Mountain Hardwear  Strato UL 2 Tent

I was so excited as this was my first UL tent! I read so many reviews and watched a bunch of Youtube videos that carefully laid out the pros/cons of the tent. For the pros: it's very lightweight (~2.6lbs with stakes, etc), has a detachable pole bag and fits two wide (25") sleeping pads side by side. Cons: the rainfly doesn't seem to really fit the tent (extremely awkward/pulls and is not taut in certain areas), the rainfly is NOT waterproof, my partner and I woke up soaked from the dew that collected on the outside of the rainfly and dripped on our sleeping bags all night long, and lastly because the rainfly fits awkwardly it's hard to get the right fit to combat the wind. I wouldn't recommend this tent to anyone as the lack of a waterproof rainfly (at least on the East Coast) makes it useless. Hopefully I can get refunded because I spent way too much money on a product that doesn't work. MHW products are usually of great quality, so I'm extremely disappointed.

If you're looking at weight to space ratio, this is a great tent! I've had mine for about a year, moving through the mountains of the PNW. As many reviewers have pointed out, it IS a bit finicky to pitch correctly. I have found that, regardless of how much time I spend trying to taunt it up, the fly does sag in spots, especially on colder nights when it's prone to gather condensation(this is the case with the Aspect line as well). I believe that with at lest one more velcro loop along the main ridge pole, this could have been less of an issue. All that said, though I have 6 tents, this IS my go-to UL tent.

I love this tent! I've used it several times on backpacking trips in the Sierra Nevada alpine, including a week long through hike. It's very light, easy to setup for an ultralight tent, and very spacious. While I've not yet had to ride out significant weather in this tent, it has performed very well for my uses. My only criticisms are that it was difficult for me to figure out how to properly orient the rainfly on the tent when first setting it up. Neither the arthouse style instructional video, or the included illustrations seemed to really make it clear. Once you figure it out though, setup goes quickly. The other issue is that it does not appear that the rainfly seams are sealed. I had not noticed this until I read another review, after which I inspected mine. I'm not sure if it was a manufacturing oversight for the unit I received, but it is advertised as being fully waterproof. Not a dealbreaker for me because I can do it myself and the weather cooperated on my trips, but it's something to know in advance. While I can't give it 5 stars because of the seams, and the fact I haven't seen how it performs in harder weather, I still highly recommend.

Positive: Very light, small, and easy to carry. I go bikepacking, and the pole segments are short enough to fit inside my pannier at an angle. Negative: It was difficult to stake this out so that the walls stayed taut. I used it in dry weather and no wind, and the ground was just too hard. I used rocks in place of stakes, but if the weather had been even a little less agreeable, I think the tent fabric would have been blowing around all night. Also, the doors converge at a point, and opening the door took two hands. After two nights out with it, I decided to return this and buy a heavier, fully freestanding tent to replace it.

This is a great, ultra lightweight tent! Lots of headroom inside (for what it is) and I particularly appreciate the vertical space offered in the tent corners. Many tents immediately slope inward leaving little room in the corners, but this one offers a bit of vertical room before the tent wall slopes in.

I’m giving it four stars for a few reasons. 1 please include the footprint with the tent. 2 the tent steaks are not the greatest, yes they are light but if I’m on a boating trip I’m bring better ones. I have used this already on a backpacking trip and boating trips. It’s nice and light it’s just right for ONE person. I do wish the door open wider. After my last trip the rain fly is no longer white thanks to the wind, once again I don’t trust the steaks (maybe make them a little longer, if I didn’t use rocks on top of steaks that night my tent would not be here any more). It’s great for backpacking it packs down so small besides the poles.

I’ve had this tent for several months now and absolutely love it. Especially for the price right now, it can’t be beat!!!

The tent was very light and packed small, but the zipper on the rainfly broke the first night I used it. Mountain Hardware made things right with a free return, but I expected more from the tent. In their quest to shave weight, I think they made this a bit too flimsy. Also, I did not like how the interior zipper was in two parts, and required two hands to operate it—one to hold the base of the zipper and one to unzip it. You had to unzip the horizontal zipper, then the vertical zipper, then the rainfly. It was really a process to get in and out of this tent.

Separate stowage bags allow easy carry of the poles in an outer pocket and the tent/fly inside your pack. UL with a wide bathtub that accommodates two 25 inch pads; this is a huge benefit for us. There are adequate dual vestibules for gear, and good interior height. The tent breaths well. While orientating the tent in the right direction, it stood up well to a 4-hour, overnight thunderstorm with significant winds in excess of 45mph. Easy set-up with some innovative design elements. The fly can take some time to get used to adjustment, but also offers air flow flexibility.

My wife purchased this tent for an upcoming Grand Canyon trip. Just set it up to confirm everything is good. Typical Mountain Hardwear quality is present. Not seeing any manufacturing flaws and materials feel good. I don’t like the white rain fly. It’s not going to dry quickly like a dark color would. At 6’0” tall the tent feels cramped especially with a thick Xped mattress. Two 25” mattresses fit but not like the measurements would imply. At the head end they are still pushing out on the walls. Worse at the feet. Advertised measurements are an exaggeration of reality. The foot corner stake out system is crap but at least our mattresses will hold the tent shape. Stakes will be useless in sand as they are tiny to save published weight. Work OK in forest soil. Door zips seem to work OK with one hand. Headroom sucks while laying in it and there won’t be much sitting up with two people in the tent. Heavy breeze currently and tent is holding its shape OK. Wouldn’t want to have to survive much more wind without additional guy lines. I didn’t weigh it to compare to spec but feels light enough. Desert sand will be hard on the tent and we decided to get this and treat it as disposable. I wouldn’t want it for long term anyway. I have a teepee style tent I use in the alpine and forest environment I love but was not going to be a good choice on sand.