Mountain Hardwear - AC 2 Tent

I feel the same about the Mountain Hardwear AC. I've been using the older version Direkt 2 for years. Single wall, tight fit for 2, pretty comfy for 1, 4 lbs of carry weight. But a true 4 season tried and true mountaineering tent. Dig it out, knock the snow off, and sleep on.

Second what others have said. UL is always a bet that the worst won’t happen and you can ignore discomfort in the name of weight as comfort. The same can’t be said for winter camping where the margins are much tighter. With that being said alpine climbing has been doing UL since before it was cool. There are plenty of 4 season (in reality 1 season) alpine single wall tents like the Rab Latok, Samaya 2.0, MHW AC 2 that are all around 1.7kg and designed to take intense weather. They tend to be designed for snow not rain, so struggle above 0. I got a TNF one on pro deal it’s only useful for mountaineering ascents. But they’re cramped and you get wet every time you run any body part along the wall. I’ll take the extra 1kg of an MSR Fury which is more spacious and more comfortable any day. For ski tours I prefer pyramid tents and dog down using the snow for insulation. One option that balances out fairly well is the SeekOutside hot tents. Tent pole pyramids with the option for titanium stoves. They get super hot, too hot really while you feed the fire. Unfortunately the stoves only accept small bits of wood and require regular feeding. You often go to bed sweating and wake up very cold. You also need the time to gather burnable firewood, which is not always easy in some environments. Without the stove they are lighter than compatible pyramid tents, especially the Dyneema version.

We've got an REI Kingdom 6 and love it. I think the new version is called the Wonderland. Also, if budget is an issue, I'd consider lightly used, good quality gear. We got an almost new Kingdom 6 with add on vestibule (plus a bunch of other gear I didn't want) for $100 on FB Marketplace. The good stuff tends to hold up well if it isn't abused. As an example, I've got a Mountain Hardware 2 person tent coming up on 30 years old that I had to reseal the seams but is otherwise still going strong. Spent a few nights in it recently and plan to continue using it as long as I can.

MSR or Big Agnes for backpacking get my vote. Mountain Hardwear also make some nice backpacking tents. Nemo and Marmot would be the next ones I look at. I love my MSR and Hardwear tent. if you want to go ultralight, just stick with a two person and you’re gonna be really snug but totally doable if you’re with a partner. I’m 6 foot three and I have slept in a two person MSR tent with another 6 foot three person. Go with the three person if you want to compromise comfort while in the tent for added weight. Chances are you will be splitting the tent up into two separate packs to offset the total weight or you’ll carry it yourself and have the other person carry other stuff to equal out the weight. It may not seem like a huge deal, but when your backpacking every little bit counts.