Fishhook UL2

UL2 is great. Im a big fan of BA tents, have a UL1 fly creek for lighter soli option and a ul2 for 2p more spacious option for 1 or 2 people. They tie down well and sit through weather decently.

Yep, have had good results up king range off the lost coast in cold, rainy and windy conditions with fly creek. Abd windy/ wet cobditions in big sur. Ul1 and ul2 have both worked for me

Big Agnes ultra light 2 person tent.

Big Agnes are exceptional. Buy one secondhand, get the two person, and never look back. My buddy and I both use one, they are light, small, and truly worth every cent. 

For quality camping equipment I tend to wait for a holiday then check out REI outlet online. If you are a member you get a 20 percent off coupon that works for outlet prices. I bought a 2 person Big Agnes tent that retailed for over 3 hundred dollars. My cost was about 120 I think. It was years back but it's a great tent. We would budget 2 big ticket items every year until we had everything we wanted.

When’s the last time you actually set up a modern tent? If you’re picturing threading tent poles through sleeves then I’d get the hesitancy. Modern tents are extremely easy to set up now Takes me <5 minutes to set up my 2P big Agnes tent. Going bivy seems overly aggressive when just getting back into camping

We each have our own hammock... Def my preference! We have a 2 person Big Agnes that we put our packs in or use if the weather is really bad (even tho I have a rain fly for my hammock now!)

I’m so glad this was mentioned. I went colder weather camping with my sons a bit ago. Initially, I bought a big giant tent with an added screen room. This sub pointed us in the right direction. I returned the behemoth and went with my Big Agnes 2p and bought the boys their own 4p to use with their friend. OP, I did buy a propane heater. I would warm up my tent when I was getting ready to go to sleep and then again in the morning g before getting out of my sleeping bag. In the tiny tent, it was hot in there within minutes!

Please remember, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. If you want a high-quality durable tent, don't cheap out. I've had a few Walmart tents that didn't last long at all. And so far I've had TWO Big Agnes ultralight tents. 1 of them lasted under 2 years with CONSTANT HEAVY USE, until the rain fly started leaking a lot and the zippers broke. I plan to have it repaired (or replaced with another Big Agnes tent), but i still have the other tent for now. Please treat the interior and exterior of your INNER tent/ tent body with permethrin to keep ants from chewing holes into your tent if they sense an attractive odor from within your tent (and kill disease-spreading ticks, mosquitoes, etc. that happen to enter your tent.) DO NOT DO THIS IF YOU PLAN TO TAKE YOUR CAT INTO THE TENT WITH YOU. DO NOT treat the rain fly as permethrin can affect the waterproof seals, and will kill pollinators that land on your rain fly. (When I first permethrin sprayed the interior of my tent body, the rain fly was on and some of the permethrin got sprayed onto the underside of my rain fly. Less than 2 years later, my rain fly leaks a lot and the waterproof seals appear all chewed up.) One more tip: Unless you plan on doing a lot of long-range backpacking, do not buy an ultralight tent. Ultralight materials are very light, yes, but they are very delicate and tear and/or get holes easily. Ask me how I know... Read below. And please use a small portable rake to rake the ground where you will pitch your tent. There can be a lot of invisible sharp rocks, twigs, roots, etc. buried just under the soil surface. The optional footprint and the tent body floor for my tent now have a few holes before I started doing this. Good luck. Let us know which tent you end up getting. [EDITED: Also, do you plan on camping during the wintertime when it's really cold and snowy? If so, this will change your buying decisions greatly.]

We really love our big agnes. It's durable, huge and comfy without being too heavy. it's about 4lbs so my husband and I split the weight. It's really thoughtfully desiged, and has so many pockets to stash stuff. super roomy footprint. It's like the Taj Mahal of tents

Big Agnes, MSR, and Nemo are 3 of the best tent brands available. I ran the warranty desk for an outdoor gear company, and saw the least amount of warranty issues with those brands. They’re not inexpensive, but, you get what you pay for. I have a Big Agnes tent that’s at least 10 years old, we use it regularly and only have to hose the dirt off. It’s amazing. Nemo is awesome too, I know a lot of people with Nemo tents and they love them. I just got an MSR 3 person tent and absolutely love it. Definitely get a 2 person tent. The general rule is to take however many people will be sleeping in the tent, and add 1. So 1 person = 2 person tent, 2 ppl = 3 person tent and so on. A 2 person tent is more comfortable for having your gear inside the tent, changing your clothes, etc. If you don’t plan to go backpacking with it, I’d get a 3-4 person tent just for the space.