Night Cat Ultralight Tent 1 Person

The Night Cat 1-person lightweight backpacking tent is an affordable alternative to better quality tents. Buyer beware and don't expect miracles.

I chose the Night Cat lightweight backpacking tent because it's lightweight and affordable. If that's all that matters, then I'd say I made a good decision. The price has gone up significantly since I bought mine, however, so I probably wouldn't do it again today. 

I have taken it out a few times and am not super impressed, but I do not intend to get rid of it either.

The rain fly is permanently attached to the tent, apparently to avoid losing it. If you leave it off, to facilitate better ventilation, it's still attached to the tent at the top. Even in a very light breeze the fly blows around and makes a surprising amount of noise, scraping against the outside of the tent all night. 

I have no faith in this tent for use in inclement weather. If my experience is typical, then I recommend using it only if you are certain you will have NO RAIN AT ALL during your camping trip. I have used it in a very gentle drizzle and still took in a little bit of water, up under and through the fly. The bottom of the tent is sealed well and no moisture came in that way at all, or through any of the other seams. Overall the quality of construction is decent, but the rain fly design is a poor one, in my opinion.

Ventilation is another potential issue. I used the tent for five straight days (set up in the same campsite) in about 40° Fahrenheit overnight low temperatures. Condensation was a minor problem, but significant enough to merit mentioning it here.

As with most budget tents, the stakes that come with the Night Cat 1 person backpacking tent are pretty wimpy. If you're planning on pitching it on a golf course, or some other manicured lawn , you might be fine. Otherwise you will need better stakes. 

Ultimately, I don't regret buying the tent (it was cheap) but I don't recommend it too highly either.

Background

I have been a backpacker since the late seventies and I have use a lot of different types of camping gear and a number of different tents. Most of my camping/backpacking has been in Southern Arizona and Northern New Mexico. I have very little experience camping in snow and extreme cold, which is fine by me