Why We Chose The Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL2 Bikepack: Great materials, reliable design, easy to pitch.
When we held our Outdoor 100 gear tester’s trip back in May, we had around eight new tents all set up alongside each other for our big team of reviewers to inspect and try out, and they all flocked to this one, the Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL2. This, we suspect, is partly because Big Agnes has only just started to move over to this side of the pond, and also because, well, it’s an eye catcher.
It’s a very similar design to MSR’s popular Hubba Hubba tent, a single pole that forks at each end and a short cross pole that gives some width at the top. Both are pitched with the inner first, can be used without a fly in warm and dry conditions, and are completely freestanding. This, we’d say has the edge though, because it’s not only slightly lighter but it also boasts some useful little details.
“The space-to-weight ratio is very impressive You’ll find plenty of one-person tents that weigh much, much heavier.”
It’s actually been designed with bikepackers in mind. That’s why there’s a clever elastic strap on the outside of the inner mesh that will hold a helmet, and huge storage pockets on the ceiling for keeping all of your kit organised. More notably, the whole thing can be strapped easily to your handlebars thanks to its waterproof stuff sack with daisy chain webbing, Velcro straps and 12-inch-long packed size.
Granted, inner-first tent designs can be a little tricky to put up in the moist conditions of the UK – but looking past that, this really is a tent that seems to have ticked all the right boxes.
