Salt Creek SL2

Not sure about cheap, but I got my Big Agnes Salt Creek on Sport Pursuit for a large chunk off RRP (under £200) and it feels very lofty. If you’re willing to do a bit of research and invest some more there are a lot of good deals on there for more affordable as well as premium brands like BA.

Big agnes 3 person with 2 vestibules. Free standing tent, not too heavy.

I used to believe posts like this until I actually got on AT. You won’t believe this if all you look at is social media but hardly anyone is actually using the shelters. Everyone is using their tents. If I was OP and that was all my budget could afford, I’d go for the half dome. If I had more money, I’d go for a BA two person if free standing was preferred or a zpacks two person if trekking pole tents were okay with OP.

My post literally says “if I had more money” but I guess you decided to ignore that and then criticize me for my “more money” option. Stay toxic social media. There’s always someone who chooses to make a jab to make the conversation nasty and toxic and unpleasant rather than what my comment was - a fellow hiker just genuinely trying to help out another hiker on ideas. 🫤🙄🙄 You have reliably made this interaction unnecessarily unpleasant. Congrats!!!

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.

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!)

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