super solid, maybe not perfect

By Anonymous Ranked #553 - 4-Season Tents January 28, 2008

i've had the tent for about 3 years now, used it from winter in the sierras to summer in colorado, and peru and alaska in the summer. the seam sealing is tricky, and i had to hit a couple spots that leaked a bit after the first go, but overall not that bad. there is condensation, but it's really not all that bad most of the time when the humidity is down outside. when it's humid out (raining, etc), then like anything, it doesn't breath as well, and the walls can be fairly wet/frosty in the morning, but this would happen with anything that doesn't straight up dehumidify the air. on the other hand, it kept everything almost totally dry for a couple weeks of rain in alaska with some care to help keep the water out, and snow camping with some wind with the vents cracked usually means the inside is bone dry in the morning. one night in a friend's 4 season double wall with 2 feet of blowing snow convinced me single wall is the way to go, as with a fly (even without mesh on the inside) the snow just blew underneath it and melted through. also nice at breakfast after a windy night to hear the people in the tent a few feet away talk about how they spent the entire night holding the tent together, and say, hey, what wind? if the vestibules are staked out tight, i've hardly even noticed 50+ mph wind. the only durability issue i've had was the interior spreader pole pockets coming unglued last summer, but sent it in the Black Diamond and they sewed them back on and it's good to go again. personally, i don't think the complaints about condensation are really merited, since the only times it gets bad is when it's going to be bad regardless of what you have, since if you hit the dew point, you're going to have dew/frost whether you're in a tent or outside, and i figure it's a benefit when i can determine that the water inside is all condensation, instead of just leak-through like previous tents i've had. as my friend said this past weekend backcountry skiing the eastside, he got to stay in the "best tent ever"

View Details: Black Diamond Tempest Tent: 2-Person 4-Season

Helpful Votes: 0 Yes