The North Face - Stormbreak 1

I have a North Face Stormbreak 1p, which I've lugged from the South Rim of Grand Canyon down to Havasupai Gardens twice. (A modest 9 mile, 3,000 foot elevation change). Tent is just the right weight for me, though a little cramped if lugging the 55L Deuter Aircontact Core pack in for the night with me.

I own Kelty, North Face and Marmot backpacking tents, and can attest to their durability, ease of use and agreeable weight. I've used them both in the backcountry as well as when going car camping.

Northface storm break 1

I hear you on that. I’m 6ft and I could probably use another inch or two of length. Haha, I affectionately call it my “coffin,” but I agree, I appreciate the small footprint. Kind of a requirement for some of the camping I do, where pad space is scarce.

The Northface storm break 1p has been an awesome tent for me! Water tight, lightweight and very capable of withstanding high winds. It’s also very cheap, which is the opposite of many backpacking tents. I wouldn’t call it ultralight, but it’s not far from it. I’ll actually be using it for a trout fishing trip today, time to get packing!

Yeah, I really like it, you get a lot for your money! I usually use it for weeklong canoe trips. Never had any issues with rain either, plus it take like 1 minute to set up.

I love my stormbreak 1. It's probably too small if you're 6 ft or taller but it's perfect for me. A lot of people say they prefer a 2 person tent for just themselves but I love the coziness of a 1 person

Tarptent makes some good freestanding tents and trekking poles tents inside your budget, or the Durston XMid would be good as well if you're good with a trekking poles tents. Durston XMid 2 would be about 4 pounds less than that stormbreak 2. I've use the stormbreak 1 and it's fine, it's just heavy for a tent of that size.

I have a Durston X-Mid 1p (solid), two North Face Storm Breaks (1 and 2 person), and an inexpensive Underwood Aggregator 1 person trekking pole tent I got for $50 on Amazon. It's even less now - $40\~. A friend and I did a 50\~ mile section hike last year, and he had a 6# Eureka tent. I lent him my Aggregator, which requires 1 trekking pole and 5 stakes, and he \*loved\* it! It's a single-wall, but thicker sil-poly, 2.5#, and I seam sealed every possible seam on that tent, AND sprayed it with Kiwi Camp-Dry. There's a guy who did a great comprehensive YouTube video on the Aggregator, noting that it is an inexpensive tent, but still a good value and tents like this have a valid place in the backpacking world.

I had the Stormbreak 1 before I got my x-mid and it was an ok tent but on the heavy side. I liked that it was free standing but the zipper broke after one season. It was a lot less spacious than the x-mid and the vestibules are small. I’m waiting for the full DCF version of the X-dome. I’d buy that in a second :)

Stormbreak is a great tent at a good price! The one person will be lighter but they make me claustrophobic:)

Completely disagreeing with this. This is a well known influencer site and list. So, it is merely a sales pitch. Lets check out the list: North Face Stormbreak. 200$ for a polyester tent in 2025! Half of the amazon junk would be more resistant to weather, and weighs half. It is an amazing tent, but only if we are in 2000s. Kelty, is it half covered in mesh, it is horrible in summer and it cannot stand winter. Then there is Hilleberg. Top of the top winter tent. If the list contains a Hilleberg I dont think there would even be a place for MSR in the list. The list then should be dominated by other Hillebergs. Also, where is the Zpacks, or Xmids? Where is mongar, or lanshan? Those are amazing <1 kilo tents .. some of which are on amazon. I agree, Amazon has a lot of junk. But also a lot of very high quality products not paying influencers. There are many better tent makers outside of this list and for many of the items in the list, they are indeed amazing products. However, for many I dont think their brand name justifies their price in 2025 anymore.

North face stormbreak was my only tent for years. I’ve got a snow peak now that I adore, but I was always impressed by the waterproofing.

I was thinking the tent is 82 inch long. I could sleep in it, but I would be more comfortably laying in a larger tent. I have a North Face tent that I thought was a great find, just to find out it's so tiny inside it annoys me (I think it is only around 80"). I would rather pitch a tarp and sleep in my bivy sack underneath.

Honestly you just need something with a fly. We’ve had a North Face, and Coleman and a McKinley all with fly’s and all have been perfectly fine riding out rainstorms. A ground sheet/tarp tucked under the tent is never a bad idea either as long as it’s not sticking out catching rain. Set the tent up properly with the guy lines out and you should be good. A vestibule has always been something we have too, one with the full fly not just mesh screens.

I’ve owned a lot of tents Eureka, Kelly, North Face, Big Agnes, REI and our last two have been Core (big and cheap) tents. Only one of my tents has ever leaked even with significant rain and thunderstorms.  Make sure things are not pushing on the wall of the tent and properly stake out your tent and fly.   Others have pointed out getting a better tent will help, and it will but if you have stuff pushing on the wall or you don’t stake it out, they will leak too.   Pay attention to how you are storing your tent too.  I had a wonderful North Face tent that got moldy and after that, the waterproofing was shot.  Water literally pouring in the tent as a thunderstorm roared over Lake Superior.  This was the only tent I ever had that leaked and it was an entirely my fault.  

Second what others have said. UL is always a bet that the worst won’t happen and you can ignore discomfort in the name of weight as comfort. The same can’t be said for winter camping where the margins are much tighter. With that being said alpine climbing has been doing UL since before it was cool. There are plenty of 4 season (in reality 1 season) alpine single wall tents like the Rab Latok, Samaya 2.0, MHW AC 2 that are all around 1.7kg and designed to take intense weather. They tend to be designed for snow not rain, so struggle above 0. I got a TNF one on pro deal it’s only useful for mountaineering ascents. But they’re cramped and you get wet every time you run any body part along the wall. I’ll take the extra 1kg of an MSR Fury which is more spacious and more comfortable any day. For ski tours I prefer pyramid tents and dog down using the snow for insulation. One option that balances out fairly well is the SeekOutside hot tents. Tent pole pyramids with the option for titanium stoves. They get super hot, too hot really while you feed the fire. Unfortunately the stoves only accept small bits of wood and require regular feeding. You often go to bed sweating and wake up very cold. You also need the time to gather burnable firewood, which is not always easy in some environments. Without the stove they are lighter than compatible pyramid tents, especially the Dyneema version.

Yes and no. I have a half dozen tents that I bought for less than $100. Most are decent enough and for the casual camper they’ll last quite some time. I also have a $600 North Face tent that I could live in for years.

The easy answer is that it’s a well built solid piece of gear. Color coded tabs so there’s no guesswork with the fly, aluminum poles over fiberglass, good quality screen and the seams are still solid after a decade. It’s just made really well.