User Review: Stephenson's Warmlite Warmlite 2R

Reviewed September 14, 2000 by John

Rating: rated 2 of 5 stars
Design: claimed 4 season bad weather but more for warm nice weather
Sleeps: 2+
Ease of Setup: very difficult
Weight: 2lb 12oz
Price Paid: WAY too much for what you get

All I ever heard is how great these tents are. Great for what?

They are not seamed sealed, but come with a tube a silicon to do at home. Very messy and smelly task for a tent over $500 retail. I will not dispute the light weight. The tent did breathe quit well in the rain/snow/sleet conditions. The foot of the tent was set-up into a stiff wind so the flow-through effect was at its greatest. In a cross wind or other type of wind don't know how the tent would breathe. There was some condensation on the entry zipper.

The main problem is with setting up. The fragile pole ends have a very tight tolerance and warp out of shape (become oval) and takes some effort to shape back to a round surface and then force together. Feeding the poles into the sleeves took some effort in the wind and cold, resulting in very cold hands and a very wet body which lead to shivering and loss of energy staying warm. Staking out took time resulting in more body heat loss. The footprint is huge giving lots of interior room but took up lots of room.

How can anybody state this tent is for full-on alpine conditions climbing? Way to hard to set-up in a blow and the large footprint means lots of construction to find a place for it to fit. Compared to a single-wall tent like Integral Designs and Bibler where you can throw the tent out on a tiny space, jump in out of the weather and set the tent up in minimal time and minimal loss of energy in full alpine conditions, the 2R is for nice summer weather use.

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