Should This 4-Season Tent Be Your First Backpacking Tent?

[@BS2Dos]

👍👍 I’ve been looking at a 2P/3S for about $400. I’m giving serious thought to this 3P/4S. Could be the only tent I ever need and buy.

[@JonConti]

Exactly.

[@ryobrown-mcclain805]

I have a msr Hubba hubba for over decade , now it's breaking down I'm thinking the access is the next one, thank you for your wonderful content as always

[@markwilde2391]

At 4lbs I wish I had that tent in the 80's. From the time I was 11 years old to 17, the tents our scout troop used every year hiking in the sawtooths weighed in at 7.5 lbs and the rain fly did just that...it rained...from the underside.

[@JonConti]

Lol. I'm so glad I got into in this era!

[@ryanwallace1967]

Great video! You do an awesome job with the placement of B-Roll.

[@GatewoodBrown]

Dude that camp spot was stunning. Thanks for the valuable tent review and comparison!

[@JonConti]

I'm getting your hammock for the summer

[@GatewoodBrown]

@@JonConti You'll love it man. Hammocking is great!

[@matt.rraw.]

Love your content man, especially the one when you backpacked Wyoming with your mom! Just one thing about the stakes. As far as I know, those should come with cords looped in those holes.

[@JonConti]

O thanks man. Always nice to hear people liked the ones with Mom. Those sons of .... They shorted me cords!

[@overttt]

i dont even camp but this video got me wanting to buy a $600+++ tent. great review my man.

[@vonheiz]

You are a true salesman 👍🏻 Great and valuable review.

[@CM-mc5hd]

Jon, tents are tricky and a one-tent quiver for someone who wants to get out in winter is trickier. A fractional % of people just getting into backpacking will become regular backpackers. No real idea of what that number is, but I'd guess maybe 50% or so. Of that 50%, how many of them will pursue winter backpacking? Probably less than 5%. So a 4-season tent is overkill except for a small % of folks who probably don't know at the start of that journey whether or not they'll ever try winter backpacking, and there are lots of good choices for 1/2 the weight of the MSR. Functionally-- and probably more importantly-- a '4-season' tent isn't a tent good for 4 seasons, it's a tent good for the fourth season. Using a tent with a solid wall interior in spring-summer-fall in anything above 20% humidity or so will give you what Mark describes-- clouds, possibly thunderstorms, forming inside your tent. Even in low humidity, it's uncomfortably hot. For a newbie sure they're going to backpack regularly and also sure they'll get into winter backpacking, a better one-tent solution would be something like the Tarptent Scarp 2 with both the (clip in / clip out) mesh and solid interiors. That said, I don't have a single backpacking buddy with less than 3 tents ... most people just resign themselves to the need for specialized gear as they get further into 4-season backpacking. People also shouldn't discount options like used tents on geartrade.com or other resale sites, if trying to minimize cost. Lots of quality gear to be had used, with a little research. Cheers, Chris.

[@JonConti]

Thanks for the input! The question is a thinking exercise meant for discussion and disagreement. 🙂

[@sebastiani.5940]

I'm not sure if that's true, but I think MSR redesigned the Access 3 and added vents to the outer tent. The tent in this video has them. Could it be that the moisture issue you mentioned no longer applies to the new version? Have you already made experiences with this @Jon Conti?

[@eric55406]

Certainly looks like a great tent for it's intended purpose but this tent now cost $920. For that money I can go with a DCF 3-season tent for my purposes since I'm not going to the mountains or winter camping. If I get the bug for some winter camping or alpine environments I'll certainly consider this one.

[@roywalls5595]

I purchased two 4 season tents the first one is Ozark Trail camouflage 2 person tent and other is Blackdeer Archeos 3 person green tent! I have not test them out yet because I am to on doctor care from a bad fall at work to they release me!

[@hoh4368]

Looks like a 4 season hubba hubba which would be the shit. I carried a kelty Salida 2 that's like have the size and the exact same weight for the first 2 years I backpacked. It's not that bad. Do some squats.

[@JonConti]

Lol I prefer lunges! That’s exactly what it is btw a 4 season hubba

[@deniszislin392]

Dear Jon, could you explain please how to install and tighten those long 4 straps which are for additional stability. I have on them red metal peace of metal which look like banana and i dont understand how to use it. Br.

[@JonConti]

That metal piece tightens them. Use extra stakes or a rock or root or something and make a loop with the metal piece. Loop it around your stake. Pull the metal piece up the guy line to tighten.

[@ianmacfarlane9454]

Great video,thanks 👍 👍 🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@briankgarland]

Any idea what the temp was inside compared to outside during this Owhyee overnighter?

[@JonConti]

I don't sorry. My gear reviews are less technical 😂 It feels much warmer in the tent to me.

[@andrewign5806]

You can fit wife *and* girlfriend? I am in! 😂😂😂

[@drewolm]

At almost a thousand dollars I doubt this will be anyone’s first tent.

[@kaspersergej]

How do you set it up when it's raining without getting the inner part wet?

[@waynealford3574]

I haven't found a way, just have to practice and get yourself familiar with setting it up quickly.

[@sandervanrietschoten2791]

In this video there is a hack, i didn't test it yet.

[@KevinSmith-wr1sy]

Good video but please just get the Hilleberg __________ (any of them blow this tent away). I'd way rather use my Hilleberg Unna than your Access. With its PU coatings and seam tape it will be in the dumpster bin in less than 10 years old. At that age a Hilleberg tent is just getting broken in. Just sayin'.

[@JonConti]

Man those tents look sick! I love the access 3 but I might pick up a hill every solo

[@airikwilliams6720]

✌🏻👀

[@JonConti]

🙏