
The North Face
Wawona 6
Spacious vestibule, strong in storms, but rainfly tricky solo.

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I'm a single male backpacker and I chose the Nemo OSMO Dagger 2p over the Dragonfly, for more space, more pockets, and an even-square-shaped footprint capable of squeezing TWO WIDE sleeping pads, if needed. Great size for one person, doable with two. Good interior height for a 6'1" man, two vestibules/doors, and the "bathtub" vestibule attachment is nice. Also: the netting is good for stargazing (black on top). Edit: I paid full price. I had to save for several months to make it happen, at $499.
I'm 6'2" and use an Osmo Dagger 2p. The sides and ends rise up steeply so lots of room. If camping with someone else I would get the 3p. If you are backpacking I would get something lighter. [https://www.rei.com/product/242364/nemo-dagger-osmo-2p-tent](https://www.rei.com/product/242364/nemo-dagger-osmo-2p-tent)
So basically you're now doing car camping (which is a lot of fun btw) and want to aim more towards shorter trips with friends or alone? It's quite difficult to give specific recommendations, but there's kinda a rule of thumb. You have the big three: sleep system, shelter and backpack. These give you either a great camping experience, or a miserable one. Of course smaller things like cook kit, a good flashlight etc is important, but smaller and not as easy to do wrong. For shelter I'd pick a tent personally. If you want to go alone: aim for a 2P backpacking tent to give some extra room for your stuff and to pack. For 2 persons, pick a 3P tent for the same reason. I can highly recommend Naturehike as a brand to start with and test the waters. Depending on your climate maybe the Mongar 2 or Star River 2. I started with this brand and it's well regarded, lightweight, easy to use and not expensive. If you want to go all the way I'd recommend Durston (X-Dome 2 or X-Mid 2), Big Agnes (Copper spur UL2) and Nemo (Dagger Osmo 2p, Aurora 2p or hornet 2P) For sleep system this gets personal. But a few things are important. Comfort, warmth, weight and packability. Again you have so many options and everyone has different needs. Make sure your sleeping pad is R rated to about 3 or 4 at least for late spring until early fall. Also make sure your sleeping bag has a COMFORT rating that's lower than your expected temperature. In practice it's mostly colder than you expect. For a pillow you can either go very comfortable, or more lightweight. Again brands like Nemo and Big Agnes are good. Therm a rest, sea to Summit, and others also offer good sleeping pads and bags, though expensive. Backpack, again choose if you want more ultralight or more feature packed. Having less weight makes a huge difference on long trails, but will be neglectable when doing car camping. The comfort of a pack is also very personal. I'd suggest trying out a few at an outdoor store close to you. I did test some gear, from cheap to a bit more expensive and been down the same route. Starting out as you, and doing it more and more often, upgrading the gear along the way. If you have any questions or want some suggestions, feel free to send me a DM or just respond to this text :)
Hey! You're welcome of course 😁. And yes I actually thought you meant that. Although the term car camping is indeed people sleeping in their car. I did a similar trip last summer where we took the car to bring everything we needed but then proceeded backpacking. The car was more like a central supply station hahaha. Indeed separating the big three gives a bit more direction in what you need and a segmentation as well. That tent actually melted?? That's insane hahaha. Again if you need some advice on models, or experience, I did quite the research on a lot of items including smaller things. Just hit me up if you want to know more 👌🏼
Tbh for the price of a new MSR tent you'd be better off getting a Durston X-Dome, Big Agnes Copper spur UL2 or a Nemo Dragonfly/Aurora/Dagger 2P MSR is one of the only brands that still use a nylon fly which sucks up a lot of water and sags quite a lot when wet. Also like another comment said, you have certain brands with the exact same design and similar build quality for a fourth of the price (Naturehike Mongar 2 UL, Naturehike Star River 2 UL)
I *love* my Nemo Dagger Osmo 2 tent and would wholeheartedly recommend it. I haven't used those other tents you've mentioned because... well... I've been so happy with the Nemo Dagger Osmo. If you have any questions about it (other than comparison questions), let me know.
I'm in the US... Pacific Northwest. I've had it out in rain numerous times but I've gotta be honest, if I'm expecting a real rain storm or days of rain, ANY backpacking tent I'm camping in will likely get a DD Tarp 3m x 3m tarp set up over it at an angle just to keep the rain runoff flowing away from my tent. As for wind, I haven't really camped in it in what I'd call strong wind but I know it comes with several additional guy out points you could use if you were in a really windy situation but you'd need to provide your own guy lines and stakes for those optional guy out points. An overkill Hilleburg tent this is not, but unless you're going to be intentionally going where there are super high winds or camping on a ridgeline/peak, I would imagine you could make the Dagger Osmo work just fine. Its rain fly does come down pretty close to the ground, allowing some air flow but it's not going to act like an air scoop. Also, my heavy wind and your heavy wind could be totally different. I think for a ~3lb tent, it's pretty great. I can't speak to the others you've asked for because I got the Dagger and have been happy enough with it I've not needed to buy any other tent.
Nemo Dagger 2p is absolutely perfect for 2 people. Lightweight(you can split weight), easy to pitch, very spacious(can fit 2 large pads), 2 doors with a lot of room for your gear. Many other features that are absolutely spot on
I have normal Dagger 2 and mate you will be alright.. I camped in it throughout winter and summer. If you are planning to camp in bad conditions MSR is probably better choice as Dagger is more warmer tent with massive vents so wind goes through it like no tomorrow. However it is very sturdy, solid, spacious and completely waterproof. Another pro - it does not sag when wet. I’m lucky enough to have quite a few tents so I can pick whichever suits conditions, but if you want to have 1 tent do it all - go for MSR.
Nemo Dagger is best I have ever owned
Dagger is square floor as to where the dragonfly tapers at the foot. So if you use 2 25in wide pads in the 2p dagger it should fit as the dragonfly won't. Last years model of dragonfly is on sale at REI and you can use there 20% member discount right now until 23rd. If all you need is a 2p the Durston xdome 2p is the King 👑 then zpacks duplex is next for weight

The North Face
Wawona 6
Spacious vestibule, strong in storms, but rainfly tricky solo.

Gazelle Tents
T4 Hub Tent Series
Fastest setup, durable, but bulky and awkward door.

Durston
X-Mid 2
Ultralight, spacious 2P, but not for very strong winds.

Durston
X-Mid 1
Budget ultralight 1P, spacious, but large footprint.

Naturehike
Mongar 2 Backpack Tent (Nylon)
Budget 2P, spacious for price, but not for 4 seasons.

Ranked #1
Durston - X-Mid 2

Ranked #1
Gazelle Tents - T4 Hub Tent Series

Ranked #1
Gazelle Tents - T4 Hub Tent Series

Ranked #1
Durston - X-Mid 2

Ranked #1
Durston - X-Mid 2

Ranked #1
SlingFin - Portal 2