Solitaire AL 1-Person Backpacking Tent

I’ve had the [Eureka Solitaire](https://sectionhiker.com/eureka-solitaire-aluminum-tent-review/) for years, and it is a nice 1-person tent. Basically a glorified bivy sack with a couple of hoops to keep the netting & rainfly off you. Mine has been through some pretty nasty storms and has held up well. The new version with aluminum poles is probably a bit nicer; my fiberglass poles are fairly brittle.

"Ultralight tent" and $30 don't belong in the same sentence. I'm sure there are Amazon knock offs out there but I wouldn't trust that garbage out on the trail. My 6.5 pound 25 year old REI finally bit it and I didn't have the money for something decent so I bought a Eureka Solitaire Al earlier this year and its passable. Weighs just over 3 pounds and since Eureka is going out of business they can be found for $60-70. It's a long tent but be warned, its a snug fit. You can't sit all the way up in it so getting dressed and undressed was... interesting. 

Also have the Hotel 3 Bikepack version that I picked up on clearance from REI. Compared to the Eureka Solitaire I bought in 2003 that is still going strong, it's montrously huge, but still fits comfortably in my 18L Kriega bag with room to cram my pad and sleeping bag. Nice thing is that with the footprint, if you don't expect the bugs to be too bad, you can leave the mesh tent body at home and save a TON of room just bringing the footprint, fly, and poles.

I have a eureka 1 man tent. It packs small

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.