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.

27 lb is ridiculously no weight at all if you have a proper backpack which puts the weight on your hips. You'll barely feel it. Ignore the super-light extremists on this one.

On the upside, it's polyester, dries faster! Doesn't get so impregnated with water from outside or condensation from inside.

Holy crap that zipper and the stupid flap and the velcro on the door is such a massive pain in the ass!

Yeah, the zipper is SO BAD.

That zipper and flap design is absolutely so shitty in practice! I'm fairly cramped in mine at 5"10 even with the inner taut. 6" will be two inches less fun lol

Hey, I have the Stormbreak 1. It's tiny (I'm 5"10). But because it's tiny and because it has two proper poles crossing and no hub system, it's pretty strong and low profile to the wind. Replacing the insane massive pegs with a mixture of Groundhogs and Mini-Groundhogs immediately removes 100g of weight (approx lol). As for the footprint, I suggest you're going to question the decision to buy one once you see how THICK the tent floor is. It's thicker than any tent floor I've seen in the past 30 years. Also, it's polyester so dries quickly, WINNING. If you have inner-tent sagging issues on your head when you put it up, get back to me, I worked out by trial and error how to get the inner tight. Lastly, I lost my poles on a train a couple of weeks ago, and the North Face literally doesn't sell replacement poles, it's such a joke. I mean, the tent is cheap, but still, not very ecological to have to buy another whole tent when you lose the poles... May I ask where/website? you bought the tent? I will probably be in my Stormbreak (with replacement poles? tent?) also in NZ in the South Island in January...

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.

For a wet NZ month, the headache isn’t strength, it’s that the inner pitches first. In real rain, your mesh gets damp while you slap the fly on. Add 3.2 lb you’ll feel by week two, a small vestibule, and only “fine” wind unless you beef up guylines and nail your site.

The storm breaks are good tents, just heavy. Good for short backpacking trips, long ones too if you dont mind the weight.

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

I'm also own a NF stormbreak 1 and a stormbreak 2. I love my stormbreak 1, it is small (cozy and easy to find a place to pitch) and very sturdy. The downsides are that it's small and very sturdy (aka heavy), my head touches the top when I sit straight up in the tent and it weighs roughly 3.3 lbs which is not that much less than a lot of budget 2 person tents. I would never even consider taking the stormbreak 2 backpacking.

Love mine. The only mild complaint I have is that the rain fly zipper catches, but as long as it's staked out tight enough and you use 2 hands it's not a real problem.

Zero hate here, and coming from a somewhat old-school background, I'd say if 3.2 lbs is considered too heavy, something ain't right. I like to compare weight savings to how much extra water it's equal to: I've never been in a situation where bringing an extra bottle would have ruined the trip, and that's about the scale of weight savings when you're talking about a 3.2 lbs tent. Have fun!

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.

Bro, honestly, the Stormbreak 1 is a tank, and you did good getting a tent you actually like—that matters more than a few ounces on paper. The absolute biggest con you're going to face, especially with 50% rain in NZ, is condensation, because it's an inner-first pitch and ventilation isn't great. You'll be setting up the mesh tent in the rain before you can get the fly over, and you'll probably wake up to a damp interior often. It's heavy, sure, but it's a solid, reliable shelter to test the waters before you splurge on that crazy-light "forever" tent. Just pack a small towel and be prepared to wipe down the inside of the fly every morning. Have an epic trip