The Best Backpacking Tents for Tall People, Gated on Published Floor Length

Most “best backpacking tent” lists never print the one number a tall hiker needs: how long the floor actually is. A 210 cm inner is fine at 5 ft 8 in and miserable at 6 ft 2 in, because a sleeping bag needs a few inches at each end before your head or your feet touch wet mesh. So this page starts from the spec sheet. Every tent below has a maker-published floor of at least 90 inches (228 cm). Anything whose maker won't print an inner dimension is excluded, however light it is.

From there the ranking is the same one we run everywhere on this site: grams saved against a mainstream reference tent, per dollar of the maker's list price. Full rules at our methodology page. If you want the whole catalog rather than the long ones, start with the budget backpacking tent ranking.

How we picked

The gate: the maker publishes an inner or floor dimension of 90 in (228 cm) or longer. The reference: the Kelty Late Start 1P at 1,600 g (3 lb 8.4 oz), a mainstream solo tent with an 84 in floor, which is exactly the length that sends tall buyers looking in the first place. Value, which is grams saved against that reference per dollar of list price, is 35% of the score; weight alone is 20%; space and weather protection 25%; materials 10%; ease 10%. Two-person tents on this page are measured against the two-person reference instead, because that is the tent they replace.

The floor lengths, side by side

The solo shelters first, all with a published inner of 90 in or more.

Then the two-person shelters, for a tall hiker who wants the extra length and width of a bigger footprint.

Two things stand out. The cheapest tent here has the length; you are not obliged to spend more to get it. And the Lunar Duo's 54 in width is six inches more than the widest solo floor here, which is what makes it the pick when two tall people share.

Who each pick is for

1. 3F UL Gear Lanshan 1: the best tent for tall hikers overall

3F publishes a 230 x 100 cm (90 x 39 in) inner at the center inside an overall 270 cm footprint, in a true double wall with factory-taped seams. It saves 825 g (1 lb 13.1 oz) vs the Kelty Late Start 1P against a mainstream solo tent, giving it a value figure of Value 8.6/10, the best here. The catch is width: 39 in at the center is the narrowest floor on this page, so a broad hiker will brush mesh even though the length is fine.

Buy it if you are tall, hiking alone and price matters. Skip it if you are wide as well as tall; the Lunar Solo gives you nine more inches across.

2. Durston X-Mid 2: the long floor with room to spare

92 x 52 in on the published spec sheet, 48 in of peak height, two doors and two vestibules, in a double wall Durston waterproofs at the factory. Carried solo it is the most comfortable shelter on this page: you can sleep diagonally, keep a pack inside and still stand your poles in the vestibules. It saves 1,010 g (2 lb 3.6 oz) vs the Kelty Late Start 2P against a mainstream two-person tent.

Buy it if you want length and width and don't mind carrying a two-person tent alone. Skip it if every gram counts; the Lanshan 1 is lighter and far cheaper.

3. Durston X-Mid 1: the longest solo floor

93 in is the longest solo inner here, and it is the only solo tent on this page with two doors and two vestibules. The trade is a 33 in floor width, the narrowest of the group. Durston sells it direct rather than through Amazon, so its button here is a plain reference link.

Buy it if length and a second door matter more than width. Skip it if you sleep on your side and spread out; 33 in is tight.

4. Sierra Designs High Route 1P: the longest listed shelter

Sierra Designs lists the High Route 1P at 102 x 42 in, the longest figure on this page. Read that carefully: it is the shelter dimension, and the inner nest covers 16.6 sq ft of it, with the rest as covered floor space. For a tall hiker that is still useful, because it is where your pack and your boots go instead of under your knees.

Buy it if you want a two-piece tarp-and-nest system from a shelf-stocked brand. Skip it if you need real weather margin; its fly and floor coatings are rated lower than every other pick here.

5. Zpacks Duplex: the lightest long floor

A 7.5 ft (90 in) floor, 45 in wide, at 505 g (1 lb 1.8 oz). That is roughly a third of what the Lunar Duo weighs for a floor only nine inches narrower. Its value figure is Value 2.7/10, the lowest of the picks, because the math weighs price as well as grams. It is on this page to show what the top of the market costs, not as a budget recommendation, and it is sold direct by Zpacks.

Buy it if your base weight is the point and the price is not a problem. Skip it if you want the most floor per dollar; that is the Lanshan 1 or the Lunar Duo.

6. Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo: the roomiest solo floor

90 in long and 48 in wide, on a single 49 in trekking pole. Nine inches wider than the Lanshan 1 and five wider than the Duplex, which for a tall, broad hiker is the difference between touching the walls and not. Six Moon says the seams are not fully waterproof until you seal them yourself, and stakes are sold separately.

Buy it if you are tall and broad and sleep solo. Skip it if you want a tent that is waterproof out of the bag.

7. Six Moon Designs Lunar Duo: the floor for two tall people

90 x 54 in, 34 sq ft, dual side entry. It is the widest floor on this page by two inches and the heaviest pick by a clear margin at 1,276 g (2 lb 13.0 oz). Split between two people that is still reasonable, and nothing else here gives two tall adults this much room.

Buy it if two tall people are sharing and splitting the carry. Skip it if you hike alone; the Lunar Solo is roughly half the weight.

Why floor length alone isn't enough

Sloped ends are the part no spec sheet prints. A tapered tent like the Zpacks Plex Solo narrows to 28 in at the ends by its own listing; a rectangular floor like the X-Mid 2 does not narrow at all. If your bag has a boxed foot, the taper matters more than the last two inches of length. See what a backpacking tent should weigh for how these trades show up in grams.

The tents that missed the cut

The 3F UL Gear Lanshan 1 Pro and Lanshan 2 Pro. Both are lighter than the standard Lanshans and both list a 270 cm overall footprint, but 3F publishes no inner dimension for either, so we can't confirm the floor clears 90 in. They are excellent tents; they just fail this page's gate. The Lanshan 1 Pro is ranked on the 1-person tent page instead.

The Naturehike Cloud Up family. Every current Cloud Up lists a 210 cm (82.7 in) inner, including the UL 2 at 1,220 g (2 lb 11.0 oz). That is seven inches short of this page's gate and roughly the length that sends tall buyers shopping in the first place.

The Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 and Fly Creek UL2 list 88 in and 86 in floors respectively, and both taper at the foot. Good tents, just not long ones.

The Kelty Late Start 1P is the reference this page is measured against, with an 84 in floor. If you already own one and you are over six foot, that gap is the whole reason you are reading this.

How to choose a backpacking tent if you're tall

1. Measure your sleeping bag, not yourself. A bag with a boxed foot adds inches beyond your height. Add four inches at the head and four at the foot to whatever that measures, and that is your minimum floor length.
2. Read the inner dimension, not the footprint. Trekking-pole tents list an overall pitched size that can be 40 cm longer than the floor you sleep on. Only three makers here publish both.
3. Check the width too. 39 in and 48 in are both “90 in long” on a comparison table and completely different inside.
4. Check the end taper. A tapered floor can lose a foot of usable width exactly where your feet are.
5. Consider a 2-person tent solo. Three of the seven picks here are two-person shelters. The weight penalty is real, but so is the room, and the X-Mid 2 still beats the two-person reference by saves 1,010 g (2 lb 3.6 oz) vs the Kelty Late Start 2P.
6. Budget for seam sealing. The Lunar Solo and Lunar Duo both ship unsealed. That is an evening at home, not a defect, but it is not optional.

Mistakes to avoid

• Buying on the pitched footprint. A 270 cm pitched length can hide a 220 cm inner. Ask for the inner dimension before you buy.
• Assuming a “long” version exists. None of the tents here is offered in a long size. Tents are not sleeping bags; what is printed is what you get.
• Ignoring peak height. A 90 in floor under a 42 in peak still means sitting up hunched. The Lunar Solo's 49 in and the Plex Solo's 52 in are the tallest figures we track.
• Paying the Dyneema premium for length you can get cheaper. The Duplex's floor is shorter than the X-Mid 1's and asks a higher MSRP band more.