It seems New Atlas readers like tent camping in all its forms – from backcountry to safari resort, and from ground to rooftop. The year saw some highly innovative tent designs, with some designers intent on minimizing weight down to the last milligram, others daring to go much bigger and heavier in order to create the most comfortable home away from home one will find outside a luxury hotel.
Inflatables were a clear winner, and ultralight backpacking tents also attracted their fair share of interest. And one very different style of flat-packing expandable cube tent spanned markets and use cases, including disaster relief, glamping and mobile medical care.
These are the nine tents that proved most popular with our readers throughout 2024.
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![The Exod POD-01 is quick to set up but fairly hefty in terms of weight, so it's best for car camping]()
July 11, 2024Inspired by the technology behind super-strong kite-surfing wings, French company Exod has developed the Air Station POD-01, a portable, inflatable housing solution. The capsule inflates in five minutes and has enough room for up to four people. -
![Thecatal goes the opposite direction from its massive Magic Fort, launching one of the lightest, sleekest backpacking tents out there]()
August 07, 2024Thecatal has some unique ideas about camping. After 2023's massive man-machine Magic Fort vehicle tent, the company has slimmed its camping conceptualizations way down into a new ultralight backpacking tent that pitches in as little as 10 seconds. -
![CMAX Systems' building-in-a-box before it becomes a building (image widened using AI)]()
July 08, 2024You could view it as a solid-floored uber-tent or an easily relocatable temporary building – but you could also call it a super-minimal tiny home for US$8,000. This remarkable building-in-a-box was designed for housing refugees, but it's now on sale. -
![The Gouse Tent (pictured) weighs a claimed 25 kg (55.1 lb), with the Luli Canopy reportedly coming in at 15.3 kg (33.7 lb)]()
August 14, 2024If many of the camping-related Kickstarter projects are anything to go by, people hate setting up tents. The Gouse Tent and Luli Canopy are the latest offerings that are claimed to make the process easier, with a little help from an electric pump. -
![The Durston X-Dome 1+ i designed to trek farther, deeper and higher and provide a little extra comfort once there]()
November 30, 2024The all-new Durston X-Dome 1+ backpacking tent combines an ultralight, tough construction with a roomy, easy-pitch dome design. It looks like it could be the ultimate compromise between on-ground camping comfort and low, back-saving weight. -
![The AirNEST system is presently on Kickstarter]()
October 31, 2024Inflatable tents are easy to set up, and inflatable camp mattresses are comfy, so why not combine the two? That's just what Canada's Rise Outdoor has done with its AirNEST system, which consists of a tent and a wall-to-wall mattress. -
![Urang presents a different style of vehicle-based camping]()
January 19, 2024The vehicle hitch tent always struck us as an idea that was DOA, but perhaps it just needed some refinement. U-rang presents the latest spin with the Hitch Home, an inflatable hitch tent that rolls to and from the vehicle in its own storage box. -
![ARB adds a little bit of RV security, comfort and ease of use with the all-new Altitude rooftop tent]()
March 22, 2024The all-new hardshell Altitude rooftop tent from ARB is loaded with RV-style upgrades not often seen RTTs, including a push-button electric lift system, staircase-inspired step ladder, and neatly integrated auto-shutoff lighting. -
![Helinox finally invites Americans to get up off the ground and enjoy the comfort of a cot with the built-in protection of a tent]()
May 15, 2024Helinox is best known in North America for its light, compact chairs, cots and camp furniture. Now it's bringing over some coveted Asian-market kit for Americans to get their hands on, including slim, solo-sleeper cot-tents.
