Pop up tents · Vs review
Teton Vista 1-Person V.S. 2-Person Quick Tent (I Bought & Tested Both!)
Two Teton pop-up tents, side by side in my yard, across 7 head-to-head tests.
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The short answer
Buy the Vista 2 unless weight, packed size or the extra $30 is the problem. That $30 buys 7 inches of headroom, a second door and a queen bed's worth of floor.
The Vista 2 Quick Tent is 83 by 62 inches instead of 80 by 36, so my almost-queen airbed went in with room to spare, and at 40 inches of peak height I sat up on a 6-inch mattress with headroom left. The Vista 1 Quick Tent answers on exactly the three things that would change my mind: 4.6 lbs against 6.6, a 28 by 9 by 5 inch packed size, and about $30 off the price. Unless weight, packed size or budget is the deciding factor, the 2-Person is the one I'd buy.
Side by side
Where they actually differ
| Measured | Vista 1 | Vista 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Set up (1 person) | 2 min 45 sec | 3 min 30 sec |
| Pack away (1 person) | 2 min 30 sec | 3 min |
| Peak height | 33 inches | 40 inches7 inches more |
| Base dimensions | 80 × 36 inches | 83 × 62 inchesAbout 72% wider |
| What fits inside | 1 pad, 72 × 20 inches, room left for gear | An almost-queen airbed, a few inches left for gear |
| A true queen (80 × 60 in) | No | Fits, with no space left over |
| Thickest mattress that still worked | 1.5 inches | 6 inches |
| Vestibules | 1 | 2Identical, one each side |
| Vestibule width (longest) | 12 inches | 15 inches |
| Doors | 1 | 2 |
| Door size | 44 × 26 inches | 52 × 32 inches |
| Cross ventilation | No, one door | Yes, 2 doors, 2 vestibules |
| Weight (tent + carry bag) | 4.6 lbs | 6.6 lbsAbout 40% heavier |
| Packed size | 28 × 9 × 5 inches | 33 × 8 × 8 inchesAbout 18% longer |
| Price | About $30 less | About $30 more |
✓ = the better result, from my own testing. Shared: both are pop-up quick tents I bought myself from Amazon · both arrive as the tent inside its carry bag plus stakes in a separate bag · all guylines pre-attached · about two-thirds of each tent is mesh with the rainfly off.
Which applies to you?
Get this one if…
Get the Vista 1 if…
- Weight is the deciding factor: 4.6 lbs against 6.6.
- Packed size is the deciding factor: 28 by 9 by 5 inches against 33 by 8 by 8.
- Budget is the deciding factor: it is about $30 less.
- Just know what you give up: 33 inches of peak height, so a pad of about 1.5 inches is the ceiling, and there is only one door.
Get the Vista 2 if…
- You are sleeping 2, or you want a real mattress inside: 83 by 62 inches took my almost-queen airbed with room to spare.
- You want to sit up. 40 inches of peak height, and I was comfortable on a 6-inch mattress.
- You want the second door and second vestibule: bigger doors at 52 by 32 inches, and proper cross ventilation.
- None of weight, packed size or budget is what decides it for you. The extra 2 lbs and 45 seconds of set-up are the whole cost.
Set Up & Pack Away
| Measured | Vista 1 | Vista 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Set up (1 person) | 2 min 45 sec | 3 min 30 sec |
| Popping the hub up | Straight up | About 15 seconds longer, stiffer |
| Vestibules to stake out | 1 | 2 |
| Pack away (1 person) | 2 min 30 sec | 3 min |
| Carry bag | Roomy | A much tighter fit |
Both are the same tent to pitch: out of the bag, unfold the body on the ground, pop the hub up, stake it out, secure the rainfly and the vestibules, guy the whole thing out. The 1-Person went up in 2 minutes 45 seconds, the 2-Person in 3 minutes 30.
That 45 seconds splits two ways. Popping the 2-Person up took me about 15 seconds longer. It is stiffer, and I just didn't have the arm strength for it. The other 30 seconds is the bigger rainfly and the second vestibule to stake down. Packing away goes the same way, 2 and a half minutes against 3, because the 2-Person's carry bag is a much tighter fit.
Base Area & What Fits
| Measured | Vista 1 | Vista 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 80 inches | 83 inches |
| Width | 36 inches | 62 inchesAbout 72% wider |
| What fits | 1 pad, 72 × 20 inchesRoom left for gear | 2 pads side by side, or an almost-queen airbed |
| A true queen (80 × 60 in) | No | Fits, with no space left over |
Three inches of length between them, 80 against 83, so length is not the story here. Width is: 36 inches against 62, which is about 72% wider, not double, even though it sleeps twice as many people.
Those 36 inches took my Sea to Summit pad, 72 by 20 inches, with plenty of room left over for gear. The 62 inches took my Exped MegaMat Duo 10, which is two regular pads side by side, and then it took my ALPS Vertex Airbed (an almost-queen) with a few inches left near the door. A true queen at 80 by 60 inches will go in, but you won't get that leftover space.
Peak Height
| Measured | Vista 1 | Vista 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Peak height | 33 inches | 40 inches |
| Thickest mattress that still worked | 1.5 inches | 6 inches |
| Headroom sitting up | 2-3 inches, and that is with no mattress | A few inches, on a 6-inch mattress |
Seven inches, and on a tent this small seven inches is everything. In the 2-Person I sat on my 6-inch Vertex Airbed and still had a few inches over my head. I could lie down and sit up comfortably.
In the 1-Person, with no mattress in there at all, I had maybe 2 to 3 inches. My 1.5-inch Sea to Summit pad fits and works fine. I wouldn't put anything much thicker than that in.
Vestibules & Doors
| Measured | Vista 1 | Vista 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Vestibules | 1 | 2Identical, one each side |
| Vestibule width (longest) | 12 inches | 15 inches |
| Doors | 1 | 2 |
| Door size | 44 × 26 inches | 52 × 32 inches |
The 2-Person's two vestibules are identical, one each side, and each is a little wider than the 1-Person's single one, 15 inches at the longest against 12. Tie either up and you get at the door behind it, and the 2-Person's doors are bigger as well: 52 by 32 inches against 44 by 26.
Ventilation
| Measured | Vista 1 | Vista 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Mesh, rainfly off | About two-thirds of the tent | About two-thirds of the tent |
| Doors | 1 | 2 |
| Cross ventilation | No | Yes, 2 doors, 2 vestibules |
Take the rainfly off either one and about two-thirds of the tent is mesh, so both breathe well. The difference is cross ventilation: two doors and two vestibules on the 2-Person means air actually moves through it, and I was noticeably more comfortable in there than in the 1-Person.
Weight & Packed Size
| Measured | Vista 1 | Vista 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Weight (tent + carry bag) | 4.6 lbs | 6.6 lbsAbout 40% heavier |
| Packed size | 28 × 9 × 5 inches | 33 × 8 × 8 inchesAbout 18% longer |
The 2-Person is about 40% heavier, 6.6 lbs against 4.6 for the tent and its carry bag. Packed, it is barely bigger: about 18% longer, because that tighter carry bag squeezes everything down harder. They’re also the only pop ups I’d even try strapping to a pack, and whether backpacking with a pop up tent makes sense at all gets its own guide.
Price & What's In The Box
| Measured | Vista 1 | Vista 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | About $30 less | About $30 more |
| In the box | Tent in its carry bag, stakes in a separate bag | Tent in its carry bag, stakes in a separate bag |
| Guylines | Pre-attached | Pre-attached |
I paid about $30 more for the 2-Person. Both came from Amazon a couple of years ago and both arrive the same way: tent inside the carry bag, stakes in their own bag, every guyline already attached and tensioned.
My recommendation
I got plenty of use out of both of these over the couple of years I have had them, and for the money they are both excellent. My rule with these two is simple: the Teton Vista 2 Quick Tent unless weight, packed size or budget is the deciding factor.
About $30 more buys 3 inches of length, enough width for a whole queen mattress instead of one pad, 7 inches more headroom, and room for a 6-inch mattress. On top of that: an extra vestibule, an extra door, bigger doors, and real cross ventilation. It still only packs about 18% longer and weighs 40% more. Yes, it costs me 45 seconds more to set up and 30 seconds more to pack away. For that much more livable space, that is a no-brainer.
If weight, packed size or the $30 IS what decides it for you, the Vista 1 Quick Tent is still a tent I am happy to recommend. You are giving up headroom and the second door, not quality.
One thing to know about my 1-Person: I bought it back when it was sold as the Outfitter Quick Tent rather than the Vista. The Outfitter didn't have the bathtub flooring, the rainfly vent or the storage pockets. Otherwise it is mostly the same tent.
Bonus: I bought and tested 7 pop-up tents against each other (set-up timings, rain tests, base areas, the lot) and both of these Quick Tents are in there. They also turn up in my best tents under $100.
Every figure on this page comes from my own measurements of the tents I bought and tested in my own yard, not from a spec sheet.
