Big Agnes Emerald Mountain SL1 Super Light Tent: 1-person 3-Season - 2008 BCS

I have slept in a lot of different tents, Eureka, Kelty, Bibler, BD, MH, canvas wall tents, walrus, MSR, etc. and this is what I chose to purchase as my first tent. It is similar design to a MSR Hubba with a few tweaks that make it better. and it is long enough inside to use with my extra-long BA sleeping bag. I slept in two nights of pouring rain with the feet and head of my sleeping bag rubbing all over the insides of the tent and woke up with no moisture at all inside the tent or on my sleeping bag.

I've been sleeping in "coffin" tents for quite some time where my arms would hit the side walls every time I'd turn during the night. The feature I like best about the BA EM SL1 is the interior roominess. At 6'3" I not only have plenty of head & foot room but also an extra 22" of upper body room due to the way the floor is tapered. Sitting up straight & not touching my head on the ceiling is nothing short of glorious. This creates a wonderful environment while waiting out storms. The more than generous vestibule accommodates my backpack, boots, dog, etc. Very substantial pole/hub system. Change out the aluminum stakes for lighter weight titanium. The few extra ounces this tent weighs more than makes up for the overall comfort you will experience!

I recently purchased this tent because I was sick of carrying around TNF's heavy Rock 22. My choices were The Big Agnes Emerald Mountain, the BA Seedhouse, the MSR Hubba, or the Hilleberg Akto (which is 4 season but very expensive). I went for the Emerald Mountain for the weight, space, and price. I actually picked it up for $170 so it was a no brainer...

This tent is roomy for 1 person and I was able to sleep next to my gear and pack and have ample room the only complaint is that the door sits on the floor when it's completely unzipped, but that's a minor issue as I never keep the door open for any reason. Oh ya, then there's that issue with the 8 stakes it takes to set up the tent and fly.

Water! While in Yosemite, we had a bit of a storm and I woke up with my tent in a 2 inch puddle of water. Was I wet? No Way! It was fantastic. The tent floor basically acted like a cold waterbed and nothing leaked at all. Vents were open so condensation was little to none and my pack and all my gear remained dry. Also the vestible was very roomy for my pack, shoes, and poles, but I decided to bring them in just in case of muddy ground. Glad I did!

This tent stuffs down pretty well too. Lightweight and quick to set up, it's a great tent for ultralight backpacking and I can't wait to test it in snow and a more hairy storm.

This is a great tent.

I looked high and low for "the perfect tent" for backpacking in moderate weather and this one is it, as far as I am concerned.

It is very well constructed and light. I made the mistake of not rigging this in my backyard before taking out camping for the first time, and I have to admit, it took four adult scouters to figure out how to put it up in the dark! But once done, this is an easy one-man tent and not hard to put up once you figure out the geometry.

In terms of space, like all tents, it seems larger from the inside than out, but I'm 6'1" and I would not recommend this tent for folks who are 6'3" or taller. The vestibule (sold separately) is not heavy and well worth the effort to bring along. In a pinch you have enough room in the vestibule for another camper and gear. The vestibule does not come with a footprint/tarp, but easy enough to use a poncho spread on the ground in the vestibule to keep things dry. The tent does not have installed gear pockets (no big deal) and I would not recommend buying the gear loft (reduces headroom). Speaking of which, I was able to sit up in this tent with plenty of headroom.

Ventilation is really good with excellent cross flow that can be regulated if necessary. While I have not camped out with it in a downpour, this looks like a very waterproof tent, and I would not hesitate to take it in foul weather.

The tent pegs are awesome: I beat on them to drive them into rocky soli once, and they didn't bend or get dinged up -- most impressive! I did get the footprtint (good value).

Like I said -- great value abd a great tent. I have found exactly what I wanted.

I used this tent on a 21-day, self-contained bicycle trip. The weather was cool and somewhat damp and the tent endured several rain storms (one with a period of rather heavy rain) but the tent never showed any signs of leakage and interior condensation was not a problem. I am 6'3" tall and I found that I could sit up in the tent without rubbing my head on the ceiling. There is a LOT of mesh on the tent body and, on brezzy nights, I could feel cold air coming under the rain fly and into the tent. The stakes that Big Agnes provided were the best that I've ever seen. It goes up quickly and the vestibule was large enough to store all of my gear. My only real complaint with this tent is that, although Big Agnes advertises it as being 90-inches long, it's really more like 84-inches. If I stretched out, I would tend to brush up against the end-walls of the tent. However, since I seldom actually sleep like that, it wasn't a real concern.

I recently took this tent to Colorado for the Maroon Bells 4 pass loop. It rained, snowed, hailed or sleeted on us everyday. No problem, stayed dry. I am 6'4" and there is no room to spare in this tent, but it was adequately comfortable. No room for a pack or anything else in the tent with you except for necessary sleep clothing, flashlight etc. The vestibule is fairly small, but adequate for pack and wet boots. In short, this is a minimalist tent that worked very well for packing light and staying dry without any excess. Also, setup is easy once you've done it a time or two. Repacking is just as easy and it packs down well.

I bought this tent after a lot of research. I was really looking for the most amount of space and the littlest weight and for that... this tent delivers.

I would feel comfortable sleeping cozily next to another person in this tent but there's not really enough space in the vestibule for 2 packs and boots

My only issue with this tent is the door. I'm sure it would work fine for some people, but i tend to be super picky when it comes to functionality. I like to be able to sit up in bed and unzip with one hand but for some reason the way the zipper is aligned, I have to use two hands which is kind of annoying when i'm trying to sit up at the same time.

i have used this tent twice so far, both on two day backpacking trips in cold but mostly dry weather.
WEIGHT: it is THE lightest weight one human tent that i have found.
SPACE: i am 5' 1" and fit in this tent with my 3,000 cubic inch pack & my beagle, and had just a little space to spare. PACKED SIZE: good size to be able to fit inside or outside a pack.
WATER TEST: didn't get the chance to test it in the rain... just a few sprinkles, so can't say if it keeps the H2O out.
DOORS: the tent entry is big and its a side door instead of a front door BUT when unzipped, it sits on the floor instead of to the side, so you end up stepping on it.
VESTIBULE SPACE: there are several inches between the vestibule and the ground, enough space for rain to get in if coming down at an angle, so i wouldn't trust putting stuff right up against the vestibule wall.
OTHER: they make a footprint for this tent.
OVERALL: good tent for what's out there now in the ultralight one person tent category.