The new Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 is one of the lightest double-wall, 2-door, 2-vestibule tents on the market. With a design that combines the best of Big Agnes' popular Copper Spur HV UL2 and Fly Creek HV UL2 tents, the Tiger Wall has a fairly spacious interior, a design that maximizes livability, and keeps weight to an absolute minimum. The semi-freestanding setup of the Tiger Wall is also fast and intuitive, which scores it points for convenience.

Like many ultralight shelters pushing the bounds of weight and durability, the Tiger Wall UL2 is made with fairly thin materials, so if you're tough on gear, we recommend looking elsewhere. Also, though the Tiger Wall was built to maximize interior space, it's still a fairly tight fitting tent. We only recommend it for hikers around 6 feet tall or less, and we think it's more comfortable as a solo shelter, though it can certainly fit two hikers if need be (Note: a larger UL3 version is also available for more interior space).

Even with these downsides, we think the new Tiger Wall has a lot to offer and could be a great fit if you're in the market for a new ultralight tent.

QUICK SPECS

Min Trail Weight: 2 lbs. 3 oz.
Packed Weight: 2 lbs 8 oz (what you'll actually carry)
Floor Dimensions: (L x W): 86 X 54/42 (wider at head, narrower at foot)
Peak Height: 39 in.
Features: 3-season, semi-freestanding, double-wall, 2 doors, 2 vestibules
Size Options: 2-Person, 3-Person (size up for more space)
Best Use: Ultralight Backpacking

PROS

Incredibly light for a double-wall, semi-freestanding tent
2 doors and 2 vestibules - convenient design
Great organizational pockets
Quick and easy setup
Reflective guylines and stake-out points
Comes with all guylines attached and ready to rock

CONS

Made with thin materials (15d floor and fly) - treat with care
Tight space for two normal size humans
Rainfly zippers tend to snag (similar to other BA tents we've tested)
Low quality stakes, and requires two additional stakes for storm guylines
No built-in ventilation ports on rain fly, though fly zips help

view at rei

Tiger Wall UL2 Intro Video

Comparison to other Big Agnes Tents

When Big Agnes designed the Tiger Wall UL2, they used elements from their popular Copper Spur HV UL2 and Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL2 models. The Tiger Wall has a roominess similar to the Copper Spur (though not quite as spacious), and a semi-freestanding pole structure similar to the Fly Creek (but with 2 doors and 2 vestibules). In the weight department, the Tiger Wall weighs a full 9 ounces less than the Copper Spur (that's a lot) and only 4 ounces more than the Fly Creek, so it's very light. The Tiger Wall is also made with slightly thinner tent floor material than the Fly Creek and Copper Spur (15d vs 20d), so you'll want to take a bit more care with it. As for price, the Copper Spur costs the most, then comes the Tiger Wall, and the cheapest is the Fly Creek.

For a bit more durability, interior space, and freestanding convenience, we like the Copper Spur HV UL2 and UL3, especially if you'll mostly be backpacking with two people. If you're looking for an ultralight, double-wall, solo tent that can easily sleep two in a pinch, we think the Tiger Wall is a great choice. The Fly Creek does have a slightly more durable floor, weighs 4 ounces less, and costs a bit less too, but it's single door design with limited headroom hurts it's livability. We generally prefer the new Tiger Wall over the Fly Creek, even for a single user.

Tiger Wall Photo Gallery

Tiger Wall UL2 Specs

DESIGN - The Tiger Wall UL2 is a 3-season, double-wall, ultralight shelter with 2 doors and 2 vestibules. Though Big Agnes lists this as a freestanding tent, the Tiger Wall is actually semi-freestanding because it requires two stakes to pitch out the foot of the tent. In general, we almost always stake out our tents anyways, so this isn’t a huge deal. That said, if you find yourself pitching the Tiger Wall on rocky terrain, you may have to get creative with rocks to secure the foot of the tent. Also, in high winds and cold/wet weather, semi-freestanding tents tend not to hold up as well as fully freestanding tents, which have more pole structure for support.

PRICE - The price point on the Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 is fairly steep, but there are many ultralight tents that cost more. Even the popular Copper Spur HV UL2 costs a bit more. For the quality and weight of Tiger Wall UL2, we find the price to be reasonable, however for some it may be prohibitive. Find current pricing here: REI, Amazon, Moosejaw, Campsaver

WEIGHT - The Tiger Wall UL2 is among the lightest semi-freestanding tents on the market. With a packed weight of 2 lbs 8 oz (includes tent stakes, stuff sacks, and everything you’ll actually carry), this tent will work on almost any ultralight adventure, including a weekend jaunt or a thru-hike. In order to get a tent this light you do have to make some compromises (thinner materials, a tighter interior, and a semi-freestanding design), but we highly prize weight-savings on our backpacking trips, so this is a key strength in our opinion.

PROTECTION - The Tiger Wall UL2 is a fully waterproof, double-wall shelter, with all seams taped for protection. Because the Tiger Wall is an ultralight tent made with fairly thin materials, we usually try to find campsites with limited wind exposure, but we pretty much do this with every tent we pitch.

DIMENSIONS & INTERIOR SPACE - The Tiger Wall UL2 has floor length of 86 inches and a peak height of 39 inches. It has a tapered, asymmetrical design, with the width at the head measuring 52 inches and the width at the foot measuring 42 inches. In general, we find two-person ultralight shelters to be fairly tight on space, and the Tiger Wall is no exception. The length of the Tiger Wall is a bit on the short side too, so we don’t recommend it for people over 6 feet tall. The width of the Tiger Wall will fit two regular (not wide) mummy pads with a little extra room (see photo gallery). We think the space is fairly tight for two, but doable if weight is a main concern. If you're willing to carry a bit more weight for more interior space, the Tiger Wall also comes in a UL3 model.

MATERIALS & DURABILITY - The Tiger Wall is constructed from fairly thin fabric, with 15 denier silnylon used in both the floor and fly. If you tend to be rough on gear and prize durability, we would suggest looking elsewhere. That said, if you treat this tent with care, it should hold up well, and small rips can be easily fixed with a little tenacious tape. Also, the Tiger Wall UL2 Footprint will help increase tent floor durability.

CONVENIENCE & SETUP - The setup of the Tiger Wall UL2 is fast, easy, and intuitive. It has a simple, color-coded pole system and the rain fly clips easily to the tent body. Conveniences and ease are two of the Tiger Wall’s strengths. As stated earlier, two stakes are required to pitch out the foot of the Tiger Wall, which isn't as convenient as a fully freestanding shelter, but is usually easy enough.

VENTILATION - There are no built-in ventilation ports on the rainfly of the Tiger Wall, which limits its ability to control tent fly condensation. That said, the doors of the rainfly do unzip from the top of each side and have small hoods to block rain, so that helps.

ZIPPERS - The zippers on the Tiger Wall are just okay in our opinion. They're not our favorite, but not terrible either. On the main tent body, each door has two zippers, one that goes along the top and one along the bottom. The main body zippers function well and rarely snag in our experience. The zipper on the rainfly often require the use of two hands to prevent snags, especially when wet. We consider the tent fly zippers a downside and key gripe in our opinion.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Big Agnes' new Tiger Wall UL2 delivers a good amount of interior space for such an ultralight tent. It's key strength is clearly weight savings, which we greatly appreciate on our backpacking trips. That said, there are some tradeoffs that come with the weight savings of this tent, and chief among them is the fairly thin tent floor and fly fabric. We think the best use scenario for the Tiger Wall UL2 would be a solo ultralight backpacker or thru-hiker looking for a roomy, convenient shelter. The UL2 can definitely fit two hikers, but it's a pretty tight space for two. The Tiger Wall also comes in a larger UL3 version if you want more space. Overall, we like how Big Agnes continues to push the limits of ultralight backpacking tents, and we think the new Tiger Wall UL2 has a lot to love.

view at rei

More information

Check out our Best Backpacking Tents List to see how the Tiger Wall UL2 stacks up against the competition.

If you enjoyed this review, you'll probably like the CleverHiker Gear Guide as well. Here are some popular resources to check out.

We purchased the Tiger Wall UL2 with our own funds and we are under no obligation to give it a positive review. Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission if purchases are made through those links. This adds no cost to our readers and helps us keep our site up and running. Our reputation is our most important asset, which is why we only provide completely honest and unbiased recommendations.