Looking for a light, easy to setup and well built tent for one or two people? Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight tent might just be what you are looking for.

The Details

Weighing in at just 4 pounds and 8 ounces with 32 square feet of floor space, the Clip Flashlight, for it’s size and weight is a roomy little tent for one person camping and a bit tighter for the two people that it is rated at. Floor area increases to 38 square feet if you include the extra 6 square feet of area that the vestibule covers when it is set up.

At just 43 inches in maximum height, the Clip Flashlight may give some taller people a bit of a pause when they try to sit up and hit their head on the side of the tent.

Eminently packable because of its small size and bulk, the Clip Flashlight rolls into a storage bag that is approximately 5 inches by 20 inches and can easily be packed into larger packs, or strapped to the outside of any backpack.

Setup is fairly straightforward – the tent is first staked down, then two major support poles are clipped onto the tent (yes, they are clipped, if you look close at the picture, you can see the support rods and the tent material clipping to those rods). Once that is done, the rods are inserted into the proper grommets and voila – you’ve got yourself a tent.

In addition to the tent, the Clip Flashlight comes with a weatherproof vestibule that fits completely (and snugly) over the tent and provides a dry workspace between the tent door and the outside world.

Constructed of mesh and lightweight synthetic materials, without the vestibule on, the Flashlight is light and airy with good airflow throughout the entire tent. The vestibule curtails this easy circulation and can cause the tent to get quite hot in warmer weather.

Inside you’ll find several pockets to store various small items and newer models include “The Stash Door - The fastest, simplest, most user-friendly tent door ever. Stashes into an internal pocket where it stays clean, dry and accessible.” (from the Sierra Designs website).

How’s it handle in the outdoors?

With it’s light weight and packability, the Flashlight is easy to backpack with. On shorter trips I often just throw it inside my backpack and pack it up with everything else to keep from having things strapped to the outside of the pack. On longer trips, or trips where I am carrying more, I’ve got the tent strapped to the outside. Either way, there’s no problem in carrying it.

Once you get to wherever you will be spending the night, setup is a snap. Pick an open area large enough for the foot-print (which is about 6 foot, 6 inches or so and about 4 feet wide at it’s widest point) and lay the tent out. Then go ahead and stake down all of the tent’s straps. Once you’ve got that done, take the two support poles and clip them into the tent. After that, simply insert each end of the support poles into their respective grommets on the tent straps and the tent is up and finished. Should you need to also put on the vestibule, simply lay it over the tent and click it into the tent’s straps. A few more stakes are needed to tighten the vestibule with it’s own straps that do not click into the main tent.

When it comes to space, this tent is advertised as a two person tent – but that is really pushing it – especially if the people using it are big people. For me, this tent is mainly a single person tent. When I use it in that way, there’s enough room for me (I’m 6 foot 2 inches) and my backpack. Should we get two people in the tent, there is no room for backpacks and they must be stored elsewhere.

At the tent’s highest point, I can sit up comfortably to change or do whatever else I am doing.

The pockets on the side of the tent are useful to hold water bottles, flashlights and glasses. Anything much larger than that, and the pockets won’t do much good.

The tent doors on the newer models include a “stash door” where the door, when it is opened, is stashed away in a little pocket.

Without the vestibule the Flashlight is for all intents and purposes an open air tent – with a good portion of the tent made out of mesh material to allow for airflow. With the vestibule on, the Flashlight becomes much more enclosed. Generally, unless I know it’s going to rain, I keep the vestibule off, otherwise temperatures and humidity in the tent can rise fairly quickly and make for an uncomfortable night’s sleep.

When it does come to rain, you’ll need the vestibule. All of the Flashlight’s mesh doesn’t do much good in keeping it out. With the vestibule on, the Flashlight is a fairly weathertight tent. I’ve had it out in thunderstorms and heavy rainstorms and slept comfortably dry through them. Generally though, I have a heavy plastic ground mat that I put down before I set up the tent and I’ve got a plastic poncho on the floor of the tent, just in case some water was to get through. Like I said though, I’ve yet to see water get through and into the tent and I’ve been in some fairly rough conditions.

The tent will take a while to dry out though – the material it is made up of tends to get damp after a rain storm and the tent must be hung up – or left up in some dry weather in order to dry it completely out. If you don’t, you chance getting some mildew growth on the tent (take it from experience).

Should I get it?

Yes, if you like to backpack and camp, and do a lot of it solo and are looking for a light and easy to carry tent, you cannot do any better than Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight. The tent is light, very small, easy to setup, weatherproof and makes an excellent 3-season solo backpacking tent.

For those of you who hike and camp with 2 people, the Flashlight, while still an excellent tent may be a bit tight for the two of you – unless you are both fairly small and don’t mind being close to one another – and if you want your gear in your tent with you – don’t even think about it with the Flashlight. However, if you don’t mind those constraints, the Flashlight does make an excellent 2-person tent.

Recommended: Yes