Black Diamond Mirage 2-Person 3-Season Tent

I needed a lightweight tent for high altitude adventures that would fit myself, my dog, and my gear. In a newer, thought out design. This tent could not fit the bill more. Not only does it have these really cool hubs that help set it up extra fast but it also has that added vestibule area that is just perfect for housing your gear. Or your dog if he is too dirty to come inside. And it doesn't even weigh 4lbs. Replace the steel tent spikes it comes with for some MSR or Bibler titanium ones and you will even lose some more weight. Oh, did I mention all 3 poles are connected, all the time, even when you stash them. Doesn't that kinda mean it is more like 1 pole? Considering you cannot take it apart into 3 pieces. But yes, the tent poles are already connected to make setup even more intuitive. This is by far the best tent for that purpose on the market. And it looks cool too. If you are just buying it because you like the way it looks then it will probably piss you off but hey, that's not really my problem. 5 stars! What is wrong with this tent? I set the fly up correctly and had no problems stuffing all the gear out of my pack in the vestibule, plus my pack, as well as some misc. items with room to spare. My 120lb dog and myself fit fine inside the tent, and Im sure there was room for another person. If you want elbow room for 2 people you should always get a 3 person tent. The door is actually quite large for any alpine oriented tent designed lower than usual to handle high wind, and I especially had no problems getting in or out of the tent seeing it was a once piece mesh door. Most of my other tents like Bibler tents have 2 doors to unzip before you get out and you should see how tiny those doors are! Overall, there is no design problem with this tent. The style of the tent dictates that it's not going to be ideal for some huge guy car camping. I'm surprised this tent does not have more 5 star ratings. I'm sure when people see my review they may give this tent another look. Unless of course you are not into 1 person 5 star luxury :)

As ultralight tents go, the Mirage is a nice tent. The materials are great, and quality appears to be high; however, it is not up to the design expectations of any tent in this price range. The most surprising information is the interior floor space is 26.5 sq ft, not the 30 sq ft every site in the world advertises. That makes the tent a very tight fit for two normal adults. Two 6 footers might have room for one pair of boots in the tent with them. The single door is a nice size, but with the fly/vestibule set up, the tent door and vestibule door are mere inches apart, and the usable space of the 10sq ft vestibule is mostly out of reach from the door. The vestibule is large enough for a couple pairs of boots and a pack, or two small packs, if you can reach around to get them there. I have not used the tent in rainy weather, but can tell it would be fraught with problems. If rain is coming down, water will get in the tent if anyone enters or exits, and even the small side access to the vestibule would make it difficult to get stuff in and out of packs. Anything in the vestibule will probably get wet if needed when it is raining. The fly vents are a nice touch, but cannot be closed, so great ventilation will happen at any temperature. As a two man tent the Mirage is very disappointing mainly because of the practically unusable vestibule. There are lighter, bigger, better designs available for less money. As a one man shelter it would be adequate (though heavy), though would still be iffy in rainy weather. In fair weather camping, this would be a decent tent. Personally, I would rather have one of the several currently available roomier tents with better design that weighs about the same.