ALPS Mountaineering Meramac 2

For the price, this two-person tent is a good value. It is easy to set up, relatively lightweight and spacious enough for two people with some gear. I would buy it again.

I bought this tent early this year and have only had a chance to use it this summer. For the money that I spent, I really like this tent. It is not a true backpacking tent, but it works well for backpacking. I'm not sure if this would be a tent that I would take on extended trips, but for weekend/multiple day trips, it's good.

Setup: The tent setup is easy. It uses two poles for the tent and one ridge pole for the fly. It takes about 5 minutes for one person. Unfortunately, the poles are fiberglass (but I believe there is a model that Alps makes with aluminum poles). The poles attach to the tent via pole clips. The main pole clip on the top of the tent is only big enough to attach to one pole instead of two which allows the whichever pole that is not used to flop to the side until the other clips are secured. 

Stability: The tent is high profile (roughly 4' high at the center) but is fairly stable. I have not used it in any high wind situations but have used it on the top of mountains in normal situations without any problems. The fly connects to the tent via clips that can then be cinched tight. Also, the fly has guy ropes on each corner. 

Weather Resistance: The fly is urethane coated and repels water great. The tent itself is not coated. The fly completely covers the two sides and provides an awning over each door. The floor is factory sealed and keeps moisture out.

Ventilation: The two doors have windows that zip half way down the doors. The two sides of the tent have large mesh panels which allow quite a bit of air movement through the tent even with the fly (Side note: this feature also means that you probably don't want to use this tent in cold weather). 

Room & Storage: The tent is two person but also is large enough to fit some gear as well. I routinely put two packs on one side of the 7 1/2 foot long floor and sleep comfortably with one other person. Also, there is enough room on the floor that two people do not touch while sleeping.

Packability: The tent packs nicely into about a 2' long bag. The bag is only about 6" wide but accommodates tent, fly, stakes, and poles with enough room that I can pack the footprint in as well. It weighs about 6 pounds.

Ease of use: Everything with the tent and fly work as expected. One caveat: I bought the footprint for this tent as well, but the footprint does not mirror the size of the floor as well as I had hoped. The foot print also does not attach to the tent very well, instead relying on the tent stakes to keep it in place.

Features: Having two doors in a major plus in my eyes. I love that part of the design as it allows each person to enter and exit the tent without disturbing the other person.

Conditions: I have used this on backpacking trips in the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia over the course of the spring/summer of 2015. I have several trips planned through the fall (even into very late fall), and I am lending to a friend for his two-week backpacking trip around Iceland. I may update this review based upon those experiences. 

Great little tent for car camping on a clear night on dry ground.

I took a chance buying this tent, knowing that the fly didn't cover the doors was a bit worrisome but other reviews I read didn't find this to be a problem, even in heavy rain. It's been crazy hot lately but hasn't rained too much, so I chose ventilation over a full-length rain fly. Bad decision.  

My first time using it was the rainiest weekend I can recall in a long time, and the tent really did not perform well. Unfortunately it was already lightly raining as I put up the tent so both the tent and footprint got slightly wet (I couldn't figure out how to do the "quick pitch" with the footprint and fly—not sure it's possible with this model?), and the floor of the tent leaked a bit along the seams.

Rain turned to downpours and the seams of both doors leaked pretty badly, forming puddles on either side of the tent. I was able to alleviate the leaking *slightly* by staking the corners of the tent more tautly, but when the downpours returned the door seams still leaked. The walls held up pretty well, and it was nice to be able to keep the windows open (at least halfway) while it rained.

When I got home I called Alps Mountaineering, and the rep didn't sound too surprised to hear my story. She suggested I seam-seal and waterproof the bottom of the tent, which from what I've read is a major chore (esp the seam sealing) that would be rather difficult in an NYC apartment. I also don't want to spend an additional $30+ fixing a brand new "factory sealed" tent (even if it was pretty cheap). I haven't decided yet, but I might just return it.

I gave the tent 3 stars because it was easy to pitch (even in rain—took me less than 5 minutes), easy to pack up, ventilation was great, it packs up sufficiently small for car camping, and I could easily sit up and get dressed inside (I'm 5'5"). One more con I'd like to mention is that this tent would be rather tight for two adults unless you left your packs outside or in the car.