The North Face Big Fat Frog 24 Tent

Comments about The North Face Big Fat Frog 24 Tent:

I have had this tent for over a year now, so it's review time... I'll start by telling you that I love this tent, however I'll be objective. First off, if you are looking to spend a few hundred dollars on a tent then you should know what you are going to be using it for. I bought this as a serious 3 season tent stopping short of absolutely needing a single walled expedition style tent. This tent has been with me to the top of Mt. Whitney in severe conditions and I even had to set it up at 12,000 feet at night with driving wind on an emergency decent. Now for the review...

This tent is designed as a mountaineering two person tent, not a car camping "stand tall inside" two person tent. There is a good amount of room in this tent, but again, it is built for mountaineering; this is not catering to the family style car campers. It does fit two people of normal size very nicely. I generally use this as my own tent letting others bring theirs and I will attest that it is a one person castle. Every time I set it up I get compliments on it. Set up is simple - There are three color coded poles, two are sleeved, crossing along the length and the front is a clip design. I have found the combination of the two designs to be very simple and extremely strong.

It is an all mesh design which has multiple benefits, ie. lighter weight, excellent ventilation, sky visibility on warmer nights. The bottom is a full tub design with fully taped seems which is extremely important and adds to security, safety and peace of mind when weather turns foul. You'll know what I mean when its pouring outside and you are inside the tent listening to the water rush by while you are protected by the tub.

The door is a full circle design which is great. From any position in the tent you can reach the zipper and with one arm motion open or close it. Very ergonomic and efficient design. For those that have had to reach to one end of the tent and get fully extended and then reposition and grab with the other arm to pull the zipper to the other side, you know what I'm talking about.

I went camping close to home during a storm just to see how this tent would handle before I went somewhere where my life might depend on it and I was amazed at it's performance. Some tents noodle and fold in the wind and this one was completely solid in heavy wind and rain like it was at home having been designed for these conditions. The sides are low profile which is good in the wind and the pole design is like a six legged triangle; very stable in bad conditions. The rain fly held snug, wicked rain with no problems and made me feel that the weather hadn't even begun to challenge what this tent could handle.

Now for the vestibule... I have to say that it was a major selling point for me. It is huge and has countless benefits. You can keep your dirty items out of your sleeping area while still being protected and easily reachable. You can cook in it if the weather is lousy outside. Your dog can stay inside while not being directly in your tent. On and On... It's great. There are some things you should know though... For one, the vestibule is not free standing - it does have to be staked out with the attached guy line. I was a little disappointed in this, but "so what?" is how I look at it now. Pull, bang bang, done. The vestibule also does not have a floor except for the triangle area past the outer pole into where the guy line point is. At first I was confused why TNF didn't add the floor, but after extensive use with this tent I have found it to be better without a floor. If they did have a floor, it would be the first thing to wear out and get nasty, however they did provide a floor to the area I mentioned to keep things off the ground where you won't be walking/crawling in and out of all the time.

I am an avid backpacker but I am also by no means an ultra light packer. I like nice things, I like to be comfortable and with that comes weight. This tent does have weight (I think is around 8lbs, check the specs) but I take the tent with me every time and I don't think twice about it. With everything this tent offers you'll be hard pressed to find it's rival in this class of tents. It is a unique design and I recommend you think about what exactly you need in a tent, what you want in a tent and in what conditions you may find yourself in the wilderness. I wanted a tent that will work great in the summer and handle gnarly conditions in the winter without worry for myself and another person comfortably. That is exactly what I got with this tent and I couldn't be happier with it.

I hope this helps. See you on the trail!

Comments about The North Face Big Fat Frog 24 Tent:

I have used this tent now on several of my backpacking trips. It has held out in torrential rains on the Washington Coast and high winds in the Cascades (70+mph). This is an excellent backpacking tent, definetly not something to take car camping.

I've found the set up not to be too difficult, although I prefer the 2-pole clip design; however, the 3-pole design with sleeve's and clips makes the tent much sturdier than other 2-pole designs that I've owned.

The vestibule is my favorite feature and is what really sold me on the tent. I have been on several trips where the weather has turned and the large vestibule keeps gear dry and off the ground. The big plus comes when you want to cook. The spacious vestibule allows you to cook safely inside (I unzip the top part of the door for ventilation). It's nice not going out in the weather to cook.

Inside the tent, there is enough room for two people and mummy bags. Like I said, this is not a car camping tent. It is cozy but not uncomfortable. The smaller design actually keeps it a little warmer inside.

Overall this is my best tent yet.

Comments about The North Face Big Fat Frog 24 Tent:

Was passing through Seattle so popped into the HUGE REI [...] Have now used the tent through a British winter and on the whole have been happy with it. This is a good all round tent for general use. Its easy to set up and is comfortable for 1 person and kit but cramped for 2. The large porch is OK but suffers badly with only having 1 door.My major concern with this tent is that in heavy rain the large flat 'roof' of the tent holds water which then bows enough to touch the inner and thus leak :( windy conditions with rain has a similar effects. I came back to the tent after some torrential rain to find pools of water and dripping from the roof.... luckily my down mountain Hardwear sleeping bag is made from Conduit SL so stayed dry but other stuff got wet.... grrrrrr. When I replace this tent will I get another one? in a word.... No. Its O.K but I feel there are better tents out there.

Comments about The North Face Big Fat Frog 24 Tent:

The big vestibule is nice and it's easy to set up and it's comfortable for two people, but that's where the pros end. The flat roof leads to water pooling up and leaking through. It has leaked quite a bit each time it has rained on us. This tent might work in the rockies where the storms are normally quick, however for AK I would not recomend this tent.

The other thing I do not care for was the stakes this tent came with. They were of very poor quality and in hard soils bent easily. I gave this tent a try but it's going back.

Comments about The North Face Big Fat Frog 24 Tent:

This tent is great for backpacking use, wouldn't recommend for more than 2 people (especially if wife needs everything in house on a camping trip). This tent stood up to two days of continuous rain with no water entering tent from seams or rising from floor. I use with the fly and footprint and have no complaints. There is plenty of room to keep equipment dry and storage pockets for small items. Easy to set up and use.

Comments about The North Face Big Fat Frog 24 Tent:

Wonderful tent! Good room for two people, if you have a generally minimalist bent. However, even with some creature comforts, it works well. Those who said it is tough to set up -- nah, takes less than 5 mins if you do it right. Also, those who complain about leaking or water pooling -- again, nah - if you set up the fly right and tighten it down sufficiently with guylines. Our first weekend, we pitched it on the Lake Michigan shore in a 40 mph wind with driving rain. We stayed dry, warm, and ventilation was good; no drips on the sleeping bag, to speak of. The vestible rocks! Big enough for your packs, or, if car camping, you could use it for other misc. tasks. Further, you can cook in the vestibule, if you're careful to vent with the door. We ate a delicious 3-course meal in the tent during that wicked storm. Also love the mesh-only option -- really nice on a warm night or in an Adirondack lean-to on the trail (for bugs as such). Not super lightweight, but for what it is, and the protection, it's a decent size/weight.

PS -- If you don't have to shrink your pack too small, or if car camping, you can pick up a tiny doormat style rug (we got a nice loop-woven one) to set in front of the doorway, inside the vestibule. It makes coming in and out a bit neater and is nice when you're throwing the shoes on for a late-night trip to the woods.

PPS - Also, lots of convenient pockets inside, placed nicely for when your snug in your bag.

PPPS - You'll need some extra stakes if you want to use all the guylines, which I recommend to fix the tautness of the fly to prevent water pooling.

Comments about The North Face Big Fat Frog 24 Tent:

This is overall a great tent that is what I consider a great value for a premium tent. I disagree with the previous review; I found this tent to set up very quickly. Its very light, especially if split between two people. The vestibule created by the rain fly is large and well designed. Its lightness does make it a danger for flying away if you situate it perpendicular to a stuff breeze and none of your gear is in it, of course. Ive used it on multiple trips into the mountains of Colorado.

Minimal condensation, but ive never seen a tent fail to have some.

Ive never owned a finer tent.

Comments about The North Face Big Fat Frog 24 Tent:

This is a good tent. The best parts about it are the large vestibule, completely waterproof, and amazing in high winds. I would rate this as a 3.5 season tent because of its amazing design in high winds. This thing is a bomb shell and barely moves if you set up the tent with the back facing the wind. I have had this tent for about 5 years now and have taken really good care of it and it is holding up very nicely.

Things to know.
Personally I would want to get a dome tent. There is no room for your head and it is for sleeping only. Its hard to hang out and play cards in (specially if you want more than 2 in there) because of the design. Its really hard to change in because you have to scrunch up near the door of the tent because thats the only place with headroom. Its pretty heavy too. I mean everyone should have a footprint and if you have that its like 7 or so pounds which is far too heavy for a 2 man backpacking tent these days. The vestibule is overkill. You don't need that much space unless you are wanting that for other reasons than putting shoes there. It takes a while to set up as well because of all the stakes (which makes it good in wind though) and crazy pole positions. ALSO, its very hot during the summer.

Its a great tent but for my kind of uses (backpacking) its too heavy, vestibule is unnecessarily large, and too difficult to set up. Go with REI's quarter dome or half dome for backpacking. They will hold up in wind, are lighter compared to this tent, and a much simpler and better design for backpacking.

I hope this helps with your choice!

Comments about The North Face Big Fat Frog 24 Tent:

I didn't use this tent before I decided to return it after setting it up in my living room. This would be a great tent for a day hike, but not one I would want to set up more than once. Just too much involved in setting it up, and its not one you could get away with not staking down. The durability of the main entrance doesn't seem like it would stand a chance on a windy day, but like I said I never used it on a trip.