Vaude
Vaude Arco 2P
Best use
- Made for
- Backpacking and wild camping
- Not for
- Bikepacking, Winter mountain
Why these labels
- Backpacking and wild camping: The maker states this use, and the published specs do not rule it out.
- Bikepacking: Heavy for bikepacking: 2.9 kg
- Winter mountain: 3-season rating, not built for winter storms
From the maker's stated use and the published specs.
- Summer wild camp: 4/10 UK, roughly May to September, nights above about 8 °C, sheltered pitches.
- Three-season hills: 5/10 UK hills in spring and autumn. Wind, rain, and nights near freezing.
- Winter camp: 4/10 UK winter or high ground. Below freezing, strong wind, possibly snow. Capped at 4: needs the maker's 4-season rating and wind 7+.
- Weight: 2/10 How much it adds to your pack, compared with the whole market.
Car-supported or short walk-in trips where a big porch for rucksacks and cooking is useful
- Freestanding
- No
- Sleeps
- 2
- Seasons
- 3-season
- Min. weight
- 2.9 kg
- Flysheet
- 3,000 mm
- Inner length
- 230 cm
Packed size 15.71 L, 50 cm long and 20 cm across Compare with a 2-litre bottle
About one and a half 2-litre bottles long and about twice as wide. Drawn to scale.
Where to buy
Alpinetrek £149.97 In stock. Free delivery. Mossy Green; the Buckeye colour is out of stock. Free UK delivery from £85.
View at shop: AlpinetrekHardloop £192.50 In stock. Free delivery. Buckeye colour. Free delivery from £150.
View at shop: HardloopPrices checked 8 Nov 2026 on each shop's own page; shops can change them. We earn no commission on these links; shops are listed by price. More
Our ratings (out of 10)
1 to 10, compared with the whole market. Each says what it's based on. How we score
Weight
From maker's figures 2/10How much it adds to your pack. This is the whole tent: two people sharing can split it. 2: A weak point.
Hardloop gives a total weight of 2.9 kg (Vaude's figure) and Alpinetrek 3.25 kg; no minimum trail weight is published any more because Vaude's own page is withdrawn. Both are in the 2.7 kg+ band.
Rain protection
From maker's figures 8/10How well it keeps out heavy, long rain. 8: Clearly better than most.
Fly 3,000 mm is in the 3,000 mm+ band; the 5,000 mm floor is over 2,000 mm, so no point comes off. The printed figure alone gives 8 at most: a 9 or 10 needs 3 reviews that say it stays dry in real storms.
Wind
Estimate from maker's specs: maker's season rating (fewer than 3 reviews about wind) 5/10How steady it stays in strong wind on open ground. 5: Does the job. Average for wild-camping gear.
No published review says how it copes with wind, so this is an estimate from the maker's season rating.
Space
From maker's figures 7/10Room to lie, sit up and keep kit inside. 7: Better than most.
Vaude's 2.9 m² inner floor ÷ 2 people = 1.45 m² each, in the 1.35–1.59 band. The fly adds a large porch (4.3 m² floor area in total). Interior 230 x 110 x 90 cm.
Packed size
From maker's figures 2/10How much room it takes in your rucksack. 2: A weak point.
Packs to 50 x 20 cm: 3.1416 x 10 x 10 x 50 = 15,708 cm³, so 15.7 L, in the 15 L+ band.
In short
Good for
- Car-supported or short walk-in trips where a big porch for rucksacks and cooking is useful
- A cheap first two-person tent for sheltered pitches
Strengths
- Big porch: Vaude gives 4.3 m² under the fly against a 2.9 m² inner, so there is room for two rucksacks and a stove
- Fly 3,000 mm and floor 5,000 mm, both comfortably over the 2,000 mm floor line
- 230 cm inner length suits tall sleepers
- Two aluminium poles and a simple tunnel shape
Weaknesses
- Heavy for a two-person tent: 2.9 kg total, and Alpinetrek lists 3.25 kg
- Bulky: 15.7 L packed, over twice the volume of a 7 L light tent
- Not freestanding: it needs pegs and guylines, so it is a poor choice on hard or rocky ground
- One door and one porch, so one person climbs over the other
Sources
We haven't tested this ourselves. Every score comes from these specs, tests and reviews.