ALPS Mountaineering Mystique 2 Tent 2-Person 3-Season

General comment: Price - performance, this is a fantastic tent worth every penny (got it from SAC at a really good deal - Fantastic service BTW!) Very easy to setup (my 11 year old put it up on his own after having seen me doing it once), good quality materials, nice looking. Pretty cool!!

I underestimated the 'No freestanding' nature of the tent. Nevertheless, not a deal-braker, unless you are camping in conditions were you cannot use stakes.

The details:
Smaller than I expected. I will use it primarily for myself or my son and myself. First time we used it for car camping we barely fit in there. Our 'small' packs stayed under the vestibule, but I don't know how you would fit a serious larger multi-day pack in the vestibule. If it is only one person, then plenty of space inside, but if it is 2... hopefully you are not beyond 5' 4" and the second person is a kid...

Mixed results regarding water condensation & dripping: We were under fairly decent weather through the night: lower 40s with some rain, nothing severe. There was a fair amount of condensation under the fly, but no dripping through the mesh. I only wonder if that would be an issue with more wind or more rain. I set it up in my backyard for a couple days were we had a lot of rain, nobody sleeping inside, and I found water on the floor... but I believe it might've gotten inside when I opened the fly... lack of experience using it, hopefully.

Overall.. nice.. Still need to test it under harsher conditions.

So far this is a great tent! I've only used it a few times but it's super easy to set up and it hardly weighs anything. I haven't got to use it in a storm yet because I live california. It has plenty of space for two people and their gear and it's a really good deal price wise.

I have used this tent when the wife or my daughter hikes with me. The weight is fine and the room is what you would expect. Maybe a little snug but still very comfortable.
The tent breathes well but is still able to keep you warm. I did experience a little condensation on the underside of the rain fly during a very heavy storm. The rain was intense and the wind was whipping. The tent held steady but the condensation did drip down through the mesh. I'm not sure there are many affordable tents that wouldn't have had that issue.
All in all, one of the best tents I've owned.

I decided to take the plunge and get a non-freestanding. I mostly bought it to car bivy at climbing crags but I also do a laid back hike from time to time. I have used it twice at Squammish (including climbers bivy and the adjacent private RV/Campground) and Horse-thief Butte. The tent itself is a great design. I like the big open sections of mesh on the sides for taking in the views, zippers+vestibule on both sides, the sweeping zipper lay-out makes them easy to open quickly and the zipper action is smooth. It is an extremely tight fit for 2 people and do not expect to be able to really get your backpack under the vestibule unless it is lying against the side of the tent.
The Bad...
Non-Freestanding, I realize the plus/minus on this type of tent is debatable. I did not like it and will be selling it for a freestanding tent. The bivy spots at Squammish are a bit rocky and makes it a pain in the ass to set up the tent. Im sure with some practice you can get good at setting these tents up but its really not worth it too me. On to the next one...glad I got it on SnC.