Long and sleek this tent sheds the wind like no other tent I've owned. Heavy and bulky compared to some but when it's dark, cold, and windy an extra pound or two doesn't seem so bad. Very warm. Ok for high altitude summer use but why carry all that weight when you don't have too. Quality on all the NF tents I have owned has been very good. I wish I could say the same for there sleeping bags. I experienced the slack pole cords as well and replaced them with cord from Sierra Designs and haven't had a problem since

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When we talk of TNF tents we talk about quality : no doubt about it. They also have a great warranty and they stay behind it.

The Expedition-25 is a bomb proof, nuclear shelter. It stays strong on the winds, bounces rain drops on its fly and there's a lot of room for 2 backpacker and also can welcome a 3rd one. The front vestibule is huge and the one in the back has enough roon for boots and other stuff.

However, it is REALLY warm on summer. It is obvious because it is a expedition tent but hey could improve the air circulation like the Marmot Bastille 2

Customer Service

I had one problem with the fly and I went to the office witch is next to my house and they gave me a new tent on-he-spot !

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Trango 2 : Excellent ventilation on warm days. Stong on winds and quick set up with colour coded hooks and poles. Not as liveable as the EXP-25.
Bastille 2 : Awesome tent with a rain fly in polyester witch is not altered by UV ray ... Ventilation is great and plenty of room and organisation with the burrito bag !
VE-25 : The shape (hexagonal) isn't good as the EXP-25. Even if it is a little bigger, it looks smaller. Also, the door doesn't open in a circular way so whan it is opened, it stays on the ground.

The best 4-season tent on the market since '92, when this tent was named the Oval-25. Changes from the beginning haven't lightened it significantly, but have made it more livable and easier to pitch. The 2000 version adds the one feature needed from the beginning: roof vents! All previous versions have a tendency to frost/condensate on the inside, sometimes even with the doors cracked open 1/3rd of the way. The 2000 version should cure this. It's heavy, but bombproof. Note: Do NOT use this in the summer! You will suffer from the heat. If The North Face made this exact tent in a three-season version it would be the best tent ever, period. You really do get what you pay for, 5 stars. 4 stars due to ventilation problems.

Customer Service

I sent my Oval-25 in for minor repairs in November of '99 and still have not gotten it back as of May 20, 2000. This is my second time sending it in and the warrenty dept. is furiously slow and will not return calls. However, they did send me a Exp-25 for a trip, but then made me pay the shipping to send it back, and still haven't returned my calls or fixed my tent. 1 Star for them.

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Oval-25 '92
Mountain Hardware Trango 2 '98
Nebula '99

What can I say, I'm 19 and I've been talking to my friends for years that i would get a North Face Exp.25 tent, always been a dream, I own alot of North Face Cloths, it's the best brand out there, I don't buy anything else, It's been tested and tested on the mountains in places where it's to be used not a lab, deep down everyone wants North Face, it's the best, all to be said!!!!!!!

Great tent, but heavy! I've had my TNF Expedition 25 for almost 5 years now. Climbed all over the Western United States with it. Great room and wind stability. Wonderful for 2 people, cramped for 3, but will fit 3. My only real complaint is the weight, 10 pounds pack weight. My suggestion is to use something lighter useless you are going to see winds above 50 to 60 mph.

Customer Service

None.

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Sierra Designs, I absolutely love their Twin Peaks. 5 pounds pack weight and will stand 60 mph winds and just right for 2 people.

Never been wet in it, never been cold in it, never budged in a strong wind. Plenty of room for a couple of folks for three weeks on Denali, almost overkill. Didn't think ao after a five day storm however.

I have owned several TNF tents. My first was a '94 Model Starlight. It was compact, so it fit well into small tentsites. Since I camped alone, the short length of the tent body mattered little. The pitch was extremely tight. All the walls were drum-tight, and the tent could withstand anything short of heavy snow-loading.
After that tent was stolen, I bought a '96 Model Starlight Extreme. By then, TNF had lengthened the design, making it more habitable for two people. Unfortunately, they changed the design of the vestibule door, so that it now had two zippers and hung directly above the door in the tent body (allowing rainwater to hit the door either directly or after seeping through the zippers in the fly.) Another problem with the longer design is that the roof was no longer drum-tight. The walls and fly could now touch and allow condensation inside the tent.
Fortunately, TNF has not changed the design of the Expedition 25 since its inception. It has all the weather-worthiness of my first tent without the problems associated with my second tent. Every surface is drum-tight even before all the guy-outs are secured. Once the guy-outs are secured, the tent becomes immovable.
The tent is not generous on ventilation, but that problem is somewhat alleviated by the fact that the two doors allow flow-through.
The feature that distinguishes this tent from all others, including other TNF tents, is its length. It is 111 inches long, such that the tallest climbers can stretch out completely without even their bags touching the walls. I haven't used the tent with three people, so I'm not sure if the length advantage is thereby lost.
The two disadvantages associated with this tent are its footprint and its weight. The footprint is such that there is no way to fit it into a narrow tentsite. Along one dimension, you have the length. Along the other dimension, you have the vestibules sticking out from the sides. The weight is comparable to other double-wall mountain tents this size, but there are certainly other tents out there that are just as safe yet weigh much less.

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The North Face Starlight '94
The North Face Starlight Extreme '96
Bibler I-Tent

This tent is almost a religious experience, I wasn't sure if I was taking my shoes off, because of the mud, of out of pure respect for this holy place. For those of us who have considered a 30 sq inch 2 seater ""home"" for so many years, this is a first class upgrade. Setup is easy , except if you fingers are blue. It is a very nice 2 person tent, and ok, if you know the other 2/3'rds of the crew realy well. The price was always sinful, but I got a fantastic breal fom campnor.com almost half price , can't beat that. The good thing is that with this one you can actualy sit up and enjoy ;o)

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This was an excellent tent in those cold winter months, little bit bulky but the weight was not comparable to the superbness of this tent. I would say it would be to hot to use in the summer time, but other thant that it has been a good ole tent.

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This tent is built like a bombproof hotel. I certainly wouldn't carry it in for a short up and down or a trip with a lot of moving, but for setting up camp in one place, this tent is great. Very roomy for two, and cozy for three. The double doors/vestibules are a great addition as well.

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