Dirt Motel

I have two tents (both kelty brand) a two person for solo backpacking/short trips where bad weather isn’t forecast and a 4 person for trips where I have another person in the tent with me or I plan on having to spend more time in the tent. Totally a reasonable move and the bigger tents really aren’t usually much harder to set up unless you have some huge 10 person multi room situation

We have a kelty two person backpacking tent and two single backpacking mats that click together if you want to sleep side by side. we typically use our own sleeping bags but we do have a two person one that can also zip off into two individuals. She carries the tent and I carry all the food/water and cooking supplies to even up the weight.

You are a vet. Get the expert voice app and then you can get yourself a kelty 2p tent for a good price and have a decent quality tent for what you are doing. You can get an emergency blanket to put over your mattress then cover with a blanket to keep the heat. Those things have 0 R value. Happy camping!

Survived in a Kelty 2p for years with a spouse , but the day I upgraded to a big Agnes copper spur hvUL3....there is no going back. About 6? Or 8? Years in. Pricey, so make sure it's a hobby you will stick with . But with the hotel fly, man there is room for packs and to take the near 5yo on his first bigger trip soon. Dog, whatever! Big Agnes has an awesome shape even in their 2p, more height with the square shape so it feels a lot less crowded. The weight/size difference between most 2 and 3p is negligible.

I do have the green one. I prefer that more than the red white & blue version. I didn’t have any issues with the Kelty tent. I upgraded the stakes to the red ones you get at REI. I did a 5 1/2 week trip over 10 years ago visiting national parks & monuments throughout Colorado, Arizona & Utah. It rained in Flagstaff after setting up the tent & it kept me dry. I didn’t have problems with the fiberglass poles but I haven’t used that tent since 2019. My ex had a 4p Colman tent and I realized like having the space since I decided to upgrade to a cot & better pad. The last time I used the Kelty tent, I was using a double klymit pad & it had a few inches of floor space left. Ozark was iffy. I got a 10 or 12 person one for spray painting a diy projects. It kept things dry but not clean so I gave up & went back to rolling paint inside. Sold the tent right away on our local fb swap pages. I looked at marmots tents over 10 years ago when I first looking for a 2p one. I ended up with the Kelty one since it was new at a gear consignment store, cheaper than the REI ones & they were thrown in the footprint for free. Marmots were so expensive & there was one at a REI garage sale but since I didn’t know how to put a tent up, I passed the on buying it. Just happen to see the Limestone was a decent price on Campsaver. I still haven’t had a chance to set it up in the backyard or even open up the bag. I’ll be doing that next weekend to make sure all the parts are there since I have 2 weekends of camping next month.

I like the Walmart brand Ozark Trail. We have had a smaller tent from them for quite a while (it does leak now but we set up a tarp over it). Our nicer Kelty tent tore and the zipper broke. They’ll fix them for you but I lose the receipt :(  Since you’re new I’d go on the less expensive side first. 

I've had my Kelty for about 12 years now and it has never failed to perform to my highest expectations. I highly recommend them.