Featherstone Tent Review – Lightweight Backpacking Tent

To be completely honest, I didn’t have huge expectations when I ordered the Featherstone Backpacking Lightweight Tent. The images on Amazon didn’t look so enticing. The structure of the tent looked very lightweight and not so durable. However what a pleasant surprise I had! It was spacious, easy to set up tent with great ventilation. So far this Featherstone tent review has proven to be one of my most pleasurable to write!

First of all, it is rare to see this waterproofness combined with such a lightweight design! The rainfly is extremely thin, weights barely anything, yet has a 5000 mm HH waterproof rating. Similarly, the floor protects you well against the damp ground. With the same5000 mm HH waterproofness, and an extra ground cloth.

Just like with the Naturehike Mongar 2, the whole inner wall is mesh. This ensures great ventilation. The Featherstone tent shows that you don’t need to compromise on breathability and comfort if you want superior waterproofness.

If you are looking for a lightweight, extremely waterproof two person backpacking tent, the Featherstone is one of the best options on the market.

The Good:

• Single piece aluminium rubbed pole system. Extremely fast and easy to assemble.
• 5000 mm HH waterproof rainfly, with extreme waterproofness for a this lightweight tent.
• 5000 mm HH PU coated waterproof floor and an extra ground cloth.
• 100% mesh wall and two large vestibules for great ventilation.
• Huge inner space.(109 cmx213 cmx130 cm)
• Extremely lightweight (4.2 lbs).
• Reflective guylines, so you won’t trip over them during the night.
• Freestanding tent, easy to move.

The Bad:

• The rainfly was little hard to attach.
• The zippers on the door got stuck if I tried to unzip them too fast.
• The bathtub floor is a little low. I can’t help but wonder if the tent stays waterproof when sat up on slopes.
• The packaging is on the big side and a little clunky.

If I have to make a criticism against the Featherstone backpacking tent, it would have to do with the packaging. It is a little big for a backpacking tent that weights 4.2 lbs. They could have designed it to be longer but thinner. Now the tent rolls up into a pretty wide package, with a single strap holding everything together. Even though it doesn’t take anything from the portability of the tent, it could be better. Still, overall I would give the Featherstone 2 person tent a very positive review!

Who Is The Featherstone Backpacking Tent Best For?

The Featherstone backpacking tent is spacious for 2 people. It is great for couples (big enough for two adults), or if you go backpacking with your child. It is one of the most waterproof three season tents on the market, so you can use this in places where you can expect it to rain whole day long.

Finding the sweetspot between secure waterproofing, spacious inner room, lightweight design and durability is no easy feat. Big kudos to Featherstone for still managing to pull it off!

The Featherstone backpacking tent was designed really well, but they also ask for a higher price than most 2 person backpacking tents. From the minute you open the package and feel the material of the rainfly, or look at the ground cloth you know that you are dealing with a serious backpacking tent.

The waterproofing of the rainfly and the floor are both excellent. The rainfly has a 5000 mm waterproof rating, the floor exactly the same. An extra ground cloth came with the tent. The fly covers the whole mesh inner wall really well. I have no doubt that no matter how hard it rains, the water can’t get inside the tent.

How Waterproof Is The Featherstone Backpacking Tent?

The 5000 mm HH rainfly is as waterproof as the fly of a light backpacking tent can get. This is the highest waterproof rating I have seen so far in backpacking tents. For the higher price they ask for the Featherstone, you would expect premium waterproofing. The waterproofness is a huge plus in this Featherstone tent review!

When I ran my fingers on the rainfly, I was shocked how thin it was. Yet somehow it feels durable. Of course you need to take care of it. If you use it as intended, I am sure the rainfly can serve you well for multiple camping seasons.

The Featherstone 2 person backpacking tent comes with a bathtub floor. As with most backpacking tents, I feel the floor is not reaching high enough on the sides. Avoid setting up the Featherstone on slopes, just to be safe and avoid water hitting the mesh wall. I guess this is a small price we pay for great ventilation.

The ground cloth is extremely light and thin. It was really easy to set up, you just need to put down four stakes. I like when the tents come with their own ground cloth. It makes me just that little more secure that I won’t have issues with water seeping in from the damp ground. The ground cloth is cut exactly to size. There is no risk of water pooling up between the cloth and the floor of the Featherstone backpacking tent.

Ventilation is a mush to avoid condensation. As a double wall tent, the Featherstone 2 person backpacking tent is at low risk of suffering from condensation. The rainfly is designed with a small, but covered opening on each side. Even though the fly covers these openings, the rainwater can’t get in. This ensures the air can circulate and you avoid condensation even when the rain is falling down outside.

It has two small doors and a vestibule in each side. By opening the doors you can increase the ventilation even more. The vestibules are big enough to store your boots or a smaller backpack. The doors on the mesh wall open with zippers. The walls feel a little loose, so you definitely need to hold the wall with one hand while opening the zipper with the other.

Is The Featherstone Tent Worth Its Price Tag?

The Featherstone Backpacking Tent is around $110 when ordered from Amazon. In my opinion this is nothing for the waterproofness, premium design and huge inner space the Featherstone 2 can provide. It is worth paying this money for.

This price is a middle level price point. However compared to other backpacking tents with similar features it is less expensive. And it is impossible to find a 2 person tent that is this waterproof for this price.

Why am I happy with the Featherstone 2? I love to go backpacking as light as possible. The pole system makes it so easy and fast to set up the tent. Not to mention it is refreshing to have a backpacking tent that actually can hold two people comfortably. With other tents you often end up sacrificing comfort and cramping together in a space that is for one person only. Not with the Featherstone 2! The inner room (109 cmx213 cmx130 cm) is easily big enough to sleep two adults.

The combination of the extra ground cloth, 5000 mm HH rated rainfly and great breathability ensures you will stay dry, and won’t have to fear condensation. The 5000 mm HH rated ground floor is icing on the cake! You can rest assured even a whole day of heavy rain will not cause any problems!

How Fast Can You Set Up The Featherstone Backpacking Tent?

This is where the single piece rubbed aluminium pole system really shines. You don’t have to fool around with the pole system, setting up the tent is really fast and easy. It took me one minute to attach the pole to the ground floor.

All in all the whole set up took me 6 minutes!

First I put down the ground tarp with four stakes. After layer down the inner wall of the Featherstone tent and attached the poles to it. After you can easily clip the inner wall to the pole system thanks to the plastic clips on the outside of the mesh wall. just put the rainfly over the poles, set it with the remaining stakes, and make the fly straight with the guylines.

Featherstone Tent Review- Design And Features

Let’s go through the features of the Featherstone backpacking tent one by one and and find out what I thought of the design!

The Inside

It is rare to find a two person backpacking tent with this big inner space. Plus there is one vestibule on each side. Even though the vestibules are not huge, they can store your boots or a smaller backpack.

Breathability

The inner wall of the tent is made entirely out of mesh. The floor is attached to the mesh with a bathtub design. There are two small holes on the rainfly to let the air circulate, even while you are protected from the rain by the fly. This is a huge plus when it comes to breathability. These small details in design ensure that you won’t suffer from condensation even if it is raining the whole day. If you open the vestibules, unless it is a very heavy rain I don’t think it will rain inside your tent. The end of the zipper on the vestibule is a little more out than the door, ensuring some coverage over the mesh wall.

Having two doors helps a lot with breathability. Especially if you can keep them open during rain. Overall, I give breathability an A+ in my Featherstone Tent Review!

The Footprint

The Featherstone backpacking tent comes with a perfectly sized ground tarp. This footprint adds extra protection against the wet ground or any small rocks or pieces of wood that might pierce through the floor of the tent. The size of the cloth is good, there is no risk of water pooling up on it.

The Stakes

The Featherstone tent comes with 12 aluminium Stakes. They are damp in colour, not the most visible during night. However the guy lines are reflective. This is a nice little touch, it prevents you from tripping over them in case you have to get out of the tent to get the business done during the night.

The Poles

The pole system is made of premium quality aluminium. This gives the poles a great combination of lightweight design and breathability.

Thanks to the single piece pole system, set up time is significantly reduced. The same goes for disassembling the tent. It would be difficult to make it easier and simpler. It is so easy to attach the mesh inner wall to the poles thanks to the plastic straps on the wall.

The Seams

The seams are perfectly sealed. They are double stitched. Thank god they are not bulky or clunky, they provide great protection while not being disturbing. I spent one night in the Featherstone backpacking tent and didn’t notice any leaking!

Small Pocket

There is a little ,,pocket” at the top of the tent. You might put a lamp there during the evening or store small items. I like these small touches, that add nothing to the weight, but make living in the tent that much easier and enjoyable.

Weight and Portability

The packaging of the Featherstone Backpacking Tent was a little big and clunky in my opinion. Of course if you don’t want to bring the ground tarp, you can cut out a little bit of size.

The whole tent weights 4.2 lbs, very small for a two person tent with this waterproofness.

I am really useless when it comes to folding up tents. I struggled a little bit with getting everything into the plastic bag after folding them up, however we can put that down to being impatient at the end of camping, and just overall rushing things to get home.

Conclusion

This brings the Featherstone tent review full circle. A premium lightweight two person backpacking tent with all the great features and attention to detail you could ask from a higher priced, premium backpacking tent.