Big Agnes Copper Spur 2 Platinum Tent Review

The Big Agnes Copper Spur 2 Platinum is a lightweight, freestanding, two-person backpacking tent that’s for anyone willing to spend $600 on their miniature house for the outdoors (or as I like to call it, my palace).

I got this tent just before my Continental Divide Trail thru-hike and have spent many happy nights inside its orange mesh walls.

Will the Copper Spur 2 Platinum make your friends envious that you get to correct everyone who asks you “Is that a Copper Spur?” with “Yeah, but it’s the platinum“? Of course. Will the Copper Spur 2 Platinum stand up the rigors of a trans-USA thru-hike? Yes. Do I like to say platinum as much as possible to remind everyone that this is the platinum? Obviously.

Testing Conditions

I used the Copper Spur 2 Platinum for a thru-hike of the 3,100 mi / 5,000 km Continental Divide Trail and have used it extensively since around New Zealand. I’ve used it in varying weather conditions, from thunderstorms and below-freezing conditions to the beach. I’ve mostly used it by myself, but I’ve also shared this tent many nights.

The Good

THE WEIGHT | The Copper Spur 2 Platinum is one of the lightest freestanding two-person tents available right now (which is a big reason why I got it in the first place). The tent’s trail weight is 37 oz / 1.05 kg and its packed weight is 42 oz / 1.19 kg. Wait, what do these things mean? Good question. Trail weight is the weight of just the poles, fly, and tent body. Packed weight is the poles, fly, tent body, stakes, guy lines, stuff sack(s), instructions, and packaging. This tent comes with eight stakes, but you should just get some titanium ones.

THE FREESTANDING | Another reason I got the Copper Spur 2 Platinum is because I wanted something freestanding. If this word is confusing to you, don’t worry. It means that a tent can be pitched without using stakes – the tent’s poles support the tent. That being said, you can get a better pitch with stakes (I enjoy a taut floor), but they aren’t necessary. This means you can be less selective when choosing a campsite (and that in the morning you can easily shake out the mess you make in your tent each night).

THE POCKETS | The Copper Spur 2 Platinum has four interior pockets. They’re all on the side of the tent where you’re head will likely go – two on the ceiling and one on each side next to the doors. I’ve put some heavy things in the pockets and they’ve definitely started to sag a bit, but it’s more an aesthetic defect than a functional one. They’re all fairly large and I’ve never wished for more space (just make sure you don’t put anything in the overhead that’s going to roll out and scare the shit out of you in the middle of the night).

The Okay

THE TENT ZIPPERS | Each door of this tent has two zippers that meet at the bottom corner where your head (usually) goes. This makes it easy to get my gear into the tent without letting in a ton of bugs (via the bottom zipper opening only). It also allows me to get inside and (mostly) close the tent door while leaving my feet outside so I can remove my shoes without letting in the bugs. However, I’ve found that you cannot easily open or close the top zipper with just one hand which can be irritating.

THE MESH | I’m a fan of the orange mesh, but after extensive use, I have also noticed a lot of wear. In many places, the mesh has begun looking as if it’s being stretched (possibly the clips are doing this when I roll the tent up?) and I am afraid that I will soon be patching holes (but so far, none). I was told that you can massage these out by rubbing your fingers together on either side of the mesh, but I’ve had little success with this. Definitely, something I’ll be keeping an eye on.

THE FLY TRANSPARENCY | This isn’t something that I have a problem with, but it is definitely something I can see people whining about. You see, the material the fly is made out of is so incredibly light that it’s translucent (remember that one from science class between opaque and transparent?). If the fly is taut and the light is right (and especially if the object is close enough), then you can definitely see through the fly. Personally, my fly is for keeping me dry, but if you’re looking for something to hide ungodly behavior inside of your tent, then you may take issue with this.

The Bad

THE FLY ZIPPERS | Unless you’re careful, the zippers on the fly (there’s one for each vestibule) get stuck in the storm flaps when opening and closing. This is annoying because the only good way to stop this from happening is to reach around the outside and hold the storm flap out of the way. On one particularly terrible buggy night, I managed to (once again) get the storm flap caught in the zipper in a panic and ended up ripping a hole in the flap. It has in no way affected the functionality, but my tent is not damaged goods.

THE FOOTPRINT | The footprint for the Copper Spur 2 Platinum is great. I have one and it’s awesome for the Fast Fly setup (pitching just the fly using the footprint, poles, and stakes). That being said, the footprint is $70 and weighs 6 oz / 170 g. I used the Copper Spur 2 Platinum with a polycryo groundsheet (with much success) at the beginning of the CDT, but I got the footprint when I entered the snow-covered San Juan Mountains. Find the footprint here. I would be very careful using this tent with no groundsheet. And really, Big Agnes? Seventy dollars for the footprint? For a $600 tent? Not cool.

THAT TIME MY POLE BROKE | After a night of below-freezing temperatures in New Mexico, one of the female bits of one of my pole sections chipped when I was packing up my tent in the morning. I taped it up and the pole held up for another couple of months of hiking until I reached Steamboat Springs, Colorado where I brought it to Big Agnes (their headquarters is in Steamboat). Thankfully, they fixed it up for me and replaced this section of the poles. I just felt that I needed to include this bit in my review since breaking a pole can be a serious blow to a tent. That being said, my experience with customer service was great.

Who Is It For?

BEGINNER BACKPACKERS | If you’re just getting into backpacking, this tent is not something you should be investing in. If you want something a little more durable at a lower price point, check out the Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL2 (a slightly heavier version of this same tent).

CASUAL BACKPACKERS | If you go backpacking occasionally and aren’t crazy about sinking a ton of money into a tent, then you can probably pass on the Copper Spur 2 Platinum. The Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL2 would probably be the better option (unless you’re super into having the lightest option available; in that case go for it).

WEEKEND WARRIORS | If you want to be super cool and tell everyone that you have the “Platinum” Copper Spur, then this is the tent for you. If you want to invest in something that you aren’t going to want to upgrade again anytime soon or if you’re thinking about taking on a thru-hike in the future, then definitely consider the Copper Spur 2 Platinum.

THRU-HIKERS | If every bit of weight matters, but your heart is set on a two-person, freestanding tent, then you should definitely consider the Copper Spur 2 Platinum. I had no regrets about bringing it on the Continental Divide Trail. If you wait for the right sale, you can probably find one for 20% off (bringing it down to a much less scary $480).

Conclusion

If you’re an experienced backpacker or just looking for somewhere to spend some cash, the Copper Spur 2 Platinum is definitely worth checking out.

I’ve been very happy with its performance thus far and have used it for literally hundreds of nights in all sorts of conditions. I would certainly recommend it to my friends looking for something lightweight and freestanding – just as long as they promise to be careful where they pitch it. Check out the Big Agnes Copper Spur 2 Platinum here.

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