Up to date June 19, 2026 09:01AM
Large Agnes’s Copper Spur tents have been a success since their introduction in 2008, and for good purpose: they’re among the many lightest freestanding double-wall tents in the marketplace. With BA’s most up-to-date slate of shelters, known as the VST line, the Colorado-based model is taking one other step in the direction of the world of ultralight gear. The lineup contains three single-wall tents: the freestanding Sarvis, the semi-freestanding Pitchpine, and the trekking pole-assisted String Ridge.
Of the three, we had been instantly drawn to the Pitchpine 1.5, a spacious one-person tent that straddles the divide between ultralight and conventional shelter. In comparison with different non-freestanding single-wall tents, it additionally comes with an eye-popping price ticket of $650. We’ve been testing a pattern this spring to see if the unconventional design is well worth the splurge.
Design
When you’re drawn to the Pitchpine, it’s most likely because of the design. This tent has a singular mixture of options that aren’t shared by many tents in its weight class. Like most ultralight tents, it’s non-freestanding and single-walled. However not like most of its rivals, it doesn’t require trekking poles. As an alternative, there’s a single tent pole that arcs from the top to the foot of the tent diagonally, and a small spreader bar on the prime. It’s sort of like a standard tent with two crossing poles, however with one pole changed by merely staking out the corners. That single pole, plus 4 stakes, gives a surprisingly easy set-up and spacious inside at a reasonably low weight.
Our pattern weighed in at 31 ounces out of the field. The tent and pole alone weighed 27.2 ounces, simply 0.1 ounces over Large Agne’s acknowledged path weight. It ships with eight light-weight stakes, however if you happen to sub in 4 carbon stakes (the minimal wanted for a fair-weather pitch), you possibly can hit the path at underneath 28 ounces. Within the included stuff sack, it packs right down to about 18 inches lengthy by 4 inches extensive and tall. When you pack the pole individually, the tent itself can pack right down to concerning the measurement of a cantaloupe.
The Pitchpine maxes out at 40 inches of headroom within the heart of the tent, and has an 88-inch-long inside. It’s 28 inches extensive at both finish (simply accommodating a 25-inch-wide pad), and since it has only a single facet entry, converts what can be a second vestibule into an additional 16 inches of inside area within the heart of the tent as a substitute. It’s sufficient room in your pack or perhaps a medium-sized canine.
The 16-inch kickout makes it really feel downright roomy for a one-person shelter. The one vestibule can be pretty large, and may simply match a 65 liter pack, your mountain climbing footwear or boots, and some different items of drugs. The 40 inches of headroom is fairly common: many trekking-pole tents are a bit taller, whereas most light-weight freestanding tents are an inch or two decrease.
It’s a wise and pretty unusual design, although it does have some rivals (the Tarptent Rainbow, for instance). In all, it presents a whole lot of inside room for its 27.2-ounce weight.
Building
Apart from the design, the most important perk of the Pitchpine is the material: Large Agnes made the change to polyester and added a proprietary new waterproof coating (launched in 2025) known as Hyperbead. As a result of Large Agnes is pretty tight-lipped concerning the specifics (like whether or not the coating is silicone or polyurethane-based), it’s exhausting to parse precisely what units the Hyperbead coating other than different ultralight materials. Hyperbead is PFAS-free, however most fashionable silicone-impregnated materials are too. The obvious improve is the waterproofing. The rainfly will get a 4,000-millimeter hydrostatic head ranking, on par with the perfect silnylon and silpoly materials we’ve examined, and a critical improve over different Large Agnes materials with their 1,500-millimeter ranking.
The change to the 20-denier polyester rainfly can be a welcome change. Polyester is inherently extra hydrophobic than nylon, and the Pitchpine could be very sag-resistant, even when blasted with water from a backyard hose. With a nylon tent, you could tighten guylines after a couple of hours to take care of a decent pitch, particularly in damp situations—no want with this tent.
Sadly, Large Agnes sticks with a 15-denier nylon for the ground material. It’s an odd option to make the tent ground each thinner and fewer waterproof (1500 millimeter ranking) than the rainfly. Ultralighters typically nix a footprint or groundcloth when doable, however you may wish to use one with the Pitchpine to maintain the ground in good condition.
Different particulars are good, if not precisely revolutionary. There’s an aluminum DAC Featherlite NFL poleset and eight aluminum stakes. On the pricepoint, it will be good to see carbon poles and stakes, although there’s something to be mentioned for the sturdiness and easy repairability of aluminum. The magnetic closures that maintain the rainfly open work nicely, as do the plastic inserts present in every nook of the ground, which hold the “bathtub” form in place even when your pitch isn’t excellent.
Efficiency within the Discipline
The very first thing we seen concerning the Pitchpine in use was the straightforward setup. It’s doable to erect this tent in underneath two minutes. Not like trekking-pole tents, which pitch finest when they’re arrange with free guylines after which tightened, the Pitchpine is just about set and overlook. The one factor that slows down setup and tear down are the steel tabs that the ends of the poles slot into. The match could be very cosy, and inserting and eradicating the poles takes a little bit of wrangling.
The Pitchpine performs pretty nicely in winds beneath 30 miles per hour, particularly if you happen to handle to set it up so the wind is blowing alongside the tent pole, slightly than throughout it. In the end, getting good wind efficiency out of this type of light-weight tent normally comes right down to including further guylines, and that’s the place the Pitchpine falls quick. There are two guyline tieouts, however in windy situations, having the choice so as to add 4, 6, and even 8 further strains is appreciated.
Who’s the Pitchpine For?
Due to the odd feature-set, the Pitchpine sits in a sort of center floor between ultralight trekking pole tents and light-weight freestanding fashions.
The largest barrier is actually the worth. Whereas the Pitchpine is a cool tent, ultralighters may spend the identical quantity and get one thing a lot lighter fabricated from Dyneema. And whereas the design isn’t widespread, it’s not distinctive. At underneath $300, the Tarptent Rainbow is kind of comparable: single-wall, arch pole, and non-freestanding. The Pitchpine is extra spacious, simpler to arrange, requires fewer stakes, and is marginally lighter—in different phrases, it’s a greater tent. However the Rainbow works simply advantageous, and is a a lot better deal. When you do wish to drop the money, Tarptent’s Dyneema fashions are a worthy improve. The Rainbow Li is $624 and 22.5 ounces, or you possibly can go for the Second DW Li at $584, which presents a full double-wall design at 26.3 ounces. That mentioned, the Pitchpine is by far probably the most spacious of the three.
If you’re okay with the single-wall design, the Pitchpine does have some perks in comparison with the lightest double-wall freestanding tents, just like the Large Agnes Copper Spur or NEMO Hornet. It’s a couple of ounces lighter than both of these tents, and likewise extra spacious in nearly each measurement. It has a bit extra headroom, is wider on the foot finish, and has an additional 16-inch inner kickout the place the second vestibule can be. It feels a lot roomier than each, particularly in comparison with the head-entry design of the Copper Spur.
In all, the Pitchpine is finest suited to the ultralight-curious. It makes probably the most sense for individuals who don’t use trekking poles or journeys the place they’re not wanted, like bikepacking or river journeys. It’s far simpler to arrange than your common trekking-pole shelter, and that might be a pleasant quality-of-life improve even for trekking pole customers—if you happen to can abdomen the worth.
