User Review: The North Face Spectrum 33

The North Face Spectrum 33
Above: The current Spectrum 33, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed June 14, 2007 by Owen Branson

Rating:
Design: single walled lightweight backpacking tent
Sleeps: 3
Ease of Setup: easy to moderate
Weight: 3-4 lbs (w/footprint)
Price Paid: $289

This tent is fairly roomy for two larger than average men but I find it hard to believe that it will fit 3 people. It fits two 4-long Therm-a-rests well and allows for plenty of headroom.

I recently used the Spectrum 33 on a four-day Boundary Waters trip. We had a fair amount of rain and the tent performed well. The pack size is small it ensure that the number of Duluth packs could easily be carried for single portages. The setup was easy and quick. The color coded three pole design is very helpful as well as the glow in the dark zippers on the D-style door.

However, the tent is a swamp. Overnight the moisture from exhalation would condense on the sides of the tent. In some cases would drip down and moisten our sleeping bags (nothing 15 mins in the sun wouldn’t fix). I would wake up each morning and wipe the sides of the tent down with a t-shirt. Upon talking to others with single walled backpacking tents this is a common problem. I’ll test it out on future backpacking trips and see if it was worth the money spent on it. As of now I am disappointed.