REASONS TO BUY
Easy to set-up
Lots of features
Roomy
REASONS TO AVOID
Heavy
Flappy vestibules
Mountainsmith Morrison Evo 2 Review
This tent includes a great feature set and a spacious interior to create a model worthy of car camping luxury
Credit: Mountainsmith
Our Verdict
The Mountainsmith Morrison Evo 2 offers outdoor comfort for days. It is a cinch to set up, and we enjoyed passing time inside these spacious quarters. It provides additional features that add to its appeal. It has two large doors, great storage pockets, and an included gear loft and footprint, which round out the package. Its heft limits its versatility, and we have some questions about weather resistance, but this a great tent for car camping or paddling trips where weight is less of a concern.
Our Analysis and Test Results
This tent is an inexpensive and stealthy addition to anyone's outdoor arsenal. It has a lot of features and high livability. Though it is not a very lightweight tent for carrying on your back, we still love it for lounging. The Mountainsmith Morrison Evo2 is supremely comfortable and easy to pitch. Its weight holds it back, but this tent still shines in the top half of our review.
Performance Comparison
This tent offers a spacious experience wherever it goes.
Credit: Ben Applebaum-Bauch
Comfort
This tent has a lot to like about its interior comfort. At 92" x 56", it is the longest and widest tent in this review. Its 43" peak height is the second highest. There's just a lot of space in there. It has a two-side-door design, and the doors themselves zip-off almost all the way around for a real open-air feel. The orientation of the doors suggests that sleepers are meant to go head-to-toe.
There is plenty of headroom to go around in this tent.
Credit: Ben Applebaum-Bauch
There are additional storage pockets, an included gear loft, and when you are not storing the door in the side pocket, there is even more space to tuck away clothes and equipment. The vestibules are large enough for each person to store a pack and footwear.
The door can stow away in one of the side pockets, which can also be used for other items when the door is zipped.
Credit: Ben Applebaum-Bauch
This tent has a combination of mesh and other fabric throughout the canopy, which has its advantages and disadvantages. It is less breathable than tents with more mesh but potentially retains warmth more. We also like the look of it. The light green and gray colors can be very stealthy for tucking away in the woods.
Weather Resistance
The Morrison Evo 2 stands up to rain relatively well, but because of issues with the fly tension, it could be better. It has a burly fly and floor that withstood the moisture we encountered while testing. It would benefit from a couple more guy points to help it better withstand strong winds. Its 43-inch peak height offers a lot of headroom but can also catch some serious wind. The low running vestibules are nice a preventing splashback, but there are so many ripples in the fly that precipitation still channels down in specific spots as opposed to uniformly dripping off.
Even after readjustment, the fly still has a lot of extra material we would prefer to tension out.
Credit: Ben Applebaum-Bauch
The venting options on this tent are very nice. In addition to proper ventilation at the top, the open doors create an excellent cross breeze, and the fly door has dual zippers that can open up to keep air moving without having to unstake any part of it.
Ease of Setup
The Morrison Evo 2 is easy tents to set up. It has a simple two-pole design. Each pole end slides into grommets at the tent corners. A cross pole in the middle increases headroom. The fly clips in at each corner, and the tent battens down with its two end guy lines and vestibule doors. We like that the guyline is already attached to the fly; however, we found that properly tensioning the single point fly was more difficult than the trapezoidal geometry found on the flies of other models in this review.
The two crossing poles offer a straightforward, traditional pitch.
Credit: Ben Applebaum-Bauch
Durability
The Morrison Evo 2 has much the same fly and floor materials as other tents. The fabrics themselves hold up; the issue is the cheaper polyurethane coating that tends to degrade over time, especially when the tent is not dried out and stored properly. Otherwise, we think this model seems quite durable and well made. The inclusion of a footprint only helps to increase the longevity of this behemoth.
In the top right corner, the true vent is visible in addition to the open vestibule door. Both facilitate good ventilation.
Credit: Ben Applebaum-Bauch
Weight
Alas, all good things must come to an end. This tent is quite a heavy package, tipping the scales at 5 pounds, 8 ounces. It is not quite as heavy as some behemoths in this category, but it's not far off.
Packed Size
Similarly, this tent packs down to 8" x 17" — in the middle of the group. But considering its weight as well, this is a bulky backpacking tent.
This stout model (middle) side-by-side with the Big Agnes C Bar (left) and Sierra Design Clip Flashlight 2 (right).
Credit: Ben Applebaum-Bauch
Value
This tent is a good deal. Though it has an above-average price tag for this budget review, it is loaded with features, has a great spacious interior, and can withstand hard use for several years. We think that for the right car camper, this model offers great value.
This tent also pitches in fast fly mode without the main tent body. If it's past bug season, this can be a good way to reduce weight (but you also reduce comfort).
Credit: Ben Applebaum-Bauch
Conclusion
Although it is heavy, the Mountainsmith Morrison Evo 2 is a solid workhorse tent. You won't mind spending time in its luxurious interior. We like all the pockets and variations of its interior doors. We worry that it whips in high winds and may not withstand a punishing rainstorm.
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Ben Applebaum-Bauch