"Limelight 3" - Review of Marmot Limelight 3-Person Tent w/ Footprint and Gear Loft

The Marmot Limelight packs a bit long (22") because of the poles. But, they could be rolled up in your sleeping pad. It's easy and fast to set up and spacious for two - roughly the size of a queen sized bed. Three could fit, but I'd opt for head to feet for the middle person. At 6'2" I fit very nicely. It has somewhat less mesh netting than some of the other tents I looked at and this gives the overall impression of being "sturdier" while still being very well vented. There are two zipped entrances, two vestibules and four interior mesh gear pockets. The vestibules each have a clear silicone-like window. I'm wondering how that will hold up over time. I like the two entrances and look forward to not being stepped over in the middle of the night. It comes with a footprint and an additional gear loft. There are two main aluminum poles that set up the dome and an additional short "spreader" pole which makes the tent seem much "roomier". There are no sleeves for the poles - it uses all clips. The floor has one seam in the middle but it appears to be well taped. It can be set up using just the footprint and fly, leaving the tent body behind for a significant weight savings. Though I'm not sure how you would use the "spreader" pole in that configuration as the spreader pole fits into pockets in the tent body. The footprint has it's own adjustable fastclips (as does the tent body) for attaching the corners of the fly. The two main poles were attached to each other with a rubber piece where they cross. The rubber piece reminded me of silicone. Not sure how well this will hold up but it seems easy to replace with a bit of paracord or even a heavy rubber band. The color is not bad, being a combination of red and "pumpkin" - the colors are somewhat "muted" and not as bright as I first thought they would be. Included were tent, footprint, fly, poles, 10 stakes, 1 short aluminum tube that I think is a stake puller, 4 fly tiedown lines and tensioners, 1 gear loft and 3 stuff sacks. Not much instructions included but setup was pretty intuitive. I love that the footprint is included.
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