User Review: Walrus Swift

I've had many good nights in my Swift (including wind storms and steady rain) and my impressions follow:

- sturdy and well-constructed; small, tight design; best when staked out tautly.

- good, watertight rainfly; excellent windshedding design, assuming feet into wind (I suspect it's low ground proximity reduces wind resistance significantly).

- excellent summer ventilation; very open feeling under full-length mesh.

- in this tent, be short. I'm 6'4". Flat on my back my toes and head rubbed both ends of the tent. While asleep, this didn't bother me, but I take a few minutes to fall asleep...

- in this tent, be horizontal. Almost any maneuver involving sitting up, spinning round, getting in or out, changing pants, etc., rubs you against the roof, at least if you're my height. It's do-able, just tight.

- small door size make for a restrictive ingress and egress.

- awkward placement of rainfly door zip requires 2 hands and some contortions to grab and unzip from inside.

- nice little touches, tie-downs, pockets and pouches, etc.

- vestibule big enough for shoes plus...

- room in tent for some gear, maybe even whole pack.

Would I want to spend 10 days backcountry in this tent in a drizzling rain? No. Would I do it if I added a poncho "vestibule" for sitting, cooking, etc. Yes.

Compared to an OR Bivy Sack at 2 lbs or a Slumberjack or Gossamer at 2.75 lbs, the Swift is a better choice for space vs weight. Compared to the SD Flashlight-2 or TNF Lunar Light, it's a good value and a bit lighter.