VAUDE Space 2P 3-Season Trekking Tent: A Comprehensive Review
When embarking on a bikepacking adventure, the ideal tent should be compact, lightweight, and quick to pitch. The VAUDE Space 2P, priced at €760, doesn’t feature bike-specific pole sections but offers generous interior space. This review delves into whether the added comfort justifies the extra effort in transport and setup.
Specifications
- Weight (Complete): 1.95 kg (1.89 kg without stuff sack)
- Packed Size: Approx. 42 x 14 x 14 cm (L x W x H)
- Pole Length (Packed): 36 cm
- Inner Dimensions: 215 x 130 x 110 cm (L x W x H)
- Season Rating: 3-season
- Construction: Dome tent with ridge pole and tunnel-style elements
- Doors & Vestibules: 2 doors / 2 vestibules
- Hydrostatic Head (Floor / Flysheet): 3,000 mm (manufacturer specification)
- Footprint Included: No
- Handlebar Mounting: None (classic trekking tent system)
Materials & Setup
The VAUDE Space 2P is constructed with high-quality materials, ensuring durability and reliability. The neon-green guy lines are highly visible at night, though they feel more delicate compared to the rest of the tent. The tent employs a combined inner and outer tent pitch system, which protects the inner tent from rain but can complicate the setup process.
The three-part pole structure features asymmetrical pole ends that must be threaded through narrow fabric sleeves. In practice, the poles can snag on the material, making the setup process more time-consuming, especially in windy or adverse weather conditions. Additionally, our test model exhibited visible residues of adhesive and sealing material along the inner seams.
Transport & Mounting
After a rainy night, the practical drawbacks of the combined pitch design become evident. While it’s possible to separate the inner and outer tents to prevent the wet flysheet from soaking the dry inner when packing away, this process is fiddly in practice. The inner tent is connected to the flysheet via numerous small toggles, making it cumbersome to separate, especially in cold or wet conditions. Consequently, both layers are often packed together, leading to a damp system by the following evening.
The stuff sack requires careful packing. Although it is wider at the top to facilitate stuffing the tent in, this only worked to a limited extent in our review and still required precise folding. A large roll-top opening, like the one on the MSR Hubba Hubba, handles this more elegantly.
The Space 2P also requires compromises on the bike. Dedicated bikepacking mounting solutions are absent, meaning additional straps or a separate handlebar harness are needed. With a packed pole length of 36 cm, the tent will theoretically fit between narrow gravel handlebars, but it noticeably restricts access to the drops. The system weight of almost two kilograms is also hard to ignore up front. Compared directly with lighter models such as the Big Agnes Copper Spur, the bike feels considerably less agile and requires more control on technical sections.
Living Space & Storage
Once pitched, the Space 2P rewards your effort with the most spacious interior in the entire test field. With an internal width of 130 cm and a measured maximum height of up to 110 cm, it creates an airy sense of space that few other tents can match. Even two wide sleeping mats fit comfortably side by side.
The two large entrances, which run almost the full length of the tent, make getting in and out easier and open the tent up nicely to the surrounding landscape. Four corner pockets and four overhead storage compartments help keep the interior organized. Given the tent’s generous dimensions, though, we would have liked larger storage options for bulkier gear such as helmets. The two vestibules also provide plenty of storage space, though they lack an integrated vestibule floor, a feature that comes as standard on the SIMOND MT900.
Weather Protection & Ventilation
Without its guy lines properly tensioned, the Space 2P feels less stable than storm-proven tents such as the Hilleberg Unna or Nemo Dragonfly. For a secure pitch, it relies on all twelve pegs and careful guying out.
VAUDE skips dedicated roof vents altogether. Ventilation is handled exclusively through the large outer doors. Combined with the relatively limited use of mesh panels, this helps the tent retain warmth on cooler nights. In damp conditions, however, and particularly with the doors closed, condensation build-up becomes noticeably more pronounced.
Conclusion
The VAUDE Space 2P takes a different approach from most tents in this test field. Its generous interior makes it a comfortable companion on long tours and a welcome retreat after a day in the saddle, but higher weight, cumbersome setup, and a less refined packing system cost it points for pure bikepacking use. This is a tent for comfort seekers, not minimalists.
Pros:
- Largest interior in the test field
- Two large entrances spanning almost the entire length of the tent
- Combined inner and outer tent pitch keeps the interior dry in the rain
- High-quality, robust materials
Cons:
- Fiddly setup due to narrow pole sleeves
- Wet flysheet has to be packed together with the inner tent
- No roof vents, making it more prone to condensation build-up�