Good and bad experiences with Mountainsmith tents?

August 29, 2023 8:56 AM

I just heard that Mountainsmith is having a big sale and I noticed several of their tents are available for 50% off. Most of them don't have reviews available on their website. In your experience, are these a good deal? Are their tents robustly constructed, and reasonable in terms of ease of setup? (I'm not a 100% novice at tent setup but have only done it maybe 3 times, with different models each time.) I will be camping outdoors in North America, mostly in the northeast within a day's drive of New York City.

I plan on sleeping in it alone, but I like having room to change clothes within the tent, so I'd probably buy a model that's at least sized for 2 people if not 3-4.

posted by brainwane to Shopping (7 answers total)

Best answer: Outdoor Gear Lab is a focused camping gear recommendation site which lists a few Mountainsmith reviews.
posted by zamboni at 9:15 AM on August 29, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I’ve loved every Mountainsmith item I’ve had over the years. I still mourn the loss of my tiny warm down sleeping bag from like 2003. So tiny I left it somewhere and never noticed.
posted by asimplemouse at 9:29 AM on August 29, 2023

Best answer: Between my wife and I we own, I'd say, at least a dozen tents. The Mountainsmith is probably our favorite. Easy / logical setup, strong, dry, handy features like pockets and loops for a loft net. Great tent all around. It is a three-season tent that we have used in all four seasons.
posted by bondcliff at 10:04 AM on August 29, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I love Outdoor Gear Lab, but only a couple of those reviews are for tents. Here are their tent reviews - REI and Moosejaw are both having sales right now, so some of those top-rated REI tents are on sale, as is Coleman. It's a good time to buy a tent.
posted by gingerbeer at 10:22 AM on August 29, 2023

Best answer: My husband and I once spent a very rainy July 4 weekend hunkered down in our four person Mountainsmith tent and we stayed pretty dry the whole time. No complaints!
posted by mostly vowels at 7:30 PM on August 29, 2023

Response by poster: Thanks everyone! All useful information. A friend helped me decide to buy from a different tentmaker but it's good to know that Mountainsmith makes good stuff!
posted by brainwane at 8:02 AM on October 12, 2023

a different tentmaker

Who did you end up going with?
posted by zamboni at 7:46 AM on October 13, 2023