Some hiking tents are so focused on shedding weight, we’re often left wondering if they remember about other important factors too. The Marmot Tungsten UL 3P is all about lightness AND liveability.
And that’s great. A lightweight hiking tent that also has a lot of internal space? Ideal. But, hang on a moment. What does that mean for durability, price and sustainability?
Really, the perfect hiking tent is light, spacious, durable, good value, and last but not least, sustainable. But being realistic, we reckon for a hiking tent to pass muster, it needs to have at least three of these things.
To find out how impressive the Marmot Tungsten UL 3P is, we’ve been testing it in the Lake District.
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Pros
- Very lightweight
- Decent internal space
- Easy to pitch
- Good flysheet coverage
Cons
- Hard to gauge eco credentials
- Not the toughest tent
Design and features
Marmot’s focus with the Tungsten UL 3P is to maximise interior space without increasing weight and bulk. In that regard, Marmot appears to have done quite well. The Tungsten UL 3P offers 3.8m^2 of floor space, plus the area in the vestibules.
Marmot has also pre-bent the bottom section of the poles to make the walls more vertical and increase living space. There is a crossbar pole to boost headroom too.
Weight is an impressive 1.92kg and that can be attributed to the use of lightweight polyester and nylon fabrics as well as aluminium DAC Featherlite NSL poles. The inner is entirely mesh and pitches first. Waterproof ratings for the flysheet and groundsheet are both 1,200mm HH and use silicone and polyurethane coatings to achieve that.
Performance
Marmot says its freestanding Tungsten UL 3P is for three-season use. We would say it’s best for two-season use. This is due to the lower waterproof ratings and more delicate fabrics than you find on heavier, hardier models.
But certainly, in mild conditions, this is a superb tent for two people, or three at a push. There is lots of interior space, made even better by the light coloured fabrics and full mesh inner. Technically, its rival, the NEMO Dagger OSMO 3P has more space, but the difference feels negligible except for the NEMO’s larger vestibules.
You can pitch the Tungsten UL 3P without the fly if the weather is conducive to it, and the mesh inner allows for as good a stargazing experience from a tent as you can get.
Inside, there are two simple storage pockets and a lampshade pocket to make your headtorch provide more ambient lighting. And you can of course put gear in the vestibules, which can be fully closed, half open, or fully retracted.
Pitching is incredibly simple and takes just a few minutes. Some tents can be quite tricky to get the flysheet taught but the Tungsten UL 3P is easier than most. Using a polyester rather than nylon flysheet also helps to resist stretch in wet conditions. It’s more hydrophobic than nylon but is worth noting it’s not quite as strong.
Overall, the Tungsten UL 3P isn’t the toughest hiking tent you’ll find, but of course the trade-off is very low weight and a compact packed size. However, you can boost the tent’s durability with the addition of a groundsheet footprint.
Sustainability
Marmot’s sustainability efforts appear to be somewhat unclear. On the one hand, it is a bluesign partner and says over half of Marmot products that have a Durable Water-Repellent (DWR) finish are PFC-free. It also says 44% of its ‘volume’ uses recycled, upcycled, and renewable materials. But this data is from 2020 and it hasn’t been updated since. The Tungsten UL 3P doesn’t use recycled material.
It’s hard to gauge where the brand is at in terms of ethical labour. Its page on people and labour is brief and quite general. And Marmot isn’t a member of the Fair Wear Foundation of Fair Trade Certified.
Price and competition
At the time of writing, the Marmot Tungsten UL 3P costs €740. It therefore prices along similar lines as high-end lightweight three-person tents from brands like NEMO, Sea To Summit, and Exped. However, as with almost any item, some poking around will often result in finding a better deal.
Other options exist that are a bit tougher and offer better value. One of the best is the Wild Country Helm Compact 3. Its one-person sibling won our Tent of the Year award for 2023. The Helm Compact family is good value but also uses tough fabrics and have good waterproof ratings while remaining reasonably lightweight. Overall, they’re better three-season tents for British conditions.
You could also consider the Alpkit Jaran 3, which offers fantastic value for a lightweight hiking tent.
Verdict
We like the Marmot Tungsten UL 3P for its impressively low weight and relatively generous liveability. There are other touches we like too, such as the all-mesh inner and its very easy pitching.
However, we don’t think it’s a true three-season tent – its fabrics aren’t quite tough for that. But it is a superb summer hiking tent for two people.
Regarding price, it is certainly at the top end, on par with other lightweight tents from premium brands. That means you’d have to really, really want a sub-2kg tent because there are a lot of good options from equally reputable (and sometimes more sustainable) brands that only weigh a tad more but cost significantly less money.
With sustainability, frankly it’s a bit hard to tell.
So, two hits out of five. Report card: could do better.
How we tested
We used a test Marmot Tungsten UL 3P over the course of several weeks, which included hikes in the Lake District.
The reviewer was Chris Williams, one of Live For The Outdoors' staff writers and gear testers. Chris has been a journalist for four years and has been hiking for most of his life.