Marmot Limelight 2

“So, with a trip to Joshua Tree coming up next week and my Mountain Hardwear Skyledge 2 in the mail on its way to get the zippers fixed, I realized last night in somewhat of a panic that my wife and I had no tent to sleep in. So I headed to Sport Chalet and ended up picking up a Marmot Limelight 2 for $150 (it was some sort of sale).

Seems like a decent tent - the full setup (rainfly, footprint, etc) weighs in at 5lbs, so it's far from lightweight. The first thing I noticed (setting it up in my living room) was that it's really BIG. In my SkyLedge 2, you can barely sit upright - and if there are 2 people sleeping in it, they're gonna be nice and snuggly. This tent has a much bigger floorplan and a high ceiling - both probably contributing to the extra weight. The downside to this, particularly with the area we'll be camping in J-tree, is that it'll be harder to find a flat place to pitch it.

It seems sturdy enough. There's a lot of fabric on it though, meaning you can't see very much out of the tent once you're inside. The Skyledge I have is almost all mesh, so you have incredible visibility from inside... so this is a bit of a change.

Setup is pretty simple - two big crosspoles (held together in the middle by a little clippy thing that can't be very sturdy but oh well) and another short pole to lift the sides a bit (I think the short pole can be left out to save a bit of weight). Solo, I think a person could have it up in a minute or two.

the big downside I see so far is that it's ugly. All bright and gaudy orange colored with weird angles in the fabric that seem completely unnecessary.

If anything goes better/worse than expected in Joshua Tree, I'll post a follow up next week. Overall, it's a decent cheap backpacking 2-man. Certainly not the best quality, but plenty good enough for a backup/loaner tent.

It seems like Marmot may be discontinuing the tent or releasing a newer version - so if you can find one now, you can probably get it at a cheap price. Sport Chalet and REI don't even have it on their site anymore...

”

“Can't understand the need for all that fabric on the tent body.. adds weight, limits visibility. Looks like it only has one door and vestibule. I'm guessing it'll make you miss your tent.”

“yeah... this will definitely sit on the shelf for most of my trips... but it's good to have a backup in case something happens to the skyledge or if one of my bum friends needs a loaner tent to go with the backpacks and sleeping bags I'm typically loaning out each trip

In comparison, here's the skyledge:


sigh, I miss it already. Hurry up and fix that zipper, MH!”

“It'll be a warmer tent for sure.

Bright tent colors are nice when you are tentbound for long periods or want to find your camp from on high.”