Tracker OSMO Tent

Hornet is a hard no for Montana hunting trips — it's a true 3-season, no snow skirt, and those northern plains winds will stress it badly. Between those two, Tracker is the right call. The snow skirt matters a lot on an exposed ridge. MSR Access 2 was built specifically for snow and still packs down light. If you'll be up there in November+, worth the price bump over either.

Nemo makes great stuff; have two of their tents and love them both. I have the 1p Dragonfly and it has held up well in pretty high winds in the desert. The Tracker has the “snow skirt” feature on the rain fly but I don’t know that I’d expect the pole structure to hold up to too much of a snow load; same for the Hornet. Others may have more experience with those tents in snow. If you haven’t checked out the Slingfin Portal, that might fit your bill. Haven’t used it myself but reviewers I trust give it high marks in inclement weather.

That type of tent is not what you are looking for at all. The key selling point is that it's extremely lightweight and that's important to those who are carrying this as their shelter for weeks or months at a time. The reason you see so many influencers recommending them is that the "influencers" are compensated in one way or another to do so. Tons of downside though: * Dyneema is a very strong material, but its abrasion resistance sucks. If you aren't extremely careful you will wear a hole in it either from setting it up on the ground or packing it incorrectly. * Their tents are all single-wall, which is fine if you are prepared for potential condensation issues but it's very common to be packing up a wet tent even if it didn't rain. If it does rain then there's a high likelihood of the condensation causing some rain inside the tent too. Again, this is a compromise made to save weight. * The price tag is simply insulting and there are a number of other manufacturers making similar tents for less money. Look for a tent made of out of a more traditional material (sil-nylon or sil-poly) and understand that many lightweight and ultralight tents also cut weight by making the tents ridiculously small. I have a 2P Nemo ultralight tent which is perfect for me alone, but would be nearly impossible for two people unless one was a small child. Nemo and Big Agnes both make good lightweight tents that offer good durability and local store convenience. Tarptent also makes an excellent product in a wide variety of shapes and intended applications. I have a couple of their ultralight tents and am very pleased with them. If they're still making it then the Double Rainbow DW (double wall) is an excellent option and a great compromise between weight, durability and moisture control.

My husband (6'2", 160lb) and I (5'4", 130lb) had the same debate earlier this year before a 4 night walk in Kings Canyon area. Like you said, the weight difference is not so much, and you get to share the load for the food, cookware, etc. We had been in a 2p UL Nemo for years. Now we picked the 3p UL big Agnes Tiger Wall and were so happy with the decision. The extra space was really comfortable, and we didn't have trouble finding level spots. We also had a very wet, rainy day in the middle of our walk and the space was like a god send. Definitely get the 3p.

I love my Nemo Osmo 2 person tent. It’s so light and I saw reviews of people using it their whole thru hike on the AT with no issues… it takes almost no time to set up and also almost no time to take down. Downside, you need to buy footprint separately and it’s expensive.