Apex 2XT

Maybe in their final years? but Eureka! was famously known for tents that don’t die. I still have my Apex 2XT from Boy Scouts 17 years later. Not a single issue and it’s been through a lot of rough terrain.

Storage closet is a great use for a cheap tent. I picked up a eureka 2p at Goodwill and I use it more or less for this. $13 well spent

We have one tent, Eureka 3 season but the winner is the enclosed shelter or screen house. We spent 4 nights last winter up north with snow and the shelter kept us warm during the day. Of course we used the Buddy heater. In the tent however we were cold, sleeping bags to 15F and lots of layers we ended up covering the tent with a large tarp and it helped. I think tents are important but more so the screen room with walls.

That will be so easy to drop a ton of base weight when you get a good tent. I was at 6 lb 2 person eureka. Got a 3.75 lb MSR Hubba Hubba in 2020. Last 2-3 years I have had the extreme pleasure of carrying the just over 1 lb Durston xmid pro 2. It’s pricy but the regular xmid is much more affordable. And double wall vs single wall of the pro. Nemo Hornet and any of the BA tents are great too.

I was going to suggest eureka but they stopped production last year. My first backpacking tent. Very affordable, weight was fine split between 2 people. And my goodness, it lasted waterproof and zippers a very long time. Like most, I have bought and resold a few tents over the years but the eureka one remained in my loaner gear through it all. If you see a 2 person eureka, used, for a very low price, grab it and try it out for your first couple of trips

It depends on if you want to sleep closely to them. I would buy the tent I want for solo, then a cheap second tent just for the friend. I actually kept my first backpacking tent, a eureka!, just for friends.