Construction

The Zpacks Duplex tent is single-wall constructed of a composite fabric made with Dyneema HMPE fiber, and it comes in six colors – blue, olive drab, spruce green, burnt orange, dirt, and white. I have an older version here in camouflage, which I liked because it was less transparent than the other colors in this material. A single-walled tent made of ultralight “plastic” is easy to see through, and the camo pattern helps with this, especially in the lighting of the woods.

I don’t see the camo option on the Zpacks website anymore, so if you have a newer model, leave a comment about its transparency. I’m curious.

Size/Weight

The floor is waterproof and wraps several inches up the wall of the tent – what’s known as a “bathtub floor” – and its rectangular dimensions are seven and a half feet long by 45 inches wide, a little shy of four feet. The Triplex tent is the three person model which is seven and a half feet long as well, but gives you a full five feet of width for substantially more floor area and not much more weight. That being said, I actually consider this one of the roomier two person backpacking tents I’ve used, and a smaller footprint means there will be more places to pitch your tent.

This tent features two enormous doors. When sleeping with two people, there’s no need to crawl over each other to enter and exit. Due to the shape of the door, basically two entire walls of the tent completely collapse. 

The packed size of the tent is seven inches by thirteen and a half inches. It is small and light, extremely easy to carry, with options claiming to be as light as 19 ounces. My tent weighs 25.5 ounces. I’ll talk about one of the heavier additional options in just a moment.

Weatherproofness/Ventilation

The netting walls on the side of the tent provide ventilation. In non-rainy conditions, there is no need to pitch the vestibules. I would often pitch them partially, for protection against a mild drizzle and wind while still providing adequate ventilation. This tent definitely exhibits the disadvantage of a single-walled tent, which is the condensation build up on the inside of the tent in the morning, after a good night’s sleep, especially with two people in the tent, after the tent has been pitched all night in storm mode to protect us against severe rains. The condensation can get so bad that, where the tent slopes downward near your feet, it dampens your sleeping bag and your feet get cold.

Ask me how I know!

For this reason, I usually loosely drape my rain jacket over the footbox of my sleeping bag when sleeping in the Duplex pitched in storm mode. Fortunately, this tent offers many configurations so as to provide as much ventilation (thus reducing condensation) as possible for the conditions.

This failing is somewhat helped by what I’ll talk about next, which is a dealbreaker.

Flex Tent Upgrade

The Duplex tent is sold compatible with a $125 option of flex tent hardware and poles. This transforms the Duplex into a freestanding tent that pitches tighter, which increases tent spaciousness and stability and provides more protection from wind and condensation. The carbon fiber poles and carry-sack weigh an additional eleven ounces, for a combined tent and pole weight of 36.5 ounces – a little over two pounds. That is about the lightest possible weight for a freestanding two-person shelter that offers double doors, double vestibules, bug protection, and weather protection.

Whether or not you use the Duplex with the flex tent upgrade might decide whether or not you’d recodmmend the shelter. Using the flex pole system multiplies the stability and ease-of-use of the Duplex countless times over.

Use In Snow

Using the Duplex in snow is totally possible, but you’ll want to have the flex tent upgrade. My friend I mentioned earlier who thru-hiked the PCT with the Duplex sent me a photo of its lacking stability in snow with only the trekking pole tension set up. In heavy snow, the flex pole tent set up might not do you any good either. But, the Duplex is only rated to be a three season tent. If you do use it on snow, you’ll want to use a suitable insulating sleeping mattress.

In Conclusion

The Duplex remains one of two tents I routinely grab for backcountry adventures. Its roomy versatility and freestanding option makes it a candidate for almost every trip. It’s expensive, at around $700 depending on options. But if weight and full bug and weather protection are important to you, consider it. This is one of the lightest shelters you will come by, and it is especially roomy for one person.

But, if you don’t want to spend that kind of cash, don’t worry. There are other suitable, less expensive options out there.