Black Diamond  Mega Light 4P Tent

I have used my mid for most every western river for over 20 years, never let me down. Vicious storms, huge winded, no problem. I added the mega bug a long time ago and now this is my go to setup for Everglades National Park camping. Camping on the backcountry chickees can be relentless on bugs (putting it mildly) and with the top tied off to the roof I can set either one or both up in minutes and be weather and/or bug free. On a flats boat weight is key and this setup can’t be beat. The best all around shelter possible.

This is my 3rd megamid, and I'm super happy with the improvements like the tensioners on the stakeout points and guy lines. Excellent snuggling happens when we go backpacking as a family of four! Former 'mids went on epic trips to the Bugaboos and Sierras. This one is going to host many epic games of uno.

Held up to rain and wind just fine on a recent 3 night backpack in the Wind River Range. Fit 3 men and our 3 backpacking packs alright. Easy setup. Really clever strap for adjoining 2 trekking poles to make the tent pole.

I’ve been using Megalights and it’s predecessor ( the megamid) since Chouinard owned the company. Last week, on a solo ski tour with my malamute, we had a night in the Carson Range where wind gusts were in excess of 60 mph at camp. Max wind gust at Mt Rose ski area, a few miles away, was 116mph. Dog & I didn’t get a lot of sleep, but the tent held up. It’s all about setting the guy lines up properly & burying the edges properly. Good technique and knowledge with light gear will get you thru rough times better than the best heavyweight gear and no knowledge/technique will.

This thing protected me from a wind storm in the Grand Canyon in February and I didn’t even have it pitched all that well since I was drunk!

This is my 3rd Mid and some great improvements. Seam taped, built in tensioners, better fabric and mid panel guy points. On the minus side the lines aren't long enough to go around rocks if you are camping on slabs or hard ground and the zip cover doesn't really lay flat over the zipper so rain can get to the zip. The guy lines are very fragile and if you have them around a rock and move the rock to tension or adjust its angle they cut very easily. A slightly thicker line would have been a better choice.

The pole doesn't allow the tent to be properly tensioned. The locking ring slips on the metal shaft because the metal of the shaft is too soft. The ring shaves the pole resulting in slippage. I've had the Megalight's predecessor, the Chouinard Megamid, and used that for decades until the zipper finally broke. The pole on that was good and sturdy. The Megalight's pole is lighter in weight but basically worthless and unusable. Buyer, beware.

I've spent literal years of my life sleeping in Black Diamond Mega Mid tents, and I used to absolutely swear by them. Now, it kind of seems like the stretch out and warp weirdly, and are just not as durable as before. The fabric doesn't seem better, the zipper doesn't seem better, the construction doesn't seem better, so I'm not sure why they updated the design. I'm currently looking at other, similar styles from different companies

I was first introduced to the Mega Light during a month-long trip sea kayaking in British Columbia. Heavy rains and heavy bugs. The lightweight shelter kept the rain off us day after day. This was easy to set up in a variety of conditions and tough enough not to fail. I was so impressed with the tent that I just got my own, and look forward to using it with my family on future adventures.

Just got back from a week long spring Middle Fork Salmon River trip and this tent delivered. Doesn’t take up much space, I was able to get a roll-a-cot inside and still have room to move around and access my gear. Experience a couple nights of wind and/ or rain and the tent shed both very well. Bugs were never an issue. Great product for space saving river trips.