Big Agnes Salt Creek SL - Superlight Backpacking Tent

Pretty fantastic backpacking tent all the way around, but not built for lengthy exposure to bad weather. It'll handle a good rain shower, but not an all day gully washer. It'll handle the wind, but not sustained gales. However, hitting it with some seam sealer and Nikwax, using a ground sheet, doubling the guy lines and upgrading the stakes will help both of these things tremendously.The materials are top notch DAC poles and lightweight/high thread count polyester, not the thick heavy low thread count stuff you usually see. This stuff is a whole different beast, very good material and superior to nylon, and is going to overtake it as the material of choice for high quality production tents in the very near future. It's just as strong, stays strong when wet (nylon becomes weak when it's wet), does not absorb water and sag, dries quickly, and isn't nearly as vulnerable to UV damage. All while being just as light as nylon of a comparable thickness. The stakes are cheap aluminum shepherd hooks, but that's fine with me and you've probably already got a good universal set of stakes you're going to use no matter what it comes with anyway.Very good build quality and the design and features are well thought out and useful. You're going to love the shelf storage! Pitches reasonably quickly and the freestanding design is good for moving around and shaking it out before you pack it away. Lots of room inside for your gear and easy to sit up in, change clothes, etc. Given the size of the tent, the weight is excellent. Easily backpackable as long as you're not one of those noodle-armed weight weenies.A ground sheet is recommended because the hydrostatic head rating is pretty low and putting the floor in direct contact with the ground will accelerate the loss of waterproofing. Use Tyvek Homewrap, the only material worth using as a ground sheet, and cut it to the size and shape you need. The stuff is way cheaper and performs far better than any paper thin factory ground sheet and you can add grommets, shock cord, whatever you want.My gripes:* I don't like the Velcro tabs on the zipper flaps. It works fine, but it's very strong Velcro and annoying to deal with. Probably it will lighten up eventually and maybe they used such strong Velcro in the first place is so that in 5 years it'll still have some bite.* They could've (and should've) given it at least another few hundred mm of hydrostatic head. The weight difference would've been negligible, while allowing the tent to retaining a higher waterproof rating after wear and tear knocks down it's as-new rating of 1500mm.* The poles are a PITA. The tent is very easy to pitch, but the poles all being connected is unnecessarily frustrating as they flop all around, get hung up in low hanging branches, etc. when you're messing with them. The tent would work just fine with separate cross poles, even being slightly lighter and cheaper to produce without the 4-way hub, and that's what they should've gone with. Really, it's not a big deal, though. I just don't know what that hub is supposed to offer that's worth the annoyance it creates.AND AS ALWAYS: Don't store your tent (or your sleeping bag or anything else with a waterproof coating) in it's *carry* sack. This is what destroys your waterproofing and causes the seam tape to peel. Store it in a laundry bag so it can vent any solvent and water vapors that break down the waterproofing when they get trapped. Costs about $7 to greatly extend the life of your tent.

Super light weight and packs down small. I love the big end door for so many reasons but, especially for setting up and breaking down camp.I'm typically a lightweight backpacker that uses a single person tent. I wanted a roomy car camping tent for a week long trip in October, so I could spread out in the evenings considering short days. This is the most no hassle-free and spacious tent I've ever owned. And it has lots of convenience features. I do recommend watching a YouTube video on set up at least once, simply because its unusual. I tried to include a picture but, it wouldn't load - sorry.

Roomy with good ventilation, but light enough for backpacking.

For $249 I was thinking about it. Not a chance for $349. Going with Outdoor Vitals.