Mountainsmith Morrison Tent

Not an hour after UPS dropped off my son's new pack Fedex showed up with our new tent. I had been looking around at various tents within my personal criteria of having a dimension more than 90", being freestanding and weighing less than 5 pounds.

I had resigned myself to having to spend at least $300 when I came across this tent. I could find no reviews about it anywhere so I didn't know what to expect. I bought it from e-bags.com (using the link from this site) and paid $127.something shipped. I ordered it Tuesday and it got here today.

I did a quick setup in the backyard and it looks like a pretty good tent. The instructions are printed on the stuff sack but it's not rocket surgery to set it up. There was plenty of room inside for me and both of my kids with room to spare for gear and/or a dog. It will likely be a couple of months before I can give it a real life try but so far I'm liking it.

Anything lighter was going to take me a long while before I could scratch up the money and this is still less than half the weight of my current tent.

Mountainsmith makes great stuff. I love my mountainsmith backpack.

Well at 4 pounds, heavy by my standards, but pretty good for two, and for the price sounds pretty good, - Mountainsmith has a good rep for quality gear - So I'd say you done good.. Hope it works well and you can get out in it - that's what matters.

I'm really looking forward to getting out with it. The next trip or two will be car camping so the bigger tent will be going but I'm planning a trip or two to some places not too far away. Anything lighter that was still big enough was way out of my price range. I'd always like lighter weight but I'm very happy with this one.

I had hoped to get out to the Guadalupe Mountains but not with gas prices where they are. There are several places within a couple of hours where we can do a couple nights here and there. No hikes more than a few miles but plenty to get the kids acclimated.

Mountainsmith stands behind there gear for life! Hence, it is built well. They repaired zipper on my pack for free and sent me a 25.00 off next purchase coupon for my trouble. Awsome , customer service. You did well, just not what most here would consider ultralite. Like Phat says, getting out is the most important. We all, and I included, get lighter in weight as our financial life allows us! I dropped ten pounds pack weight in a year for around 250.00 or so. More on the or so side! I try not to think about it!

Does the four pounds include the poles and pegs? If it does that doesn't sound too bad to me.

Howie

Total weight of the whole rig is 4lbs 11oz. That's with the tent, fly, poles, 8 stakes, gear loft, and 3 stuff sacks (pole, stake, tent). It's 92"x56" and 42"high.

Almost tempted to get that and use it instead of my golite Eden II

Sorry, 3 seperate stuffsacks, you say? Do they all combine into one, larger stuffsack? If so, what are the dimensions of the final stuffsack?

Or if they must be carried seperately, what are the dimensions of the three individual sacks?

I am trying to decide on a two person tent for myself and my girlfriend, but my biggest concern is packed dimensions, as I'm having trouble fitting everything I want to bring in/on my backpack

There is a separate stuff sack for the stakes and a sack for the poles. It all goes in the main sack for the whole rig. The specs claim 18x7.5 inch packed dimension. That sounds about right.

All the plans I had for the spring have been shot down one by one by other stuff happening. I'm hoping to get out for an overnighter with the kids in the middle of next month (just in time for super hot weather).

I recently bought the near identical tent except it is the 4 man Mountainsmith Genesse version. When buying camping gear, there is a desire for really high quality, really low weight & cheap pricing. As most realize you usually can have 2 out of 3 or have to have a compromises of the three. (It is very difficult if not expensive to not sacrifice strength for lightness without paying a price.) To me these tents were the closest I could get in a tent to having all three with all the features I was looking for. I will also tell you, that before buying, I looked for a couple of months at nearly every tent out there & went to every outdoor store in a 75 mile radius (SLC, UT) and that I was also willing to spend more but obviously preferred not to if I didn’t have to. When all was said & done, I am not a hard core trekker any more…haven’t honestly been in years..and felt this tent was it!

The short of it is after using it three times already, I feel this tent meets all my needs & I couldn’t justify spending more for perceived needs or additional gains. One thing I really love is Mountainsmith's bang for the buck approach to gear. Next, I will almost guarantee you can not get more features & quality for the money spent. I LOVE the quality of poles & stakes. I love the SR buckles & grommet designs. I love the hook/clip design for attaching poles rather than the stupid sleeves on cheap tents. I like how the reflective strings have the quick adjust locks…that stay put. Lots of interior pocket storage as well as a loft storage. Large two doors are awesome with large windows on each door, none elsewhere though…closable vents help though. They have FULL flys and a pretty decent 2 vestibule two door design. (Mine is 18 sq ft vs the Morrison’s 14.) These are all features I was looking for. They are considered 3 season only for the simple reason they are not fully stand alone….but they are fully at least $200 less than tents that are & of equal quality or weight. That said, I will not hesitate to snow camp with it…just may have to improvise the string attachments and dispense with stakes. ;-) While yes they are not the lightest, I think that this is a great balance to weight, features & costs. To me, it is probably the best tent I have used in the past 25 years...especially for the price paid. I got it on sale for the awesome price of $129 two months ago ($136 with tax) and have used it 3 times. Once in 30-35 MPH (?) winds, a night in nice 60 deg calm & dry night & then last weekend in the rain. I really can't ask for more besides less weight. LOL It is 6 lbs 5 oz. Even that is not to bad if split at lest two ways.

OK, a bit more detail…the first night I used it, it was a really windy night (30-35 MPH? 37 degrees), it held up great and firm all night as the wind howled like a banshee! It never moved at all nor did any of its cool stakes. About 4 am though, I had to get up and help put back together two of my Scouts tents with their "parachute" fly's. Then last weekend it probably rained for a couple of hours through the night. We did not get a drop of rain in the tent. Next morning the fly was a little wet but since it was sunny we shook it off & then laid it out to dry...it was dry in 10 minutes. I did not add any waterproofing to it but guess I should. That said, ALL fly & floor seems are taped from the factory.

Again as has been said, these tents are obviously not the lightest out there but not even close to the heaviest. I actually think they lean to the lighter end of the scale all things considered. For the money but for the quality & features, they are fairly weighted…especially when you consider what I am about to mention. One thing that has not been mentioned is that the floor is heavier duty than many tents…hence it was designed NOT to use an additional foot print. Read: additional weight. Many “Light” tents almost require a foot print. The tubbed floor is made from 190td Poly PU5000mm…I know because I called them asking about an additional foot print. They did say that many people call asking for it because they are so used to wanting one. They said they try to give their customers what they want so will likely release them next spring just to satisfy the perceived need for one…but it doesn’t need it. I will likely pick one up for the projected $35 just to have but think I will probably likely almost never carry it.

Okay, next the poles & stakes. Obviously they are aluminum but…these are probably one of the greatest features on these tents!!! The poles are 7000 series alloy Yunan! (IIRC, 7000 series was originally developed for the space program.) These should be VERY VERY tough & long lasting if you take care of them. They are also very short segments which I love for packing. I will have to measure them for you for the exact length but my tent says it has a total of 19.5”x8” packed dimension. The stakes while not 7000 series are strong enough 6061 series reinforced aluminum notched V-stakes that stack together awesomely. Zippers seem strong and doors and windows open wide on each side. AS was sais…no crawling over one another. About my only real nit-pick is that I wished it had an additional vecro on the vestibule door seems in the middle for if I had a rainy AND windy night. But that is easily & cheaply rectified and only a very small oversite & nit-pick. Other than that…I just really don’t have any complaints yet. I will let you know though as I will be going on at least 6 campouts this summer totaling at least16 nights. (At least 5 will be in the Uintas, 5 in the Tetons & 6 in the Canadian Rockies.

Anyway, glad to see someone else likes their latest generation Mountainsmith tent as much as I do mine. (NO I do not work for them or am affiliated in anyway…just a consumer & enthusiast.)

I'll be giving mine its first trip in two weeks. Life conspired to shoot down the plans I had for the earlier part of spring. It's going to be hot but I've got to get out there. It will also be the first ever camping/backpacking trip for my 6 year old daughter so we're keeping it pretty short - a 4.5 mile loop and one night out. My 7 year old son has done a longer hike and a couple of overnight car camping trips so he should be an old pro by now. We're not taking the dog on this one so it will be the three of us in this tent.

We will be using our MS Genesee again this coming weekend; nothing hardcore, just a 11 yr old Boy Scout Camp overnighter. I'm loving this tent & bought another in the troop. I am surprised more folks don't have or mention this tent. It really is nice for the money. I was talking with Recreationoutlet.com manager at their brick &mortar & we were both saying it maybe the biggest bang for the buck when it comes to this type of tent.

Don't you just love the 6061 Al stakes that come with these!!! I like them better than the MSR stakes even thought they are not Ti. I'm not sure if they are as strong, but being 6061 they are strong enough, don't shatter, are reinforced, light...light..light...& work well. I also like how they stack together in a pack. Sadly though, we left a set of stakes out at a recent campout...came back & they were gone. I have contacted Mountainsmith to see if they will let me purchase another set of them as I don't see them listed on their website. I will let you know what they say.


BTW, another tent we picked up (before the MS Genesee) for 2 people for $80 out the door is this one from Ledge.

http://www.recreationoutlet.com/p-653-ledge-scorpion-2-person-lightweight-tent.aspx

It is the Scorpion 2 person but cost significantly less than my Genesee for similar tent but in a 2 person. Given a choice, I wished I had been able to find yours first probably though. It has pretty nice Al poles (not as nice as the MS's though) and many very similar features. Weights about 5 lbs.

Good luck with your camp.

I do like the stakes. Pretty light and appear to be strong enough. They do stack up neatly.