A STOUT, LIGHTWEIGHT HYBRID
The split-personality Vario uses a weight-saving design—two sides are single-wall, two are traditional double-wall—to achieve an impressive weight/strength/space ratio. And it’s even roomier than it appears, thanks to a brow pole over the center of the tent and precurved poles that maximize interior space. The only downside: condensation. Despite overhead vents, without a breeze to move air through, we often woke up to damp walls, even on a bone-dry night in Montana’s Rattlesnake Wilderness Area. 4.2 lbs; thenorthface.com
Bonus: It comes with a compression stuffsack and flat-topped stakes that don’t gouge your hands.
Bummer: A second door and vestibule would improve ventilation—and make for happier tentmates.