Gear Review: The North Face Double Toad 44 Tent
An all-mesh canopy and 54 square feet of living space
This four-person tent was decadent for me, my wife, two-year-old daughter, and three dogs. It’s light enough to take backpacking, but roomy enough that we happily chose it for car camping as well. And best of all, it costs about $100 less than similar tents in the same size and weight range.
The 54 square feet of living space (with 42 inches of headroom) was completely usable thanks to the steep sides. When we camped along Utah’s Green River on a hot summer night, the all-mesh canopy was glorious—like sleeping outside, minus the bugs.
And when it started to rain, I deployed the full-coverage rainfly (quickly, thanks to color-coded attachments) and we never felt a drop. Two large vestibules gave us plenty of storage and foul-weather cooking space. $329; 7 lbs. 8 oz.; thenorthface.com.