Hiker Deals

I won’t admit admit it out loud, but I do own more camping gear than I really need. That being said, I still have a hard time getting a comfortable night of sleep during many hot, summer camping trips. I think this Ventana tent may be the answer.

The MSR Ventana is almost completely mesh up top. I remember setting up a demo tent with a similar design back when this was still the “Moss” tent company - but the thing never made it into production or our gear shop (where we sometimes put really cool, new tents into the rental program just so employees could demo them). Now the tent is in production by MSR and on overstock sale, making the Ventana just $174.95 at 30% off. This tent is truly a superlight model, at 4 pounds, 14 ounces (packed weight, not minimum weight) it still sleeps two tall campers, thought the gear or dog(s) will have to sleep outside in one of the two vestibules. Still there’s a lot of headroom and space inside the tent, it uses a simple two-pole design the save weight and make extra space. The two-pole design doesn’t work well in the snow though, there’s a big, flat roof on the Ventana, and it’s a bit tough to setup because the tent uses a lot of tension to resist the wind better. Still, for this weight and the huge walls of mesh - the struggle should be well worth cool, dry night’s sleep on hot and humid nights.

Another great reason to get an MSR tent - I’ve always been happy with MSR’s warranty service and you can even have the warranty handled in-person at an REI store. MSR is owned by REI and, of course, offers a great lifetime warranty that rarely involves any questions or arguments about what, why, or how they think you did something wrong. Also, BackcountryOutlet.com is still offering free ground shipping on all $50, and up, orders.