GOT MY NEW MOUNTAIN 25!!

“So I walked up to my front porch yesterday afternoon and what was waiting for me (besides my outdoor cat)? MY NEW NORTH FACE MOUNTAIN 25 TENT! Boy am i stoked about using it. I pitched it last night in my living room but couldnt get the fly on it because of our piano... Either way, I love it. I cant wait to use it outside... anyone else own this tent?”

“http://www.ems.com/catalog/product_detail_square.jsp;jsessionid=FZyve4ym61RuXPATeW0apOM4MgYeLtInDMnPrcXvEKwro4h4xnHM!1382592351!174391836!7005!8005?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442583337&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302875888&bmUID=1167684273586

Nice, what'cha using this for? Hiking?”

“Excellent BOMB SHELTER. I don't have this one but I do have the VE25.”

“That there's a heavy tent. Do you have to get out in the middle of the night to wipe snow off, or can you just sleep through it?”

“Nice expensive tent, I hope you are not going to use that for backpacking.”

“Yeah, I have one. It weighs a ton and is overkill for backpacking. You going up Everest?”

“well, in regards to everyone's positive/negative comments...

i got it for a great deal, 240$ cause i traded in my 1978 VE24 tent to North face and got a discount on the mountain 25...
as far as weight goes, I almost NEVER go backpacking without a partner so I'll be splitting weight.

as far as overkill, I couldn't find a better tent for all types of weather for $240! I wanted a tent that I could use in the summer in Beaufort, SC and in the winter in the Adirondacks...”

“who the #&%!$ are you?”

“I have had my Mountain 25 for about 5 years now. As everyone has said it is quite heavy but not so bad split between 2 people. And it is virtually bombproof. Unless I am expecting gusts over 30mph, I usually don't guy it out.”

“Ya know my son carried an 8lb 4 season 2 man backpacking tent by himself on his Whitney trek last August. I will say it again, the tent was overkill and he is crazy. But it's his money and he carried it. To each his own I guess.”

“bearmagnet is there something wrong?
last edited: 2/08/07 6:24:25 AM”

“21 nothing wrong just most people say who they are when they come onto a board.

Maybe I missed it but this is the first post of yours I've seen so some people are trying to figure out who you are. As far as the neg feedback on your new purchase (congrats on the new tent btw) Alot of people here are big on ultra lite so with no explination of why one would get a 9 lb tent makes people around here think "overkill".

I myself thinking the same thing but just assuming that you had a good reason to get it.”

“Maybe you are backpacking on Mt Washington? ;O) Sorry flasher I think you are probably going to take a ribbing for this for a while. I still tease my son occasionally, carrying an 8lb 4 season 2 man tent ALL BY HIMSELF for an AUGUST trip to Mt Whitney is STILL funny.”

“so i havent earned my right on the forums yet? sorry. i just joined a while back. i went hiking at linville gorge with spam, fridge, lonewolf, roller, crashbang, jb, and some other guys...

how long till i can post without gettin' any flack? j/k...

-twentyone
last edited: 2/08/07 5:11:56 PM”

“I never said who I was when I came on board.”

“I have hiked with 21 , and I just want to say he is okay with me. As a matter of fact, I think he can handle any trail. Spam also knows this guy , ask him.
21's used his DAD's VE 24 from years ago. Do any of you remember that one! I got one of those too but I don't use it due to the shape it's in. His Father has climbed some big Mountains in the past and that tent was revered as one of the BEST around.
I have a Hilleberg tent KERON 4 GT weights 12 plus pounds and is used on my winter excersions especially with a pulk sled, It is broken down so that 3 to 4 can carry the load, and it's worth it.
21, that tent will still be standing in any high country trek , Good choice. Some here think your tent is too heavy and so it is too them, but I have been on many trips with TTer's and seen many shelters that will fail in heavy rains and windy conditions, I do know that the tent you have will not fail you.

You buy your gear the way that suits you as they have bought there's the way that suits them.”

“So, is that a no on having to get out and wipe snow off in the middle of the night?”

“ductape/ I have never had any problem with snow on my Ve24 nor my Ve 25. I have had problems with ultralight tents in the Virginia highcountry during early snows and had to beat the sides to keep the light weight poles and fly from caving in. I don't use light weight ultra light tents any more during the winter time, If I get caught in a winter storm I want to have the extra North Face Tents offer. I have been caught in winter storms in West Virginia Cranberry Glades for 3 days with up to 3 feet of snow falling and never had a problem with good North Face 4 season tents with plenty of room to bed down and take it all in.
The worst tent I have in my collection now is all the single walls I own , they all suck, with moisture problems and they brag about ultra light, no way, ultra light can never do what a good 4 season tent can do.

North Face is well known for it's stretch fly tight and very stable, with no sags for the wind to beat you through the night. Also sheds snow very well. Full hooded Fly, not the ones that go almost to the ground letting wind whisp blowing snow up and around the main body.”

“sorry 21, i called you flasher. oops, pardon me.”

““sorry 21, i called you flasher. oops, pardon me.”
Pamela

Freudian slip ;-)”

“I never said who I was when I came on board.”
refrigerator
6:22:33 PM
2/08/07

Who the #&%!$ are you? For that matter, since no on took the opportunity, who the #&%!$ am I? Damn, do I have to do everything here? Work with me people!

I had to put WK on ignore since his link didn't wrap for me. This is the only place were links won't wrap for me.

What the #&%!$ is up with that?”

“My first tent was a North Face Sierra and my first sleeping bag was a North Face Superlight. To tell you how long ago that was both the tent and bag were made in Berkeley, California. Both of them were bulletproof. As a matter of fact I still have the bag and used it on a trip as recently as 2005. The loft isn't what it used to be but it's still a good, servicable bag.

Enjoy your new tent. Hike your own hike. And when some sopping wet, wimpering tarp hiker asks to climb into your heavy tent because the wind blew rain all over his gear, tell him to call Henry Shires and request a refund or a Park Service rescue helicopter.
last edited: 2/08/07 8:36:37 PM”

“I have a TNF Tadpole 23, and love it! Not a four season, but a damm good shelter. I've had my eye on the Mountain 25 for a couple of years, just can't find it on clearance! LOL”

“LOL solitary! i am all for real tents, i just have to carry light for the knees and the fact that i only weigh a wopping 100lbs”

“Pamela, Solitary Hiker is not much of an advocate for lightweight (and yes, less rugged) gear. Some of the gear battles here that he has been involved with have been sort of epic.

Indeed, hike your own hike.”

“As for snow on the tent, as long as it is dry fluffy snow, you can easily shake that off from the inside. Have never really been caught in a really wet snow overnight in it but I would assume it might be a bit harder to shake off.

By the way, 21...this tent is the warmest of any that I have tried; I am thinking this is due to the air trapped between the fly and tent fabric, but if you have two people in it make sure you vent it really well to cut down on condensation; at least the top two vents, and usually I vent a bit at each door to make sure I don't wake up with it snowing inside from the condensation.

The best part of this tent is the vestibule, ample room to cook in in inclimate weather, the window to see out of the vestibule, and the ability for each person to have an entrance and a place to keep their boots is really a nice thing also.

BTW I don't recommend cooking in the vestibule as the manual says "DO NOT COOK IN THE VESTIBULE" but then goes on to say, "IF YOU DO COOK IN THE VESTIBULE, MAKE SURE YOU VENT PROPERLY" LOL”

“bearmagnet / WELCOME TO TRAIL TALK.

okay I sais it. your in now.”

“I've had to modify my stance on lightweight equipment somewhat. I'm 56 now and having problems with both my knees and my left hip. I had to come back down off the mountain on the first day of the 2005 Sierra Rendezvous because of my right knee. After six months of trip anticipation that really sucked.

Today I want to cut as much weight as possible on stuff like the pack, the bag, the clothing, the food, the incidentals. I'm even willing to cut the weight of the tent if the tent will still function as a shelter under all the conditions one might expect to encounter during the length of a trip. Your tent has to function as your last line of defense if you cannot walk out of a bad situation in the length of one day.

The question to ask yourself is this:

If all of my clothes and bag are soaking wet can I climb into this tent and survive the weather conditions I might expect to see in the next 24-48 hours?

If you can lie in your tent soaking wet for this amount of time and not go into hypothermia then you have the right tent for the trip. That really is the bottom line to me.
last edited: 2/09/07 11:22:02 AM”

“Woo hoo! Thank you!”

“Exactly . If the TENT works for you then so be it. 21, you got a GOOD TENT. Thanks solitaryhiker/ Bearmagnet agrees with me.
last edited: 2/09/07 4:08:03 PM”

“hey solitary,
i love it that you praised the superlight. i hike with my fathers superlight that he passed down to me (he bought it in 1978) i just sent it to TNF to get refilled and cleaned. boy its never let me down...

by the way, thanks for all the great support y'all! I'm looking forward to camping with this tent...”

“Hey 21 / There is a trip up this way in March, iffin interested come on up. You have my cell# !”

“i just might my friend... email me more info... donald@surelockinc.net”

“I bought my Superlight in 1973. Paid $88 for it because it was the extra long model. That was serious money for a sleeping bag back then.”

“solitary hiker / I bought a JERRY Sleeping Bag back in those days and it cost me more than 88 bucks, and it was DOWN, do you remember Jerry?
Jerry also had a 4 season expedition tent that was cutting edge with Nylon Tents.”

“Its ok pamela it happens everyonce and awhile.

Oh and 21 right on with throwing some names around and stating you've been on a trip some members that will get you crediblity around here alot faster than anything.

So a belated welcome to trail talk.”

“sometimes it get's difficult to keep everyone's names straight in my head. maybe i'll change my name and throw ya'll for a loop someday! just for laughs of course ;O)”

“I think the name was Gerry and the company logo or trademark was an orange triangle with a 'G' in the center of it. I still have a little plastic bottle that I store alcohol in that was made by them. Yeah I know, I'm a packrat!”

“YOU GOT IT. solitary, Do you know what happened to there line of GEAR ? Were they bought out by ?”

“I don't know what happened to Gerry, but here's a great link that tells about Gerry Cunningham, the founder of the company and the early history of the company.

http://www.oregonphotos.com/Gerry1.html

21
Do you live in Beaufort, SC? I live in the upstate near Greenville.”

“21 lives just n of charlotte, NC. My girlfriend Teasa aka Blueshoes on here lives in Spartanburg.

We need to get together and plan a SC backpack trip on here”

“In SC we could do a Chatooga River, Jones Gap, or partial Foothills Trail hike. Where were you thinking?

I usually day-hike or BP in NC in the Pisgah Forest area above Brevard. The Shining Rock area is nice but really cold right now. I was reading on another site about someone hiking up Sam's Knob last weekend and it 0 degrees with fierce winds. The trail was icy too. I was surprised that the Parkway was open in that area. Usually it's not at this time of year. But there are plenty of places down lower in Pisgah that wouldn't be as brisk!”

“Hey solitary hiker. I am in southern middle TN but probably do almost as much hiking in Pisgah as anywhere else. Give me a shout if you guys are planning a trip around Shining Rock.

Here are some pictures of my Mountain 25 on a trip there a few February's ago.

Mountain 25 w/o fly :

http://www.geocities.com/bbill_knox/tents1stcampss.jpg

Mountain 25 w/fly @ Shining Rock Gap

http://www.geocities.com/bbill_knox/darbilkententsSS.jpg”

“Hey solitary, i dont live in beaufort, but in mooresville, right north of charlotte (thanks, yerby, good memory). but i used to live in charleston and i go to beaufort every summer for the low country regatta... beautiful down there...”

“That is a great tent, and a great price. I have a similar one, an REI GEO Mountain, a 4 season, 4 man tent. Its heavy, but split 3 ways its about the same as any light tent. We used it on a family hike, and a few weeks ago winter camping. It sleeps 4 if a couple of them are kids, three adults in winter. It has 2 doors, 2 vestibules, and LOTS of room. I got it on ebay for $220. Those tents are not for general backpacking, but once in a while you need a 3 or 4 man 4 season tent.”