What Is A Non Free Standing Tent

Gear guide to the best ultralight backpacking tents.

What is a non free standing tent.

Although they are heavier they can be moved easily if you discover rocks in your back. However truly freestanding tents tend to be slightly heavier than non freestanding ones because they have to be self supporting with long tent poles that add additional weight. A quick glance at the list of 10 essentials items for survival shows that a shelter is important to bring with you on any adventure but which is better. In the description of tents you will see terms like freestanding or free standing standing tent and also with hyphens like self standing tent self supporting tent free standing tent etc.

Your backpacking tent is one of the biggest items in your pack and a big opportunity to save weight. Freestanding tents with an inner tent and a rain fly can be effortlessly picked up and repositioned or set up on tent platforms something which is impossible to do with a tent that requires tent stakes to set up. Besides ounce for ounce tents that require you to set them up with stakes i e non freestanding are sturdier than their freestanding equivalent. As a general rule freestanding tents are a bit heavier than non freestanding tents due to the poles.

Non freestanding tents have a single wall construction meaning the tent does not require a rainfly for waterproof protection. To set up non freestanding tents are first staked out and then typically propped up with trekking poles some like the tarptent double rainbow use a single tent pole instead. A freestanding model has some big convenience factors. Tent interior is less likely to get wet during set up in the rain.

Unlike freestanding models non freestanding tents require staking out to keep their shape. With freestanding tents the poles tend to be covered by the rain fly and are largely invisible from the outside when the fly is in place. You d think that a semi freestanding tent would be an inner tent that doesn t require any tent stakes to be pitched. Ultralight 1 person 2 person nylon cuben fiber dyneema freestanding and non freestanding tents tested by appalachian trail and pacific crest trail thru hikers.

The opposite is the non freestanding tent of course. Most freestanding tents are wedge or dome shaped making them highly weather and wind resistant. They are most often single wall designs that prioritize a.