Mountain Hardwear Approach

Review Date
April 10, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: stefan(Unregistered User) ,  Backpacker

Price Paid:  $0.00 at local

Summary:
Bought tent many years ago. It has been through hell, lightning storms on mountains, and hail, and all night downpours. It's still one of the lightest 2 person tents out there. And for its time was state of the art ultralight before that became a fad. I still use it because it stands rock solid through "dung" storms of all kinds. However, I just bought a SD Iota because I like the side entrance on the SD tent. And, it is smaller, but lighter too. This will allow me to take a sil nylon tarp along and make an excellent awning/porch, and kinda sit in the tent and hang out the side, under the tarp, during rain and social camp times.

Review Date
March 20, 2005

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: mikeaustin ,  Backpacker

Price Paid:  $299.00 at REI

Summary:
I took this tent on several solo expeditions in Peru---12 days to the ruins of Choquequirao and 14 days to the Chachapoyan region of Gran Vilaya---and in Lauca National Park in Chile. It is a fine tent, lightweight and very strong. I camped below a 14,000 foot pass in the Andes, and when I awoke the fly was covered in ice. No problem, though. It sets up fast and tight as a drum. I always used a footprint.

Customer Service:
None needed

Similar Products Used:
Noirth Face Cirrus and Slick Rock, MSR Ventana

Review Date
April 30, 2003

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: John Wood(Unregistered User) ,  Climber , from Virginia

Price Paid:  $175.00 at outdoorreview classi

Summary:
Great tent. Sets up in minutes even in the dark. If you have trouble getting this one up, you'd better stay home. Light and breathable. I haven't been in any major storms in it yet.

Customer Service:
Haven't needed it.

Similar Products Used:
North Face
Walrus

Review Date
July 28, 2002

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Visitors rate this review
2.75 of 5, 4 votes

Reviewed by: doctae(Unregistered User) ,  Backpacker , from New Orleans

Price Paid:  $325.00 at REI

Summary:
HAve only used this tent on 3 trips so far. Let me just say that there were some newsworth windstorms in April in southeast Utah. We were camping in a remote section of Capitol Reef National Park and had 2 solid days of windstorms. Gusting 50-70 mph. Downed fully grown pine trees and ripped off some roofs in Torrey. The wind blew my 40 lbs. pack 15 feet across the ground. It was holding down my sleeping bag and thermarest - which blew a quarter mile away. This tent was staked in shallow sand, guyed meticulously of course, and did just fine. Enough said

Customer Service:
n/a

Similar Products Used:
Survived for the past 10 years with a $100 Kelty zen precurson. Lived in it for 2 months in Eastern Tibet. No problems in snow, rain, desert. This mountain hardware tent, however, is like driving a Le

Review Date
June 5, 2002

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Visitors rate this review
4.30 of 5, 20 votes

Reviewed by: tomtomtom(Unregistered User) ,  Backpacker , from Western New York

Price Paid:  $265.00 at snowleopard.com sale

Summary:
Thought the recent Backpacker review a little odd, so I thought I'd give my 2 cents.

Tent goes up in a few minutes - 3 easy poles, a few clips, it's up. There's a arched pole, and to make life easier, I've marked the adjoining ends with a black line - I match up the lines and the arch is correct.

Fly is nice and tight over the tent. Backpacker had concerns over durability of the lightweight material - time and Mountain Hardwear's reputation will tell, but it's worked great in the rain and wind.

Vestibule is small, but can squeeze my pack and boots. Head room is tight - I'm around 6' and have to hunch a bit- and interior is cozy for two, but that's one of the drawbacks that comes with the luxury of a sub-5 lb tent. The vestibule door design does shed some water into the tent as it's opened, but I'm prepared for it now and it's not a big deal.

Lots of mesh in the body, and two fantastic windows in the fly make my falling asleep and waking up to stars, trees and sunlight a treat! Would never go back to a no-window tent after this one. Ventillation is a little sparce on warm nghts, but I haven't experienced any major condensation with everything buttoned-up.

Body, fly and footprint (purchased seperately) fits into a squished volleyball-sized lightweight package, and poles/stakes are easily stored in my Gregory.

When researching last year, I looked at 2 of the other tents Backpacker reviewed with better scores (Zoid and Orion) and am very glad I bought the Approach. Did I mention I love those windows?

Customer Service:
Haven't needed it

Similar Products Used:
Walrus, MSR, Kelty,