Nemo Equipment’s backpacking gear isn’t low-cost, however it’s a number of the lightest, best-made, and most well-thought-out gear you’ll discover available on the market. The firm’s new Mayfly Osmo two-person backpacking tent exemplifies this. The Mayfly Osmo is fast to arrange, light-weight, and cleverly designed, and it gave an impression of sturdiness in my 5 nights of testing.
The Mayfly is available in two- and three-person variations and sits in Nemo’s backpacking tent line between the ultralight Dragonfly and Hornet sequence and the roomier, heavier Dagger sequence (8/10, WIRED Recommends). The Mayfly is an efficient selection for backpackers trying to choose up a high quality Nemo tent that weighs a bit of extra however at $400 prices fairly a bit lower than the ultralight Hornet.
The Basics
Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
The Mayfly is a three-season backpacking tent with a path weight of three kilos, 8 ounces for the two-person model I examined. Purists may take subject, however to me that places it firmly within the ultralight tent class. Split between two individuals, every is carrying below 2 kilos. That’s not as mild because the Nemo Hornet, which has a path weight of simply 2 kilos, however it’s effectively below our suggestion to maintain tent weight below 2.5 kilos per individual. The Mayfly can be $250 cheaper than the Hornet, making it simpler on the pocketbook.
The Mayfly makes use of a semi-freestanding design, very similar to the MSR Freelite we reviewed final 12 months. This design saves on weight since there are fewer poles, however it does imply you need to stake out or in any other case safe the foot-end of the tent. If you’re headed someplace you may camp on arduous rock, it’s value including some additional twine in case it’s essential to get inventive.
There are two tent poles, each aluminum. One is a hubbed three-piece pole that forks above the door. The second spreader pole goes throughout the center and helps preserve the steep sidewalls that make the Mayfly surprisingly roomy for its dimensions.
The Mayfly affords 27.9 sq. ft of residing area, with two 7-square-foot vestibule areas for gear storage. In observe, this works out to be a livable, although not roomy, tent for 2. Since I occurred to be testing Nemo’s new Tensor Trail sleeping pads as effectively, I can say that two of these match aspect by aspect, however simply barely (see photograph). There’s just a few inches of room down on the ft for gear, however no matter you place down there shall be touching the sidewalls, which is commonly a recipe for moist gear.
Photograph: Scott Gilbertson