Big Agnes Copper Spur Ultralight 2 Review: A Fast-Pitching Two-Person Tent at 1.37 kg

Introduction

The Copper Spur has been Big Agnes’ bestselling all-round ultralight tent for years, and the Copper Spur Ultralight 2 is the latest iteration of that long-running design. The UL in the name stands for ultralight, and the two-person version weighs 1.37 kg as it ships. Leave the optional elements at home and that figure drops to 1.18 kg.

What stands out immediately is how quickly it goes up. A first attempt with no prior knowledge of the layout took around four minutes, which puts it among the easiest tents to pitch in this weight class. The fly sheet follows the same logic, with colour-coded clips and a centre attachment that lets you tension the whole shelter in a couple of moves.

That mix of low weight, generous interior volume and simple pitching is what makes the Copper Spur Ultralight 2 worth a closer look. It is not the lightest tent on the market, and Big Agnes does not position it that way. The appeal is the balance between packed weight and liveable space, and on that measure the design is hard to argue with.

Who This Tent Is For

The Copper Spur Ultralight 2 is aimed at people who carry their shelter rather than drive it to a campsite, but the layout is forgiving enough to work in more than one context.

• Long-distance walkers and backpackers who want to keep pack weight down without sleeping in a cramped tube.
• Bikepackers, thanks to a packed size of 50 cm by 11 cm.
• Two-person trips where each person wants their own door and their own porch.
• Car campers who would rather save boot space and pitch something light and quick at the end of a drive.

Interior dimensions help explain the appeal. The two-person floor measures 224 cm long, 132 cm wide and 102 cm high, and a tall occupant can sit up on one side without their head pressing into the wall.

Main Strengths

Three things define this tent: the pitch, the interior, and the fabric.

Pitching Speed and Pole Design

The frame uses DAC Featherlight poles assembled into a single unit with four legs meeting at a small central hub. Two pole ends are silver while the rest are red, and the silver ends correspond to the grey sleeves on the tent body, so the orientation is clear before you start. The poles plug in with almost no tension required, the body clips onto the frame, and a tension bar across the top pulls everything into shape. The inner structure stands on its own as a mesh shelter, which means you could sleep in it and stay clear of insects before the fly even goes on.

The fly attaches with matching colour-coded clips, then the centre of the fly connects to the same tension bar so you can fold the second half over, clip it down and pull the whole shelter taut. Small Velcro tabs hold the fly away from the inner, which helps limit condensation and keeps the two layers from touching. Pitching is quick enough that a sudden downpour during setup is a manageable problem rather than a soaking.

Living Space and Interior Layout

For a tent this light, the interior feels larger than the numbers suggest. The tension bar keeps width high up in the roof, so the walls do not slope steeply inward the way older ultralight designs often do. Sitting up on your side of the tent is comfortable rather than a negotiation with the fabric, even for a tall sleeper on a thick pad.

Two doors and two porches are part of that comfort. Each person can exit on their own side, gear can be pushed into one porch to keep the sleeping area clear, and a large 85 litre pack fits in the vestibule without blocking the doorway. One thing to note is that the floor is not a perfect rectangle. It narrows slightly at one end, so it makes sense to sleep with heads at the wider end and feet at the narrower one. The doors are positioned with that layout in mind.

HyperBead Fabric and Weather Protection

The biggest change from the original Copper Spur is the fly sheet fabric. HyperBead is Big Agnes’ latest waterproofing technology, and the brand describes it as inherently waterproof at a molecular level, which means it should not need reproofing the way older coated fabrics did. It is also made without intentionally added PFAS or PFC chemicals.

The performance claims are specific. HyperBead is stated to be 6 percent lighter, 25 percent more waterproof and 50 percent stronger than traditional fabrics, and it is designed not to stretch when wet. That last point matters, because a sagging fly is what usually causes the outer to touch the inner, which is when condensation starts dripping on your sleeping bag.

The fly and floor both carry a hydrostatic head rating of 1500 mm, which is ample for a three-season shelter. The fly and floor use 15D nylon with a 20D solution-dyed ripstop, the main body uses the same construction, and the inner panels are 15D polyester mesh. Breathability is a clear priority throughout.

Storage, Doors, and Ventilation

Storage is unusually generous for an ultralight tent. There are multiple large pockets, including separate spots for a headlamp, a book or a drink, plus several points around the interior where a light can be hung or clipped. That abundance of pockets is part of why the interior feels more spacious than its footprint suggests.

The doors are designed to be flexible. Multiple zips let you open a single narrow entry in bad weather or roll the whole door back across the top when conditions are good. With a walking pole or a spare pole you can prop a door open into a small awning for shade or light rain. High vents near the top seal down when it is cold or windy and prop open on their own small pole when you want airflow. The bathtub-style floor sits high enough that a flooded campsite pitch is unlikely to let water in, and with the fly removed entirely the inner becomes a large bug net, which is ideal for clear nights.

Things to Consider Before Buying

• It is not the lightest tent available. The 1.37 kg weight, or 1.18 kg stripped, is impressively low, but lighter options exist if minimum weight is the only criterion.
• The inner is mesh-heavy. That is excellent for breathability and warm weather, but it means a fast pitch matters if you arrive in heavy rain. The good news is that the pitch is genuinely quick.
• Eight pegs are included. If you want to deploy every guy line, you may need to buy a few more.
• The footprint is sold separately. It adds little weight and is worth considering if you pitch on rocky ground or use the tent hard.
• The floor narrows toward one end. Two regular-width pads fit comfortably; two extra-wide pads would be tight.

Buying Advice

If you want one shelter that covers backpacking, bikepacking and casual car camping, the Copper Spur Ultralight 2 is a strong candidate. It carries like a much smaller tent, sleeps two adults without contact between shoulders and walls, and pitches fast enough that you will not dread setting it up after a long day.

Two decisions are worth making before you buy. The first is size. A three-person version is available at 1.72 kg, or 1.52 kg stripped, with a floor measuring 229 cm long and 178 cm wide. It suits couples who want extra room or anyone who regularly carries a lot of gear. The second is protection. Adding the footprint is a small weight penalty for noticeably longer fabric life, particularly on abrasive ground.

Packing away is straightforward thanks to the Easy Pack system, and reflective guy lines make the tent easy to find with a headlamp after dark, which is a small detail that matters more than it sounds on a night-time trip to the edge of camp.

Conclusion

The Copper Spur Ultralight 2 gets the fundamentals right. It is light enough to carry without complaint, roomy enough that two people can share it comfortably, and quick enough to pitch that weather never becomes a serious problem. The HyperBead fly brings meaningful gains in waterproofing, strength and weight over older coatings, and it does so without intentionally added PFAS.

It is not the absolute lightest tent on the market, and it does not pretend to be. What it offers instead is a genuinely liveable interior at a weight most backpackers will barely notice, which is exactly the trade-off most trips actually reward.