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Marmot''s attention to detail is renowned within the outdoor community, and this tent is no exception. From the convenient Burrito Sack to the ultra-lightweight, yet sturdy, DAC poles, this tent has it all! Two doors and three zippered mesh vents allow for the most diverse array of venting options that I have seen in any tent, and with the added bonus of two fly vents (that can be accessed and opened from inside the tent) the condensation problem is nearly solved. The three-pole design makes this 3+ season tent sturdy enough to stand up to heavy spring snowloads, and makes a 40 sq. ft. living space with enough headroom that my 6''1" frame has no problem sitting upright. And when sleeping, the tent is long enough that the toe box of your sleeping bag is never pressed against the tent wall, keeping what little condensation that may form from transferring to your bag. The large main door is covered by a vestibule with two windows that make checking weather conditions a breeze, and in conjunction with the smaller, second vestibule, there is more than enough space for everything, even on extended trips, and the addition of the front fly''s capability to turn into an awning just puts the icing on the cake. The stupendous details surrounding this tent are too numerous to mention, and overshadow what little drawbacks I was able to find. However, they are worth mentioning. The first is the overall weight of the tent makes it impractical if you are looking for a tent that can be packed by one person, and the footprint size in conjunction with this heftiness precludes it for serious mountaineering. The second shortcoming is in situations when the fly cannot be staked out (very rare, but has been know to happen). The tent looses an abnormal amount of its "sturdiness" in situations where steaking options, especially for the front fly, do not exist. The last flaw appears to be a strange oversight: the tent only comes with eight steaks, which is one short if you''re looking to put a steak at every attachment point, but every tent connoisseur knows to sell the cheesy steaks that come with the tent anyway and purchase the good stuff… When it all boils down, if you''re looking for a great 3+ season tent with room to spare and all the bells and whistles that Marmot offers, you can''t go wrong here - the extra cash is worth it

Customer Service

Should you ever need it, #1 in the biz.

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Sierra Designs, North Face, Walrus

Not only is it the best tent I've owned, it's the best I've ever been in! This tent has it all. Two entrances, HUGE main door, 3 skylights (two of which have an additional zippered access to vent the fly when hot. The fly is custom with great roll back options; I've even cooked in it! Once the snug fly is on, wind, rain and cold are no concern. Set up is a breeze and the fly clips easily (fly does require three stakes). The many venting options allow for comfort in wide ranging temperatures. My favorite option is you don't need the fly when temps are pleasant and winds are low; we've even made it through a desert rain storm without feeling a drop. Perhaps the most overlooked aspect is the soft, amber yellow glow that greets you in the morning...I hated the white glare of my previous tent.

Worth every penny, the Swallow was recommended to me, and I'm recommending it to you. And no, I don't work for Marmot. Oh yeah, GET THE FOOTPRINT...the things too perfect to skimp!

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This tent rocks it is bomb proof and it has never let me down. It is quick to pich but does have some weight to it. It also has tons of head room. If you want a tent that can go year round this one can.

Customer Service

Never need them

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After reading many reviews, felt Swallow was the best buy for the money. Have car-camped across the US happily. As most everybody mentions- very waterproof, ventilation is excellent as is the options for zipping up. Have used for snowshoeing and camping and have a couple of comments:
For me fairly heavy for a couple of days hike- need to split up between two people (or pack wisely and separate fly/tent/poles etc.). Don't like one entrance- climbing over friends is inconvenient. Vestibule isn't too user friendly in snow storm- tough to keep open or closed with the little peg-attachments. Definitely buy better stakes than come with the tent. Otherwise, great construction so far and well thought out mesh opening.
Oh- and if i were designing this tent I would have clips for all the poles & none of the mesh. Excellent tent for the money if you get it on sale!

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Sierra Design Omega CD
Eureka

I've owned the Swallow for a short time only. I've owned and borrowed numerous other tents over the years and this one seemed to fit what I was looking for: a tent for wildly changing conditions. First, we've initiated the tent with a good soaking in the backyard, and it seemed to be pretty watertight. Next, I did a solo paddle out to the west side of Grand Coronado Island (yeah, I know, I neeeded a permit). And typical, the weather got wet and windy, but I spent two really comfy days out there, dry and stable. Kayak camping fits this tent perfectly, it's a bit on the heavy side. Also, it was plenty big for just me (yep, I was really roughing it out there, yakking with my wife via cell phone, scarfing on all sorts of munchies that I dragged inside out of the rain) Overall, it's a good tent...so far. This December we're off to New Zealand where the rain can be unbelievable. We'll report in when we get back on this tent. So, till then, a conservative 4.0 on performance, and 5.0 on value.

Customer Service

Over the years Marmot has been terrific. In fact, for almost 20 years they've been terrific

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The list is long:
Bibler (very good, light, but $$$$$$)
North Face (fair to terrible) except for the Mountain Tent, which was a steam bath in anything else then high altitude...
Moss (good, but heavy and small)
Sierra Design ( a clip tore out in high winds)
and a Trango...which leaked

I have owned many tents over the past 25 years but the Marmot Swallow is the best to date.Last May we took it with us on a two-week trip to Canyonlands and Arches National Parks in Utah. We encountered just about every kind of weather short of a blizzard. The tent stood up very well even in extremely high winds. Unfortunately the tent did fly away with our gear in it during a severe wind storm which destroyed a number of tent trailers and other tents. The enclosed repair kit came in very handy. One piece of advice, if you intend to camp in areas exposed to high winds, you should replace the short tent pegs with some serious stakes and use every anchor available, including rocks, otherwise you could be surprised. This was not a defect due to the tent's construction, it was simply a case of poor soil and extreme winds.

STRONG POINTS:
Outstanding attention to detail and quality,
Easy to set up,
Lots of room for 2 people with gear,
Super ventilation,
7 storage pockets for gear,
Burrito bag is the coooest invention and it works extremely well, great for stowing gear out of the way when tent is set up,
Cheerful colour (helps when you're stuck in the rain for extended periods,
Windows in the fly,
Zip-up mesh panels can be closed off so sand doesn't get blown in, very handy in desert/sandy conditions.
Bulletproof construction.

Negative points:
Fly zippers snag on flap, often catch when opening from the inside.
Weight (a bit heavy but this is to be expected ewith a tent of this quality and robustness.

Overall comment: I am very picky and when it comes to tents, this is the best one I have ever owned. I would recommend it without hesitation. A second door would be nice but the current door design is still very convenient and preactical.

Customer Service

We called customer service after our tent was blown away in a wind storm and when we asked about the cost to repair the fly they said we would have to contact Marmot Canada. They immediately responded to our request and next thing we knew it we had a new flysheet in the mail. That is outstanding service, way above the norm.

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REI, EMS, Sierra Designs, North Face Walrus and Eureka. None matched the quality and features of the Marmot Swallow.

After only three 40 degree nights in the Marmot Swallow, I¹m convinced it¹s one of the best 2-person, 3+ season shelters. I look forward to cold, hot, and wet conditions to test the tent¹s strengths.

The ³convertible² zippered vents give you all options for holding in the heat on cool/cold nights by closing most vents, while still allowing customized ventilation.

The vent in the rainfly is wonderful, and it should allow cross-ventilation in all but the worst storms, when it may need to be closed.

In my limited use so far, I¹ve managed to keep the inside tent walls dry by using the fly vent to keep airflow moving across the tent ceiling. With two sleepers on a cool night, the tent stayed bone-dry, while the underside of the fly was very wet, collecting sleepers¹ humid breaths, as there were no breezes and the vestibule was closed.

It¹s possible that if stuck inside for a day or two under wet conditions, some of this humidity from the fly will end-up on the tent walls. We¹ll see.

The vestibule is big, allowing ample storage on one side with entry thru the other half of the vestibule. Tent is almost free-standing, but you do need two stakes for the vestibule, as well as one for the fly at rear of tent, where the vent is. One line tied to both vent loop and bottom of fly will allow just one stake to do this job on the tent¹s backside.

If staked completely for the most room and ventilation, you¹ll need to buy another stake, as the 8 provided are one short for this task. I bought the fitted nylon ground sheet, which attaches to the tent poles & fly nicely. No ground cloth hanging outside to catch rains!

For light travel when the bugs are not an issue, the tent can be left home, and use just fly, ground sheet & poles for much weight savings. Set-up this way is a bit clumsy, as the three poles lock into the ground sheet¹s grommets, but have no support to stay up until you crawl under the fly and attach the many velcro tabs around poles. Once attached, this is a very tight and rain-proof shelter (but take the bug mesh headnet--just in case).

The tent comes with the new ferrule-free DAC poles, which are supposed to be lighter and stronger. I hope they stand-up as well as Eastons, used on previous models. The Swallow is well made, with many bells & whistles. It has 7 mesh pockets around the tent floor--plus the burrito sack, which can be neatly clipped to the tent wall for more storage. No need for a gear loft.

It¹s 40sf is very roomy for two, and could sleep three if necessary. I can stretch my 6-foot length, and my bag or pillow still don¹t touch the tent walls. There are lighter tents out there--if you can believe published weights! Swallow¹s listed ³packaged weight² is 7 lbs. 14 oz., but I weighed it out of shipping box (with included repair parts, 8 stakes) at 8 lbs. 6 oz.

After adding the 13 oz. ground sheet; another aluminum stake; some additional parachute cord on the fly tie-outs, and seam sealer I applied, actual weight of my tent at the postal scales is 9 lbs. 6 oz. If shared by two, not bad--for its capabilities.

The second door on many other tents appealed to me, but it came down to tent quality and features over the minor convenience of a second door. The ³burrito sack² is cool, allowing a wet fly and groundsheet to go in one pouch, the tent in the other pouch, and folding one into the other (burrito style) to keep the the tent somewhat dry. It comes with spare parts for repairs to the poles and fly buckles.

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Bought this tent about two years ago. It has been used for backpacking and out of car camping. The weight distributes well with two people for backpacking. The poles do snag on the mesh so be careful. We have used it in snow, rain, and summer condition without any problems. We love it. Well ventilated and roomy. The one door is a bummer but we deal with it. It held up well under high wind and driving rain we didn't get wet.

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We hand a Coleman Three person before this tent. It was a good starter tent for the price.

When I decided to take the plunge and purchase a quality tent, admitedly, I wanted it all -- a large tent with a cavernous vestibule, hurricane-proof construction, miniscule price and feather-like weight. Realizing that there was no such tent, I setled on the Swallow. It offers the best combination of feature, function and price for my backpacking needs. What I like best about this tent is its size. I'm not that tall, but I am wide; and my most frequent tent mate is 6 feet 5 inches tall. We both fit confortably in the swallow. Other pluses include its large vestiblue, inside pockets and season versatility. This tent is dry too! My biggest complaint is its weight. Coming it at around 8 pounds (once you count the ground sheet, stakes, etc) it is not suitable for ultra-light backpacking or smaller-framed people. Overall, I would highly recommend the Swallow.

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I recently took this tent on a mountain hike up to glacier level. The conditions were very harsh, extremely high winds at night, and a hard downpour of rain and hail. The tent kept us warm and dry! We both had a great sleep. If you plan on high-altitude hiking or climbing, I highly recommend this tent.

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