great solo tent for almost any situation

By Brian G. Sweeney Ranked #108 - Tents April 30, 2009

I have last years version but form what i can tell nothing has changed. the only real drawback here is the lack of a free-standing architecture - this makes pitching on a platform a pain in the neck but nothing some parachute cord and nearby trees cant solve. while not being especially light, it takes up very little room, so its great for solo trips where you want more than just a bivy.

the asymmetric design has a ton going for it! the internal nook leaves all the room that you need for some night time reading, a head lamp, toiletries and so on. the vestibule is just the right size for a pack and boots. some have complained that it is cramped in side, though i find it to be plenty spacious. i'm 6'1" and 175lbs, so not especially large but have found my self more than comfortable in it.

the stakes that it came with were the worst stakes ive ever seen, two of them bent immediately. the bottom of the barrel stakes that you can get in bins at REI are of greater quality. its non-freestanding design also requires a good number of them. not really a big deal imo thought minimalists may be irked.

this thing is extremely hearty! as a result of poor planning and waning daylight, i ended up pitching the thing at over 5000 feet on the presidential ridge of the white mountains. i tried to get in the lee of the terrain as best as possible, but i still got hammered with 50mph winds all night long. when i got up the next day you could have bounced a quarter off the fly. im considering using it as a winter tent in conjunction with a bivy sack since it seems pretty bombproof.

Update: A friend and I went camping over the 4th of July. The weather was rotten; punctuated by thunder, lightning driving rain and hail. We both have Sprites. I remained very comfortable all night long while my friend wound up soaked as condensation poured in on him all night. I theorize that one of two things happened to him: A) his whole fly is defective and useless, or B) he somehow didn't manage to get the fly taught enough to keep it off of the tent body. I suspect the 2nd option is the most likely. In my opinion getting both the tent body and the footprint if present as taught as possible before attempting to put the fly up is critical to avoiding this problem. Further compounding the issue is the fact that he used the 2007 model tent body and fly with a 2008 model footprint. Both the footprint and the tent body have the hardware required to pitch the fly, however part of me wonders if the 2008 footprint is not somehow just different enough to prevent the fly from sitting tightly over the hoops thus preventing condenstation. At this time, this is the only explanation I can think of given our otherwise identical equipment.

View Details: Mountain Hardwear Sprite 1 Tent: 1-Person 3-Season

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