The North Face Meso 22 Tent 2-Person 3-Season - 2009 BCS

All right, I've been curious about this tent for a while after being very happy with my TNF Mica 12, so I finally found it on sale and went for it.

Well, I just set it up and since there are so few reviews of it, I thought I'd give everyone the TRUTH. This tent is crazy light and small packed, it feels like a one person tent. But when I set it up... it looked about the size of a one person tent. Length is definitely adequate, but it is very very narrow.

The biggest issue is the far wall is very steep, like 45 degrees. Forget headroom on that side, there isn't even enough room to lie down. The two sleeping pads will be up against each wall and up right against eachother, filling the entire width. The person at the far end will be brushing up against the wall of the tent big time, or will most likely be hogging your side.

I am a minimalist and I say bah to the people who say tents are too small but this is the first time I really wonder how two people will fit in this. I think if ur buying this for just yourself you will have lots of room and it's great, but I have solo tents that I prefer.

Anyways, I am going to keep it. I think it's going to be a good ultralight minimalist tent for me and my girlfriend when we are packing extremely light and will be hiking all day and don't care if we are cramped at night just to sleep. I think the bottom line is this is the kind of tent where you and your partner are debating either bringing this tent or no tent at all.

And yes, the cheezy TNF slogan 10" high is the worst part about it!

I definitely consider myself a minimalist, and The North Face Meso 22 fits my needs just fine. Can be set up in two minutes, freestanding, rolls up really tight, doesn't require too much effort to squeeze into the stuff sack, and fits very nicely in my pack (Gregory Whitney 95). If you have a good sleeping bag, there's no reason this tent can't be used during winter hikes (keep it reasonable, I wouldn't use it in harsh snowstorms in an alpine environment). The Meso 22 is a reasonable size for a couple, although it would be fairly tight for any other two people. I highly recommend this tent for anyone who likes backpacking, light mountaineering, or just spending random nights outside.

I was a sleeping-under-the-stars sort of person but wanted to get a tent for bug protection. I love this one because if you use it without the rain fly you feel like you're really outside. It's super lightweight, packs down smaller than other tents I've seen, is a snap to assemble, and has a couple pockets inside. My boyfriend and I share this tent and feel like it's the perfect size (he's 5'8" and I'm 5'4"). It's cozy for a couple but probably not roomy enough for two tall friends. As for the asymmetrical walls sloping issue, I don't think it's really that noticeable but I'm short. The worst part of this tent is probably that it has TNF's cheesy slogan ("never stop exploring) fairly large on the rain fly.