Mountain Hardwear Drifter 2

Summary

Purchased for hiking on AT w/ son.

Setting up tent was extremely easy. After first couple times, able to pitch in a few minutes. Two of five nights were spent in all night rains and stayed completely dry.  Might have been a little condensation as end of bags had collected moisture, but nothing compared to a leaking tent.  

Storage was awesome -- kept my son's backpack at our feet and mine was able to be inside the vestibule w/out any real inconveniences and we had sufficient room for sleeping. Double-door design worked great as well as I could get up in the AM and not interrupt his sleeping.  

Only minor drawback is weight, but we split the components after 2nd day and not bad after sharing. Might be a little heavy if using on solo trip.  

Overall, we were very pleased with our first experience using the tent and looking forward to more.

So on my list of tents in order that I'd get to suit my ultralight needs.

Mountain Hardwear - Skyledge 2.1 - $419

MSR - Hubba Hubba HP - $445

MSR - Hubba Hubba - $329

However my budget wasn't as big as i thought. I noticed the mountain hardware drifter 2 in a flyer for $199. Normally i don't look too deeply in the store that it was advertised in just due to the type of people they market to......that being said i started doing some research on the tent.

It was only 10oz off the Hubba Hubba, and only 3 oz off of it when used in its ultra ultralight configuration.

so i figured id give it a try out on my Mt Baker trip. The weather was shitty to start and the air was very moist being stuck in a rain cloud, but the tent held up well.

setting it up was a piece of cake (as it should be i hate when manufacturers make their tents some weird con-fig that is impossible to set up without instructions)

we did experience some wind so the tent needed to be secured. It held up very well. The plastic clip that helps cinch up the rope to keep it tight was a bit useless but with some persuasion it held tight.

My partner was just over 6 feet and he fit comfortably, and so did i (granted I'm only 5'8).

when it came time to pack up the tent packed up just as small as it was when i bought it (i also hate the factory fold, as i call it, where tents cant be folded up as small as they are when you buy them)

but the most noteworthy part was that we were dry, condensation didn't get us wet, neither did the moisture in the air.

and all i spent was $199+$49 footprint. In all seriousness at that price i could buy a new one each season, but i know i'm not going to because mountain hardware has GREAT warranties.

If you are a fair weather mountaineer, as in spring and summer, and you are on a budget or just feel like saving some money...this tent is for you.

-md