Gossamer Gear’s “The Two” is a single-wall, two-person ultralight trekking pole tent that weighs 23.5 oz and costs $320. It has two doors and two vestibules, making it ideal for couples (or a palace for 1), with all-mesh interior sidewalls that provide good airflow and three-season comfort. Internal livability is excellent with abundant vestibule storage and generous dimensions that will be appreciated by taller backpackers. But the thing I like the most about The Two is how small it packs up compared to very similar tents like the Dyneema Zpacks Duplex which cost twice as much but only weigh a few ounces less.
Specs at a Glance
- Weight: 23.5 oz / 667 g (includes guylines)
- Interior Dimensions (bathtub floor) – Length (84″), Head Width (48″), Foot Width (42″). Height (43″)
- External Dimensions: Width of Ridgeline (64″); Length (135″), Width (115″)
- Required Pole Height to Pitch: 49″ (125 cm)
- Packed dimensions: 11″ x 5″ (you don’t have to roll it, it can also be stuffed)
- Minimum number of stakes required: 6; Recommended 8
- Materials:
- Fly and Floor: 10D Nylon Ripstop SIL/PU fabric waterproof to at least 1800mm
- Vestibule zippers: #3, waterproof
- Tensioners: lineloc 3s on all main tie-outs
- For complete details, visit Gossamer Gear
Tent Design
Gossamer Gear’s “The Two” is a single-wall ultralight tent with two peaks and two vestibules. Being a single-wall tent, the floor is attached to the fly by mesh, allowing the fly to overhang the sides of the floor to enhance airflow. The mesh also lets the floor float independently of the walls and ceiling making it easier to set the tent up on uneven tent sites. The floor plan is slightly wider at the head end (48″) compared to the foot end (42″), but it has sufficient interior room to hold two 25″ sleeping pads side by side.
The vestibule doors have a YKK #3 zipper running down the middle with dowel and loop tiebacks so you can roll the doors up and out of the way. The tent requires a minimum of 6 stakes to pitch, 4 in the corners and 2 for the vestibule which are staked out perpendicular to the sidewalls. As a result, the tent is very easy to set up. Because it is a single-wall tent, the interior will stay dry if you have to set it up in the rain.
In a break with convention, the vestibule guylines run inside the vestibule when it’s zipped shut, rather than over it, with one-half of the vestibule clipped to the base of the guyline with a buckle. (Unfortunately, there are no guyline anchors on top of the peaks to further anchor the tent in very windy weather – you have to trust the vestibule guyline instead.) The other half of the vestibule door does not connect directly to the guyline but is held in place by the zipper connecting the two halves of the vestibule.
This has a number of ramifications worth considering: First, you can only clip one-half of the vestibule to the guyline with the buckle. Since you probably want to have the closed door facing and blocking the wind, this makes the setup of the tent “directional” as opposed to bi-directional, forcing you to “think” about the direction of the pitch, potentially in the dark. Unfortunately, the two ends (head and foot) are not color-coded, although this would be an easy modification to make with colored cord or tape.
When pitched, the handle of your trekking poles fits into the peaks while a grommet alongside the tent floor holds your pole tips. The tent is designed so the trekking pole handles are angled away from the sidewalls of the inner tent and create an overhang to protect you from light precipitation when one or both vestibule doors are rolled back. The result is a spacious interior with a ceiling ridgeline (64″) that is wider than the inner tent floor is wide (48″). The Two is also supposed to come with an interior clothesline that spans the two peaks and is useful for drying wet gear. Unfortunately, this feature was missing from the tent that Gossamer Gear sent me.
The interior of the tent is 84″ long and has plenty of interior room to stretch out, even for tall hikers. Additional external guy out points on the large ceiling panels are good for creating even more interior space inside the tent, although they are not strictly necessary to use.
The sidewalls of the tent, inside the vestibules, are made with fine mesh for insect and creepy crawler protection. L-shaped zippers open into the vestibules, which are well-sized to hold gear. You can store quite a large pack in one half of the vestibule and still get in and out of the tent quite easily.
When packed in its stuff sack, The Two measures 11″ x 5″, which makes it very easy to pack in a smaller volume backpack. It’s the tent I bring on backpacking trips when space considerations are paramount. I actually don’t use the stuff sack that it comes in, but repack it separately in a shorter and rounder stuff stack that fits better with the rest of my packing scheme. In comparison, I own a number of Dyneema Tents, which while lightweight, a much bulkier to pack and far less compressible.
Outfitting and Care
The Two is well made and comes with pre-cut reflective guyline and linelocs on the four corners, reinforced panel pullouts, seam-taped seams, and immaculate sewing. The tent comes with 8 lightweight aluminum tent stakes and extra cordage, and storage sacks for the tent and stakes. As long as you have a pair of trekking poles that can extend to 49″ (125 cm), you can use The Two out of the box.
That said, The Two is lean and mean by design, so you’ll want to treat it kindly and maintain it after each use. For instance, the 10 denier floor is very thin and I’d recommend using a lightweight footprint with this tent if you camp one on the packed-earth or rock dust tent sites commonly found on prepared tent sites. Gossamer Gear sells a plastic sheeting called polycryo for footprints that is super lightweight but extremely tough.
Recommendation
The Gossamer Gear “The Two” is an innovative two-person, single-wall, trekking pole tent that’s great for two people and lightweight enough to be a place for one. While quite lightweight (23.5 oz), it is well-sized for taller hikers with a long bathtub floor and plenty of overhead space above your face and feet. Its two vestibules provide good external gear storage while its side mesh walls provide excellent ventilation when you can roll back the vestibule doors for cross-ventilation. The Two is also a versatile shelter to use in the rain since you can pitch it without getting the inner tent wet since the fly and floor are fully integrated rather than being separate components.
Disclosure: Gossamer Gear donated a tent for review
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