MSR Freelite Durable Ultralight 3 Person Tent

I just used this 3 man tent for a 3 night solo backpacking trip for its first outing. The weight is absolutely great for the size. Setup and tear down seems easy enough. This is the best option I found at time of purchase for a lightweight, spacious 2+ (2 person plus space) tent. I didn’t want to have to deal with a trekking pole reliant tent. I plan to use this a solo backcountry shelter when needed but mostly share with either my son or another friend. I think 3 would be very tight unless it’s parents and smaller kiddo. The two vestibules are great as well as the zipper setup for the doors. This seems like it will last a long while if taken care of. Thanks MSR!

Sets up nicely, packs down well, and it so lightweight.

This is well designed tent. It may be a little heavier than its competitors but we like the more substantial design as we backpack in the Cascades and Wind Rivers. Hard pressed to be a three person tent but works great for two people. We liked the door zipper design with the two zippers always coming together at corners. Fly “rain gutter” design looks sketchy but don’t know if it works as weather was great. One negative; we only got six stakes and need more than that to pitch it correctly.

The tent is extremely easy to set up. I think it look great and has plenty of utility, like storage pockets, one handed opening doors and fly, and guide out lines for windy nights. My first night in the tent was really windy and the tent held without budging. However, when I woke up it was raining and i realized that if I open the door of the rainfly water will get in my tent, because it doesn’t cover all the tent when the door is open, so this is the only thing to be careful about when using the tent.

I have taken this tent on multiple backcountry hunting trips. I think it's the best Ultralight option out there. If you want more features, it's simply going to cost you weight. I HATE other brands that have the tapered footprint and love the truly rectangular design of this one. If the weather is dry, it's virtually impossible to beat this tent. I spent several days in a heavy rain hunting trip scenario in which a few faults were exposed. One, the design of the rain fly zippers is a real issue with water getting in the interior of the tent based on the corner zip orientation. It's very convenient and is a blessing to operate, but it definitely causes rain/ water collection to come inside. Two, the lack of a rain fly cover on the exposed " head " end of the tent caused water to drip down the exposed face between the tent and the footprint. This caused water to pool between the tent and the footprint and seep through the tent floor wherever sleeping pads or other items were pressing on the tent floor. Also, I feel like the cross pole for the width of the tent is too short of a design and causes the tent to have a very tapered angle side walls. I know MSR is trying to shave ounces, but I feel it would be worth another ounce or two to make the side walls a little more vertical and increase the internal space and livability of the tent. Having said that, I love this tent and it will be staying with me for my upcoming adventures. It's light enough to use solo camping and plenty room enough for two. I think three people would be miserable in this tent unless it was parents with a single small child. I have deployed this with two adults and 25" sleeping pads each and it works great.

Love the MSR tents, but this one ripped after my first use when I was taking it down. The micromesh ripped while taking down the cross bar. My other MSR tent has been flawless, and this is the first time I’ve had issues. However, I submitted a support request.

Tent poles broke on our first trip, then we shipped the poles for repair and haven’t gotten them back for 3 months. Had to go buy a new tent from another brand.