Half Dome 1 Plus

The Half Dome SL 1+ or Nemo Dagger 1P are probably your best bet for ease of use and condensation management at that price point.

Tents I have used - REI Half Dome 1p - Fine, decent quality for the price but kind of heavy and bulky and the poles are long. It almost always kept me dry though. Big Agnes Cooper Spur 1p - The bikepacking version with short poles. A nice tent but quite expensive. Better than the REI tent in every way but still kind of bulky. Very roomy inside with a big vestibule. Durston X-mid 1 - Excellent tent! I like everything about it. Very usable for how light and small it is and it stood up to heavy weather in Scotland, Wales, etc with no problems. I have the early version which requires stakes, if I were buying one now I would get the free-standing version for more versatility. Oh, I am 6'1" and had enough room in all these tents. Though the Durston got a little snug at times with the diagonal layout I still prefer it.

I made gear purchases that made my end of day easier; a freestanding tent (I had the half dome 1) and a jetboil were absolutely my speed. I watched people rig up 6 guylines or squirt their alcohol into the bottom of a coke can and squat to protect it from the light breeze, and was exhausted for them. It obviously worked for them, but I knew it wouldn’t work for me. I will always camp with a freestanding tent because it’s so foolproof; quick to deploy, quick to move if you ended up in a depression in a storm, room for me and my gear (though I am 5’3”). Ask yourself: would I be able to manage noro from this? You need to think through each action you’ll take to start/end the day, because you’ll be doing it every single day without fail for months, so set yourself up for success!

Me too, I have the half dome plus for trips where packing volume matters but weight is not an issue and also because it is more roomy and made of more robust fabrics. I do a fair amount of trips that start with a flight so a lighter tent that takes up less room is a must. Copper Spur is perfect though I have also used a 20+ pound REI Kingdome when space was less of an issue.

3 tents. One is for solo trips, a rei halfdome+ tent for me and the wife, and a 3rd is a bigger 4 person cabin tent for when we need more room for our dog. All get their equal share of use and all serve their purpose well!