MSR FreeLite 2 Ultralight Backpacking Tent

2021-08-09T20:00:00

Crooked stitched mesh and bedroom floor, poles have sharp edges after few uses tear its pocket and tent bag.

Taras

Originally posted at

2021-06-18T20:00:00

I have used this tent on multi-day whitewater rafting trips, backpacking trips and car camping trips. The design is very functional and set up is easy. The materials are very high quality and waterproof. I have not encountered any condensation issues and there seems to be ample ventilation (although I currently live in the arid west, this tent has seen thunderstorms in Maui). I am 6'4" and when I use this tent solo it is spacious. When I share the tent with my partner there is enough room for the two of us and a small amount of gear.

Sean

Originally posted at

2019-11-10T19:00:00

We used this tent for the later 2,200 miles of the PCT in 2018, though a lot of sun, a 7 day stretch of rain and minor snow. We didn't abuse it but it held up to daily use for about 5 months and we continue to use it as a primary tent in the Olympics and Cascades. The tent is tight but totally manageable for two people - great for what it was meant for.

M.B

Originally posted at

2018-07-04T20:00:00

So far I've used this on a three night trek around Mount St. Helens. I had 12 hours of rain one night and high winds one day, plus some sun and calm skies. The tent itself is mostly great, kept me dry and with guylines withstood high wind. I'm using the 2-person as a solo tent. I'm not sure I'd want to cram two people in there, but that's the case for pretty much all ultralight tents. I'm totally satisfied with the size and weight. The two things I'd change about the tent body are: 1) get rid of the doors that open to the side and replace with doors that unzip like a rainbow. (I know this style door is the new thing in tent design, but I find it incredibly inconvenient. I can't come in and out without stepping on and pulling the fabric or getting tangled up in it because it's hanging in my face, can't open it with one hand, can't lay in my tent with just the top of the door opened to enjoy unobstructed star gazing.) and 2) I'd like to have an inner mesh pocket on both ends of the tent and one that doesn't hang in my face. My biggest complaint comes with the rain fly. I have a very hard time attaching the rain fly so it fits. The two points on the fly that connect to the ends of the short upper pole on the top of the tent can barely stretch far enough - I'm afraid I'm going to rip the fly trying to connect them. And then it's a real struggle to connect the four corners as well, requiring a lot of pushing, pulling, adjusting tension, etc, to make it fit. And then after all that struggle, with everything tightened up as much as I could, the fly sagged enough above my feet so that when it rained the fly was touching the mesh of the tent. And then my final but not insignificant complaint about the fly is that only one side of each vestibule has the little hooks that allow you to fold up the side. So you can't hang in the tent with the vestibule wide open without having to rig up some special way to keep those doors open. Very annoying and simple fix from MSR.

lisina10

Originally posted at

2017-10-21T20:00:00

This tent amazes me previous to buying this tent I used the Carbon Relfex 1 for all my trips and was extremely happy with it see my review of the Carbon reflex. However the Freelite has a ton more space and is even longer giving me plenty of room to move around I am 6ft 3in for reference.

Zacoey

Originally posted at

2017-07-09T20:00:00

From Rialto Beach to Lake Ozette, it performed perfectly. This tent is very easy to put up, thanks to the single pole design that opens up to a very comfortable roomy living space. The 2 person version was perfect for 1 person plus my pack/gear. It didn't feel cramped inside and at about 3 pounds (with the ground tarp) it wasn't a heavy burden to haul. The weather was outstanding on this outing so I really didn't get to test how dry it kept me in rain, but that will be assessed on a later adventure....

Riptide R.

Originally posted at

2017-05-25T20:00:00

We are loving this new tent, we were able to take it with us to California this past week camping along the coast. The only complaint is that it is not freestanding. There were some coast areas that the ground was too hard to get a stake into. But the weight for travel and size was great!

Brit

Originally posted at

2017-02-23T19:00:00

I acquired a MSR Freelite 2 shelter for use as a solo shelter that would give me a good bit of livable space while being double wall and fast&easy to setup. The vast majority of the time I use it in 'bug net' mode, leaving off the tarp. At 50" of width and 36" of height the inner makes for a really sweet bug shelter. Setup is fast & easy, even for a single person, even in light to moderate wind. Headroom is pretty good. The "in your face when laying down" issue is not too big of an issue - slightly more vertical walls (available in other shelters MSR offers) always be nice, but trade offs have to be made. The doors are 'U-slanted' style zippers. A bit like the standard J-style zipper, and angled in a slanted way, to follow the thread/sew lines. This does make them a bit harder to get out of than a standard J-style, or even inverted J-style zipper, because the top part of the zipper forces you to duck under it. The pole system is a single piece pole system. That makes me happy. I really do not like having multiple poles you have to put together. This, of course, leads to some of the design limitations (less vertical walls, stakes required for foot end, U-slanted zippers, etc) but it also results in the pole system being less weight. Again, a trade off. The 15D Nylon Ristop 1200mm PolySil tarp fabric is pretty good. I would like to see them go with something lighter weight to bring down the overall shelter weight. The pack volume on this shelter just seems a bit big to me. Granted it has a dedicated pole system, but the inner+tarp by themselves just seem to be larger than my other double wall shelters. I find myself putting each piece (tarp/inner/groundsheet) into three different stuff sacks, just to help me pack my backpack in a manner that allows for better distribution. All in all the Freelite 2 is an exceptional solo, fully enclosed, double wall, full size, shelter.

John A.

Originally posted at

2017-01-19T19:00:00

This tent has been awesome. Very lightweight and packable. Used in conditions from hot and humid to below freezing in the snow and this tent has handled everything I've put it through. Haven't tried the rain fly and footprint only setup yet, but that's next. Tent floor fabric is on the thin side so campsite selection is important. I've only used it as a 1 person tent and have a huge amount of room for just me.

Nick

Originally posted at