Tarptent Mesospire 2 Tent Review

Bottom Line

For the best take on a four-pole ultralight tent, the Tarptent MesoSpire 2 mostly delivers on its promise, and we came away rather fond of it. The best part of this tent is how well it balances the fundamentals. It’s roomy for an ultralight tent, it’s mostly easy to set up, and it’s not going to break the bank. What’s not to love?

When testing it during the Minnesota spring thaw, we woke up to an incredibly slippery floor. Not unique to this tent, but not ideal. The staking loops were also too small to use comfortably with the included stakes, making for a somewhat frustrating setup experience. And the magnetic door toggles were too short and seemed to have flipped polarity, making them uncomfortable to use. That adds up to an overall positive, but mixed, experience. 

On the plus side, we think this is one of the better two-person interiors for comfort. And there’s no denying the value is solid. You also get Tarptent’s usual quality design (door magnets and vent designs aside) and good durability for an ultralight tent. We’d love to see some of these issues refined in the future. But that doesn’t detract from the most important thing: we liked backpacking with this tent. It’s not perfect, it has its quirks, but we think it will find many fans.

Comfort

We were specifically drawn to the Tarptent MesoSpire 2 for its comfort potential, and we’re pleased to report that it delivers. This is one of the most comfortable two-person trekking pole tents out there. Tarptent implemented a new twist on its signature — and occasionally divisive — PitchLoc corner strut system. To understand what makes the MesoSpire so innovative, it’s worth understanding how trekking pole tents often suffer.

All trekking pole tents are pyramid-shaped, either with a single pole or double poles. But when the fly fabric reaches the ground, it wastes a lot of material and space. Not to mention, it causes large footprints. Look at classic pyramid shapes like the bomber Hyperlite Mountain Gear UltaMid2 we love for expeditions to see how much interior perimeter space is wasted. The MesoSpire 2 solves this by identifying the area with the most wasted space and placing two trekking poles there. This gives structure to the corners and adds interior livability. For a two-person tent where users often carry four trekking poles in total, this is an excellent idea.

In practice, we found the interior to be nice and roomy, but not gigantic, so it felt a nice size and not too much more. For a car camping tent, that might sound like a bad thing. But for a backpacking tent, you don’t want to carry more space — which translates to weight — than you need to. Our lead tester is 5 feet, 11 inches, and had no issues stretching out on a standard pad with a backpacking quilt. Head and foot clearance were comfortable, although with an interior length of 86 inches, we wouldn’t recommend it for people above 6 feet, 2 inches.

Weight

The Tarptent MesoSpire 2 is slightly above average weight for its peer group. Make no mistake, 36 ounces for a comfortable two-person tent is not a burden. And it says a lot about how advanced the ultralight tent market has gotten that 36 ounces is considered above average.

Part of this extra weight compared to other tents is due to slightly more durable materials and more built-up parts of the tent. The 30-denier nylon floor and 20-denier fly are a good balance of weight and durability. But the corner strut system probably makes the MesoSpire heavier than it would be without it. That’s the price for a smaller footprint and a roomier interior, and that trade-off might make sense for someone who isn’t as concerned about weight.

Ease of Use

It’s here that the Tarptent MesoSpire 2 falters a bit. And it will be a matter of personal preference whether these issues are dealbreakers. On the plus side, we found the tent reasonably easy to set up, similar to other trekking-pole shelters, though with a few extra steps. Even with some inexperience, it was easy to get a decent pitch on the first try, and subsequent pitches improved. We also think the interior experience is solid, with nice pocket placement and enough space to make moving around the tent easy.

It’s the details, however, where the MesoSpire left a bit to be desired. The staking loops on two corners were tight around the included stakes, making it more frustrating to pitch the shelter. The 30-denier nylon floor is also very slippery. While not unique to this tent, it’s still a minor frustration when other tents in this class don’t have the same issue. On our first night in the MesoSpire, we woke up on the other side of the tent after about two hours of sleep, and that was on a moderate slope. Users of tents with this issue often place strips of silicone on the floor to improve grip or place ⅛-inch foam pads under their sleeping pads. 

The magnetic door toggles were also troublesome. They’re a bit short to be easy to use. And the magnets seem to be flipped in polarity from their ideal position, so you need to curl the flap around itself or twist it to snap securely. This was particularly frustrating when testing in early spring, when the temps dropped to freezing, and our numb hands fumbled with the doors, trying to get them to work properly.

Finally, the setup process does involve the extra poles in the corners, which is the point of a four-pole shelter, but it’s also one more step. Unless you don’t mind storing your tent vertically in your pack, you’ll need to remove those carbon fiber poles each time. 

None of these issues is a dealbreaker on its own, but they add up to a tent that’s just a little more tedious to use than others. That tediousness is counterbalanced by a truly comfortable experience, and we could see many people gladly taking that trade.

Weather Resistance

We haven’t been able to take the Tarptent MesoSpire 2 out into a storm yet. But based on everything we know about tent performance, this looks like a winner in bad weather. The pyramidal shape cuts through the wind. And the corner struts do more than just break up the fabric panels; they provide another stable place to anchor to in the winds, provided the staking is adequate.

There are a few other features that provide additional resistance. The pre-attached peak guylines on the main poles are a great addition, providing a ton of extra support in bad weather. The rain fly goes low to the ground, preventing splashback (when rain splatters near the edge of the fly, the splash droplets bounce into the vestibule, bringing dirt with them). The tent also uses water-resistant zippers, and the bottom of the zippers features a clip to take strain off the teeth. This is easily a tent that we’d trust to take into moderately stormy conditions, at least as much as any other standard three-season backpacking shelter.

Durability

We love the thoughtful, durable design Tarptent uses in its tents, and the MesoSpire 2 is no exception. When taking it out in early spring and spreading it over hard acorns, small sticks, and pebbles, it was reassuring to know the 30-denier silnylon floor would hold up, and it did without a scratch. With ultralight tents, there’s always a careful balancing act between weight and durability. And while the MesoSpire leans a bit more towards durability than towards weight, we think many people will like that.

The rest of the materials inspired confidence when used, with good cordage everywhere — including great pre-attached peak guylines — and strong no-see-um mesh. Staking it out and pulling the pitch tight, everything felt strong with no give to the seams or hardware. And inspecting the stitching quality found no flaws. Our one nitpick is that stiff sections on the peak vents aren’t our favorite design due to repeated creasing during folding, but they should still work fine for most people. Overall, the Tartpet MesoSpire 2 is an ultralight tent that doesn’t make you worry about its longevity. We could see this being a workhorse tent for users for many years.

Should You Buy the Tarptent Mesospire 2?

If you can live with the listed downsides — and they are minor — we think the Tarptent MesoSpire 2 is a great all-around backpacking tent. It successfully executes on a four-pole concept and comes at a reasonable price, too. That being said, it doesn’t necessarily blow us away compared to some other tents and lands firmly in the “recommended for the right person” category rather than a full general recommendation.

What Other Ultralight Tents Should You Consider?

If the Tarptent MesoSpire 2 isn’t the perfect fit, our best ultralight tents guide has many other options.

Tarptent Double Rainbow Review: If you love Tarptent, we think the Double Rainbow is a more generally recommendable tent than the Mesospire. For the same price and only 0.6 more ounces, you get a semi-freestanding design that can be made fully freestanding, good interior livability, and excellent on-the-fly porch mode for rainy days. It still has two nitpicks from the MesoSpire — the slippery floor and the vent design — but it comes together as a more complete-feeling tent and doesn’t have the difficult staking loops in the corners. 

3FUL Lanshan 2 Pro Review: If all you want is a good backpacking tent that won’t break the bank and hits the fundamentals, the Lanshan is worth a look. It’s lighter, cheaper, and easier to set up than the MesoSpire, but has poor pockets, a worse vent design, and slightly less interior room. None of those issues are enough to dissuade us from recommending the Lanshan. We still would happily backpack with this tent for many miles and prefer it over the MesoSpire if you’re after a more straightforward experience.

Gossamer Gear The Two Review: If you’re serious about ultralight but can’t spend a lot, The Two is your best bet. With a shockingly low weight of 23.5 ounces, this is the best you’ll get without spending Dyneema money. That does come with a ton of tradeoffs that we think a lot of ultralighters will be willing to accept, but they’re steep. Super-thin materials, poor weather resistance, poor ventilation, and a cramped interior make The Two a good fit for certain people, but not for everyone. If you look at the MesoSpire and think, “it’s nice but a bit big, and I’m super careful with my gear,” then The Two would be a good fit.