This Inflatable Camping Shelter Is Less Tent, More Tiny House

The four-season capsule assembles in under five minutes, can sleep four, and fits into a backpack.

Published July 2, 2024

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Updated July 12, 2024

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Today there are more options than ever for sleeping outdoors. From floating tents to rooftop tents to wearable sleeping bags, there are countless ways to get some shuteye while camping.

One brand at the forefront of this roughing-it revolution is Exod, a French company known for its wild, elevated, futuristic one-person tent, the Monolith.

Now, Exod has a new shelter that’s just as crazy and cutting-edge as the Monolith but is a whole lot more spacious. It’s a rugged inflatable shelter dubbed the Air Station Pod-01, and it’s more akin to a mobile living room than a traditional tent.

Exod Air Station Pod-01

$1,930 at Exod

$2,679 (28% off)

A Lightweight Home Away from Home

At the heart of the Pod-01 is an inflatable skeleton made utilizing the same technology and materials as kite-surf wings, which were chosen for their rigidity and ability to resist strong winds and water once inflated.

The shelter takes just five minutes to assemble with the included hand pump, and once set up, it offers a self-standing design with 4.2m² of floor space, which is enough room to sleep four people, according to Exod.

inflatable tent frame — The rigid inflatable frame is what makes Exod’s latest camping shelter special.

The roominess is increased by a number of hooks and storage pockets on the interior walls of the shelter, including a “wall organizer,” that allow you to hang your belongings up to create more floorspace in the capsule. This versatility makes the space more livable and, in turn, makes the Pod-01 ideal for longer excursions.

The exterior of the capsule has two tunnel doors, a pair of windows and multiple ventilation points. All four walls can also be easily lifted up to create an open-air shelter.

Multiple wall storage solutions allow you to keep your gear off the floor. Exod

The entire spacious shelter conveniently fits into an easy-to-carry bag. Exod

The dual mesh doors offer a panoramic view of the outdoors, but you can also flip up the walls for even better vistas. Exod

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While incredibly rigid and durable when inflated — the Air Station is rated for all four seasons — the capsule is still lightweight and ultra-flexible when deflated. It weighs just 18.7 lbs and can be disassembled by one person in five minutes, including the time it takes to stuff it into the included 25 x 35 x 64cm carrying backpack.

Having such a stable and spacious shelter that’s also easy to assemble and transport is a potential game-changer for serious campers, but such ingenuity doesn’t come cheap.

The Exod Air Station Pod-01, which comes in black or white, is available now to pre-order from the brand at the discounted rate of $1,930, but if you wait until the pre-sale ends that price skyrockets to an eye-watering $2,679.

At that point, you’re looking at nearly three grand for what is basically a fancy tent. But hey, you’ll be pretty much guaranteed to have the coolest tent at the campsite.