The North Face Spectrum 33 Tent

Advantages: Lightweight, robust, colour coded poles, reflective guy ropes
Disadvantages: It's not true 4-season, small cooking area, lack of headroom

...I bought a Tadpole 23 three years ago and use it for wild-country back-packing, rock-climbing and winter mountaineering. It is an ultra-lightweight tent that weighs less than 2kg, designed for two people, in three-season conditions (However, I have used it for winter mountaineering in the UK, which it is fine for if you have a good sleeping bag and air mattress). It does all the standard tent stuff - like keeping the wind and rain off you and your kit whilst allowing you to cook and sleep, but is much more sophisicated than a standard tent. When you first see it up, it looks a bit flimsy, but it is actually very resistant to the wind and The North Face have made every effort to reduce its weight as much as possible without compromising on the strength. It is easy to put up on your own (even in the dark when you're tired) due... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great wind resistance and great ultralight fly and footprint only pitching
Disadvantages: seamtape on the fly peeled/crumbled and inside of the fly became sticky

...I bought my Tadpole 23 in 2005. I've been camping for more than ten years and owned and used many tents, including the 1999 Tadpole model. For me this tent is emblematic of the decline of The North Face's quality. I used it only one time and one time alone last year. When I inspected it before an upcoming trip I found the inside of the tentfly extremely sticky and the seamtape started to crumble and peel. This didn't happen to the other two tents in my closet. I put it away clean, dry and folded neatly and I can't think of a plausible explanation for it other than that the materials were hi-tech but of inferior quality. I also had problems with two other North Face products i had bought along with this tent: the Patrol Pack Duo and the Venture Hyvent Jacket.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Easy pitching, good air circulation, lightweight, DAC poles, internal pockets, reflective guylines, compression sac.
Disadvantages: The mesh door provides good air circulation but some times makes the tent too chilly.

...I bought this fantastic tent just for £164.99 (the original price was £249.99) few months ago for two reasons; weight (2.2kg) and fantastic price. I used it several times at the Lakes and once in the mountain Olympos (Greece). Some pros were things like easy pitching, good air circulation, lightweight, fantastic DAC poles, internal pockets to store things like your head torch, reflective guylines (to avoid night accidents), and compression sac. However as I said the mesh door provides good air circulation but some times that makes the tent too chilly. Once it was so windy and chilly that we finally slept with our heads at the tale of the tent and that had as result a very uncomfortable night. So, in cold weather make sure that you have a good sleeping bag (I recommend a 3-4 seasons bag). Moreover you should buy the ground sheet... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful