NEMO Espri 2P Tent

Comments about NEMO Espri 2P Tent:

I've had many tents in the past, and bought this after returning a Sierra Designs model for various reasons. From the moment I opened it up, I was impressed!Pros:1. For a tent this size, the weight is incredible. More surprisingly, there don't seem to be any sacrifices in strength or durability to achieve this weight.2. My favorite feature is the wonderfully designed corner feet. The pole, footprint, and fly all snap on to a plastic foot at each corner. You can't appreciate how nice this is until the first time you put it up. The poles don't slip out of anything, the footprint is always centered and tight, and the fly is a breeze to install in a hurry. This is by far the easiest tent I've ever seen to put up solo.3. Another nifty feature is that the two poles are tied together with a hinge. This also helps save time because you don't have to hold one pole while trying to raise another. They simply stay where they should.4. This tent comes with a removable attic, a repair kit, a piece of tubing for emergency pole repairs, and two doors (regular dome tent door and vestibule door). These are all things that most tent makers have you buy separately.5. Some tents get really stuffy with the fly installed. Not this one. There is an excellent pop-up vent on the top of the fly. And, the sides of the fly are tall enough and pull out far enough to ensure good ventilation.Con:6. The only real con I can see with this tent is with the vestibule area. Because it is stretched at a really shallow slope (see photo), the actual room underneath is pretty small. I like to keep my pack and boots in a vestibule. There is room for this when I'm solo, but is really tight with two and you'll have to move stuff to get out. The flip side to this is that Nemo makes a trekking pole vestibule option. Unfortunately REI doesn't carry this, so you'll have to buy it elsewhere. However, I can say this is an excellent investment if you want more room or frequently travel with two people. It makes a HUGE vestibule and doesn't add much weight.Bottom Line:This is by far the best tent I've ever seen or owned. The only down side is the small vestibule. If this is an issue for you, buy the trekking pole vestibule. You'll be glad you did.

Comments about NEMO Espri 2P Tent:

Just bought this product based mostly on weight and floor space relative to the other 2p options out there. Have only used it once, but it exceeded my expectations. It rained rather steadily for most of the 2 days/nights. No condensation and completely dry. I used it as a solo, but it would be a bit tight with 2p and gear (like most backpacking 2p tents). There is a decent amount of space under vestibule for pack, boots, etc though.

Comments about NEMO Espri 2P Tent:

This tent is advertised at 3.8 lbs, packed weight , but I the weight I measured straight from REI was 4.6 lbs based on a scale that matches other objects of similar weight spot on. That's a huge difference from the 3.8 lbs advertised. According to Nemo, the weight listed is based on the ultra light door while the vestibule area listed is based on the heavier vestibule door. Hmmmm.

Tent sets up easily and comes with nice storage net and pockets. Held up fine in moderate wind and light rain. I could not figure a way to set it up with the tarp on in case it was raining while pitching camp. That could be critical. A little too cold for me with all the mesh, but that's personal preference.

I went with the similar, heavier, bit larger, and hardier REI Arete ASL 2. This tent can be set up with tarp on to prevent the inside from getting soaked if it is raining. It is also much warmer in cold weather. The measured weight of this was right on, and at only 1 or 1.2 lbs heavier, worth being warm and dry.

Comments about NEMO Espri 2P Tent:

I just spent 7 nights in this tent on the Bowron Lakes Circuit in B.C. While there are some advantages to this tent, there are a few drawbacks as well. It is super light and packs into a small bag, which is great... But I found it to be REALLY small. With 2 people, we had to put all out gear outside wrapped in a tarp. There was no room for anything other than the two people and whatever you put into the gear loft (books and headlamps). Every morning we woke up to moist gear, due to a collection of condensation. We found that the rain fly doesn't cover the whole tent and were really glad we brought extra tarps to use, because it wasn't truely rainproof. It kind of defeats the purpose of carrying an ultra-light tent if you also have to carry a huge tarp to put over it. All of these issues seem a bit excessive for the price you pay. If you are going on a solo trip with 1 backpack, this might be a perfect tent, but for two, its a bit small. The plastic connections are nice, but if one breaks on the trail, there is NO way to fix one... your tent would be hooped. Also, the tent poles stay together in an "X", connected by a plastic ring. They are bent poles and only go on one way. It is easy to forget which way the bends are supposed to go. There was more than one night we put the tent up more than once, due to getting them backwards... oh yeah, the directions don't explain that.
Not too excited about this product.

Service and delivery comments:

Shipping to B.C. was really expensive. I paid REI $40 to ship it, but that only got it to the border. I had to pay COD another $50 to UPS. On top of that, there was a $50 duty. The second two charges were a surprise and put me over the budget I wanted to spend on a tent.

Comments about NEMO Espri 2P Tent:

Not happy because this tent tapers down. 52" at door width taper to 42" at the back.

Nemo's website doesn't reflect the taper, there aren't enough reviews to reflect it tapering.

The reason why I don't like the taper is I use a 25" wide neo air sleeping pad and my parter uses a 20" wide neo air sleeping pad. They dont fit because of the taper, they get bunched up at the back and we touch the sidewalls of the tent.

For reference I'm 5'8" 180lbs, and significant other is 5'4" 110lbs. We thought the tent would be roomy enough for us but its not because of the taper, in addition, the tent is listed as 86" in length, but my 77" neo air runs the full length of the tent and touches the door and rear wall, which leaves no floor space for anything in the tent but our air pads and sleeping bags.

I gave this tent 3 stars because it would be a great single person tent. Its a cake to set up, and compacts down to much smaller than the included stuff sack. I got the tent/fly down to 12x5 rolled up together. They weigh about 3lbs and the poles and stakes weigh about 1.4lbs.

I knocked off 2 stars because its not a good 2 person tent.

This one is unfortunately going back to REI.

Comments about NEMO Espri 2P Tent:

First off, I LOVE THIS TENT!!! I bought the Nemo Espri2 specifically for bicycle touring as it was very lightweight, easy to set up and seemed to be well built. I recently took the tent on a bicycle tour through Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Utah, and the tent saw it all, hail, heavy rain, high winds and not once did it leak (I did reseal all the seams however), or collapse in high winds of 70+ mph. This tent is roomy inside (for 1 person) and gave me enough space in the vestibule to keep my 4 bike panniers and duffle bag outside the tent where they remained completely dry in heavy rain. I would advise people to buy the Paw print. I'm wanting to buy it now. It's another floor that snaps down in the 4 corners to protect the tent floor from dog paws, boots, etc. I will be taking this tent on a bicycle tour through Africa, starting in Cairo and finishing in 4 months in Capetown. I have no concerns about this tent. Best tent I've ever owned. Now I want to buy a bigger Nemo strictly for car camping.

Comments about NEMO Espri 2P Tent:

This is a great under 4lb tent. The foot print clasps to the base of the tent so you never have to remove it. Just shake it out with the tent and roll up as a single unit.

The two poles attached design allows you to hook the poles into the base of the tent before you hook the tent itself up. This is great because the poles don't fall over as you try and hook them together.

The only thing I wasn't 100% impressed with was the vestibule. It has a plastic window which seems more novelty than useful. It also cuts down on privacy within a group.

Comments about NEMO Espri 2P Tent:

It's first time out was about ten miles outside of Arches Nat'l Park in Southern UT. It stood like a champ in stormy weather (Heavy rain/non-stop 30+ mph winds.)

Biggest issue I had with it was the condensation collected around the tub after a night of hard rain (everything's relative, it was better than some tents I've slept in.) - and the pole catchers seemed relatively flimsy.

Other than that it was a great tent, kind of cramped with two people+gear. Had 2 dog's with us, both weighing around 50 Lb's, they stayed in vestibule with our backpacks and no problems.

All in all a good tent.

Comments about NEMO Espri 2P Tent:

I lived in this tent for the whole summer. I camped on the island of Anholt - a tiny little patch of land between Denmark and Sweden. A violent storm slammed the island and wiped out everyone's tent... everyone's but mine, that is. This thing was incredible. It handled the wild rain and intense winds like it was getting paid to do it. Sturdy, strong, durable, waterproof, warm, etc.

Comments about NEMO Espri 2P Tent:

Great tent for long treks. Easy to set up with Nemo's corner feet. You just snap in tent, footprint and fly into same foot and snug down straps for a drum tight fly. I have the trekking pole vestibule where I keep my boots and pack. Gear loft is great for drying socks and holding MP3 speaker, and nifty light pouch makes reading easy. If you set up on rock or sand, trekking vestibule and side fly guy lines are a challenge. I use sand/snow pouches on beach and rock. Extra fly loops are great for wind securing, just need to buy extra stakes. I'm six foot and tent is just big enough by an inch, so if your a smaller person the Espri 2P would be great. I've had this tent in Olympics,Smokies and Florida with no problems.