Reviews > Shelters > Tents > Marmot Swallow > Marmot Swallow Tent Owner Review

I live in the San Francisco Bay area of California, and work as a technical consultant for a large software company. I split from the Bay Area every weekend and head to one of the many beautiful places California has to offer. Unfortunately, due to job restrictions, my trips are usually 2-3 day weekends and not longer, but it is very rare that I do not spend my weekend out running around somewhere in the mountains. I have been an outdoors addict for approximately 3 years and backpacking for about 2, so I can be classified as a beginner/intermediate. Some of my favorite outdoor activities include hiking, backpacking, and snowshoeing. I have previous experience with writing reviews, since I used to work for REI and did gear testing for them.

Marmot has a line of tents which they call ‘Extended Use’ 3+ season tents. These are convertible tents intended for use year round in average climates, which may occasionally include harsh winter conditions to sweltering hot summer conditions. The entire Extended Use line features stronger pole structures to withstand stormy weather, and zip panels that increase ventilation while keeping out unwanted wind and weather. Each tent is made up of a body with a separate fly, as well as an optional ground sheet. This line includes the Swallow, a roomy and comfortable 2-person tent.

This tent has been all over the state of California in all seasons, from the desert to the mountains. It has been through rain, wind, snow and sun.

I bought the Marmot Swallow in December of 2000 after reading a very positive review of it in Backpacker magazine. My husband and I were searching for an upgrade from his boy scout-era Eureka tent, which was suffocating and small. Our basic criteria were that we find a tent with more room (not a difficult task) that would function as a year-round shelter (a slightly more difficult chore). We chose a few tents that looked promising based on reviews and began our research. The local outdoors store was featuring the Marmot Swallow at a great price, so I stopped by the store one evening to try it out. There wasn’t one on display, so an employee went and grabbed one from the storeroom. Although neither of us had ever set up this actual tent, we had the body up in seconds. The ease of setup is listed in my ‘Pros’ list below. I loved everything about the Swallow on that first setup, and walked out a few minutes later with a brand new tent!

The manufacturer’s website provides the following details about the Swallow, which I would like to include here as they are useful facts for understanding my likes and dislikes about the tent:

First of all, I would like to spend a few paragraphs praising this tent, and then I’ll get to the nitpicky complaints.

The two criteria I had when buying this tent have been met, and have even exceeded my expectations and desires. Its spaciousness is beyond what I thought I would get in a two-person tent. Two people can sleep comfortably side-by-side, with plenty of room by the head, feet, and walls to store flashlights, extra clothes, shoes, and anything else you may want to stash in your tent with you. In fact, a third person could probably squeeze in if there was an emergency. The ceiling height is enough that two of us can sit up comfortably and play cards. The large interior also makes setting up sleeping gear a breeze. I can unroll and inflate a Thermarest and spread out a sleeping bag without contorting myself into weird positions, which I really appreciate after a day of hiking. Also related to this ease of sleep-stuff-setup is the large double D-shaped door. This door has various opening combinations, where you can have a small opening in case of bad weather, or take down almost an entire tent wall for ease of access.

The slightly more complicated criteria, year-round use, is met perfectly in this tent. So far, it has withstood rain, snow, sleet, wind, and sun. I have yet to test it in extreme conditions, but I am confident from its performance so far that it will keep me safe and dry. It is versatile enough to be modified to fit expected trip conditions. For example, on a hot, non-buggy trip last summer, we carried the fly and groundsheet to use as shelter and left the tent body at home. The body could also be used alone in hot conditions where bugs may be more of an issue. The fly provides excellent protection from the elements, especially since it reaches almost to the ground. Air circulates when the vents are opened, and it has only felt stuffy on late mornings when the sun was beating down on the tent.

I got a lot of bonus features out of this tent that were never requirements for purchase. The tent seems very durable. I’ve set it up on all sorts of ground, including volcanic rocks (ooh sharp!), and the desert floor. I’ve stretched it and poked it and tripped over it and it has never torn or stretched. Also a great feature of this tent is the abundance of interior pockets. Marmot advertises that the burrito stuff sack can be clipped to the inside of the tent as an additional pocket, but there is no reason it should be needed. Other interior features include ceiling loops for clotheslines or lanterns, and the ‘no jingle’ zipper pulls, which help when one person gets out in the middle of the night to take care of business – it’s one less thing to wake up the other sleeper.

On first glance, the colors of the tent seemed rather odd. The body is eggplant, red, and dark yellow. However, when first waking up and opening my eyes early in the morning, these colors are incredibly soothing and never harsh, no matter how bright the sun is shining down on the tent. I’ve really grown to enjoy the colors, especially when trying to pick out my tent when it’s hiding in the woods; the yellow color of the fly sticks out from the trees and underbrush.

The last great feature I would like to mention about this tent is the ease of setup. Within seconds, I can have the footprint on the ground, the tent body spread out on top, and the two main poles pushed through the mesh sleeve that holds the poles to the body. The poles snap in to the corners, and they bend easily enough for one person to lift the tent up, although it is easier with two. A third pole wraps from the sides around the front, providing some lift to the ceiling and stability. This pole doesn’t pass through a sleeve, but is snapped onto the body with little clips. When the body is set up, the fly can easily be thrown over the top, and then buckles in to the body or groundsheet. The body and fly are freestanding, but the vestibule requires staking, and each corner can be also staked if the weather or terrain requires it.

Now, the not so great stuff…

The biggest drawback that this tent has is its weight. At 7 lbs 13 oz (manufacturer’s weight), it’s too much for one person to carry. At least, that’s what I think. My husband does not seem to mind packing the whole thing in to his pack, but it would be easier if the tent parts were split between two people. This is not a good tent for a lightweight backpacker, unless you want a good car camping tent. And, as mentioned above, depending on the conditions you do not necessarily need to use the whole tent.

Another feature that I dislike about this tent is that access is only on one side. If the person sleeping on the far side of the tent gets in last, they have to crawl over the other person. Of course, this can be awkward when you need to take care of business late at night. I believe that this has been addressed with the current model – I have read that Marmot has added another door, but I am not sure where on the tent it is located.

Because the tent did not come with any guy lines, we bought some yellow Kelty reflective spectra for ventilation, the vestibule, and extra stability in windy weather. This string is pricey, but it helps me pick out the tent at night and not trip over any support lines.

The tent has a nice mesh window for stargazing, but when the fly is attached the window is useless since the fly covers the view. There are two small windows in the vestibule area of the fly, but it isn’t really enough to see through. I wish Marmot had considered the window placement a little more carefully when they designed this tent.

We’ve experienced a few trips where the condensation has been more than I would have expected or liked. In fact, it’s been soaked on occasion. It’s possible we did not vent the tent very well, but this is a problem I’m keeping my eye on in the future. I’ll experiment with nighttime venting and see what the best setup is.

Lastly, I had tremendous problems locating a ground sheet for this tent. When I bought this tent, the store had no ground sheets in stock. I thought it wouldn’t be a problem – I’d just pick one up at REI, or order one from Marmot. I ended up spending months trying to track one down. Marmot was not shipping new Swallow tents or groundsheets, and stores were out of the ones they had (thanks to the Backpacker magazine review). Luckily, during my employment at REI I was able to keep an eye on their internal inventory. Someone returned a Swallow tent and groundsheet to the mail order distribution center one day, so I ordered the groundsheet immediately. I was told from various sources that Marmot was discontinuing the tent, but I now believe it was on a temporary hold while they did some redesign (see the extra door four paragraphs up). Hopefully it is now available and easy to find once again, because I am recommending this tent to a lot of people!

Reviews > Shelters > Tents > Marmot Swallow > Marmot Swallow Tent Owner Review