Packaged Weight vs. Packed Weight vs. Total Weight vs. Trail Weight vs. Minimum Weight: What does it all mean?

Buying a tent can be overwhelming. Even weight, which you might think is straightforward, can be confusing. Every tent has multiple weights listed. Different companies have different definitions for these multiple weights, and it’s not always clear what those weights include. I’m here to demystify the common terms used by the tent industry to quantify tent weight: packaged weight, packed weight, total weight, minimum weight, and trail weight. All these terms have significant limitations, so it’s important to understand what they actually mean and how to apply them. Keep reading/watching to learn which of these are useful, which one is dumb and should disappear forever, and why you should take them all with a big grain of salt.

What is Packaged Weight?

We’ll start with packaged weight. Packaged weight is the weight of the whole tent and everything included with it. It includes everything in the “package”: the tent body, fly, poles, stuff sacks, and any accessories that come with the tent, like stakes, guylines, pole repair splints, etc. Some companies call this the “total weight”, but it means the same thing. Now, some brands call this the “packed weight”, but this is ambiguous because it could mean “packed” as in “packed in your backpack”, but as you’re about to learn, the packaged weight does not always correspond to the weight of the tent that you’ll end up packing. Are you confused yet? Good. It gets worse.

The packaged weight is used to provide a general idea of the weight of the tent, but it has some serious limitations. The packaged weight should NOT be used to compare tents when making a buying decision. This is because the accessories included with tents vary widely by brand, model, and intended use. Let’s take our CrossBow, for example. It has a packaged weight of 5lb 2oz. At first glance, that might seem heavy for a tent that many consider ultralight by four-season tent standards. However, the CrossBow includes a whopping 14 stakes, which weigh 5.4oz, and 10 guylines, which weigh 4.5oz. This is more than necessary for most conditions. It also includes kickstand vent struts, a pole repair splint, and stuff sacks for the tent, poles, stakes, and some extra pole clips to switch out for the WebTruss to save weight in milder conditions, which you don’t need if you’re using the WebTruss. All told, you’re looking at almost a pound of accessories, not all of which are necessary on every trip.

So what does a tent’s packaged weight tell you? Frankly, not much, unless you know what accessories are included with the tent and how they’re used. Buying based on packaged weights can penalize companies who include more accessories with their tents. We could knock over half a pound off the CrossBow’s packaged weight by not including stakes or guylines, but that would ultimately hurt the user, even if it made the tent look more appealing on paper. Do your research, and know what you’re getting before you ascribe too much weight to the packaged weight.

What is Minimum Weight?

The minimum weight is the total weight of ONLY the tent body, fly, and poles, not including any additional accessories. For trekking pole-supported tents, this does NOT include the weight of the trekking poles. Minimum weight is NEVER the weight you should expect to carry when actually using the tent. Why is this? Well, even freestanding tents should be staked out every time. I’ll say it louder for the people in the back: EVEN FREESTANDING TENTS SHOULD BE STAKED OUT EVERY TIME.

So what’s the point of listing a minimum weight if that’s not what your tent will weigh when you’re carrying it? Many people cynically assume that it’s a ploy by “Big Gear” to advertise lower weights. Honestly, not an unreasonable thing to assume, the way some companies advertise. But minimum weight actually has a very specific purpose: Comparing tents when making a purchasing decision.

Here’s an example: the packaged weight of the CrossBow is 5lb 2oz. A similar tent from another company has a packaged weight of only 4lb 1oz. That’s a 17oz difference. On paper, it blows the CrossBow out of the water, until you notice that the minimum weight of the CrossBow is only 5.5oz heavier than the minimum weight of the other tent. The 17oz difference in packaged weight is mostly explained by the fact that the CrossBow has 6 more guyout loops than the other tent and includes stakes and guylines for all of them. When you consider the CrossBow’s additional space, features, and strength, it starts to seem like a much more appealing proposition. If you made your decision based on packaged weight alone, you wouldn’t realize that the difference in packaged weight is mostly because you’re getting shorted on guy points, guylines, stakes, and features.

In my opinion, minimum weight is the most useful of the three specs because it gives you a baseline onto which you can add the appropriate accessories for the conditions you expect to encounter on any given trip. Experienced campers are always tinkering with their shelter to optimize it for their use case. They choose their accessories on a case-by-case basis based on expected weather conditions, soil composition, and campsite exposure. If you’re the kind of person who has a different stake kit for every type of soil surface, you can use the tent’s minimum weight to calculate the actual weight of the shelter system you’ll be carrying in your pack.

Okay, so what does “Trail Weight” mean?

Gosh, where to begin? So, the marketing department at a large outdoor retail chain that will remain nameless didn’t see the value of the minimum weight for comparing tent models. They coined a new term, “trail weight”, to describe the minimum weight of the tent plus the weight of the minimum number of accessories needed for a viable setup. For example, the trail weight of a non-freestanding tent would include the minimum number of stakes required to make it not fall over, but no more than that. A freestanding tent would include one stake for each of the vestibules, but no stakes for the tent body or guylines. Esoteric? Yup. Confusing? You betcha. Useful? Not even a little bit, because you’ll never go camping with only the minimum number of stakes, no stuff sacks, and no guylines, and it doesn’t even take into account the fact that different size stakes can have dramatically different weights.

Eventually, because trail weight was ambiguous and created by people who apparently never go camping, some companies started using the term “trail weight” when they actually meant “minimum weight”, and nowadays trail weight is often used interchangeably with minimum weight. To further muddy the waters, the aforementioned chain store is now using the term “minimum trail weight”. Chaos has ensued, because now trail weight doesn’t have anything to do with the actual weight of a tent that you bring on the trail.

Trail weight was a misguided concept from the outset, and now it’s even more ambiguous. Today, “trail weight” is a meaningless statistic and should be forever banished from the tent lexicon.

So, which one should I use?

Generally, minimum weight is the most useful of these, but to use it effectively you need to know which accessories you’ll need to bring with the tent and how you’ll be using it. It’s a good metric to use when buying a tent because it eliminates the variables of accessories when comparing across brands and models. It also gives you a baseline upon which to build out your kit for any given trip. Packaged weight can give you a rough idea of the weight of the complete tent when you’re building out a packing list, but it should be taken as approximate. Forget about trail weight. It’s dumb.

That being said, remember that buying a tent based on specs alone is dangerous, because you’re likely to end up with a tent that’s designed to work well on paper, not in the field. This is why it’s important to approach tent purchases holistically, balancing your priorities, the tent’s features, and how you’re actually going to use the tent.