After having condensation issues in 2 Hilleberg tents (Nallo 3 GT & Jannu) I tried the Kuiu Stormstar tent for a season and liked it a lot more. I know I know we on Rokslide are supposed to hate Kuiu because its Kuiu but I could care less if stuff works I will use it. The layout and space for the weight was MUCH better than the Hillieberg for our uses. The 2 door 2 vestibule option with the top end (where your heads go) being wider than where your feet go to save some weight is nice. Having poles overlap in 4 places made it rock solid in some pretty crazy winds on Kodiak and Alaska Range. For the weight and how stout it is its a great tent.
Storm Star 2 Person Tent - 4 Season Tent | KUIU
That said my primary hunting partner (my wife) and myself had a baby a year ago and the Kuiu was slightly too small to accomdate her and I and the little pea pod our baby slept inside the tent. So I set about looking for a slightly larger option with similar features. Enter the MSR Elixir 3.
It easily houses all 3 of us and has the similar pole design to the Kuiu with the poles overlapping on each end of the tent to buck the wind much better than the more traditional style of the two long poles only intersecting on the top of the the tent. In addition this designs allows the cross pole to intersect with the two long poles as well. Overall even though its a rated as a 3 season tent I feel that in my experience the pole design makes it an EXTREMELY robust 3 season design. I honestly believe if they made this a double wall for the inner tent instead of so much mesh it could be rated 4 season (for a bit of a weight penalty). Reality is I really think the extra mesh helps even more with condensation so I don't wake up to a soaking wet outside to my sleeping bag like I did in the Hillebergs I had.
Regardless for the $$$ the space/weight and weather worthiness it provides I think its hard to beat. $219 for a sub 5 pound (minimum trail weight) 3 person (40 sq ft of internal tent space) and still have 2 doors and 2 vesitubles all for $219 is dang tough to beat IMO.
Sure its not the lightest, but for trips where lightweight matters more than solid wind worthiness or extra buggy times I had no problems sucking it up and packing the "heavy" MSR Elixir 3. In fact its the tent we will be using next summer when we hike the Chilkoot trail. In addition to a couple spring/summer backpacking ventures into the Alaska range grizzly bear hunting the 3 of us as a family.
Keep in mind that pea pod is wider than 25" so 3 normal size 20" pads is very doable in there if you gotta do a quick trip for 3 people.
Amazon.com : MSR Elixir 3-Person Lightweight Backpacking Tent : Sports & Outdoors
Yeah if we didn't have a kiddo we'd still own the Kuiu....but don't mind the bit extra weight too much for the extra space the Elixir 3 provides. Certainly be hard pressed to get me to spend the $$$ on a Hilleberg again only to end up all damp again....they are hell for stout though.
