GoLite Shangri-La 5

Extremely weather-worthy, spacious, Truly Ultra-Light.

(I do not use the entire shelter. I purchased this as a fly-only at the time of purchase)

Setup: Relatively easy. It is rectangular so staking out the four corners before using the pole to extend it up is straight forward. There are 18 points in total to be staked out for "full setup". I actually use 20 (added two extra guy-outs on the main body of the shelter for dealing with high winds in winter).

Stability: If you want it taut, a relatively flat surface must be found. It will sag which can make for a noisy night if not guyed out tight.

Weather Resistance: Bombproof. In high winds during winter frost can shake off the sides from breath if not ventilated properly.

Room & Storage: To say there is plenty of room is an understatement.

Packability: Considering this is a five man tent, it amazes me that it packs down to the size of my previous two-man shelter.

Ease of Use: It is a simple shelter with a center pole. I have added a homemade gear loft (added a hole in the center so the pole could slide up through). It is very easy since there aren't really any bells or whistles.

Features: Being able to stand up in winter is a blessing. Being able to invite six of your friends to hang out during foul weather and not be too cramped is awesome. Being able to cook inside without fear of frying my tent is spectacular. It is less than 3 lbs with center pole, added gear loft, and bug/snow skirt system that I made for it. 

Construction & Durability: Although thin, my shelter has actually withstood 100+ mph winds once and 40+ mph winds several times. I did damage a guy out point with a snow shovel on accident (fixed with tenacious tape). 

Conditions: I am not one to shy away from weather. It has been on numerous winter adventures, withstood five feet of snow that fell in two days, plenty of rain storms and even a few summer trips where cooking inside away from the mosquitoes was a blessing.

We purchased 3 of these tents with floors to use on large group outings into the Colorado wilderness. We would have loved to have the 6+ or 8+ but Golite no longer makes the larger shelters. These tents will hold 5 people but there will not be room for gear.

The tents are super light wieght and when split among a group of 3, is very minimal. The shelter setup is very easy and durable. The material held up very well in high wind (30-40 mpg) and worked great in snow/sleet. The tent had very good circulation.

The only issue we found was ... oh wait, we didn't find any!

The tent is so lite, my wife takes it on any outings we go on. We have a two person tent but it weighs about the same as this one, and we have way more room, which is nice when there is a dog involved!

I wished Golite made the 6+ and 8+ still, but these will do in the grand scheme of things.

I highly recommend this shelter. Does great on snow, and dirt. Not very good in rocky areas.