ALPS Mountaineering Aries 2 Tent
This tent offers great storm protection, maximum ventilation, and packs small.
Brand: ALPS Mountaineering
Model: Aries 2 Tent - 2-Person 3-Season
Protection
4.6 Six guy-out points, a taut pitch, and sharply angled, wind-shedding fly walls meant no flapping in 20-mph sustained winds during a stormy night in Greenbrier State Park, Maryland.
Livability
4.6 Two 8.5-square-foot vestibules and good headroom throughout (42 inches at the peak)compensate for the 31.5-square-foot tapered floor plan, which is adequate for two average-size people.
Ventilation
4.7 “The nearly full-mesh canopy let us escape the bugs but still enjoy the campfire from afar,” said one tester after a warm lakeside night near California’s Lake Tahoe. All this mesh meant no condensation buildup, even on cool and humid Maryland mornings.
Durability
3.0 Gripe: One tester noticed a few snags in the 20-denier mesh canopy, which has a visibly looser weave than its competitors. In our controlled abrasion test, the mesh sustained a large hole.
Overall Score
4.1
$249; 5 lbs. alpsmountaineering.com
The Scale: 1=save your money – 5=perfect gear.
*Overall score is not an average of others scores; It’s a gut-level assessment of performance and value.