User Review: The North Face VE 25

The North Face VE 25
Above: The current VE 25, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed December 30, 2003 by ministercreek

Rating:
Design: geodesic four season dome
Sleeps: 2
Ease of Setup: somewhat time consuming
Weight: 12lbs. 1oz.
Price Paid: $399 on sale

I had this tent for about a year now and I really like the thing. I use it mainly for my winter camping trips and so far it holds up to Ohio's winter weather just fine. This tent is very waterproof and the polyester rainfly doesn't sag when wet. This tent is better suited for two people. I find the tent to be well made (product of Korea and finished in China) with all the seams nicely done (unlike some tents I had) and all the fly and floor seams factory hot taped. One doesn't have to seam seal this tent at all which is a plus in itself.

Some of the few faults I have are the lack of nylon webbing stake-out loops (which The North Face starting with the '02 model decided to use cord loops in place of the nylon loops), those trendy "windows" (who needs those anyhow!) and the steep price, unless one finds one on sale like I did (through Campmor!).

All in all, I would say this is a good tent but I would find a comparable tent for less, like the MEC Nunatak for example.