Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 Review

Big Agnes has come out with some of the most popular ultralight tents to date with the Copper Spur and Fly Creek being their best so far. The Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 is here to up their game and combines the best of the Copper Spur and Fly Creek designs into a new and hopefully improved ultralight offering.

The Tiger Wall does a great job of giving you comfort in a low-weight design and manages to find this balance better than its competition. The two-door and two vestibules coupled with its spacious layout and semi-freestanding design make it one of the lightest and most liveable tents on the market.

Below, we will look at all the dirty details and take you step by step through the Tiger Wall UL2’s features and flaws to help you find out if and why it’s the best backpacking tent for you.

Materials and Durability

When trying to make anything lighter you sacrifice some durability. The thinner a material, the lighter it is, and the more delicate it is. This is exactly what happens to ultralight tents and while they will handle the outdoors, they need to be treated with care if you want them to last. The Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 does what it can to balance high-quality and durability with very low weight, and here is how.

Materials

The inner tent and canopy are made with a 10D breathable ripstop nylon and a no-see-um polyester mesh. It’s very thin at 10D but since it’s being surrounded by the stronger rainfly and backed up by the tougher floor, it’s quite protected. It does a great job of ventilating and blocks out any insects that might want to give you a bite.

The floor and rainfly are made from 15D silicone-treated ripstop nylon which is again pretty thin but is pretty tear-resistant thanks to the ripstop and silicone coating. They’ll both keep your dry and handle a bit of wear.

The poles are made from DAC Featherlite NFL aluminum and are exceptionally light while being pretty tough and durable. They hold the structure well when the wind gets up and will slot into your backpack without you noticing.

Durability

The 15-D rainfly and floor do need to be treated with a soft touch. It’s advisable to put a footprint down when using this tent to extend the floor’s lifespan and be very careful to not catch any materials in the zippers.

The materials are so thin that they are see-through and both are 5D lower than the materials used in the Nemo Dragonfly. This did save the tent 9 ounces of weight, so there is a price to pay when it comes to getting your pack weight to a minimum.

The DAC Featherlite NFL aluminum poles are a winner as long as you slot them together securely. You can find that the male ends can stress and crack the female ends if they are loosely joined.

Overall, you have to treat this tent with care if you want it to last, and we highly recommend using some kind of footprint to protect the floor.

Weather Resistance

Getting wet and cold in any tent is a no-no, even if it weighs less than a feather, it’s useless if it can’t keep you warm and dry. Below we take a look at how the materials and semi-freestanding design of the Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 affect its performance in wind and rain.

Wind Resistance

The DAC Featherlite NFL pole system on the Tiger Wall is solid when it comes to handling a strong wind but it’s the semi-freestanding design that lets it down a bit.

The lack of a rigid structure that you get with freestanding tents makes it susceptible to being pushed around in a strong breeze. The single-pole system makes the structure less sturdy and you’ll need to turn to your guides to make sure the tent stays in place. However, by fulling guying it out, you should get the protection you need.

Water Resistance

The Tiger Wall’s floor and rainfly are both waterproofed to 1200mm which is enough to handle most of the 3-season weather you’d expect. The rainfly is full coverage and it’ll keep you warm and dry from mid-spring to mid-fall, but it might struggle in some unrelenting torrential rainfall as all tents would.

The one thing that does make the Tiger Wall a little trick in the rain is, again, the semi-freestanding design. The rainfly tends to sag and touch the inner canopy letting water in. You can avoid this by guying it out correctly but it can take some practice to get it right.

Ventilation

The inner mesh of the Tiger Wall canopy provides good airflow thanks to the large spacing between it and the rainfly, but there aren’t any built-in vents in the rainfly as these would add extra weight. The solution to this is, again, guying out the rainfly to make sure you have maximum airflow.

You also have the option to unzip the bottom or top of the vestibule doors on hot days to get some more air running through the tent.

Performance

When we look at performance we’re diving into how easy the Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 is to pitch and how it does against the competition in weight and packed size.

Pitching

All backpacking tents today are pretty easy to pitch and the Tiger Wall can be up in a matter of minutes, even when pitching solo. Everything is color-coded from the poles to all the clips and grommets they clip on to. This makes it a lot easier to make sure the pole and rainfly are sitting correctly.

The only drawback to the pitch comes from the semi-freestanding design. In order to pitch the tent, you’re going to have to peg out the foot end first which is a tad tricky when you’re camping on a rocky surface.

Taking down the Tiger Wall is as easy as 1, 2, 3 and the oversized stuff bag makes it simple to store.

Weight & Packed Size

With a packed weight of just 2lbs 8 oz, the Tiger Wall UL2 is one of the lightest tents with two doors and two vestibules on the market. It’s a whole 9 ounces lighter than the Nemo Dagger 2 and 10 ounces lighter than Big Anges’ next best offering, the Copper Spur HV UL2. But, the Dagger and Copper Spur are both freestanding tents.

When you look at the semi-freestanding competition, there are lighter options like the Nemo Hornet which is two ounces lighter but none of them have the same living space that the Tiger Wall provides.

The Tiger Wall also has an impressive packed size of 18 x 5.5 inches, making it incredibly easy to fit into your backpack.

Livability

When you’re camping for multiple days, livability becomes more and more important with each day you’re out there. Where the Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 differentiates itself from the competition is in its livability. But how?

Interior Space

All ultralight tents have to sacrifice space to keep the weight down, but some tend to go too far, and if you’re someone who prioritizes space overweight, then you’ll love what Big Agnes has done with the Tiger Wall.

The head end of the tent’s walls are nearly verticle thanks to the pole system and the side walls are also kept taught by the center cross pole. This ends up giving you enough space for two to sit upright comfortably.

At 86 inches long, you’ll find the Tiger Wall is long enough for most people to lie down comfortably, and with a width of 52 inches, tapering down to 42, you’ll be able to fit two normal sleeping pads in there quite easily.

You might find you’ll lose quite a lot of foot room when camping on rock as you may struggle to get the foot end to stake down tight enough. This is just part of using a semi-freestanding tent and if you camp on rocky surfaces a lot you may want to take a look at the freestanding Nemo Dagger.

Accessibility

The two doors on the Tiger Wall make getting in and out of the tent a breeze. They are particularly useful at night when you might need to pop out for a sec and don’t want to clamber over your camping buddy and wake them up.

Storage Space

With two doors come two vestibules and the vestibule on the Tiger Wall are spacious. Each one offers 8 square feet of storage space which is more than enough room for each person’s boots and backpack. There’s so much room that you could even create a bed for your dog in one of them.

Inside the Tiger Wall, you have a pocket on either side that you can reach while lying down. It has been designed so that you can leave your phone in the pocket and your earphones will still reach you. There is also a large gear loft along the ceiling for tucking any other must-haves into.

Value For Money

At $400 the Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 is a similar price to all the other ultralight tents that boast the same quality and design. All ultralight tents are expensive and they have to be due to the materials and techniques used to make them.

The amount of living and storage space you get with the Tiger Wall’s minimal weight is value in itself. Yes, it is a little thin but with care, it’ll be with you for years to come. It’s also covered by Big Agnes’ warranty and they have an excellent repair service to keep it alive for as long as possible.

Rating

With a score of 86, the Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 has done pretty well in our rating system.

It only fell down due to the semi-freestanding design that makes it susceptible to wind, rain, and not being easy to pitch on rocky ground, but, these are all common drawbacks to semi-freestanding tents that you’ll have to bear if you want something this light.

Once you learn how to guy out the Tiger Wall properly, your wind and rain issues will be a thing of the past, and if you avoid rocky campsites, you’ll have nothing to worry about.

Verdict

For a semi-freestanding tent, the Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 knocks it out of the park with their balance of weight vs space.

For a few extra ounces than the Nemo Hornet, you have a tent that is accessible, easy to pitch, has a huge amount of storage space, and has enough room inside it for two people to be pretty comfortable.

This kind of comfort and space is rare in the semi-freestanding ultralight world and we believe that Big Agnes has absolutely nailed it with the Tiger Wall.