pagoda wrote:I'm looking for a bombproof 2 person, 4 season tent that's been proven in harsh cold weather high altitude (Andes) conditions. I'm 6'4", 180 lbs. I've read a lot of good reviews on TNF Mountain 25, but the footprint looks like it may be a tight fit for someone tall. Any experience or recommendations??

Thanks!

Hi, yeah, I'm interested in the same, but I'm not so tall. There are a couple of threads you might want to check out on this topic:

http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=48640

I've been looking at the Helleberg stuff: http://www.hilleberg.com/Home.htm

They seem nice and they are light. Why carry the weight if you don't have to? The North Face stuff is heavy. I'm looking to find the right combination of light weight and strength.

You might also want to check these people out that make carbon fiber poles for tents:
http://www.fibraplex.com/tentpoles.htm

I'm 6' 7" so it's even worse

Mountain Hardwear's EV range are quite long, but single-wall, so condensation in real use in real cold can be a problem.

Ditto the Bibler / BD Tempest. I've used these quite a bit, they're long enough, but again condensation / ice can be a problem. They have two doors / vestibules which can be quite handy. Just big enough for two guys, for a few days max.

I've used both MH Trango 3 and Trango 4. The T4 is certainly long enough, probably the longest exped tent on the market. The T3 is shorter but stronger in high winds, but only just long enough for me. We had three guys in a T3 at a 4000m high camp in Antarctica (not Vinson) when it was -50C and it was hell - definitely not big enough for 3+ bags. Fine for two.

Macpac Minaret, if you can find one, has a slanted floor so one side is very long, the other side shorter.

Hilleberg are nice tents, and longer than most, but most are just not quite long enough for me.

Stephenson Warmlite tents are often very long, but I have not tried them. Their background is somewhat esoteric and their catalogue used to use nude models. Not that there's anything wrong with that ...

D

I can attest to the Trango 2, i have used it a few times in moderately bad weather and it was great. I have no doubts about its durability. It is quite spacious and has lots of pockets which i like and when you are able to have more items put away in pockets and such it gives you more room on the tent floor. My only complaint is the weight. 9lbs is pretty heavy, but not too bad if it will be used for a week or more. Otherwise i would go with the EV line or possibly MSR's dragontail tent. My roommate has it and the ventilation seems decent for a single wall at only 4lbs.

Just checked out the Stephenson Warmlite Catalog online and apparently they are still using those nude photos.

zachary_dc wrote:Just checked out the Stephenson Warmlite Catalog online and apparently they are still using those nude photos.

There are a lot of cool things about the Stephenson but there's no vestibule, which sucks if the weather is bad and you want to have one to cook in.

There's also a cool looking tent from Marmot...the Alpinist I think, but the vestibule seems like it's quite small.

If you are going to go the double wall route look into getting a Mountain Hardware Annapurna. It has the same dimesions as the Trango 2 but is significantly lighter. I used one on Denali and really liked the space, perfect for 2 people for an extended period. I don't think they are still manufactured but I am sure you can still find one.

I'm 6'4" and I have used a Bibler Eldorado as a solo tent, I sleep diagonally and there is enough room for my pack/gear.

I just rec'd. a Hilleberg catalog in the mail yesterday and had a SAR meeting last night so no real time to look it over thoroughly but I did see a couple of models that were 90+ inches long.

For anyone looking at a MH tent, backcountrygear.com has a special right now -

http://www.backcountrygear.com/manufact ... _tents.cfm