Mountainhardwear Thru-Hiker
3 Season Tent

I’ve been spending as much time outdoors as possible for as long as I can remember. I tend to gravitate towards all manner of outdoor recreation with hiking, camping, backpacking, and mountain biking topping off the list. I’ve been camping all my life, summer vacation as a kid was a weeks worth of car camping at the beach.  Friends of my parents used to take us hiking in the mountains with an occasional overnight trip. Since then I’ve been hooked. I’ll hike or camp in any weather, in any season. That can range from 10 below zero in the snow to 100 plus heat. That’s the beauty of living in New England. I also have a gear addiction. I need gear. All Kinds, any kind.

The tents official weight is 5 lbs 3 oz. I believe it to be pretty close to that, though I haven’t weighed it myself. When backpacking with it, it usually gets split between the two people that will be using it, so you’re probably carrying about 2.5 lbs. Interior size is 27.5 sq. ft. and the vestibule adds another 9 sq. ft. At it’s widest it’s 52” and 47.5” at it’s tallest (exterior) and 42” tall at the interior. Overall it’s 89.5” long, plus 39 for the vestibule.

Set up is extremely easy. With only four Easton Aluminum poles, all color coded to matching tabs on the tent, and pre-bent for their respective locations. When setting up the tent, the pole tips lock neatly into the metal grommet of the tabs and the tent is then raised by hanging small hooks onto the poles. At every pole intersection, a larger hook will accommodate both poles. And, voila! You’re done. All in all, set up time is less than 10 minutes. I can do it in the dark, in the rain, in about 10 minutes, or less. Now, for the fly, that’s just as easy. Unroll the fly over the poles, and clip the tabs to the D-rings on the tent. Then, all that’s left is to tension the fly with the straps, and stake the vestibule.

Now, one drawback is since this is a three-season tent, it only has a mesh door. No solid door. And mesh ceiling panels, two mesh side panels, and a mesh foot area. So, if there’s even a small threat of rain, you need the fly. With the fly on, though, I’ve never had it get stuffy, or humid. The vestibule door rolls and clips to stay open, and there’s a zipper at the foot area to roll up the rear portion of the fly to expose the mesh panels at the end to give you a nice cross breeze, without getting out of your tent. And if it does rain, you can stay in your tent while you pull the fly down, which is always nice.

Another possible drawback is its size. I, personally, love it. My wife hates it. HATES IT! Now, she grew up car camping, in big dome tents, with blankets and air mattresses. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s a big switch. I’ve had this tent on a trip with another guy about my size and had no problems with room. Granted, there’s no room for gear inside the tent, but that’s what the vestibule is for.

A nice feature of this tent is it has Velcro tabs on the underside of the fly. The manual says that in warmer climes you can leave the tent at home, and with the fly, poles, and optional footprint, you can create a lightweight warm weather shelter. I’ll admit, I have not done this, as I have a phobia of all things creepy and crawly. But it is an option to those braver than I.

I’ve used this tent now for almost three years. I’ve taken it car camping and backpacking. Backpacking is with it is fine if you’re even if you carry the whole thing. Mountain Hardwear doesn’t make any claims as to the weight category of their 3-season tents, but this tent is about half a pound away from one of the “superlight” tents. So, if you split the tent with your partner, you may be able to get into the lightweight if not the ultra light category.

All in all, this tent is a great two person, three season, backpacking tent. This tent does exactly what it’s designed for. If this review left out some of the more technical aspects, I apologize. But if that’s what you’re after, check out the web site, it’s very detailed.