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Essential Back Country Cover

by Harrison Candlin - Adventure Ambassador

Equipped with just a car, a camera and some camping gear, Mountain Designs Adventure Ambassador Harrison Candlin and his partner Madison continue their amazing road trip throughout the expansive western states of the USA. Having now clocked up over 12,000 miles and as they take their adventures deep into back country, read on to see how the lightweight Geo 2-person tent is standing up to the testing wilderness they’re exploring.

Reliable Shelter From Back Country To Beside The Car

What is the most essential item for a night in the wilderness? Certainly, when it comes to basic-level protection, the simple answer is a tent. It gives you shelter from the weather, bugs and animals, and helps keep you warm at night. Madison and I have been testing out the Mountain Designs Geo 2-person tent over the last few months. We have slept in warm nights on the coast and we have slept through cold nights in the Sierra mountains; we have set it up right next to the car for the night and we have carried it on our backs for miles when back country camping. We have, without a doubt, given it a thorough work-out.

Geo 2-Person Tent

Two things you want when you're hiking to a camp spot is a pack that is as light as possible, and a great night sleep once you get there. So far, the Geo 2P tent has been the perfect match for us. With a surprisingly spacious design, it weighs only 2.6kg while providing waterproof shelter and warmth. The breathability is fairly good although on a few occasions we have got a little stuffy. The simple solution was to just open the fly a little for some relief but the fact is most of the time we have been trying to keep the warmth inside. The setting up method is a little different to most, but once you have mastered it, it only takes five minutes to set up or pack down.

From back country wilderness trekking to coastal area camping, the Geo 2P is a versatile 3-season shelter you can rely on.

Lightweight, packable and easy to stow while on the trails.

Let's talk about a few things that I really like about this tent. When I go hiking, a lot of the time it is in the back country where there are very limited camping spots and they're often on hard soil or rock. This means you can't really rely on being able to peg your tent down. The Geo 2P is a freestanding design so if you can get a spot out of the wind, all you need is something to hold the vestibules down. We use pegs where we can but if we can't, we usually tie a rock to the outside to weight it down. I also really like that it has a door and vestibule on each side of the tent so when there are two of you, there is space for each person's hiking pack and you don't have to climb over each other to get in and out. If there is one problem with the Geo 2P tent, it's that it is missing a clip on the ceiling for a lantern to hang from, but you can overcome this by sitting a light source in one of the two gear lofts instead.