This Big Agnes Fly Creek Platinum review is about the lightest tent for 1 and for 2 people that the Big Agnes company has in the list, only 822 grams for the solo tent and 907 grams for the 2 people tent. These weights are beyond comparison with any other brand.
Big Agnes Fly Creek Platinum 1 tent
Best place to buy
- The best place regarding the price and shipping conditions is usually Amazon.com.
Description
This is a solo, freestanding 3-season backpacking tent with a streamlined design and with quite enough space for one person. You have got 42 inches (107 cm) of width at the head and 30 inches (76 cm) in the foot area.
Fly Creek Platinum 1 tent is completely a polyester mesh construction, good for ventilation and breathability, and for the reduced weight as well. The weight is reduced also by using an ultra lightweight DAC NFL aluminum pole.
So this is a freestanding single-hubbed construction with two pole branches spreading from the top around the entrance, and one branch going toward the foot area.
The package contains no less than 11 J stakes which you will use to secure the tent to the surface although this is a truly freestanding design.
Inside the tent, there is an overhead mesh pocket suitable to use for a lamp, and there are some loops as well.
The floor is fully waterproof with taped seams, and the same holds for the rain fly which is a silicon treated nylon ripstop material.
Fly Creek Platinum 1 tent has a vestibule area of 5.5 sq ft, large enough to store your gear and shoes. It comes with reflective guyline and reflective webbing on tent corners for nighttime conditions.
There is a possibility to order a Fly Creek 1 footprint, which will help increasing durability of the tent, and can also be used in the fast fly variant.
- My rate: 8.7/10.
Please see this promotion video by Big Agnes:
Technical specifications: both Platinum 1 and Platinum 2
| Fly Creek Platinum 1 | Fly Creek Platinum 2 | |
| Trail weight | 1 lb 6 oz (624 gr) | 1 lb 9 oz (709 gr) |
| Packed weight | 1 lb 13 oz (822 gr) | 2 lb (907 gr) |
| Fast fly weight | 1 lb 1 oz (382 gr) | 1 lb 3 oz (539 gr) |
| Dimensions | 86 x 42 in (at widest point); 218 x 107 cm |
86 x 52 in (at widest point); 218 x 132 cm |
| Floor surface | 22 sq ft | 28 sq ft |
| Vestibule surface | 5.5 sq ft | 7 sq ft |
| Head height | 38 in (96.5 cm) | 38 in (96.5 cm) |
Explanation of weights:
- Trail weight: poles, fly and tent body.
- Packed weight: poles, fly, tent body, stakes, guy lines, stuff sacks, instructions, and packaging.
- Fast-fly weight: poles, tent fly, fast fly footprint.
Need more information about solo tents? No problem, see this review with a long list of them.
Big Agnes Fly Creek Platinum 2 tent
This is a completely the same design as Platinum 1 tent. This means incredibly lightweight and freestanding, 3-season tent for 2 people.
From the technical specifications in the table given above you will realize that it is wider for only 25 cm than the solo version. So do not expect much space there if there are 2 people inside.
- To buy, check directly at Amazon.com.
The packed weight difference is only 85 grams, so I would not hesitate to use Platinum 2 version as a solo tent. All other features are the same, no need to repeat them here. I rate this tent below Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 model mainly because of the price.
Still undecided about a 2-person tent for you? You may find 14 of them in my another review.
Cons – both tents
- High price.
- Platinum 2 model is relatively narrow, but the same issue you will have with other brands. See some of them below.
- These tents (as well as some other models) feature so-called fast fly variant, where you do not use the tent body at all, see it here in the picture right. I have a problem with this because of the following:
- You will be safe from the rain, but I am not sure the same holds for the water on the ground. When you use the complete tent, then all models have the bathtub floor design and you have no problem with the surface water. This is not so when you use the footprint only.
- You will be exposed to bugs and snakes. I would not go with the fast fly variant. I climbed Mount Teide several times overnight. Initially, I had an idea to sleep under the stars, until I saw spiders very active all the night even above 3500 meters of altitude. With the tent mesh, you are safe from this.
I hope this Big Agnes Fly Creek Platinum review was useful. I would warmly suggest that you compare this series with the following:
Thank you for reading. It will be great to see your comments in the box below.
WILL FRASER says
29/01/2017 at 3:28 pmI have gotten one of these this past month at REI. I replaced the j stakes with MSR carbon fiber stakes to cut weight(significant amount by the way). I’ll use a folded under cuben fiber ZPacks 9 x 6 tarp to line the inside at night. (I can use the tarp as additional sheltered area for my camp in wet weather also.
This is THE lightest high quality two wall tent out there and it compares favorably with even the Cuben Fiber tents. I roll it up with the stakes in a bag in the middle and store it in the pack w a lighter cuben fiber bag to cut another 1/2 oz.
Jovo says
29/01/2017 at 8:27 pmMany thanks Will. These are great ideas, you have cut on weight in every possible way and made an ultra lightweight tent even lighter. I am sure other visitors here will find this very useful. As I understand these MSR carbon fiber stakes are 0.2 oz only (less than 6 grams), simply incredible.
Graham says
01/02/2016 at 12:22 pmI always have considered myself an outdoors kind of guy So this site is definitely for people like me. I love the recommendations of certain mountains, and the camping gear to go with them. In fact, by July I’m going to go on a new camping trip, So I might show this to my fellow campers.
Jovo says
01/02/2016 at 1:50 pmThank you Graham, great to hear from you. All the best in your adventures.