User Review: MSR Ventana

I've been a camper most of my life and and backpacker since high school. I use to just have a cheapy puptent but finally I wanted to invest in a nice tent. My mom was kind enough to research and find this tent at a great deal on ebay-it had been used once and kept in very good condition.

I love this tent! It's the best piece of equipment she could have gotten for me. It's very light weight especially for a small woman (5'3") to carry miles into the woods along with everything else I would need a for a few days.

I've only used it 3 seasons out of the year, but I'm convinced with the right sleeping bag I could use it in the winter too. I'd just have to keep the rainfly closed throughout the day. The rainfly, while it meets the ground, provides just enough cover in the entryway to put your bag and shoes, things like that.

My favorite things about this tent:

1) lightweight

2) super easy to assemble by myself and in the most weather conditions-it only has two poles.

3) seems to be waterproofed on the bottom, as its never leaked.

4) the mesh top is great for a couple of reasons-doesn't get too hot, finally a tent I can sleep in until mid morning, and if it's a clear night I can fall asleep looking at the stars and wake up looking at the trees.

Cons:

The poles can seem a little tough to get into the grommets.

The tent didn't come with a footprint-it's sold separately and pricey-so since I'm cheap I just bought a small tarp and cut it down, put grommets in the corners where the tent meets.

I've had this tent for a little over 5 years and I hope to have it for more years to come.