Perfect one-man tent

I like two doors for ventilation (love my Double Rainbow), but I also like the small size and weight of my Solomid (one door), which is a true one man tent. The DR has two vestibules, which is nice in bad weather. The Solomid has none.

I like side doors more and more as I age. Wind matters to me. Snow load not so much, but both would do fine with the snows we get around here. Simple setup and tear down is important to me, and silnylon's good enough for me.

The perfect tent? Not possible. First, it would have to weigh nothing and be free.

My current favorite is the Tarptent Notch. It is fully dual-walled, with dual side entries and vestibules and a bathtub floor. It pitches incredibly fast and easy using trekking poles. It has multiple additional guy points, and when augmented with enough lines, is as storm-resistant as any shelter I've ever had. The only negative for is that it doesn't have much extra internal room. For me that's also a benefit, because it squeezes more easily into whatever you can find when it's late in the day and favorable campsites are suddenly rare.  (27 oz.)

I also have drunk the Duplex Koolaid. For my purposes it is likely as close to a perfect tent as I am going to find.

I've had my eye on the Notch for a while now and what you state is my concern as I do like a little room inside my tent. But maybe the double vestibule can partially make up for that? I'm having a hard time deciding between the Notch and the Double Rainbow.

That really depends. My perfect 1-man for summers in CO is different than for SE Alaska, which is different than camping in my own tent in the middle of the Greenland ice sheet (not kidding). It depends.

I have a hard time answering the question as stated, because my ideal tent for most circumstances is not a "standard" tent as outlined, but rather a floorless tarp. (The question is like asking for "your favorite color as long as it's red, green or blue.") An Anti-Gravity Gear basic tarp (which I don't think they make any more) is my go-to for 90% of my solo trips. 15 oz, sets with a trekking pole, has plenty of room, I carry an extra torso-length bug bivy when conditions warrant. It's perfect for me.

YMMV, as they say.

- Mike

My perfect solo tent is the Hilleberg Keron at 8 lbs 10 oz.  I take it out on all my solo backpacking trips and have been doing so for the past 5 years.

Beyond the one-man or two-man categories, what constitutes a perfect solo tent for me is fulfilled by the mighty Keron.  Why?
**  It is double wall with a hung-interior (well-hung?) with external flysheet poles, allowing easy set up in the rain w/o getting the inner tent wet.
**  70 to 100 denier floor which is impervious to water leaks, ground water pools and punctures.
**  Triple coated silnylon "kerlon" fly which doesn't leak and is strong.
**  Ample 36sq ft of living space which comes in handy in 150 hour NC mountain rainstorms or blizzards at -10F.
**  No pesky unsealable mesh interior canopy which allows cold breezes or spindrift to enter.  The entire inner tent is solid canopy with the option of unzipping for mesh.  Mesh inner tents are unusable for me (condensation on the inner fly often drips down onto the inner canopy---you do not want mesh).
**  The Keron is overbuilt with ample guylines which come in handy during hell storms---not only in the winter but my worst winds have been in July thunderstorms atop NC open balds.


The Keron in action on a nice fall day.


The Keron earning its keep in a TN mountain snowstorm of February 2016.

Small tents have many peeves:  The main one being allowing your gear or sleeping bag to rub up against the walls of your tent.  This is a big negatory if you want to keep your sleeping bag shell dry over a long winter trip, esp the foot of your sleeping bag against the angled end of a small tent.  The Keron solves this problem with vertical foot and head ends.