My thoughts
Philmont’s MSR tents are GREAT for Philmont. Not so great for the folks that have to carry them on the trail.
Tents, along with your pack itself and sleeping gear, are some of the heaviest items you will likely carry. These are your biggest opportunity to trim weight from your pack. And remember… I am a strong believer that most Crew Advisors at Philmont carry WAY more weight than they should. Especially if they are not really experienced backpackers.
What I recommend:
- If $ is tight and your Troop or Crew doesn’t already have tents, then use the Philmont tents. Just check them well before you leave base camp to be sure you don’t take any that have issues. They are heavy, but they will work.
- If you have a little $ for tents, then get lighter tents for the adults. The Scouts can generally carry a little more weight and will be fine with the Philmont tents. The adults really should trim every bit of weight possible so that they have a chance to not slow the crew down too much (contrary to what many adults seem to think!).
- If you have enough $ to get legit backpacking tents for the whole crew, then consider doing so. To lighten your packs you may get more “bang for your buck” by starting with lighter backpacks, then lighter sleeping gear, and finally lighter tents. But most folks can easily find a backpacking tent that will shave 1-3 Lb from their pack weight fairly easily. Will that be worth the $ for the youth… maybe not. But for the adults struggling to keep up… Yep!
Best Budget backpacking Tents for Philmont
Want an easy way to see what is available in the mainstream backpacking tent market? I’ve limited these to lighter backpacking tents.
The easiest way to get tents may not be the most budget-friendly. So, here are some options that are a bit lighter on your Crew’s budget.
One person backpacking tent
If you are an adult that is allowed to sleep in a single-person tent at Philmont, or if Covid rules require single tents, then here are some options that I haven’t tried, but have read good things about:
- 3F UL Gear Lashan 1 – Right at 2 Lb and around $129 (check price). Might fit someone up to 6’2″ if you sleep at an angle. Otherwise, it is reported to be pretty tight for anyone over 5’10” or so. If you use a trekking pole, or can borrow one from a crew member at night, then this might be a pretty good bet. Don’t forget to make sure all of the seams are sealed. Reported to be “a tank” in bad weather.
- GEERBEST 1 person backpacking tent – Another trekking pole tent, this might be a pretty good bet at $100 (check price) and only 2.2 Lb. I have a friend that raves about his, although I have not used one enough to say whether it will hold up at Philmont. If you are about 6’2″ or taller, then you might find this a little short when laying down.
- NaturHike VIK 1 – Freestanding tent at 2.13 Lb and $140 (check price)
Two-person backpacking tent
If you are a Scout that is required to sleep in a 2 person tent, then we might have to stretch the definition of “budget” to get the weight below about 4 Lb. Fortunately, in the past few years, a LOT of new options have become available. With either of these, you’ll be under 3 Lbs (under 1.5 Lbs per person) for less than $200 per tent.
- 3F UL Gear Lanshan 2 – Trekking pole tent. 2.5 Lb… that is 1.25 Lb per person! and only $140. The 3 season version has more mesh on the inner walls. The 4 season has mostly fabric on the inner walls. I would probably go for the 3 season version for a Philmont trek for better ventilation.
- 3F UL Gear Lanshan 2 Pro – Trekking pole tent that weighs in at just 2 Lbs for around $200. From an Amazon review: “This is a great tent, if you’re willing to spend an hour seam sealing. Excellent size, big enough for 2x 6’3″- 6’5″ adults. It even came with the syringe for seam sealing and a ground cover (unexpected bonus). Tent was FedExed from China in less than a week and a half. Lots of upgrades from the original Lanshan 2: better cordage, better hardware, zipper pulls, reinforcements, and of course sizing is great for tall adults. Ventilation is good, no issues with condensation dripping into the tent.”
If money is less of an object, then check out the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV2 Platinum tent. Big Agnes sent this ultralight dandy for me to use on our 2017 Philmont trek. I worried that such a light tent might not hold up well in the rocky Philmont backcountry, but I had no issues with the tent at all and was very happy with everything about it. The stuff sack tore a bit the last morning on the trail as I packed the wet tent for our hike through Dean Canyon to our pick-up point at the Chase Ranch.
You can sort of see through the ultra-light weight Fly Creek HV 2 Platium tent
On the first shakedown hike for our 2017 Philmont trek it proved a bit snug, but workable for my 6’4″ frame + my 5’6″ 120 Lb tent mate. Steady rain one night proved to be a non-issue with no rain intrusion and very minimal condensation inside the rain fly. At Philmont the Fly Creek HV2 Platinum stayed dry inside through a couple of brutal thunderstorms that dropped monsoon style rain for hours. You might even find a used one for less, if you look around.
monsoon rains on the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV2 Platinum (far left) and My Trail Company UL3 (far right) tents at the Pueblano Ruins camp, Philmont Scout Ranch
3-man tent for backpacking & Philmont?
Yeah, I was worried about this, as Philmont only technically allows 2 man tents. However, the MyTrailCo UL3 tent weighs just 3 Lb and looks pretty close in size to some 2 man “backpacking” tents that weight 5-6 Lb. For our 2017 Philmont trek MTC sent this beauty, which Randall shared with 2 other scouts. So, each only had to carry about 1Lb. It was a bit snug the first night, but the My Trail Company UL 3 tent performed well, even through monsoon rains. They did get a bit of water splashing up from under the rain fly the day the picture above was taken. However, the guys had been lazy when setting the tent up and had not adjusted the rain fly properly. We had one pole section break during a storm in pre-trek testing, which made me really nervous on the trail. Fortunately, the replacement pole set worked perfectly and all was well for the entire Philmont trek. It even survived being blown about 30 yards across tent city when the guys set it up to dry after returning to base camp, but didn’t stake it down. So, a gust of wind picked up the UL3 tent and blew it away like tumbleweed. I shot a review video of the MTC UL3 before the 2017 trek. Sadly, MTC has gone out of business. So, your best bet if you want one of these is the used market.
3 guys slept in the MTC UL3
MyTrailCo UL3 tent at Pueblano Ruins Camp, Philmont
MyTrailCo UL3
Best Budget Groundcloth for backpacking & Philmont
I used a 7.26 oz Tyvek groundcloth under the Fly Creek tent for our shakedown hikes, but switched to a 1.78 oz PolyCryo sheet for the Philmont trek. I bought this Heat Shrink Window film pack for $11 (although last time I checked Amazon dropped the price to $4) that had enough PolyCryo to supply ground cloths for the entire crew, with plenty left over. Randall’s PolyCryo ground sheet lasted the entire 2017 trek intact. Mine got a small tear about 5 days into the trek. I put a small piece of duct tape over the tear and it was fine the rest of the trip. If you are careful, then the PolyCryo ground cloth is a no-brainer since it is cheaper and lighter than any other options.
via Gear Report at https://gear-report.com
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