In her book Wild, Cheryl Strayed said something about how, nowadays, there are all kinds of blogs and forums that will tell you everything you need to know about thru-hiking.
Maybe that’s where I got the idea to join a Facebook group for wannabe PCT hikers.
I joined one group, and then another, and then another.
Multiple women from multiple groups recommended the MSR Elixir 2 tent, for the following reasons:
1) This is an extremely popular tent. There’s one in every campground. There’s nothing unique about it. It doesn’t stand out.
2) This tent is easy for one person to set up or take down in about five minutes (or less).
3) It has a reputation for being durable, and it’s lightweight enough. (I chose the more durable option over the more lightweight option.)
4) Although it’s technically a 3 season tent, many people have reported good results from using it in snow.
5) It has zippers on both sides, which could increase one’s chance of escape from a predator. With the rainfly on, there are two zippers on each side.
6) The company MSR has a good reputation for repairing damaged goods. They also own the brands Thermarest, Cascade Designs, PackTowl, Platypus, and Sealline.
This tent had been on my Amazon wishlist for a few years before I won my disability lawsuit.
Of course, I wasn’t expecting to be illegally evicted and go homeless right after winning my lawsuit (but I’ll write about that on an entirely separate blog).
The first time I ever set up this tent, I thought I was just taking a break from the homeless shelter in South Sacramento, where I’d been staying for two months.
I took another “break” to Yosemite the next weekend, and never came back.
Since I left the shelter (and a little bit before, too), this tent has seen rain, snow, sun, mud, condensation, physical stress, and foxtails.
The footprint, rain fly, guy lines, and tent are all still nearly in perfect shape. I’ve bent two of the stakes, but those are the cheapest and easiest component to replace.
Last week, as I was setting up the tent, I noticed that one of the poles was broken and splayed near the end. I didn’t even know that could happen!
Some quick Google searches taught me that I could temporarily splint the break, and then send the poles in to MSR for repair.
I bought a Gearhead splint at REI, and two MSR splints off of Amazon. The MSR splints are a much better fit, but all of the splints are reusable, so I’ll keep the Gearhead splint for a different tent.
Of course, sending the tent in meant that I would have to buy another tent, since I won’t be able to use the MSR while the poles are being repaired.
It was beginning to get really hot and stuffy inside the MSR as the weather warmed up, anyway.
I decided that I needed a bigger, better ventilated tent for summer.
Luckily, I was able to find a highly recommended tent for a good price at Costco.
The MSR Elixir 2 was a great tent for a beginner like me. It didn’t seem that heavy to me, but I didn’t have anything to compare it to, since this was my first tent.
I was pretty rough with it, so I’m not surprised that the poles split. I’m just glad they have a lifetime warranty.
This tent is great when you’re trying to conserve body heat, but not so great when you need to cool off. I doubt I’ll be using it again until summer is over.
So far, I haven’t had any issues with the tent leaking, or with bugs getting into the tent. There is a tiny rip in the mesh from a foxtail, but no bugs have climbed through it yet.
Even when I accidentally set my tent up on low ground during snowfall and came back to the tent floating in a pool of water, it still didn’t leak a single drop.
This tent normally sells for over $300, but I was able to get mine for $100 less from a reputable seller on Amazon (Sunny Sports).
I honestly feel like I got my money’s worth, especially since, after the poles are repaired, I will continue to use this tent for many trips to come.
Camp Host Diaries 