Big Agnes may have just rocked the boat for the world of ultralight tents. The Steamboat Springs backpacking brand announced its new HyperBead fabric this week, which it claims is 6% lighter, 25% more waterproof, and 50-100% stronger than traditional ultralight tent fabrics. HyperBead uses no PFAS chemicals, DWR, or other water-resistant treatments, so it’s environmentally friendly to boot.
“We are constantly in search of new materials and processes that improve our customer’s backcountry experiences, increase product durability, and produce environmentally conscious products,” Michael Thompson, director of design and development at Big Agnes, told GearJunkie.
Big Agnes is launching upgraded versions of five flagship tents with the new HyperBead material. If this proprietary new fabric lives up to Big Agnes’ hype, it could begin a new era for the brand’s backpacking tents — maybe even for backpackers at large.
“We’ve spent two years sweating over every ounce and every detail of this process and technology,” Thomspon said in a press release.
HyperBead: Coming to Big Agnes’ Flagship Tents
I asked Big Agnes specifically how it developed the HyperBead material to be lighter, stronger, and more waterproof. But the brand was a bit cagey about its process.
“High-quality fabric weaving and coating is a very intricate process that involves many facets such as coating types, thickness, number of passes, facility, and machinery sophistication,” Thompson said. “So, there’s, unfortunately, a lot of proprietary HyperBead information we aren’t willing to share.”
What Big Agnes was willing to share is that HyperBead is waterproof at a molecular level. The brand said that’s why the material needs no chemical treatments to stay dry and never requires re-waterproofing.
Big Agnes also improved the fabric’s dimensional stability so that it is snag-resistant and won’t distort “even under load.”
“HyperBead is a great example of a multi-year effort focused on maximizing the combined talent and experience we have on our team as well as at our manufacturing partners and material suppliers,” Thompson said.
Big Agnes is offering its flagship tents with HyperBead in 2025 — the Copper Spur UL & XL, the Tiger Wall UL, Fly Creek UL, and Tiger Wall Platinum Tents. They are available on the brand’s website under the “HyperBead” dropdown. Thompson said HyperBead may be “ideal for other products” in the Big Agnes line. However, he declined to comment further on which ones.
“HyperBead is a complete reimagining of ultralight gear,” Thompson said. “[It’s] a technology that performs better, weighs less, and is easier on the environment. This fabric is the culmination of that vision.”
The GearJunkie team will test HyperBead in depth for spring 2025 reviews. Stay tuned!
