hosts eight of Norway’s ten highest mountains, including Glittertind and Galdhøpiggen, the loftiest of them all. Nordisk’s Oppland tents are named after this spectacular region and this title gives more than a subtle hint to their suitability for the high places.

The Oppland 2 LW is a palatial two-person tunnel tent that is similar to the MSR Tindheim 2 but takes the concept further with greater levels of weather resistance and even more space spread throughout the inner sleeping area and a humongous storage area.

This is thanks to its three-pole structure, which gives it a whopping 4.3-metre length. Considering its size, we almost couldn't believe that the Oppland 2 LW weighs just 1,737g on our scales. If that wasn’t impressive enough, it also packs down into a 40cm x 13cm sack, which compares favourably to other smaller, leading lightweight backpacking shelters.

The 20-denier ripstop nylon groundsheet is polyurethane coated and boasts a high hydrostatic head HH of 8000mm, making it very well suited to cope with our spring test outings in the Lake District and the worst conditions most campers are likely to encounter. The silicone-coated, super-light, 10-denier nylon flysheet also offers very good levels of waterproofing, with a hydrostatic head 2000mm.

Read our full Nordisk Oppland 2 LW review.

Worthy of its ‘Hubba Hubba’ name, this dome-like tent is definitely worthy of excitement because this popular model is a positively cavernous tent, with two doors and two big porches.

The pole structure – a single, hub-connected pole, which forks into a Y-shape at both ends and has an integrated, central cross pole – is similar to the Sea to Summit model here and creates near-vertical walls, maximum head and elbow room, and no excess fabric slack, ensuring great liveability. The inside of the tent feels palatial compared to many other tents.

The downsides are that the Hubba Hubba pitches inner first (many British campers hate this approach, fearing the inner will get wet if they are forced to erect the tent in rain), has high walls that can catch the wind on breezy nights, and the mesh interior can feel quite draughty.

But during our test camps, the Hubba Hubba NX coped well in light rain and didn’t let us down – so we aren’t overly worried about the lower-than-expected hydrostatic head ratings. It’s also reasonably low weight considering the spaciousness you get – not the lightest two-person tent we’ve ever tested, but it’s far from the heaviest either. Ultimately this tent is all about its comfy, roomy interior – if that’s what you want, it’s an excellent choice.

Read our full MSR Hubba Hubba NX review.

You may not have heard of Near Zero before. It's quite a new outdoor brand that's based in Arizona and focuses on making kit that is designed for ease of use and to be affordable, with the ultimate goal of making overnight hikes more accessible to more people.

We like that mission statement, and we like the gear that's come from Near Zero as a result. We tested one of its hiking bundles over a summer and were very impressed with much of it, including the tent.

As a lightweight tent for summer backpacking trips and hikes, there's lots to commend the Near Zero tent for, not least because of the price. At just 1.79kg this is a super lightweight model, which also packs down very small. Yet it offers excellent liveability, thanks to two vestibules and doors and cross section in the pole that gives more headroom inside.

The inner is full mesh and the fly and floor are both 20D nylon. It's therefore not the toughest tent and isn't the most weather resistant either. Sure, it'll happily fend off a bit of vertical rain but the fly doesn't extend all the way to the ground meaning draughts and even some moisture can reach you.

The flipside of course, is that ventilation is superb, and if you get lucky with a warm night, you can stargaze unobstructed by removing the fly.

Read our full Near Zero Bundle review.

Alpkit’s Ordos 2 is a lightweight backpacking tent for when low weight and an affordable price are a high priority. It weighs in at just 1,521g, thanks to its minimalist design and use of lightweight 15 and 20-denier fabrics.

It has a hybrid tunnel design, with one long ridge pole linked to a large front hoop and smaller rear cross pole via hub connectors. We found this semi-geodesic, wedge-like shape resists wind effectively, while both the waterproof flysheet and groundsheet have a decent 3,000mm hydrostatic head rating. The fly has an integrated vent to help with airflow and four guylines for stability. At the head end there is a single door and small porch.

Better still, in true Alpkit fashion, the Ordos 2’s price tag compares favourably to similar tents in terms of price point. Admittedly, it’s not cheap, but then this is a high-quality shelter and you can expect to pay around twice as much for a tent of comparative calibre from the likes of NEMO, Sea to Summit or MSR.

It’s a less spacious inside than some, while it tips the scales a little more than the very lightest of lightweight shelters, but for this price these qualms seem positively ludicrous.

Read our full Alpkit Ordos 2 review.

Grangers' effective and eco-friendly care kit for tents and outdoor gear such as packs. It even comes with a sponge to help apply the Cleaner solution. The Cleaner and Repel are available to buy individually too.

Nikwax's tent and gear care kit. It's just as good as the Grangers kit and also water-based and PFC-free. SolarWash and SolarProof are available to buy individually.