Marmot - Tungsten 2P UL Tent

I have now used this tent four times along with a multiple times practicing set up and take down in the backyard in preparation for a backpacking trip. Set up is incredibly easy and fast. The larger vestibule must be on the same side as the Marmot logo for the rainfly to fit correctly. Had it opposite this past weekend and the one side would not get taut no matter what I did. Flipped it the next day and all sides were then taut. Apparently I was just lucky the other times during setup. Already bent one of the stakes but am able to straighten it. If you're setting up in a rocky area, it happens. The plastic piece holding the two poles together could probably break easily as one reviewer experienced but just be gentle and you should not have a problem. Getting out of this small tent can be tricky and have since figured out backing out is easier for me. The vestibules are different sizes but both keep a pack and shoes/boots covered from the elements. Two people in this tent will be TIGHT but I'll give up space for less weight. You are just sleeping in it. The rainfly does not touch the mesh without any additional guylines. There are loops on each corner midway up if additional guylines are wanted. The mesh does seem to have separated/widened in a few areas but am not concerned right now. The poles are just a bit too long to fit in my 36L pack so I'll be storing them in the side outside pocket. It has one small triangular "pocket" on a top corner and a headlamp fits perfectly there to light up the tent. There is a larger pocket in a bottom corner to hold other lightweight items.

I was in the market for a new 2 person tent, and decided to order this tent over the Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2. Here's why:

I bought this tent after trying dozens of tents, and I think I finally found the one I was looking for. It has the most headroom and the widest floor space for the weight and also a vent, which the Nemo Dagger didn't. The only downsides? The second vestibule is kind of small, not good for more than boots or cooking gear, or maybe a smaller pack. That being said the vestibules only requires one stake unlike the Nemo Dagger or Quarter Dome which require two.

This tent failed my backyard test. I tried everything I could think of to keep the rainfly off of the tent body. This guarantees that the inevitable condensation will drip in to the tent. Maybe my rainfly was just cut incorrectly.

Just got back from a 9 day backpacking trip over the Chilkoot Trail and surrounding area. I'm a big guy (6 foot 7) and was using the tent as a solo shelter. For the first few days the tent was great. Room for me, not too heavy, I relay liked this tent. As the days wore on the mesh started to show stretch marks particularly around the doors. I was only using the door with the large vestibule, but both sides where stretching. Not a big deal but the tent had only been used for 4 days. The day we crossed over the pass into Canada a storm hit. We found ourselves in gale force conditions. Winds gusting to 40 mph and heavy rain. I pitched the tent on an elevated wooden platform with the narrow end pointed into the wind. The vent was facing 180 deg to the wind, and all the guide lines secured to the platform and the Velcro tabs on the underside of the fly warped around the poles. The tent withstood the wind really well. It never collapsed or flattened, and I never had to leave the tent to make any adjustments. The rain however was just being pushed through the fly and into the tent. The fly became saturated almost instantly. There is no way to guy out the ends of the rain-fly so it was being pushed directly against the mesh wall of the tent. This allowed water to soak through into the tent. In the morning the entire inside of the tent was wet with big drops of water clinging to the mesh and standing water on the floor of the tent. Also there was a lot of air movement inside the tent. I attributed this to all the mesh and the wind getting under the fly. The next night we where still fighting rain and wind although the wind was now only gusting to 25 mph. I pitched the tent on the ground with the small vestibule pointed into the wind. This slowed down the intake of new water into the tent, but the airflow inside the tent was worse.The third day the wind was all but gone but we had a steady rain all night. I woke to find big drops of water clinging to the mesh and occasionally falling on me. An entrusting note is that others in my group where using the Tungsten 3p (non ul) version of the tent and where able to stay dry.

I bought this to be my tent on the JMT... this is the lightest, 2p tent I own. It's beautiful and seems well constructed.

I've had this tent for about a year now, and its doing great. This is one of those tents that can actually hold the advertised number of people! My wife and I are not small people, and it fits us just fine.

Prior to purchasing this tent my wife and I were using the older REI Half Dome 2 plus (I believe it was 6.5lbs and the new one is lighter). We loved that tent and had no complaints. It’s a great budget tent that is roomy! However, we wanted to start cutting weight as we began backpacking more and further. (This is only our second year). So we decided to try this me! We chose this tent because of the thickness of material. Athough there are lighter tents, they have lighter/thinner material. We travel with two dogs and worried about going to light with some of the tents in the 2-2.5lb range. Having dropped nearly 3 pounds we are extremely happy with this tent! We have used in on the Lost Coast Trail and in the Sierra Nevadas and are very happy. This past week we used it in some pretty high winds and it held up great. We were tired and lazy and did the bear minimum go stake it and it was just fine! So far! We love this tent! No complaints!