Ultralight~$500Big Agnes
Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL
No citable rating — see why we hide some.
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.
Floor area per person
14.0 sq ft
Standard — 14 to 17 sq ft each — the normal two-pads-and-no-spare-room fit
Weight per person
17.5 oz
from the trail weight of 35 oz
Peak height
39 in
Approx. price
~$500
Pads: 26.0 in of floor width each — 2 × 25 in pads fit.
Length: a 86 in floor leaves room for a sleeper up to about 6ft 8in once you allow six inches for a foot box and a pillow.
Best for
A weight-counting pair who still want their own door, and who camp where stakes go into the ground.
The size run
One design, 3 capacities. The numbers at the top of this page describe the UL2; every size has its own figures below.
| Size | Sleeps | Floor area | Sq ft each | Vestibule | Trail weight | Packed weight | Floor L × W | Approx. price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UL1 | 1 | 19 sq ft | 19.0 | 8 sq ft | 30 oz | 34 oz | 86 × 38 in | ~$470 |
| UL2 | 2 | 28 sq ft | 14.0 | 16 sq ft | 35 oz | 40 oz | 86 × 52 in | ~$500 |
| UL3 | 3 | 38 sq ft | 12.7 | 16 sq ft | 42 oz | 47 oz | — | ~$580 |
Specifications
- Type
- Ultralight
- Rated capacity
- 2-person
- Floor area per person(estimated)
- 14.0 sq ft (standard)
- Floor area
- 28 sq ft
- Vestibule area
- 16 sq ft
- Peak height
- 39 in
- Minimum trail weight
- 35 oz
- Packed weight
- 40 oz
- Weight per person(estimated)
- 17.5 oz (trail weight)
- Packed size
- 18 x 5 in
- Interior floor width
- 52 in
- Pad fit(estimated)
- 2 × 25 in pads fit
- Fits sleepers up to(estimated)
- 6ft 8in tall
- Doors
- 2
- Vestibules
- 2
- Freestanding
- semi-freestanding
- Poles
- DAC aluminum
- Wall type
- double wall
- Season rating
- 3-season
- Fly fabric
- Recycled 15D nylon ripstop
- Floor fabric
- Recycled 15D nylon ripstop
- Floor denier
- 15D
- Approx. price
- ~$500
Features
- Semi-freestanding single-hub pole with a foot crossbar
- Two doors and two 8 sq ft vestibules at 35 oz
- Recycled 15D nylon ripstop canopy, fly and floor
- Storm flaps on the vestibule zippers
- Fast-fly pitch with fly, footprint and poles only
- Sold in UL1, UL2 and UL3 on one geometry
In its favour
- Two doors and two vestibules at a weight most solo-door tents match
- Seven ounces lighter than the Copper Spur UL2 for one square foot less floor
- 15D recycled ripstop throughout keeps the packed size down to 18 x 5 in
- Cheaper than the Copper Spur by $100 at the 2-person size
- Three sizes on one geometry, so the roomier UL3 is the same tent for seven more ounces
Against it
- Semi-freestanding: unusable as a freestanding tent on platforms or slabs
- 15D fabric is the thinnest of the mainstream nylon tents and shows it on rough ground
- Big Agnes does not publish interior dimensions for the UL3, so the pad-fit figure covers UL1 and UL2 only
- 39 in of head height is an inch under the Copper Spur and it is noticeable sitting up
Written from the published specification sheet, not from owner reports.
What owners report
Drawn from archived owner discussions, not from a test of our own.
What owners like
- Long-term durability reports are strong — one owner describes hundreds of nights on a UL2 and calls it a beast
- It ships seam-taped with a DWR finish, and owners argue that a footprint is wasted weight on it as a result
- The UL3 is repeatedly recommended as the version that works with a dog, and owners report it lasting fine with care taken over the ground
- It is consistently placed against trekking-pole shelters as the lighter option once you count the poles you would otherwise carry
- Semi-freestanding in practice behaves like freestanding for most owners — several say they have never bothered staking the corners out in calm weather
Common complaints
- Fly zippers are a specific and repeated annoyance, and the comparison owners draw with other brands is not flattering
- It is tight for two with no room to keep packs inside, which is the single most common report from couples
- Owners ask openly whether the weight saving over the Copper Spur costs durability, and nobody is confident it does not
- The UL3's footprint is larger than several trekking-pole shelters, which surprises people who bought it for the small pitch
The Tiger Wall's reputation is that it is the Copper Spur with the durability question mark. Owners who have racked up serious mileage on one are positive — several hundred nights on a UL2 without drama comes up — but the recurring conversation is whether the seven ounces saved cost anything, and the honest answer from the discussion is that nobody knows, because the failures people report are zippers rather than fabric.
Owners agree on the practical notes. It is a tight two: shared by a couple, packs live in the vestibules and not inside. The fly zippers are the part people complain about by name, to the point that owners who later bought other brands describe the difference as immediately obvious. And the UL3 with a dog is a common and well-liked configuration.
Where it wins is against trekking-pole shelters. Once you add a pole set to a mid, the Tiger Wall is competitive on weight while staying semi-freestanding, and it appears on thru-hiking gear surveys often enough that its long-term record is not in doubt the way a newer design's would be.
Questions people ask about it
Does the Tiger Wall need a footprint?
Owners are split, and the argument against is specific: the tent ships seam-taped with a DWR-treated floor, so on reasonable ground a footprint is weight for little gain. On rough or sharp ground the 15D floor is the thinnest in the mainstream, and the people who use one say the footprint must not have sharp grit trapped under it.
What does semi-freestanding actually mean here?
The head end stands on the hub; the foot corners are held by stakes. In a meadow most owners never notice. On a wooden platform or a rock slab it matters, and that is the case where the extra pole on a Copper Spur earns its weight.
Is the UL3 big enough for two people and a dog?
That is one of its most common uses and the reports are positive. Thirty-eight square feet across three rated places gives two adults plus an animal room, and owners put a sheet of thicker plastic down under the dog's half rather than trusting the 15D floor to claws.
How bad are the zippers?
Bad enough to be the most repeated single complaint. They are described as sticky and prone to catching on the fly, and owners who have since used other brands say theirs glide by comparison. It is an irritation rather than a failure — but it is an irritation you meet every time you get in.