The North Face

Tadpole SL Tent: 2-Person 3-Season

Phased Out

Familiarity:

I've used it once or twice and have initial impressions

With an enticing sale and a personal history with the Tapdpole line, I was excited for this tent. I would have ordered the footprint but it was out of stock. I used the tent one night in light, low country terrain. Woke up to two holes in the floor. It seems there was a weight to durability issue. When I reported the issue to Jessica with Backcountry they made it right immediately. I have always appreciated their customer service. I was also informed they could not get the footprint in and that they were phasing the tent out. So I chose to return the tent for store credit.

More frustrating to set-up than I thought.

After setting up this tent in my backyard as a test, I have not used it in the field and do not expect to. I really wanted to like this tent but the design has me scratching my head on why didn't TNF make the brow pole an exterior pole. If you are going to set this up while it is raining and you are by yourself, expect to be soaked by the time you get that pole in place. At least I would expect to get soaked. TNF, it is over a year, but please take this tent and footprint back as a return. I have purchased a few TNF tents (Boulder / original Tadpole) and they were the best tents in all kinds of conditions - for years.

Best tent for the price

It's only little over 2 pounds and stood up against hurricane like thunderstorm and it's warm in the cold too. They market it a three season but you can definitely take this on super cold nights. Setup is crazy fast and easy. The material they used to make this is VERY durable. I forgot my footprint and for 10 nights didn't get one hole or anything. I was dry the entire time, no leaks at all. I believe this is the redesign. A lot of effort was put into the engineering for this monster tent. I don't think I'll ever get another tent. If you're hiking a long ways and need something lightweight and durable this is what you get hands-down. Light weight, warm and resilient. Don't mess around. For what you're paying for this is the absolute best deal on the planet. Get this lightweight monster. Thank you Northface

Worst TNF tent I have ever owned!

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Was really excited about this tent due to its light trail weight, but wish I never bought it. I used it on 2 separate trips. As mentioned by others setting up the internal arch pole is tricky because it doesn't click in anywhere and is very difficult to wrestle into place, but that's not why I rate this tent so poorly.. Single wall construction tents just don't breathe well and even in dry conditions! On my first trip condensation builds up on the inside walls of the tent overnight soaking everything inside. On my second and last trip with this tent I was at Sequoia NP and it rained both nights, the walls are not waterproof at all and everything inside the tent got soaked, the floor kept water out but as the tent absorbed more water it started to run down the sides and pool on the floor. Don't buy this tent, or any single wall construction tent unless you like sleeping in a sec bag!

I would buy this tent again.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Great tent. Light, spacious, and kept me dry in the rain.

Great 3S single wall. Just needs a little design tweek.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Great single wall for light weight. Breathable. Archway carbon pole troublesome to set up and seat in reinforced corners (see pic). Tend to creep out and puncture bottom tub. Happened twice now. -2 stars.

Very light, but sadly not waterproof

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I purchased this product and took it on a weekend backpacking trip into the Wind River Range in Wyoming. It was wonderfully light to carry. For setup, it was a little difficult to place the front "arch" pole, as you have to place this tent inside the tent to secure it, but doable with a friend. This tent does not have a rainfly, and I was excited about the idea of a waterproof single-layer tent. Unfortunately we experienced storms with moderate rainfall, and the "waterproofing" did not hold up. By the second day of our trip, the inside of my tent was soaking wet, and a small puddle formed on the floor of my tent. This water appeared to be coming in through the walls of the tent (not condensation). TNF Customer Service was wonderful about sending me a return label & issuing me a refund. If you are camping somewhere where rain is unlikely, this is a great, light tent. Unfortunately this tent did not work for me.

This is my second

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Easy setup light weight perfect for kayak camping or bike camping

A really nice tent but it goes back

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

I slept 19 nights in this tent, temps of exposure between 40 and 98 F (4 and 37 C), two t-storms with torrential rainfall, and one night with a strong side wind. Pros: This is the largest 2-person tent I have seen in decades. It is very light, packs small, and it dries fast. It didn't leak even once and only on one morning I had a little condensation on the lower wall. The poles are light and finally TNF installed quality shock cords. With the improvements I mentioned below, it will be an ideal friend for long backpacking or mountaineering trips. Minor cons: the color shows dirt very quickly, the thin floor fabric is a subject to a quick deterioration, the front door zippers open only one way, from down up - the vertical zipper, and front left to right - the horizontal one, and this feature makes the ventilation process of the tent harder. The vestibule zipper gets caught in the overflowing sleeve all the time. From a $550 tent, I would expect a waterproof zipper that doesn't need additional protection. Major cons: the lengthwise pole that goes on the outside of the tent has both ends of the same, small size, which is a mistake. The one that goes into the sleeve should be definitely thicker. As you can see in the photo below, the pole will poke a hole in the fabric soon. The biggest flaw in the design is the width-wise/across pole that goes inside the tent. This pole must be re-designed and placed on the outside of the tent to make the final product functional. The pole is held in place inside by 5 Velcro straps. The Velcros are NOT able to keep the pole in the designated position and the pole is constantly sliding down the tent - photos attached. The top Velcro is slowly pulling away the seal from the seam so it will cause the tent leak soon. It is very time consuming to place the pole and while doing it, you need to keep the door open, so if it's raining, you will get rain inside the tent no matter how hard you try to avoid it. I pitched the tent after the sunset once, and immediately had dozens of bugs attracted by my headlamp flying inside the tent. I can't imaging pitching the tent in really windy conditions. Finally, if TNF makes the suggested changes, I will take this tent back. Otherwise, it is a return. P.S. I can't place all the photos of the tent I have. Backcountry people, any suggestion?