Mountain Hardwear Drifter 3 v. Skyledge 3 Review
Mountain Hardwear Drifter 3.
Mountain Hardwear Skyledge.
We took two Mountain Hardwear tents on our recent bike tour: A Mountain Hardware Drifter and Mountain Hardware Skyledge. They were both wonderful tents. (A huge improvement over our old Sierra Designs Flashlight and even older Eureka Timberline.) Mountain Hardwear makes great tents.
They were both watertight, lightweight, and had two doors. The two doors cannot be beat. The widespread use of netting rather than ripstop means both tents were very close to as cool as can be in the heat. Both have large vestibules when the flies are pitched.
I'm over six feet all and Gerty is not petite. There was plenty of room for us in both of these tents -- they are, supposedly the three-man versions.
Which is better?
The Drifter ($194.95) is a great, simple tent. No tent is easier to set up. It has two matching poles. Sturdy enough. Very light. The opaque side panels are tall enough to provide privacy even in cramped campgrounds on a hot night. Stephen said he thought there was less cross ventilation because of those panels but I have trouble believing there was significantly less. The footprint is a piece of ripstop.
The Skyledge ($424.95) is another great tent. It is made for ultralightweight backpacking. It doesn't seem quite as sturdy as the Drifter -- I'll bet the Drifter lasts longer -- but the weight shaving doesn't compromise useability. The Skyledge has a bit less floor area but an additional short pole across the top (in addition to two cross poles like the Drifter) makes the difference unnoticeable in use. The Skyledge packs a bit smaller. The footprint is olefin -- very light but makes noise when you're unfolding it.
The only thing I would change about either tent is to make the tent poles fold small enough to fit inside a pannier. This is minor and a personal preference: the poles fit easily on top of a rack.
All in all, I would buy the Drifter and save the money. The weight saved by the Skyledge (less than half a pound?) just isn't big enough to make it worth an extra $200.
