Wild CampingBig AgnesBackpacking Tent

Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL 2 long-term review: a UL backpacker’s best friend

Small, lightweight and surprisingly roomy — the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL 2 is an easy-to-use and comfortable tent for 2–3-season use.

✓  Top PickBig Agnes Fly Creek HV UL 2 Weight1.02 kgPrice£407.99Seasons3 season The good✓  Very lightweight at 1.02 kg
✓  Tiny pack size (wine bottle)
✓  Super easy to pitch
✓  Excellent rain performance
✓  Very roomy for a solo camper
✓  Comfortable vestibule
✓  Fast fly pitch option
The not-so-good✗  Not strong in the wind
✗  Single door only
✗  Not genuinely 2-person with kit

At a glance

Overview

The Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL 2 is one of the US brand’s best-known and most beloved lines, being a loyal part of Big Agnes’ product range for years. And it is popular for a reason: it weighs barely a kilogram, packs down to the size of a bottle of wine and offers a ton of living space — if you use it on your own, at least. What is more, it is incredibly easy to pitch and pack away, comes with a reasonably large vestibule that lends itself well to cooking and storing kit, and is fully freestanding.

Like most 2-person tents, the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL is not really designed for 2 people and kit. Granted, if you were super close friends with your bedmate, you would be able to share this shelter in a pinch. It is just not going to be very comfortable. At 107 cm wide at the tightest end (and 132 cm wide at the top), you can just about fit 2 regular-width pads in the Fly Creek 2, which means you have to dump all of your kit in the vestibule. That said, the Fly Creek HV UL 2 does only weigh in at 1.02 kg, so you are still getting a ton of room for this weight — with both the MSR Hubba Hubba NX and the Nemo Hornet OSMO weighing slightly more.

As Big Agnes only sells their products directly in the US and Canada, you will need to shop around to find the best deal in the UK. At the time of writing, one could be picked up at Valley and Peak for £407.99, which actually makes it the cheapest out of the other popular lines it is often compared against, such as the Nemo Hornet OSMO 2 and the MSR Hubba Hubba NX. The Big Agnes is reasonably priced for the quality and versatility you get with the Fly Creek.

How we tested

We have had a Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL 2 tucked away in our kit room for the best part of 4 years at the time of writing. We first got our hands on one in September 2020, and it has joined us on an untold number of adventures over the years. It is up there as the backpacking tent we have used the most since the pandemic, alongside the likes of the Robens Elk River 1 and the Robens Starlight 1. Over the years, we have had this tent out on fastpacking trips, bikepacking adventures, numerous multi-day hikes in various parts of the UK, and we even spent a week in it on a campsite in Tuscany in temperatures of around 30°C. It has been used by 8 different GBAC members, having racked up well over 300 miles in the bottom of a pack — and we would guess that we have spent at least 50 nights in it over the last 4 years.

Features and performance

Pack size and weight

The primary selling point of the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL 2 is, of course, its packed size and weight. Seriously, this thing is tiny for the room you get when it is up (even if it is still not big enough for two fully grown adults). Packing down to something that resembles a wine bottle, the tent can be thrown into the bottom of any pack, and we have comfortably had this in the bottom of numerous 20-litre, 30-litre and 40-litre packs over the years. What is more, if you pack the poles separately, you can squash the Fly Creek HV UL 2 down to something resembling a grapefruit, which is astonishing for a freestanding dome tent this big.

As the tent only weighs 1 kg, you also barely notice it in the bottom of your bag. In fact, we have used it for that reason on a handful of spring and summer fastpacking trips where we wanted to enjoy a more chilled-out camping experience versus sleeping in a tiny bivvy bag, as well as on a few bikepacking trips where we were easily able to strap it to the top tube of the bike.

Pitching and packing away

In standard freestanding dome tent style, the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL 2 is an inner-pitch-first tent. This means you need to first peg out the inner and erect the poles before lashing the flysheet over the top of the structure. For this reason, the tent is best suited to 3-season weather when you know it is probably not going to rain, as putting this tent up in a deluge will result in the inner soaking through long before you are able to drape the waterproof flysheet overhead.

Thankfully, as is increasingly becoming the case with more freestanding dome tents, Big Agnes gives you the option to pitch this in their so-called ‘fast fly’ set-up. This allows you to mount the poles to the groundsheet, over which you can then directly lash the fly. If you want, you can then either mount the inner to the inside or leave it out entirely and sleep without a bug net under only the fly. If you choose to do this, you will also reduce the weight of the Fly Creek by another 300 grams, with the total weight of the groundsheet, pole, pegs and outer coming in at only 700 grams.

“The only way to get a truly restful night’s sleep in this thing is to pitch it well out of the way of any wind — which, if you are sensible, is a small price to pay for such a lightweight, packable and comfortable shelter.”

Livability

As already mentioned, the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL 2 is not a true 2-person tent, if the definition is that 2 people can comfortably sleep inside. Could it safely shelter 2 people in a pinch? Sure. But you would not want to do a thru-hike with your partner in this — no matter how much you love them. For 1 person and kit, however, the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL 2 offers oodles of space. It comes with a large vestibule, perfect for storing wet kit and cooking. Inside, you have almost 2 square metres to move around, and the tent gives you 107 cm of headroom at the highest point. For us, this means most GBAC members (aside from one specific tester coming in at a lofty 6 ft 7”) could comfortably sit up in the Fly Creek HV UL 2 without touching the inner — a welcome addition in a tent this light and packable.

Performance and build quality

To keep weight and pack size to a minimum, the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL 2 has been made with some of the lightest materials on the market. Naturally, then, it would be foolish to expect Nortent Gamme-like performance out of a tent this lightweight, so a certain degree of consideration is required in regards to where you pitch it. All in, however, if you are sensible in where and how you pitch it, the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL 2 performs really, really well.

The flysheet on the Fly Creek 2 is made out of siliconised nylon with a 1,200 mm waterproof polyurethane coating. And while this might not seem like a lot, we promise that it is suitably waterproof. We have used this in many a deluge and water has never gotten in once. What is more, despite being super thin, the silnylon fly is also reasonably durable. Seriously, when you first put this up, the almost-see-through cling film-like flysheet does not induce confidence off the bat. But having gotten as much use out of it as we have over the years, we have learned to trust it — as ours has never ripped, stretched or shown any signs of wear whatsoever.

If we had to raise one criticism, it would be its performance in the wind. However you pitch it, this tent simply is not adept at withstanding much at all, and ours has been flattened numerous times by gusts of up to 25 mph. Thankfully, it always sprung immediately back to action with no signs of damage — you just should not expect a peaceful night’s sleep should the wind pick up.

The reason the tent is so fragile in the wind is the same reason it is so light: the pole only has 3 attachments, with two in the front and one that forms the spine of the tent out to the back. This singular DAC Featherlite pole provides the full structural integrity of the tent, so it is no surprise that it buckles when you put even the slightest amount of pressure on it. To mitigate this, we would recommend pitching the tent sideways into the wind and tying out all guy lines.

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Our verdictOne of the best UL backpacking tents you can buy for 3-season UK adventures.If you are looking for a lightweight, packable and comfortable tent for 3-season trips where you do not expect to be camping in exposed locations, the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL 2 is a phenomenal choice. Granted, it is not as strong in the wind as other lines, but you would be hard-pressed to find a lighter, more packable and roomier tent — especially at this £400 price point.If you want to save money, you could consider something like the Forclaz MT900 Tarp Tent from Decathlon, or look into Naturehike’s ever-impressive Cloud Up series. But if you want a tent that will lend itself to a host of lightweight adventures — fastpacking, hiking, bikepacking — and be sure to last multiple seasons, the Fly Creek HV UL 2 is one of the best options out there right now.

FAQs

How does the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL 2 perform in summer?Amazingly. It is the season the tent was arguably made for. The full mesh inner makes for a comfortable place to spend long summer nights.

How does the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL 2 perform in winter?Not particularly well. With a full mesh inner and limited stability in high winds, we would not recommend it outside of spring, summer and autumn. Even then, you will need to be considerate about where you pitch it.

How does the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL 2 perform in the wind?It is not very strong in the wind. Coming from behind, the tent can easily be flattened. Always pitch it side-on to the wind and tie out all guy lines to maximise structural strength.

How easy is the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL 2 to pitch?Super easy. Peg out the corners, add the poles, mount the fly over the top. For wet conditions, use fast fly mode: mount poles directly to the groundsheet, drape the fly over, then hang the inner inside out of the rain.

Is the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL 2 worth the money?At around £400, it is at the top end of the market for tents of this style — but few shelters offer the same combination of space, pack size and weight at this price point. If those are your priorities, it is worth every penny.