July 07, 2009Dave’s Mountain Hardwear Tent Review: Part 2

I recently had the opportunity to head out to the Eastern Townships for a few days and I thought I’d take the time to review some products while I was out there. Of the many types of gear I brought with me, it was the tents that left the most lasting impressions. I brought two Mountain Hardwear tents: the Light Wedge 2 and Hammerhead 2. I went about testing them in several ways.

Part 1: The Preliminary Test

Part 2: The Intimacy Test

the hammerhead 2

Let me set the scene. It’s late, I’ve just spent the past few hours with friends staying in nearby cabins deep in the woods, and I’m heading back to my campsite on the beach. I’ve had a few. I stumble towards my Hammerhead 2 bag (of course it wasn’t set up yet, it’s part of the test!). It only took me a few minutes to assemble the tent in the moonlit darkness.

I began stocking one of the vestibules with my remaining gear. This consisted of my trusty Jetboil, a backpack full of clothes and random supplies, my shoes, a case of beer, and the open beers I was double-fisting when I got to the site. There was tons of room for other stuff and I didn’t even need to use the other vestibule. I got into the tent, slipped into my favorite sleeping bag (The North Face Orion), and slowly began to fade away.

common loon

Now it could have been the cool breeze sneaking in through the vents, or the fact that the moon was full that night and the inside of the tent was actually glowing, or it could have been the fact that I was sleeping on the beach sandwiched between the gentle lapping waves of a lake and the amphibious symphony of the swamp, or it could have also been the fact that the loons were calling out to each other all night. It could have been a lot of things, but in any case, I fell in love with the Hammerhead 2.

Jason Voorhees

I was awakened by the slow drag of the tent zipper. Who could it be? A friend? A stranger come to steal my kidneys? A really hot lonely woman that just happened upon my tent? Jason?

“Hey Dave! Move over!” – a hoser
Not the same hoser, another one, let’s call him Fletch.
“Wow, this tent is great inside!”

not that there's anything wrong with that...

I checked my watch and asked him why he was in the tent with me and what he had been doing for the past few hours. He gave me some sort of long winded response that that left me feeling confused and vulnerable. He had no sleeping bag and said my body would keep him warm. I was scared. Flashbacks of Brokeback Mountain and a bumper sticker I once saw that read “Three Beers and I’m Gay” flashed though my mind.

It was at this moment that I was happy about the second entrance/exit and vestibule.

stay tuned for part 3