One pound, one pole, infinite possibilities. Single wall, single pole, and made with Dyneema®, it packs to 14 in (36 cm) and is perfect for any minimalist adventure including thru-hiking, bikepacking, packrafting, and backpacking.
The patented Aeon Li features two fundamental design improvements over half-pyramid style shelters. First, the vertical back wall of the tent has a set of Tarptent’s PitchLoc™ foldable corners to increase the interior volume and storm strength of the tent while maintaining a minimal footprint. Second, the PitchLoc™ corners are implemented in combination with a structural awning to increase head/shoulder room and create static equilibrium so that both front doors can be completely rolled back without the need for a forward guyline.
Want to save $50 with no performance difference and full warranty? Have a look at the cosmetic blemish Aeon Li.
Want double wall, double doors? Have a look at the Notch Li.
Want a single wall that packs to any dimension? Have a look at the ProTrail Li.
Your order includes:
- Fully enclosed Aeon Li shelter with integrated fly and floor
- Six 6in aluminum stakes + Dyneema® stake bag
- Dyneema® tent bag
Devang Shah –
Used this tent on a backpacking trip in New Mexico. The weather was mostly clear but it did rain once and the tent kept me and everything inside dry. There was no condensation at all – I did open both vents at the PitchLoc corners. Easy to set up with my 120cm Black Diamond Carbon Z trekking pole and I was able to adjust the height by how much I angled the pole. The overall footprint of the tent is small, so you can pitch it in tight spaces. Used a Gossamer Gear Polycryo ground cloth (no way I’m going to do anything to damage my investment by pitching my Aeon on directly on the ground). It was easy to get it back in the included Dyneema bag – but the bag is fragile – I strapped it on the outside of my pack and got a hole in it (fortunately, there is no hole in the tent as far as I can tell)… better to just pack it inside your backpack – vertically. Inside the tent there is plenty of room for a 5’10” person plus some gear. I was a little concerned about the low bathtub height, but it turned out to be a non-issue. The magnets to hold the door and screen open are interesting. They are not necessarily any better or worse than a loop/tie… just different. For example, in the dark it is not necessarily any easier to find the magnet to strap the door open. Also, if you have both the screen and door strapped open – I challenge you to release just the screen without knocking the door lose… it cannot be done. Also, the magnets have polarity and if you try to stack them neg to neg the magnet will repel and want to contact only on the edge. I think I like the magnets better than a loop/tie but it takes some getting used to. Overall, I am very happy with the tent and the service is excellent.
Alan Lau (verified owner) –
My previous single person tent is a 6MD lunar solo. I was looking for a reduction in weight, DCF material that would not absorb water as much as siliconized nylon fabric, and looking for a tent that had better interior room so my feet or head would not touch the sides of the tent. The savings in weight was also a plus in a DCF tent.
I used the Aeon Li on a thru hike of the Arizona trail in 2021. The advertised weight (tent, stakes, guy lines) was 16 oz. I weighed every thing at 19 oz. Certainly not a deal breaker for me. Temps ranged from >100 degrees to high twenties. We had rain, sleet, snow, wind gusts to 30 mph(some say 50). Very very stable in the wind, and I stayed warm and dry. Most of the time the weather was very nice, so I did not set up the tent every night. Minimal, if any condensation. Lots and lots of headroom (I am 71 inches tall). The back and top struts create a lot more interior space and my feet or sleeping bag don’t touch the sides of the tent. However, these struts make it more difficult to pack the tent into a really small compartment.) I usually packed the tend in the front mesh pocket of my backpack. I used a tyvek ground cloth, tho Tarptent said one wasn’t needed. The video on set up and take down was very informative, though makes it look quite a bit easier than I thought it was (especially taking tent down). The tent sets up very taut/tight. I think this is an attribute of the accuracy of cutting and sewing DCF fabric, as DCF is not very forgiving. I liked the fact that you could adjust the tent’s height, depending on weather conditions. I love the stakes that are included. These are the only stakes I use for my tents. They have good holding power and are very sturdy. Some of my easton stakes were purchased in 2006 (with my original 2 person Cloudburst Tarptent) and they are still going strong. They are comparable, in my opinion, to their titanium competitors or even their carbon fiber competitors. Since 2006 I’ve had excellent customer service from Tarptent. They’ve been very responsive to questions/emails. For those so inclined I would recommend reading Henry Shire’s journal of his initial thru-hike of the PCT in 1999. (He started Tarptent after many people read his PCT journal, and how he used a home made silnylon liteweight tarp as his shelter. He put plans out on the web on how to make the tarp, but instead people asked him to make it for them. The rest is history.
Julian Laurens (verified owner) –
So much FUN to use. Perfect as part of a quiver. Perfect for extended thru hikes or section hikes. Very light learning curve to pitch right – watch a video you should be good. So simple really. I do use the Apex guyline. I also use Ground Hog mini or full length for all points except the pitchlock corners – there I either use the supplied 6″ Easton Nanos or some larger 8″ Easton Nanos. A surprising amount of space inside. I find DCF gets much warmer in summer than silnylon etc so I prefer using this for autumn spring and winter.Very light, packs well. Excellent craftsmanship. Shrugs off water, I have confidence in it standing up to reasonable weather – can drop the pitch around the door a little. I have confidence in Tarptent customer service. This is not the first Tarp Tent I will be purchasing. Gorgeous looking tent really. Cheers.
alexey.shmat (verified owner) –
I have had this tent for one year and done over 50 nights with it. The tent is pretty easy to set up(just see video on youtube with correct instalation on the ground), light, windstable and good portection from elements and bugs. This is my go to tent for 3 seasons conditions, for winter I am still prefer Locus Khufu DCF-eVent Mid to keep out snow, high wind pressure and condensation. Very small footrpint to set up in narrowed places. With this tent you do not need tarp+bivy tandem at all, because conditions where Aeon Li and tarp+bivy may fail would be the same and required Mid option.
Here below you may see comprasion of Khufu Mid and Aeon Li on the ground.
Michael Jolin –
I bought the Aeon Li for my thru-hike of the Long Trail last August and loved it. Used it every night except for my four town stays and two nights when I had no choice but to sleep in the shelter due to no tent sites. It easily handled the rain and wind. Set up took a little trial and error but was easy once I got the hang of it. I kept my pack and my shoes in the vestibule but there was plenty of room for the stuff I brought in the tent. I stored the tent in the outer pouch of my Zpacks Arc Blast with no problems and at about a pound, this was the perfect tent for my 273+ mile trek.
The only thing that I didn’t care for was the clap for the bug netting doorway. The magnet held up fine but I could never master how to roll it in a way so that the end near the ground didn’t unravel. It didn’t happen all the time and was a very minor nuisance but it would be the only thing I didn’t like about the tent.
As an aside, on my penultimate night on trail, I had a neat little spot for the tent on a little grassy overlook at the Congdon Shelter (see photo) (I was a SOBOer). All was solitude and quiet until a couple hiking the AT showed up around 8pm and asked to share the space. I didn’t mind at all as there were quite a few hikers and all the other spaces were taken. He then asked me if my tent was a Tarptent. I said it was indeed. He and his wife had one too – a StratoSpire 2. They loved their tent too!
Bellows (verified owner) –
I thru hiked the long trail with this tent and will be taking it on a Colorado trail thru hike this summer. I’m 6’4″ tall and had plenty of room with a fully inflated long/wide sleeping pad.
Pros
Spacious and easy to set up.
Large vestibule if needed
No forward guyline required. With the right trekking pole angle you can create a huge, unobstructed entryway for yourself.
Small footprint
Rock solid in wind and rain conditions.
Cons
The tent is 14 inches wide when packed up which can be an issue if you want to pack it horizontally in a smaller pack. That being said, don’t assume the tent can’t fit in your pack horizontally just on specs alone. My pack is 12″ wide and can stretch the one inch needed at both ends to fit the tent in horizontally. You can remove the PitchLoc supports to decrease the width of the tent, but it will add more time to your breakdown/setup.
Getting the tent back in the included stuff sack is a bit of a challenge and the stuff sack itself is pretty flimsy. Mine has developed a few small holes in it from regular use over the last 6 months.
Overall, this is my favorite shelter that I have ever owned. It still blows me away to have full wind/rain/bug protection in a shelter that weighs in at about what a normal tarp/bivy setup would be.
Hubert –
I’m very happy with the quality of the tent as well as the fact it’s extremely easy to setup & dismantle. I tested it with strong wind and rain in my garden only for now and no problem. It safely protected me from the very bad weather.
This is exactly what I expected. TOP PRODUCT
I find the stakes are too short though… when the ground is not very hard and with heavy rain 2 of the stakes did not hold. I’ll add 2 or 3 stronger ones for the key points where the tent stresses them the most.
Excellent service and support for Tarptent and very fast shipment. MERCI !
Jonathan (verified owner) –
I am 6’4″ tall and found this tent comfortable over a five day trip on the southern part of the AT. Rained three days, not a leak to be found. Really love the pitchlock corners for the breeze and increased room inside.
Would recommend setting up in your yard multiple times with different trekking pole heights just to acquire familiarity. Really quick setup and takedown overall.
Jon Solomon (verified owner) –
Used over two weeks in the French Alps so far. Excellent, no, unbelievable, protection for the weight.
No flaws or deficiencies discovered. After a nasty t-storm, I began to really trust it for shelter.
I mostly came here to share a couple of photos, cuz I love looking at other people’s photos of their Tarptent in action.
Martin Riley (verified owner) –
I picked up this tent to reduce my requirements for pitch space as compared to my duplex. Setup is simple (and even more once I followed the setup steps properly). The tent pitches very taut and is rock solid. I had no issues with condensation even when setup by water (I do however keep a door open at night). The real reason for this review is to note just how well designed the tent is. The shape, setup, function, layout and size (lots of room for a 1p – I’m 6′ and was able to easily keep my gear in the tent with me) are all excellent. I really dig the magnetic holders – everything seems perfectly thought out. In short – love this tent. Only thing that is unknown of yet is durability which only time/use will tell.
bert courson (verified owner) –
I wanted a lighter tent and not seeing a LI Rainbow on the horizon, I went looking for DCF tent. Aeon or Plexamid? I chose Aeon with less tie outs and seeming more wind/weather resistant design. Also Aeon might take up less space at camp when including tie outs.
My only experience with Aeon is recent trip on AT. I walked the first 106.5 miles of AT (8 nights) with this tent. Loved saving almost 1.5 pounds!
Only two nights of rain. Inside of tent was dry both nights, with some manageable condensation. Two windy nights with no problems. One night it was cold and windy and I was able to adjust tent height and lower tent doors close to ground. This helped keep me warm.
Packed upright in Archaul pack just fine. I just slipped tent behind flattened food bag. Pack stayed balanced. No problem with new packing system.
I did fiddle with tie outs a bit. Had to realign stake tension to seam lines. Got it now, though. Pretty simple set up. Tent sets up taut.
I am 6′ and use a 6’6″ quilt. This was no problem. I and quilt fit in tent without touching ends as long as I kept quilt pulled up. Sleep on 2″ pad with feet aimed at pitchlock vertical corner … more useable space in vertical corner.
I also had to learn how to close tent latch from inside. Latch requires more skill/effort than zipper closure.
No problems with tent at all, just me adjusting to new tent. I think I am going to love this tent.
Adam Kast (verified owner) –
The Aeon has the potential to be great.
The design is well thought out a small foot print with no extended guy lines to trip over. Magnets are very cool.
Unfortunately the Bath tub was 2 inches shorter than specified, and the netting failed on one of the Pitchloc vents, which Henry said he would repair.
Well those are the risks of ordering the first run.
Tarptent –
The floor was most certainly cut exactly to spec (88in long + bathtub wall) . Dyneema naturally wrinkles and will appear/measure shorter unless pulled hard to tension out the wrinkles. By your own admission in an email to us: “Unfortunately I had an overly motivated employee and now have bug netting repairs.” You tore it, it was not in any way defective, and we have offered to repair it for free.
Joe Thayer (verified owner) –
Pro’s:
-Comparable in weight/ price to a bivy/ tarp with much better weather protection and liveable space (if less flexibility).
-Sets up simply, cleanly, and quick.
-Jaw droppingly gorgeous
-Fantastic attention to detail, every seam, corner, and notion was perfect. The corner vents are fantastic, as were the top strut that allows the door to be open in a light shower, the magnetic door holds, the ability to change height, raise/ lower the bathtub floor, pitch with or without the vestibule, etc. This is clearly an extensively thought out and planned tent.
-It’s huge for the footprint. TarpTent has always been good at thinking of taller hikers.
-Customer service, as always, was great. When I had questions I could email TT, and get responses from Henry immediately. Every time.
Con’s:
-The bathtub tensioners aren’t adjustable. They work well, but I’d like the ability to adjust
-I’ve never liked TT’s guy lines. They’re thick, bulky, and over heavy. I might be replacing these down the line.
-As easy as it was to set up, it was a pain to get folded up. With a light breeze, it took a few attempts to corral everything in place in order to be able to roll it tightly enough to get back into it’s sack.
-(known) This is over spec in weight, although less than a lot of other’s I’ve seen. I think TT should amend their listed specs because they aren’t meeting them.
-(known) it will probably need to be vertical in my pack. This isn’t a big deal to me, but in your opinion it may be.
-(known) this is an investment piece. It’s worth every penny, but it isn’t free
-(known) I’ve always liked how TT included the weight of the stakes (and everything else) in their tents. I haven’t liked having two listed weights (with/ without). I get it that everyone else does it.
Overall I’m really happy with this tent. I’m really amazed at how well it’s put together/ planned out for a first production run. This has all the hallmarks of a mature piece of tech that has been through multiple rounds of productions/ testing, and it’s remarkable for a version 1.