NEMO Mayfly Tent Evaluation: A Light-weight and Versatile Possibility

The NEMO Mayfly OSMO 2-Individual Tent is a semi-freestanding, light-weight backpacking tent with a heavy-duty flooring. Sized for 2, it’s additionally appropriate for solo hikers who need to convey their canine or camp on tough surfaces with out bringing a separate footprint. The Mayfly pitches rapidly and has many helpful particulars that enhance livability and make it straightforward to make use of whereas being priced considerably lower than NEMO’s different premium tent fashions.

Specs at a Look

• Minimal Weight (producer’s): 3 kilos, 0 oz.
• Minimal Weight (examined): 3 kilos, 1.1 oz. This consists of the fly, internal tent, and poles.
• Whole Packed Weight (producer’s): 3 kilos, 8 oz.
• Whole Packed Weight (examined): 3 kilos, 9.1 oz: This consists of the fly, internal tent, poles, 8 stakes, tent pole restore sleeve, further guyline, stake sack, pole sack, and “Divvy Sack” (tent stuff sack).
• Flooring Dimensions (producer): 85 X 52/43 inches
• Flooring Dimensions (examined): 85 x 52/42.5 inches
• Peak top (producer): 42 inches
• Peak top (examined): 41 inches
• Vestibule space (producer): 7.1 sq. ft per vestibule
• Fly materials: NEMO OSMO cloth, seam-taped
• Tent materials: 68D PU-coated polyester bathtub flooring, white and black noseeum netting
• Poles: DAC Aluminum poles with hub

Semi-Freestanding Design

The primary advantages of a semi-freestanding tent over a freestanding tent are weight financial savings from the diminished pole set and smaller packing dimension (see our FAQS on semi-freestanding tents and freestanding tents). The primary cons of semi-freestanding tents are that one finish depends on being staked out to carry the form of the inside, so you’ll be able to’t choose it as much as transfer it round, and it’s not as straightforward to pitch on a tent platform.

Material and Stakes

NEMO makes use of its proprietary OSMO cloth on the Mayfly, a mixture of polyester and nylon with the advantages of every (sturdiness for nylon, sag resistance for polyester). In my testing, I used to be impressed by how taut the OSMO cloth stayed in a single day and in moist situations, notably completely different from my expertise with nylon tents and tarps.

NEMO not publishes cloth denier data besides to notice the robustness of their heavier-weight flooring (68 denier), so we will’t converse to the specs of the OSMO fly, the strong cloth on the underside half of the doorways, or the mesh. As is typical for NEMO tents, white mesh is used on the edges and black mesh on the roof to offer higher visibility for stargazing.

On the opposite tents I’ve used from NEMO, the flooring have been PeU-coated (polyether urethane), which doesn’t hydrolyze (break down and develop into sticky and smelly, particularly in storage) as PU (polyurethane) coatings can. Nevertheless, on the Mayfly, NEMO has gone to a PU flooring. Whereas PU is inexpensive than PeU, when you’ve ever had a PU flooring breakdown, you perceive why it’s referred to as PU. It is a step backward to decrease high quality, for my part. Right here’s an in-depth comparability of the 2 coatings. 

NEMO’s different tents additionally include good stakes–powerful aluminum Y-shaped stakes with an upside-down J-shaped cutout to carry the rules securely. Nevertheless, the Mayfly comes with aluminum shepherd’s hook stakes–the type that comes with a car-camping tent from a big-box retailer. So, a few price range choices have been made with the Mayfly, however at $400, this isn’t a price range tent.

Tent Setup

The Mayfly has a easy setup that may be carried out rapidly with little apply. Unfold out the internal tent. Join the primary pole segments collectively into a giant Y form, and insert the 2 arms of the Y into the Jake’s ft on the internal tent. Arc the pole excessive and clip the tail of the Y into the grommet on the foot finish. Clip all the clips of the internal tent to the primary pole. Connect the crossbar excessive of the opposite pole, and clip the color-matched clip to it. Stake out the top and foot finish, pulling the mounted guylines to make the foot finish taut, with the pole struts at both nook standing up straight. Subsequent comes the fly.

On the head finish, the fly attaches to steel Jake’s ft with some distinctive {hardware}. The fly has a tensioner piece that appears like a key on a bit of grosgrain ribbon, and the Jake’s foot has a keyhole. Put the important thing within the gap and switch it 90 levels to lock it in place.

I rapidly discovered that if I attempted to attach the top finish of the fly first, the dearth of rigidity within the fly meant that the keys stored twisting and coming out of the keyholes as I moved from one aspect of the tent to the opposite. However when you join the foot finish of the fly first, slipping the guylines over the identical stakes holding up the foot finish of the internal tent, then connecting the loops on the apex of the fly to the crossbar, after which lastly attaching the head-end {hardware}, the fly is below sufficient rigidity that the keys maintain tightly of their keyholes. In fact, that is all simpler when you’ve got two individuals to arrange the tent and never only one.

Air flow

Air flow is that this tent’s robust swimsuit. One night time, I used it. It was 40*F with wind gusts of as much as 20 mph, and I might really feel the breeze on my face whereas mendacity down. The vestibules don’t come right down to the bottom; they’re catenary lower to assist keep tautness and recent air consumption. Whereas there are strong cloth strips alongside the tent’s size above the tub flooring (earlier than the mesh begins), these serve extra as privateness panels than as windblocks.

There may be additionally a scooped cutout of the fly on the head finish, NEMO’s signature, however this one is extra refined. You’ll be able to man it out to extend the house between the internal and the fly to get much more air alternate into the tent. The vestibules have two-way zippers and kickstand vents so you’ll be able to unzip them from the highest and prop them open for moist air to flee whereas nonetheless getting climate safety from the remainder of the vestibule being zipped up.

The air flow options make the Mayfly carry out very nicely on hotter nights and assist stop condensation on wet ones. However exactly as a result of the airflow is so good, it isn’t a tent I might take deep into the shoulder seasons. Additionally, one night time, I set it up within the rain, and in a single day, the temps dropped under freezing. Each vestibule zippers froze shut despite the fact that there was a large storm flap protecting the zippers.

Tent Storage

The Mayfly’s fundamental stuff sack is rectangular formed for packability and has a rolltop closure. The identify “Divvy Sack” for these items sack has caught from the earlier design, primarily based on the concept that you could both pack the tent and poles collectively into an 18-inch lengthy bundle or break up the load between two hikers, with one taking the poles and the opposite one taking the tent and fly. With the poles eliminated, you’ll be able to compress the tent sack to about 13 inches lengthy by rolling the roll prime.

NEMO has carried out away with the usual drawstring and cordlock closure on the stake and pole luggage in favor of an envelope building that works like non-zip sandwich luggage–you fold excessive to lock within the contents. It’s lighter weight and has nothing to interrupt, however it’s a little trickier to make use of with chilly palms or when sporting gloves.

Two Individual Options

The Mayfly 2P is a cushty tent for one individual and a comfy match for 2 individuals, with further room on the head and foot ends for a few of their gear and another storage options I element under. Every individual has a C-shaped door, which means nobody has to climb over the opposite individual to exit the tent and their vestibule, the place they’ll retailer their backpack, footwear, and water. As a result of the ground tapers right down to 42”, in case you are sharing the tent, neither of you should utilize 25” huge pads, which have gotten an increasing number of in style.

Notable Comfort Options

NEMO is superb at together with little particulars and options that make their tents straightforward to arrange, enjoyable to make use of, and really livable. Listed below are a few of these design parts on the Mayfly:

• Gatekeepers: A fast-stow function for rolling up the vestibule’s head finish and the internal tent doorways on each side. A bit plastic two-pronged hook captures a twine lock on a grosgrain ribbon. It’s the quickest, best system I’ve ever used to maintain a tent door open, and you’ll function it with gloves on.
• Yellow light-diffusing headlamp pockets: Discovered at both aspect of the tent’s head (one for every individual). They forged a heat yellow glow that lights up the tent and that you could learn by whereas mendacity down.
• Gear loft: A triangle of tensioned mesh cloth on the tent’s peak is an efficient place to retailer bulkier (however nonetheless light-weight) gear off the ground and hold it simply accessible. I discovered that whenever you put a down jacket up there, it might be damp with condensation from the nice and cozy, moist air that rises to the highest of the tent at night time.
• Gear loops: There are 7 small grosgrain loops, together with one on the middle peak that opens with a snap, across the ceiling for hanging glasses, small objects from a mini carabiner, or a clothesline.
• Cellphone/ Glasses pocket: A small, horizontal mesh pocket close to the height on the head finish between the headlamp pockets retains fragile objects from getting crushed or bumped.
• Coloured crossbar: It is a small pole, nevertheless it’s coloured vibrant orange to make it onerous to lose throughout setup.

Advice

The NEMO Mayfly OSMO 2 is a mid-price light-weight tenting and backpacking tent for 2 individuals. It’s well-ventilated and simple to arrange with a semi-freestanding design that has two doorways and two vestibules. The Mayfly is made with NEMO’s hybrid OSMO cloth, which doesn’t sag when moist. Quite a few gear storage choices within the inside make it handy to make use of whereas a thick and sturdy tent flooring makes it appropriate for tenting with a canine or on abrasive surfaces with out the necessity for a further tent footprint.

Likes:

• Tremendous straightforward, intuitive setup
• OSMO cloth stays taut
• Burly flooring is sweet for tough floor or tenting with a canine

Dislikes

• The selection to make use of a PU flooring as an alternative of PeU
• Low cost stakes

Disclosure: NEMO donated a tent for an neutral assessment.

Concerning the writer