Hornet Elite

I freaking loved my Nemo hornet 1.5 person tent. Spacious, durable and lasted me three thru hikes (AT 17, LT 18, PCT 19). Still use it for solo overnights in the whites and Maine

Considering a Nemo hornet elite 1p is 687 grams all in, while a xmid 1 is 720 grams *without poles*, it’s hard to legitimately consider the xmid as UL.

I have used that tent family (the Hornet and Hornet Elite) for years in backcountry camping in all kinds of weather including blowing rainstorms. I have never gotten wet. It is a three season tent and it is optimized for "ultralight," it's relatively fragile fabric-wise, especially the Elite, which does not mean it's a bad option for backcountry—I have put hundreds and hundred of miles on mine! It's my go to—but it does mean it's not a good choice if you know you are going to be regularly facing punishing weather eg very high winds and constant rain. TLDR the "bathtub lip" of the tent body is higher on that side to compensate. It's a weight savings. The downside of this design is that you can't use it with only the fly and no tent body in wet weather; I've never done that with any tent (use only poles, fly, and probably a ground cloth) but it's a thing. It's worth noting this tent has gone through multiple product generations now, most recently to the OSMO fabric, without ditching this design. I personally I think the new OSMO versions are the best version that's been made (I have used three generations, I think all of them).

I have used that tent family (the Hornet and Hornet Elite) for years in backcountry camping in all kinds of weather including blowing rainstorms. I have never gotten wet. It is a three season tent and it is optimized for "ultralight," it's relatively fragile fabric-wise, especially the Elite, which does not mean it's a bad option for backcountry—I have put hundreds and hundred of miles on mine! It's my go to—but it does mean it's not a good choice if you know you are going to be regularly facing punishing weather eg very high winds and constant rain. TLDR the "bathtub lip" of the tent body is higher on that side to compensate. It's a weight savings. The downside of this design is that you can't use it with only the fly and no tent body in wet weather; I've never done that with any tent (use only poles, fly, and probably a ground cloth) but it's a thing. It's worth noting this tent has gone through multiple product generations now, most recently to the OSMO fabric, without ditching this design. I personally I think the new OSMO versions are the best version that's been made (I have used three generations, I think all of them).

I would recommend the Hornet. I own 2 Nemo tents. I have a Hornet Elite. I was really worried how it would hold up, but I shouldn't have been. I have had it in heavy rain and wind with no issues. If someone is looking at Nemo I will always recommend the Hornet. The 3p is on sale at backcountry.com. reg it is $549, sale is $439.

That 37in ceiling height on the Nemo is kind of a bummer. This new BA tent is just a roomier tent (and heavier for the area), but it's 40in peak height is also kind of a deal breaker for me to want to bring for long trips. I'm not even all that tall.

I don’t think the X-Dome is ultralight at all. It’s light only if you have to have a freestanding tent and you are expecting strong winds. I wonder if this would be the situation in winter when you might have strong winds and heavy snow loading but there’s little snow on the groubd to anchor tent. Nemo Hornet Elite would be light when it comes to freestanding tents. However, there are lighter and better trekking pole tents.

So basically the Nemo Hornet Elite is still way better and cheaper, got it

Can’t speak for the 1p, but I am 5’11” and have used the 2p elite for over 7000 miles of solo thru hikes. Can sit up in it just fine and the thing has been bomber if oriented well during storms (including a blizzard). If you are moving fast you are usually just horizontal anyways at the end of the day. For slower hikes or with my partner I will use a trekking pole tent as they are the more weight economic option for more space.