Ryan Stuart, explore's gear editor
Ryan Stuart's tell all blog spot on his gear addiction and life and times as explore magazine's gear editor
A bus of a tent
No bus tour has a view like that. The two door The North Face Minibus exposed.
The North Face Minibus 23 tent
Think of a minibus and you probably imagine a roomy van with lots of room and big windows. With that definition in mind The North Face Minibus tent is well named. The four pole design – two across and two spreader poles – create almost vertical walls, which make the most of the rectangular footprint. And with two doors, one on each side, that zip wide open, and big windows on the fly the tent has as good a view as any bus. Plus, the doors are big making getting in and out easy. And it's got better air flow than any bus with vents at low and high levels kick up a condensation killing cross breeze.
The tent body is almost all mesh and has several handy pockets. There are two funky side pockets accessible from inside and out. They're great for grabbing things in the tent without having to open the entire main door. With the fly fully staked out the tent almost round, not the most aerodynamic shape for sleeping in a storm.
We check out the two person Minibus With 23 feet of vestibule space and 35 feet of floor space there's just enough room two to comfortably camp with fully loaded packs. Trail weight comes in close to six pounds, which is fine for backpacking.
Overall it's a great, versatile, three season tent, especially for people who dabble: a backpack trip this weekend, canoe trip next, car camping the week after. $450
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