Head to head
Big Agnes Copper Spur UL vs Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL
The Big Agnes Copper Spur UL gives each person more floor — 14.5 sq ft against 14.0, which is the difference between standard and standard. The Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL is the lighter carry at 35 oz, and the Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL is the cheaper of the two at ~$500.
 Big Agnes Big Agnes Copper Spur UL |  Big Agnes Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Ultralight | Ultralight |
| Rated capacity | 2-person | 2-person |
| Floor area per personestimated | 14.5 sq ft (standard) | 14.0 sq ft (standard) |
| Floor area | 29 sq ft | 28 sq ft |
| Vestibule area | 18 sq ft | 16 sq ft |
| Peak height | 40 in | 39 in |
| Minimum trail weight | 42 oz | 35 oz |
| Packed weight | 3 lb | 40 oz |
| Weight per personestimated | 21 oz (trail weight) | 17.5 oz (trail weight) |
| Pad fitestimated | 2 × 25 in pads fit | 2 × 25 in pads fit |
| Fits sleepers up toestimated | 6ft 10in tall | 6ft 8in tall |
| Doors | 2 | 2 |
| Freestanding | freestanding | semi-freestanding |
| Poles | DAC aluminum | DAC aluminum |
| Wall type | double wall | double wall |
| Season rating | 3-season | 3-season |
| Floor hydrostatic head | 1,500 mm | — |
| Packed size | 19.5 x 4 in | 18 x 5 in |
| Approx. price | ~$600 | ~$500 |
Big Agnes Copper Spur UL
The Copper Spur is the tent most people picture when they picture a light freestanding backpacking tent, and the reason is the shape: steeply pitched walls carried on a DAC hubbed pole set, so the 29 square feet inside the UL2 is usable floor rather than floor that tapers into the fly. Two doors, two nine-square-foot vestibules and 40 inches of head height put it squarely in the comfort half of the ultralight class, and it still comes in at 42 ounces packed for the trail. What you pay for that is money and fabric: the 15D/20D HyperBead canopy is thin enough that the footprint stops being optional on granite or desert grit, and $600 is a lot of tent. The UL1 through UL4 all share the geometry, so picking a size here is genuinely picking a size and not a different tent.
Best for
Two backpackers who want a genuinely liveable freestanding tent and will accept thin fabric and a high price to get it under three pounds.
Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL
The Tiger Wall is the Copper Spur with the back half of the pole structure taken away: one hub at the head, a short foot spreader, and two stakes doing the work the missing pole used to do. That saves seven ounces over the Copper Spur UL2 and costs a square foot of floor and an inch of head height — a trade a lot of people take, because 35 ounces buys you two doors and two vestibules, which the sub-two-pound competition mostly does not offer. The catch is semi-freestanding: the foot corners have to be staked or the tent sags, so it is a poor choice for wooden platforms and rock slabs where stakes have nowhere to go.
Best for
A weight-counting pair who still want their own door, and who camp where stakes go into the ground.
Rows where the two differ are tinted. Specs are the makers’ own; floor area per person, weight per person and pad fit are our arithmetic on them.