I just up graded to a MEC Apollo extended season for $400 cnd with a foot print included. Two doors and good vests. space. I use this for two adults and a infant. My two cents..

Mister_Bubble wrote on Jul 15^th, 2010 at 6:13pm:

Yep.  Stake the fly out good and tight.  It should drip a couple inches away from the edge of the tent, a few inches away from the ground sheet.

Quote:


That means your tent is working as designed.  

Ideally, you don't get condensation on the inner tent body - so you and your stuff stay dry. But you can always expect the outer layer to have condensation under it in the right conditions.

My husband and I spend an average  of 60 days a year in a tent, as we start our canoing at ice-off, our back-packing as soon as the trails are clear, and put our canoe away when the lakes freeze.  We needed to up-grade from a 2-man (MEC's Tarn 2) to a larger tent, as it was a tight squeeze to get the third party (our trusty springer spaniel) in as well.
We opted for the MEC "Apollo", a roomy 4.5 sq. metres, two vestibules and openings, and weights a scant 3.2 kg.  It packs down well, and the bag provided is a good size (the folded tent and fly fit in well.)  and doesn't take up too much room in either a back-pack or portage pack.
It is a dome style tent, aluminium poles, easy to set up, and does well in rain and wind.  The two vestibules give a lot of "gear space" as well.
Our only negative finding is that it did build up moisture under the fly  on one particularly cold, rainy night in the Rockies, but then our dog was pretty wet when he crawled in.  Other than that, it was a good choice.

We have arrived back home after 9 days in Quetico.  Many lakes and miles under our canoe bottoms.  My REI 4 person dome tent did well.  We took a total of four tents for eight people.  Two Northface 4 person domes, our REI 4 person dome and a solo for my son.  Our tent did the best out of all four. 

We had rain three times, heavy.  Our tent did well.  It was very inexpensive compared to some tents I looked at.  We are pleased with the gear we brought. 

We absolutely were thankful that we took a tarp and used it.  Rain at breakfast two mornings and we could still get out of the tent.  Our tarp made it possible. 

The footprint on our tent tends to be a pain.  I ordered it with the tent and it seems a bit too loose, but no water so it must work okay.

Good luck to all tent purchasers in the future.

I haven't tried the tarptent brand, but I've heard great things from those who have.

I don't use a tent.  I sleep under my tarp.  In cold & buggy seasons I have an OR Advanced Bivy.  Getting rid of my tent took 5+ lbs off my back not to mention the volume available in my pack.

Bump

Curious if anyone has tried these shelters yet?

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Thank you all for the advice on tents.  We now have a tarp, a friend who has been to the Boundary Waters came over tonight with his whole container of supplies and we went over all them, including lights and stoves to get a good idea of what we need and how much we will be taking with us.

Already, we need to downsize our load.

Thanks for listening!

I agree with Solotripper, I'd spend less on the tents, particularly if you are not likely to be using them a lot in the future.  A tarp is good to have and will let you get away from the tents to cook, or whatever, and still be under cover.  It is good for shade, rain, and also can make an effective wind break.  Remember plenty of rope.  An inexpensive poly tarp, or even Tyvek or plastic can work for the tarp; after all, you may not need it.
I have owned several Eureka tents of different models.  All seem to be very well built and the prices are reasonable.  All tents will degrade if left pitched in the sun for extended periods and eventually get fragile and may easily rip after several seasons.

I don't think you can get a whole lot lighter then this one in a 3 season tent? Ground cloth for sure. Any potential problems using it for a UL 2 person tent, or a 2 man model for a solo tent?
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An older model.
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We have used a 40 sq ft. and a 50 sq ft tent in the past. The 40 works fine, the 50 is a little nicer getting into when raining and not as confining. It is also almost twice as heavy then those 2 above.

Very good points already made, it seems you may give up something in the way of volume, features, or durability in exchange for weight savings?

BTW, the Marmot looks like a pretty good deal with a bunch of head room.