Best Waterproof Tent for All-Weather Warriors

REI Co-op’s Half Dome 2+ is one of the brand’s most popular tents – and with good reason.

The Half Dome 2+ packs an awful lot to love into a very small package. It offers solid weather resistance, is light enough for thru-hiking, easy to pitch, and is made with bluesign-approved fabrics.

This dome tent weighs 5 lbs. 5 oz, making it the lightest on our list after the Teton Sports Ultra, BD Eldorado, and MSR Hubba Hubba. Although its 35.8 square feet of interior space also make it one of the smallest, its 22.5-square-foot vestibule area means there’s plenty of room for gear storage and that no inside space needs to be taken up by gear.

What we particularly like about the Half Dome 2+ is that it doesn’t cut any corners to achieve its light weight. Its waterproofing is solid enough to withstand heavy rainfall, its pre-bent pole structure boosts headroom, and its wealth of pockets and gear loops ensure you can keep things tidy and the tent floor free of clutter.

The only real downsides to the Half Dome 2+ are that its fabrics are a touch flimsier than those used in the car-camping shelters on our list and the peak height is a little low, though this, of course, is the price you pay when choosing a tent designed for backpacking.

Combining a light pack weight with a roomy interior, solid waterproofing, easy pitching, and ripstop fabrics, the Mountain Ultra is a standout 3-season tent for solo adventurers.

In terms of waterproofing, this tent doesn’t quite fall into the “bombproof” category. However, its 66-denier, ripstop, PU-coated rainfly boasts a HH rating of 2,000mm, which makes it more than capable of fending off even heavy downpours for hours, even days, on end.

It also features a highly waterproof, 150-denier, bathtub-style floor, and heat-sealed seams, both of which help to ensure you won’t be springing any leaks while catching your Zs.

On the inside, things are pretty impressive, too. While the Mountain Ultra only offers around 18.5 square feet of floor space, its 41-inch peak height, micro-mesh canopy, gear loft, and sizable vestibule make it very livable for solo campers.

We also found the tent to be very portable and easy to carry thanks to its 4 lbs. 7 oz. pack weight and manageable pack size (21″ x 5″). And when you do get to your campsite, setup is a piece of cake. The burly, T6 aluminum poles are color-coded and the tent uses a simple cross-and-ridge system that lets you convert it from packed to pitched in around 3 minutes (4 for slackers!).

There are only two not-so-positive things worth mentioning with the Mountain Ultra. Firstly, it doesn’t boast the same lifelong durability as some of the pricier tents in our review. Secondly, attaching the footprint can be a little tricky. Given that it costs a fraction of the price of its competitors and is otherwise easy to pitch, however, these flaws are far from dealbreakers.

The Teton SMU is also available in 2-person, 3-person, and 4-person models.

If you’re looking for a reliable, lightweight backpacking tent with just enough features, comfort, and space for long-term livability, then the MSR Hubba Hubba NX is a great choice.

The Hubba Hubba NX 2 is a true all-rounder. It’s durable, highly waterproof, lightweight, and offers a decent amount of space for two people.

The inner tent fabric is a combination of DWR-treated, high-tenacity nylon and copious 15-denier mesh for enhanced ventilation. The rainfly has a HH rating of 1,200 mm, meaning it’s ideal for three-season adventuring and features color-coded corners to simplify pitching.

To top it all off, there’s a 30-denier, raised bathtub floor that boasts precision-stitched seams and a HH of 3,000 mm. This means you can even pitch up in boggy ground without having to worry about groundwater finding its way inside your tent.

Other loveable features include its new Easton Syclone Poles (which feel like a big upgrade on their predecessors in terms of sturdiness in windy conditions), its adjustable rainfly, and two large, side-entry vestibules.

With 29 square feet of floor space and a peak height of 39 inches, the Hubba Hubba NX 2 is smaller than the REI Half Dome 2+ but still fairly spacious for a 2-person backpacking tent. That interior is also nicely ventilated thanks to all that mesh in the tent body and its use of a cross-ventilating rainfly with a kickstand vent.

Finally, this trail-worthy little tent weighs in at just 3.5 pounds and packs down to 18” x 6”. This makes it one of the most portable 2-person options on the market.

The Hubba Hubba does have a few downsides. The most notable is the tendency of its fly to flap around in high winds. Secondly, its lack of sealed seams means you’ll have to spend some time proofing the seams before hitting the trails in wet conditions, more of an inconvenience than a dealbreaker.

This incredibly well-made tent strikes a great balance between comfort, durability, compactness, and take-anywhere kinda ruggedness and waterproofing.

The Black Diamond Eldorado is a single-wall waterproof tent designed for use in particularly harsh environments. Like most single-wall tents, it offers outstanding weather resistance, using a 7,000mm HH rainfly and 10,000mm floor made with robust, tear-resistant, triple-layered ToddTex fabric.

In terms of ruggedness and rain resistance, they don’t get much better than that!

Unlike many other single-wallers out there, however, the Eldorado also scores highly on livability. While only offering slightly under 31 square feet of living space and no vestibule, it has a decent 43-inch center height and combines breathable fabric with a duo of ceiling vents to regulate the interior temperature and ward off condensation.

Using a two-pole design, the Eldorado is also very easy to pitch, and, surprisingly, more robust than many of its 3- or 4-pole competitors. Designed for use in the Greater Ranges, this is a tent you can count on to stand firm in the strongest winds and can even handle heavy snow loading.

The only downsides to the Eldorado are its lack of sealed seams and relatively hefty weight. At 5 lbs. 1 oz., there are plenty of lighter 2-person tents out there. That said, few of those alternatives will offer quite the same strength or nigh-on impregnable protection against the elements…

The Coleman WeatherMaster is an incredibly roomy family camping tent that packs in plenty of decent features at an affordable price.

This 6-person, tunnel-style tent uses a combo of steel poles and smaller, fiberglass supporting poles to provide coverage for a whopping 153 square feet of total space. Divided into a 99-square feet main compartment and a 54-square foot screen room, this configuration makes it ideal for families or campers keen to store their gear outside the sleeping area.

The WeatherMaster’s 80-inch ceiling height, large windows, and mesh build help to keep the interior ventilated, well-lit, and among the most livable spaces you’re likely to find outside your actual home!

For weather protection, the WeatherMaster uses Coleman’s patented WeatherTec system, which includes 1,000-denier patented welded floors and inverted seams, and a 75-denier polyester taffeta fly.

The fly’s coverage, however, is mostly limited to the roof, meaning this isn’t the best bet in wet and windy weather. Weighing in at 32 pounds and with a packed size of 41 x 10 inches, this is also not a tent you’d like to be lugging around over long distances.

While the Weathermaster is our best “budget” waterproof tent, an even cheaper alternative is available in the Coleman Sundome Tent (featured in our guide to the Best Family Tents), which is a little less waterproof but equally well-made.

The Eureka Copper Canyon 8-Person is one of the most livable tents we’ve ever had the pleasure of catching our Zs inside and the ideal pick for large groups or families who plan on camping at frontcountry campgrounds.

The Copper Canyon doesn’t have a vestibule but makes up for this shortcoming with 130 square feet of floor space, an 84-inch peak height, and near-vertical walls. All that floor space makes it suitable for up to 8 sleepers, while the lofty peak height and steep walls mean even the tallest campers will be able to walk around inside without having to duck or hunch.

Concerning waterproofing, the Copper Canyon doesn’t do quite enough to earn a place in the “bombproof” category of virtually impregnable tents, but its weather resistance is good enough for three-season camping nonetheless.

While it uses a partial-coverage rainfly, the inner tent walls are rated to 1,200 mm, the floor to 2,000 mm, and the fly itself provides a robust first line of defense against all but the heaviest rainfall.

As for features, the Copper Canyon doesn’t disappoint, offering an extended awning above the front door, several interior pockets, adjustable vents, and a pair of mesh gear shelves.

If you plan on camping for a longer period of time, then we highly recommend the Kodiak Canvas Flex Bow. It’s exceptionally durable, rugged, and waterproof thanks to its reinforced canvas materials, and borders on palatial in its dimensions.

The Flex Bow is made with Kodiak’s proprietary Hydra-Shield waterproof fabric. The walls are made from breathable, silicone-treated, 8.5-ounce Hydra-Shield canvas, and the floor from polyester-reinforced 16-ounce vinyl. This makes the Flex-Bow not only a winner in terms of style (if vintage is your thing), but also just about as rugged, durable, and rain-resistant as they come.

The Flex-Bow also boasts a generous 10 x 10 feet of floor area, a 6.6-foot ceiling height, and a large awning that provides ample coverage for outdoor cooking and kicking back at the end of the day.

The only shortcomings we found with this tent were its hefty weight and size. Weighing in at a little over 70 pounds and packing down to 30 x 15 inches, this is a car-camping-only kinda tent, unless you happen to have a team of yaks, horses, or Sherpas to do the carrying for you.

Additionally, due to its sheer size and the weight of its canvas walls, some might find setting this one up a long and tedious process.

The NTK Cherokee GT is a great choice for families or groups of friends looking to strike the ideal balance between weight, living space, and waterproofing.

Weighing in at just 15.21 pounds, this tent is one of the lightest 6-person models on the market. Once pitched, it also stands at a very livable 5 foot 9 inches high and boasts just under 100 square feet of floor space, making it ideal for families on multi-day trips.

In terms of waterproofing, the Cherokee GT is no slouch either. It uses a 2,500mm HH, full-coverage rainfly, heat-sealed seams, and a durable thermoplastic coating that together can ward off even the most torrential rain showers.

Other endearing features found in the Cherokee are the highly breathable, no-see-um micro-mesh fabric used on the inner, a bathtub-style floor, and extra thick, color-coded nano-flex fiberglass tent poles that interconnect with chrome-plated ferrule hardware to make setup a cinch.

The only notable downside to this tent is that it doesn’t have a vestibule, meaning you’ll have to sacrifice some of your sleeping space for gear storage. Also, there’s a slight lack of interior storage pockets considering the tent’s size and the fact that it’s marketed as family-friendly.

The Geertop Portable 4-Person 4-Season Backpacking Tent wins our vote as one of the best waterproof shelters out there on account of its impressive weather resistance, spacious interior, durability, and all-around livability.

The Geertop’s inner tent material is a combo of 210T polyester and nylon mesh panels that help regulate the interior temperature. The floor is made from 210-denier PU-coated nylon with an impressive HH rating of 5,000 mm, while the fly is constructed with 3,000 mm, tear-resistant polyester. To top it all off, the seams in the floor and fly are doubled-sealed for added leak resistance.

Measuring 53 square feet, the interior makes for a super-spacious tent for three people or a decently roomy one for four. No matter how many of you there are, however, the Geertop Portable’s sure to feel plenty livable thanks to its 54-inch peak height, double-doored design, and duo of large vestibules for cooking and gear storage.

This tent weighs just a little over 9 pounds, which makes it a little heavier than other 4-person options. That said, a little extra poundage seems a small trade-off given the Geertop’s durability and robust waterproofing.

And the downsides? Other than the slightly garish yellow-colored option and slightly heavy pack weight, there’s little else of note.