Lightweight 2 Person Tent

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oldhikerQ
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Lightweight 2 Person Tent

Post by oldhikerQ »

My lightweight 2 person tent (named after some insect and a small river) self destructed on my recent trip. After removing the fly and pole set during an especially windy morning, the wind got under one of the rear corners of the tent, which was still staked, lifted up said corner and hurled the tent at the 4 remaining stakes. The good news was that the rear center stake held. The bad news was that the fabric did not. The gust pulled the reinforcing tab from the tent body. Said tab held solidly to the floor of the tent, tearing a 1" wide strip about 16 inches long out of the center of the floor. i repaired the damage with duct tape at the next camp and did a crude sewing job to reattach the reinforcing tab. The tent is on its way to its home (somewhere in Colorado) for their assessment of the damages. If the verdict is not a warranty claim, i'm done with said vendor.
With that in mind, does anyone have a recommendation for a lightweight (less than about 3 pounds) 2 person tent that is Sierra wind worthy? Like at or above treeline wind worthy? Prefer a real tent, with mosquito netting and poles, so tarp tents are out. In my old age, i don't want a 1 person tent, unless it has some room for my clothing stuff sacks inside.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Signed,
Tentless in the OC
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
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The Other Tom
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Re: Lightweight 2 Person Tent

Post by The Other Tom »

Have you looked at Zpacks duplex? I don't have one (I use a tarp tent double rainbow) but I've heard/read good things about the Zapcks. Pricey though.
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freestone
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Re: Lightweight 2 Person Tent

Post by freestone »

Okay, I will tell you what has been working for this old guy who just finished 7 days above 11,500 and who places a lot of emphasis on reliably staying warm and dry. BA Fly Creek 2 Platinum. It's really a spacious 1 man tent, front entry, which lots of folks hate but I've been okay with it for at least 5 years now. And get the MtnGlo lights, flip the switch, take your pills, make the midnight star-check run then lights out. Sweet.
Short cuts make long delays. JRR Tolkien
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mrphil
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Re: Lightweight 2 Person Tent

Post by mrphil »

What about the Nemos? They're putting out some really nice, roomy and well engineered UL tents: the one named after a fire, the one named after a flying insect of a different order than the one you have now, or the one named after a pointy double-edged knife.

They have poles and stakes and guy lines, and other stuff.
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oldhikerQ
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Re: Lightweight 2 Person Tent

Post by oldhikerQ »

My tent was the non precious metal version of what freestone uses.
Coincidentally, another member of our aged group also has one of these tents. His reinforcing tab for the rear pole grommet also separated from the tent body that day after mine did. Fortunately for him, it did not tear a 16 inch wide cooling slot in his floor when it let go.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
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oldhikerQ
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Re: Lightweight 2 Person Tent

Post by oldhikerQ »

mrphil,
i have started looking at Nemo tents (the bladey one) as well as the Mountain Hardwear Ghost series. Trying to find out what peoples experience is in the Sierra, as most of the reviews deal with performance in the forests of the mid continent.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
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mrphil
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Re: Lightweight 2 Person Tent

Post by mrphil »

I can't speak from experience on their UL models, but I ended up buying a Galaxi 2p to use as a beater for myself and the kids. The older version. I ended up buying a second because it was just a really good tent. It was a real tank in every way (some really good in the way of performance, some not in the case of weight, but for $200 in my case, it's exceeded my expectations completely), but they also put a lot of thought into it in terms of construction and design features. I've made a few weight saving modifications to it in the way of lighter poles, stakes, and guy lines (down to just under 5lbs packed weight), but even with its higher weight, if I'm on a shorter trip or can split the load down between us, I'll still carry it without hesitation, always being willing to carry a bit more tent weight if it means one that holds up and does it's job well when I need it to. I've got too many lightweight 1-3p tents to run out to buy a new one right now, but I've come away really impressed with what I've seen so far in their obvious attention to details and quality of product. If I was in the market, their stuff would be a serious sub $400-500 contender that would probably be at the top of my list to start. And Nemo is still a relatively small and somewhat unknown company with lots of big competition, and I guess a name to still make for themselves, so resting on their laurels doesn't strike me as where they're at, yet.

If you're still undecided, just order a few different tents online, get them, set them up and check them out, return the ones that don't make the cut for a little bit of return shipping cost. All the big retailers that would end up as links if I were to post them get where you're at and are really good about the whole thing.
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bobby49
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Re: Lightweight 2 Person Tent

Post by bobby49 »

In the old days, a tent manufacturer would mount a large sheet of plywood on the back of a pickup truck. Then they would erect the tent to be tested onto the plywood. The truck would then drive down the highway at various speeds, so they could accurately measure how much wind speed it took to start destructing the tent.
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freestone
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Re: Lightweight 2 Person Tent

Post by freestone »

oldhikerQ wrote: Thu Sep 20, 2018 2:31 pm My tent was the non precious metal version of what freestone uses.
Coincidentally, another member of our aged group also has one of these tents. His reinforcing tab for the rear pole grommet also separated from the tent body that day after mine did. Fortunately for him, it did not tear a 16 inch wide cooling slot in his floor when it let go.
What did the manufacturer have to say about that?? :eek:
Short cuts make long delays. JRR Tolkien
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mrphil
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Re: Lightweight 2 Person Tent

Post by mrphil »

freestone wrote: Thu Sep 20, 2018 6:45 pm What did the manufacturer have to say about that??
I would bet that they immediately go/went to user error in not setting enough guy lines for the conditions, and if it happened to a second tent, it would just seem to support their beliefs. That's a conversation I've already had with the manufacturer Q is talking about. My fly was in tatters, and they only offered to send me a used demo for $90 or a new one for a lot more. I paid, and then bought a big roll of reflective cord and tensioners to go with it. YMMV
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