Tent – lightweight two person double walled tent suitable for cold wet winter weather in northeast

Im trying to find a lightweight two person double walled tent that can withstand the kind of wet and cold conditions (just around freezing or just above and steady rain) Based on that comment I would suggest you look for a shelter that has the floor inside the drip line. Also it may be helpful to know the size of the occupants, some two person tents can be a bit too cozy for one or two tallish people particularly in winter and more so if you need to use floor space for storage. Two packs inside the only vestibule may not be all that good particularly when it does rain.

The C Spur will come up short when you add heavy snow to the mix. A solid fabric inner is nice when you're unfortunate enough to have condensation prone conditions and high winds, as the inevitable drips and splashing are much reduced.

"Stephenson's warmlite looks like the best bet from a double walled and weight factor but i havent found many reports from folks who put it through the paces i am expecting." There are a number of other threads here on BPL regarding the Stephenson Warmlite. If I recall correctly one concern is that only three stakes must bear all the loads for tensioning the structure. Another was the issue of quality control. Don't know if that's been resolved.

As much as I like my Stephensons Warmlite (2C) I would not recommend it for the conditions you describe. I find it works best above treeline in breezy environments, but suffers somewhat from condensation in high humidity and rain. The Big Sky Chinook may work better for you given your needs.

"If I recall correctly one concern is that only three stakes must bear all the loads for tensioning the structure. " Originally the poles were hot-formed to match the curve of the tent. Stakes were only used to hold it in place. Has the design changed?

The Big Sky Chinook 2P might work for you. You can get it with a solid fabric inner or mesh inner. And it has an optional 3rd pole for heavy snow. I find mine pretty roomy, but I just use it with my dog If you want something with more room, then I think the Tarptent Scarp 2 looks nice.

Here is a link to the Stephenson Warmlite 2R Review: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/tunnel_tents_2012_stephensons_warmlite2r.html#.Vd02j5c4iYw The tent uses one stake at the foot and two at the head to create tension and pull it into a tunnel shape. From the article: "…the tent must be staked out with a very high lengthwise tension: far higher than normal. All that tension, plus the wind loading from the rear end, goes on one solitary staking point, shown here. Do you feel lucky? You may note that I chose to put two stakes (orange Ti wires) into the ground in the photo, and I had reservations about how well they would hold tension. I imagine a well-sunk ice axe might be a good idea in the mountains."

The Warmlite stakes just fine with MSR Groundhogs or 9" Eastons topped off with a suitable boulder, which is how I stake all my shelters above treeline. A Ti wire stake would be just plain dumb with a Warmlite.

I like my Tarptent Scarp 2 and have ridden out strong winds in it but no rain beyond light showers. See my photos of how I "winterized" it with X-ing poles run INSIDE the fly for better support. Photos in "Winter Hiking" section.

Will you be going out in WINTER, or just in winter? Because if you plan to be out in frankly dangerous WINTER conditions I would have to recommend getting a true bomber 4-season tent like the Hilleberg (or a Caffin). If you just want to cover "cold and wet", but not "alpine blizzard," then we have room to get the weight down. Where do you typically hike in the winter?

The Warmlite stakes just fine with MSR Groundhogs or 9" Eastons topped off with a suitable boulder, which is how I stake all my shelters above treeline. A Ti wire stake would be just plain dumb with a Warmlite. +1 When snow is assured, I use these modified plastic stakes, deadman style, buried about 4-6" deep in consolidated snow.

"Does anyone think this tent can be used effectively in winter?" I'm sure it can be used in the winter, but it doesn't mean it will perform well. If I wanted to "stretch" the comfort zone of my gear, I always do it in an controlled environment first. For instance, I intentionally used a Rainshadow II in a freezing rain situation a couple years ago. I was absolutely shocked at how much the silnylon stretched in the rain. While it "worked", I'd never recommend the tent for any weather like that. True double walled tents will perform better in the conditions you are planning to go into, generally speaking. (Or Bibler/Integral Designs tents.) As Eric mentioned, the Tarptent Scarp tents seem to come to mind as a well rehearsed tent in cold/wet situations, although I have no direct experience using it. Like Dean said, at the end of the day, are you just selecting a tent for "cold/wet" only, or more snowy/winter than that? While many three "season tents" can hold their own in cold/wet weather, an inch of wet snow will severely impact many of them.

Yeah, I focused so much on the cold rain part of it but I do want something to handle the wet now as well. My winter hikes are limited to the Adirondacks, Laurentians and Eastern Townships in Québec, Vermont, and Taconics. (for ADK, all below tree line.) I've experienced all kinds of conditions in these locations, but the most uncomfortable for me are those days where early morning precip goes back and forth from wet snow to freezing rain, so I want to find a solution that can handle winter winter conditions as well. I feel like Goldilocks, now :)

But not death zone Into Thin Air kind of stuff? Well, then you probably don't NEED a truly bomber alpine tent like the Nallo. You can probably get by with the "lesser" tents already mentioned. If you're conservative, though, it would give quite a margin of safety.

I backpack a lot in the Adirondacks, Catskills, and Green Mountains and for winter camping, I use a Hilleberg Nammatj 2. Mine is ten years old and has probably 80-100 nights on it, and I am exceptionally happy with it for Northeast winter use. The Nallo is really similar – slightly lighter fabric (Kerlon 1200 silnylon rather than Kerlon 1800), smaller tie-outs, and slightly worse venting, and lighter weight of course. Other than the price, I can't think of a thing to fault them for. If you want to borrow the Nammatj for a weekend, you're welcome to. I work downtown and commute via GCT.

Sorry to chime in so late, But I have had the Scarp 1 (single person) for about 3 years. It has weathered blinding wind driven rain and wet snow (about 3 inches) with no issues. Very stable shelter with just the single pole for warmer weather, and very secure with the 2 cross poles. The only thing I wish it had, is zippered closures for the windows. It is double wall, the fly is clipped to the body, so setup in bad weather does not allow any water into the inner tent, but zippered doors in the inner tent have mesh 'windows' for lack of a better word. The fly completely protects them, but in real wind, you will get a bit of a breeze in there. Other than that, I have absolutely no complaints about the Scarp at all