Dagger Ridge OSMO

Ridge by the looks have very similar inner if not the same(besides design), upper part of the inner is purely mesh and when you have strong winds you will feel draft. When I camped on Snowdon with 30mph winds draft was quite bad however you don’t need to worry about condensation that’s for sure! 😀 It is by far my favourite tent, but outer being so high of the ground it can be cold. However it is absolutely amazing when conditions are good. If you have rain but no wind, this is the best tent to go for, but in the UK that is unusual https://preview.redd.it/k7o4aa5nt0jg1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a017a7218059ad93e806129dcd3c1e8b7934315e

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

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.

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)

big agnes copper spur HV UL3 is probably the move here. decent headroom bc of the hubbed design so tall adults don't feel like they're constantly hunching, and at like 4lbs it's not gonna destroy your back on trail. three person rating w a 1 year old basically means you actually have room to move around vs feeling like sardines. if budget's flexible the nemo dagger osmo 3p is solid too, slightly heavier but the livable space is genuinely better than the specs suggest. one thing worth knowing — "3 person" ratings are pretty optimistic from most brands so if you've got two tall adults i'd honestly lean toward a 4p if weight isn't a dealbreaker. the rei co-op trail hut 4 is a budget-friendly option that's not ultralight but gives you real space for a family setup.

People math and tents get hard. I'd always lean towards one person extra, so a 4p tent. There aren't a lot of light options in 4p tents though. We used a Eureka 4p tent for years, that weighed 8 lbs, and tried several times to find an alternative but never found anything worth it. At the actual 3p level, we have a Nemo Dagger Osmo 3p, that is pretty amazing, but we've only ever used it for 2 people. It's also very expensive, and doesn't seem to go on sale very often.