Budget backpacking tents · Review
ALPS Mountaineering Lynx 2 Tent Review (Bought & Tested!)
I bought this tent with my own money and put it through 10 hands-on tests.
- Setup 6.5 min
- Peak 47in
- Inner area 36.5 sq ft
- Vestibule 19.2 sq ft
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Test scorecard · scored against tents under $100
If you’re a shoulder season car camper on a budget, the ALPS Mountaineering Lynx 2 is a fantastic pick; I haven’t tested a better one. It’s just not the tent for summer camping or backpacking.
- Affordable
- High peak height
- Huge base area
- Fits tall campers
- Two doors
- Weather protection not the best
If you prefer watching to reading, check out my video here instead.
See the 10 tests
Set Up & Take Down
The set-up itself is easy. Two poles cross over each other, pole clips snap the body on, and the rainfly goes over the top.
- Poles 2they criss-cross, with clips rather than sleeves
- Freestanding Yesstaking and guying it out is optional
- Set-up time 6.5 min
- Pack-away time 7 min
After that it’s staking the tent down, staking the vestibules out, and guying it out with the provided guylines.
The pack away is where it loses its points. Getting everything back in is a struggle every time. The carry bag needed to be bigger, or ALPS needed to give me compression straps.
Want the full step-by-step? Watch my set-up and pack-away video.
Peak Height
- Peak height 47invery tall for a 2-person tent
- Mattress headroom 6in mattress fitswith plenty of room left over
One caveat that comes with a peak that tall: it doesn’t fare as well in high winds, so use every guyline you’ve got when the weather turns.
Base Area
- Inner length 89in
- Inner width 59in
- Inner area 36.5 sq ft
- Sleeping pads 2 regularwith plenty of gear space left
A true Queen mattress wouldn’t go in; the width is too short. My 80 x 56in ALPS Vertex airbed did, and it filled the tent.
Vestibules
- Vestibules 2identical on both sides
- Vestibule width 31in eachlongest point
- Total vestibule area 19.2 sq ft
Each vestibule has two stake loops at the bottom, so I can stake down either one and open whichever side I want, or un-stake it completely and tie it back with the two toggles.
Doors
- Doors 2one at each length, behind the vestibules
- Door size 41 x 39inlongest length x longest width, tied back
Storage
- Pockets 2one at each width
- Pocket size 9 x 7innot big
- Lantern loop 1at the very top
- Gear loft 21 x 12inhangs from 4 loops around the lantern loop
The loft comes with S-hooks, fits snugly at the top, and holds more than either pocket, with room for a small light on the top loop at the same time.
Ventilation
On rainy days I can attach my own guylines to the widths and pull the rainfly away on all four sides, which is very good for keeping condensation down.
- Rainfly vents 2at the top, each with a Velcro kickstand
- Vent access Outside only
- Mesh coverage About 30%not much for a 2-person tent
My first night in it was hot and stuffy, though I had no condensation the next morning. That lack of mesh is exactly what makes it a shoulder season tent: it keeps the heat in rather than letting it out.
Rain Protection
- Heavy rain test 2 hrs
- Result Leaked at the pocket seam
- Fix needed Seal the floor-to-body seaminside and outside
The seam joining the tent body to the tub floor wasn’t factory sealed. And it’s the same seam the pockets hang off. Water soaked into it, drenched both pockets, and came through into the tent.
So if you’re expecting serious weather, seal that seam from both sides before you go. One corner leaked too, but that was my yard flooding, not the tent. If you’d rather skip the sealing work, The North Face Stormbreak 2 took the same heavy rain with no prep at all.
I left both rainfly vents open for the test and they let two big puddles in. They don’t angle down far enough and there isn’t enough overhang above them.
Considering this tent for wet weather? Watch the full rain test first.
Quality
- Rainfly 75D polyester1500mm coating, UV damage-resistant
- Tent body 75D polyester
- Floor 75D polyester taffeta2000mm coating
- Poles 7000 series aluminum
- Zippers #8not branded
The mesh is micro mesh rather than standard mosquito netting. I couldn’t test the UV-resistance claim on the fly coating myself.
Portability
- Packed size 22 x 8 x 7.5in
- Weight 6.0 lbsincluding every stake and guyline
It’s sold as a backpacking tent and I don’t think it’s one. My Coleman Sundome 2 is a car camping tent and it weighs 6.4 lbs, less than half a pound more. This is a car camping tent that packs small-ish, which suits me fine, because car camping is what I use it for.
Pros, Cons, Recommendation
So what are the pros and cons, and would I recommend the ALPS Mountaineering Lynx 2?
Affordable
I got mine for just slightly over $100, which is close enough that it still earned its spot in my roundup of the best tents under $100.
High peak height
Almost 4 feet.
Huge base area
Inner tent area is 36.5 square feet, total vestibule area is 19.2 square feet.
Fits tall campers
Longer than average length of 89 inches, fits two adults perfectly.
Two doors
Huge size, and there’s cross-ventilation with this two door design.
Weather protection not the best
Seam sealing required for heavy rain.
Overall recommendation
I haven’t tested a better tent for shoulder season car camping on a budget. The ALPS Mountaineering Lynx 2 gives you a 47-inch peak, 36.5 sq ft of floor and two big vestibules for just over $100. Seal that floor seam before heavy rain, and don’t count on it for hot summer nights.
Bonus: Must Read!
I bought and tested every one of the best tents on a budget (see where the Lynx 2 lands).
Or, check out the ALPS Mountaineering Lynx 2:
Every figure above is from my own testing. Measured by hand, bought with my own money.
