Exped Venus II Tent

It's an amazing tent!
This is an amazing tent. I and my kids have owed many tents (MSR, Marmot, Eureka, Sierra Designs, etc.) and this is my favorite. It’s so versatile you’ll be wowed by the design. Just a few high points: (1) left and right walls of the inner tent stand straight-up vertical, creating huge inner space for no extra weight, (2) two very large vestibules allow gear stowage for two hikers with room to spare (really!) (3) tent can pack down with the rainfly attached, allowing for totally dry setup in torrential rain in less than 90 seconds (really!); (4) if you pack the poles separately, the tent & fly cinch down to about two-thirds the size of a two-liter bottle; (5) great ventilation with no condensation even in the rain; (6) I’m 6’4” and fit with a little room to spare both sitting and lying down, even using a Big Agnes or Exped inflatable pad in the snow; (7) green and amber colors easy on the eyes, (8) has about a thousand tie-down points (maybe not a thousand, but a bunch) so it’s not going to lie down in the wind, even on the beach. This is the ultimate kayaking tent and it’s great for hiking too. Stands up to the snow and has convertible doors. Issue: It’s not really fully free-standing, you need to stake the doors to support the tent body, but that’s only a total of two stakes, and you’re going to stake them anyway if you use a fly. Nothing compares except maybe the Marmot Swallow, but the Swallow takes up double the packsize volume, weighs many pounds more and doesn't have two full vestibules.

Waterproof, rugged, and roomy
I recently spent almost two weeks kayaking in the back country of Alaska. While the Exped tent is heavier than most of the other tents, mine held up to wind and rain far better than anything else (but it did need to be staked). It has AMAZING vestibule space and was the envy of everyone on the trip. This is probably the easiest tent I have ever pitched. It was great that the inside part of the tent was attached to the rainfly in such a way that I didn't have to mess around with trying to get a tarp over a mesh screen in heavy downpours. When I signed on for the trip, I was advised to also get a ground sheet despite the fact that the folks at Outdoor Research in Seattle told me I wouldn't need one. Well, the ground sheet is well worth the purchase... as a TARP when trees are available near the tent for additional coverage. On the wettest days, even those when I could not set up the groundsheet as a tarp, not an ioto of water got inside the tent. Additionally, the tent packed up nice and dry provided I removed the inside part of the tent from the rainfly, prior to packing it up (I'm 5'3" and was able to scramble around under the rainfly to unhook everything). I found that when setting up the tent, it is easiest to peg the 4 corners before inserting the poles. There are way too many features to

Tough but not perfect
Bought this tent for a bicycle trip around Iceland. The tent withstood Iceland's notorious wind but it couldn't handle the rain. The seam along the top of the fly leaked. I had to lash garbage bags over the seam whenever it rained. The vestibules are huge, allowing my wife and me to store all of our panniers with room to spare for entry/exit and food prep. Setting up the tent is easy although to truly make it wind proof we had to stake out all of the guy points. It was nice to be able to remove the inner tent while remaining sheltered under the fly when raining. The tent offers plenty of headroom and ample space thanks to the tent's Prius-like shape. I highly recommend this tent but caution the buyer to seam seal the main seams before adventuring in foul weather.

It's an amazing tent!
This is an amazing tent. I and my kids have owed many tents (MSR, Marmot, Eureka, Sierra Designs, etc.) and this is my favorite. It’s so versatile you’ll be wowed by the design. Just a few high points: (1) left and right walls of the inner tent stand straight-up vertical, creating huge inner space for no extra weight, (2) two very large vestibules allow gear stowage for two hikers with room to spare (really!) (3) tent can pack down with the rainfly attached, allowing for totally dry setup in torrential rain in less than 90 seconds (really!); (4) if you pack the poles separately, the tent & fly cinch down to about two-thirds the size of a two-liter bottle; (5) great ventilation with no condensation even in the rain; (6) I’m 6’4” and fit with a little room to spare both sitting and lying down, even using a Big Agnes or Exped inflatable pad in the snow; (7) green and amber colors easy on the eyes, (8) has about a thousand tie-down points (maybe not a thousand, but a bunch) so it’s not going to lie down in the wind, even on the beach. This is the ultimate kayaking tent and it’s great for hiking too. Stands up to the snow and has convertible doors. Issue: It’s not really fully free-standing, you need to stake the doors to support the tent body, but that’s only a total of two stakes, and you’re going to stake them anyway if you use a fly. Nothing compares except maybe the Marmot Swallow, but the Swallow takes up double the packsize volume, weighs many pounds more and doesn't have two full vestibules.

Waterproof, rugged, and roomy
I recently spent almost two weeks kayaking in the back country of Alaska. While the Exped tent is heavier than most of the other tents, mine held up to wind and rain far better than anything else (but it did need to be staked). It has AMAZING vestibule space and was the envy of everyone on the trip. This is probably the easiest tent I have ever pitched. It was great that the inside part of the tent was attached to the rainfly in such a way that I didn't have to mess around with trying to get a tarp over a mesh screen in heavy downpours. When I signed on for the trip, I was advised to also get a ground sheet despite the fact that the folks at Outdoor Research in Seattle told me I wouldn't need one. Well, the ground sheet is well worth the purchase... as a TARP when trees are available near the tent for additional coverage. On the wettest days, even those when I could not set up the groundsheet as a tarp, not an ioto of water got inside the tent. Additionally, the tent packed up nice and dry provided I removed the inside part of the tent from the rainfly, prior to packing it up (I'm 5'3" and was able to scramble around under the rainfly to unhook everything). I found that when setting up the tent, it is easiest to peg the 4 corners before inserting the poles. There are way too many features to

Tough but not perfect
Bought this tent for a bicycle trip around Iceland. The tent withstood Iceland's notorious wind but it couldn't handle the rain. The seam along the top of the fly leaked. I had to lash garbage bags over the seam whenever it rained. The vestibules are huge, allowing my wife and me to store all of our panniers with room to spare for entry/exit and food prep. Setting up the tent is easy although to truly make it wind proof we had to stake out all of the guy points. It was nice to be able to remove the inner tent while remaining sheltered under the fly when raining. The tent offers plenty of headroom and ample space thanks to the tent's Prius-like shape. I highly recommend this tent but caution the buyer to seam seal the main seams before adventuring in foul weather.