If someone could guarantee that the sun would be out, a cool breeze would fill the night air, and no bears would come sniffing around camp, we’d be out there every weekend.
Unfortunately, the only guarantees in this world are death and taxes (unless you’re Starbucks or a Tory MP…). If you sleep outside long enough, you’re going to get too cold or too hot, sometimes even on the same night. Camping is all about roughing it, but it’s certainly not about spending half the night shaking and shivering underneath a thin nylon shield.
Sometimes, you’ve got to break out the big guns. To take your camping trips further from the sunny skies of summer into the edges of the calendar, you’ll need some extra layers.
There are mummy liners for sleeping bags, Merino wool underwear, and hot chocolate, but one great way to really get on top of your temperature rating outdoors is a solid insulated tent. Therefore we have created this post in order to help you find the BEST insulated tents.
These Are The Best Insulated Tents
Crua Culla
- Packed weight (kg) > 7
- Pitched dimensions (cm) > 207 x 133 x 110
- Capacity (humans) > 2
- Price ($) > 850
Crua Culla Solo
- Packed weight (kg) > 3.39
- Pitched dimensions (cm) > 210 x 80 x 60
- Capacity (humans) > 1
- Price ($) > 670
Sea To Summit Telos TR2
- Packed weight (kg) > 1.8
- Pitched dimensions (cm) > 215 x 135 x 109
- Capacity (humans) > 2
- Price ($) > 649
Crua Cruccon
- Packed weight (kg) > 5.2
- Pitched dimensions (cm) > 203 x 190 x 110
- Capacity (humans) > 3
- Price ($) > 859
Whiteduck Regatta Canvas Bell
- Packed weight (kg) > 23
- Pitched dimensions (cm) > 304 x 304 x 226
- Capacity (humans) > 10
- Price ($) > 700
REI Base Camp 4
- Packed weight (kg) > 7.7
- Pitched dimensions (cm) > 254 x 218 x 152
- Capacity (humans) > 4
- Price ($) > 450
Mountain Hardwear Trango 4
- Packed weight (kg) > 5.5
- Pitched dimensions (cm) > 244 x 239 x 127
- Capacity (humans) > 4
- Price ($) > 1200
Arctic Oven 12 Person
- Packed weight (kg) > 35
- Pitched dimensions (cm) > 375 x 375 x 218
- Capacity (humans) > 12
- Price ($) > 4000
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What To Look For In an Insulated Tent
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Unlike other kinds of outdoor shelters, insulated tents are uniquely focused on providing comfortable stays in extreme conditions. While packed size and weight will always be a factor when you’re talking about the best backpacking tents, insulated tents will always favor a few extra pounds in the name of warmth.
So, instead of thinking of ultralight efficiency, treat yourself. Some of these tents are built to tackle arctic winters with barely more than 4 hours of natural sunlight. You’ll spend a lot of time inside an insulated tent, waiting out snowstorms and roasting chestnuts. So think about spaciousness, variable breathability, and build quality.
Make sure your tent has metal poles, a denier rating of at least 50, and tarp ripstop nylon to guarantee there are no cracks in your insulation. Finally, consider whether or not you want some extra vestibule room or a separate space to melt snowy gear without it dripping on your sleeping space.
The Best Insulated Tents – Stay Warm or Stay Cool
We took a long look around the industry, threw out some of the best budget backpacking tents, and spent a few nights buried in snow underneath the rest.
At the start of our search, we had a hefty list of potential tents with insulation, but only a rare few helped us stay outside through the depths of the dark polar winter and the hot sun of the Sonoran summer.
Without further ado, and before the storm rolls in, here are those tents.
Crua Culla
- Packed weight (kg) – 7
- Pitched dimensions (cm) – 207 x 133 x 110
- Capacity (humans) – 2
- Price ($) – 850
This space-age insulator sets a new standard for all-weather tents. Powered by CruaBreathe technology, these tents are Crua’s answer to uncomfortable nights outside in all temperature ratings. The tent is a masterpiece of hardcore polyester breathability that takes shape with an air-beam frame system. Make sure it’s on your camping checklist!
Culla can go from rolled up tight in the bag to unfurled in just a few pumps, taking away all the cartography usually required to set up new tents.
Once you’ve got it set up, adjust the two ventilation windows and throw a rain fly over your sleeping space and you’re ready to build heat.
Featuring more insulation than most tropical bungalows, the Crua Culla tents do far more than control the climate inside the tent. The tent’s greyed-out insulation also helps me stay in bed an extra few precious minutes by blocking out the sun. It even helps dampen sound enough so my partner can get the coffee on while I snooze.
- Fits inside most existing tent structures
- Blocks out sound and sun for better sleep no matter the temperature
- Plenty of mesh screens to provide further temperature control
- You have to stake your tent out before inflation on windier days
- Pump system adds on alot of bulk and extra weight
- Not meant to be used on its own
Crua Culla Solo
- Packed weight (kg) – 3.39
- Pitched dimensions (cm) – 210 x 80 x 60
- Capacity (humans) – 1
- Price ($) – 670
Crua’s smallest insulated tent takes the shape of a marshmallow biovac to provide the most comfortable solo camping experience on the market.
Set your perfect temperature, hang your light on the included hook, and drop your phone into the mesh pocket before heading off to Dreamville. Two airbeams and a solid fiberglass line across the middle provide just enough headspace to roll over and wiggle out your toes first thing in the morning.
I like this tent just as much in the depths of summer as I do keeping me warm through winter, thanks to it’s ample supply of dark rest. I have trouble dozing off when the sun’s out, which is a real problem in the Alaskan summertime.
The single-person tent is powered by Crua’s air pole system to blow up into a toasty space for one. Once I pump up my Crua Culla Solo and crawl inside, I take back control of the lighting and get the sleep I need to keep going.
- R-value of nine makes it one of the most insulating tents on the market
- Completely freestanding
- Includes two doors and two windows
- Tent is not waterproof on it’s own
- Three different beams are alot for a one-person tent
- Too heavy for backpacking
Sea To Summit Telos TR2
- Packed weight (kg) – 1.8
- Pitched dimensions (cm) – 215 x 135 x 109
- Capacity (humans) – 2
- Price ($) – 649
Capable of handling even windier and wetter conditions than Sea to Summit’s flagship Telos, the TR2 is a true-thinking man’s tent.
It even gives you a bit of extra space to ponder with a nifty connection point that raises the tent’s height in all the right places. It’s still not going to feel like a stay at the Hilton, but every extra inch counts when you’re trying to take off tight jackets.
Before we get any further, you should know this – the Telos’ insulation doesn’t come close to some of the other options on our list today.
This is not a tent that you can sleep in through a few feet of snow. While it is the best-insulated tent out there for ultralight backpacking, capable of packing up and keeping you warm while staying under $1,000 dollars.
For most nights, that’s more than good enough. I like to split the weight of this tent between two people and bring an extra splash of insulation with me into the backcountry. While the tension ridge design has some flaws, the tent comes together with a great ventilation system and serious rain-stopping power to bring me warmth and comfort on some cold, blustery late fall days outside.
- DAC aluminum poles are great quality
- Great tent for playing cards on a tough afternoon
- Tension ridge ceiling gives you a crucial extra bit of headspace
- Only rated as a 3+ season tent, not quite 4
- Rain fly straps can feel finicky
- Water tends to pool up along the extended flat ceiling area
Crua Cruccon
- Packed weight (kg) – 5.2
- Pitched dimensions (cm) – 203 x 190 x 110
- Capacity (humans) – 3
- Price ($) – 859
The Cruccon is a more practical version of Crua’s Culla tent, opening up wider and inviting more airflow to your campsite when you want it while still locking down when the temperature drops.
This insulated option opens up wider and feels more like a traditional tent, which also means it can fit underneath some rainflies other Crua models can’t quite pull off.
The key to the Cruccon is its graphene thermoregulation. It takes a lighter, more all-season approach to insulation, keeping things cool on hot nights just as well as it heats things up on cold nights. It also adds a bit of water resistance on its own, although I wouldn’t trust it in a rainstorm without reinforcements.
I like to break out my Cruccon when I’m heading a bit further into the woods. It’s a few hundred grams (and a few hundred dollars) lighter than Mountain Hardwear’s model to rank as the lightest two-person tent on our list, and it doesn’t take me very long to feel every milligram of difference in my packs. If you wanna know more than maybe go and check out my detailed Crua Duo tent review.
- Lighter than similar two-person insulated tents with much higher price points
- Retains Crua’s ability to block out light and sound for sounder sleep
- Airbeam poles can even help this tent fit inside cars
- Rated for 3 people but better for 2 people and their gear
- Insulation is not as heavy duty as other Crua models
- Not waterproof on it’s own
Now, you could spend a fat chunk of $$$ on the WRONG present for someone. Wrong size hiking boots, wrong fit backpack, wrong shape sleeping bag… As any adventurer will tell you, gear is a personal choice.
So give the adventurer in your life the gift of convenience: buy them an REI Co-op gift card! REI is The Broke Backpacker’s retailer of choice for ALL things outdoors, and an REI gift card is the perfect present you can buy from them. And then you won’t have to keep the receipt. 😉
Buy on REI!Whiteduck Regatta Canvas Bell
- Packed weight (kg) – 23
- Pitched dimensions (cm) – 304 x 304 x 226
- Capacity (humans) – 10
- Price ($) – 700
This is a tent for those who don’t just want to survive the depths of winter in the great outdoors but thrive. Its a trendy option for full-time living, providing enough nylon and stovejack breathability to provide a cozy place to drop your head all year long.
Coming in sizes ranging from 304 cm of livable space to 608, you can decide how roomy you want to take things.
Obviously, the bigger the tent, the heavier it is, but even the smallest Whiteduck Regatta is too heavy to take far from the carpark, so you might as well treat yourself to some extra space.
That’s exactly what I did, opting for the 500-centimeter model to give my partner and me some extra breathing room on days spent inside. And that’s exactly what the Regatta provided: enough space for one person to cook while the other does yoga and a dog dozes in the corner.
- Uniquely capable of handling hot desert days and cold nights on the plains
- Provides a dry, insulated space for you, your loved ones, and plenty of equipment
- Windows and doors all have two layers for temperature regulation
- Teepee style bell tent only provides maximum headroom in the center
- Canvas tents aren’t the best at keeping heat out
- The tent itself won’t keep the cold at bay without a proper wood stove
REI Base Camp 4
- Packed weight (kg) – 7.7
- Pitched dimensions (cm) – 254 x 218 x 152
- Capacity (humans) – 4
- Price ($) – 450
Nobody has done more for base camp than REI. Anything adorned with the brand’s signature Douglas Fir is probably a safe bet to be affordable and (relatively) effective. You probably shouldn’t scale Kilimanjaro with REI gear, but for anything slightly less technically challenging, you won’t find a better price.
That concept holds the same for their tent options. The REI Base Camp 4 is completely and utterly middle class, not insulating enough to get you through a snowstorm, not breathable enough to stay cool in the desert, but solid enough for most things in between.
It’s called a base camp and not the mountaintop for a reason. There’s not a whole lot of cold weather protection built-in, but two wide doors and tons of mesh make things quite airy inside.
The domed tent gets a few extra points thanks to the vestibule space and killer return policy, which allowed me to try out the tent for a few nights in the backyard before fully committing.
- Incredibly safe choice for a first tent purchase
- Not going to keep anyone warm on its own
- Polyester materials and aluminum poles help this tent provide more insulation than meets the eye
- “3-4” season means 3 seasons
- Not going to keep anyone warm on it’s own
- Footprint sold separately
Mountain Hardwear Trango 4
- Packed weight (kg) – 5.5
- Pitched dimensions (cm) – 244 x 239 x 127
- Capacity (humans) – 4
- Price ($) – 1200
It takes four to Trango. Mountain Hardwear’s beast of a tent gives everyone a comfortable place to sleep after the big dance, no matter the weather.
The Trango series has set the bar for mountaineering for almost three decades, and the Trango 4 shows it’s not slowing down anytime soon. To be the best camping brand, you’ve got to take care of every single detail, all the way down to pole diameter.
The Trango 4 includes color-coded poles with different diameters for maximum strength-to-weight ratio. These poles strap as if in orbit around taped and sealed floor fabric that’s got serious waterproof ability before you even add on the rainfly.
Each guy connection point has five layers of material that play the long game, protecting you from wind, rain, and rips for decades. Every centimeter of this tent has something special going for it.
What other tent on the market is uniquely capable of being the best thing possible at sea level as well as the best choice for the mountaintop? It’s my go-to tent for wet or humid weather, and its internal guys help me hang my wet socks up to dry before another tough day in the mountains.
- The Trango line has spent decades proving it’s the best mountaineering tent
- New models have added snow skirts to make the most of vestibule space
- Hit the summit knowing this tent will be there when you descend
- It’s a beast to carry around
- You could buy 6 REI tents for this price
- Just because it’s expensive doesn’t mean it’s luxurious. This tent is about practicality 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.
Arctic Oven 12 Person
- Packed weight (kg) – 35
- Pitched dimensions (cm) – 375 x 375 x 218
- Capacity (humans) – 12
- Price ($) – 4000
Who better to trust for an insulated tent than Alaska Tent & Tarp? Keeping hunters, wanderers, and cold explorers of the far north warm is no easy task. To keep the season alive even after the sun has abandoned the year, the cold-weather specialists have cooked up the Artic Oven, one of the most extreme warmth-providing tents on the planet.
The tent is practically bomb-proof, and it comes with a far-sweeping fly system as well as a vestibule tube to provide extra layers between you and the cold. It even includes an oval stove jack that can stick up out of the snow and help you keep the fire stoked without smoking out your living space.
There’s nothing quite like a hot box in an Arctic Oven after a cold but fulfilling day outside. The Artic Oven has an ingenious extra set of flaps that help me air out my tent. Tubes and windows stick out the side to help me whip up a breeze when the sun is out, and a velcro system prevents any arctic airflow from creeping in when the temperatures drop.
- The best tent on earth for hibernating
- Made to conquer the Alaskan winter
- Packs in 152 square feet of livable space
- The opposite of a quick-setup tent
- Costs more than a 1992 Ford Econoline
- Overkill for 35 out of 50 states, even in the winter
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Final Thoughts On Insulated Tents
Extreme weather never ends; it just lays dormant for a spell. Invest in the right insulated tent, and you’ll always have backup waiting in the back of the closet or set up in the woods to keep you outside no matter what’s on the forecast.
From lightweight options that you can carry on your back to megadomes that can be your second home, these insulated tent options represent the best the industry has come up with in 2024.
Each one does something better than anything else on the market, and they all come together through quality materials, thoughtful design, and patient construction.
Now, it’s your turn to reap the benefits. Take the WhiteDuck Regatta with you to Burning Man next year and stay cool and dry through a deluge, pump up the Cruccoon and slip it inside the REI Base Camp for a dual threat bunker, or just go all in with the Artic Oven.
No matter which tent you pick, you’ll be surprised at how far you can take your adventure after a warm and cozy night of sleep.
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