tent for really tall newbie

If a tarp would meet your needs there is a GG Spinntwin tarp for sale on BPL for $150.00 which includes shipping. this would be a great shelter for two, light enough for solo use and long enough for your size. This is a high quality, light and respected shelter that would be worth looking into.

If you're looking for a tent and you want something as light as possible, I can't say enough nice things about the Six Moon Designs Lunar Duo (http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/shop/shopexd.asp?id=47) which comes in at $275. I'm 6'6" and 270ish and find it plenty roomy for one or two. It has a lot more space than the Tarp Tent offerings because of its shape and pitch. To me, and someone who researched this a lot when I was looking, there is no better choice and I would make the same purchase again today. You will have to carry trekking poles though (unless you want to carry something else) as otherwise there aren't any other kinds of support with the tent.

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One tent that will be definitely large enough for you is the Exped Vela II. http://www.exped.com or look at http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/exped_vela_ii_extreme_tent_review.html for a review.
I have to admit it's a rather heavy tent, but you can put up the rainfly and the canopy separately if you want to save some weight.

If you want a Kelty Gunniston 2 used once, I've got one about a year old I'd sell you for a decent price. They're only $180 new, but obviously I could do better than that. It too is a great roomy tent for 2 people. It isn't UL, but it is less than 5 pounds. If you want it, PM me.

I’m not tall but our Oware 9×9 Pyramid is tall and wide. You can stand in it if it is set six inches off the ground. No floor, but that really isn’t a problem. Weight is 26 oz and price is about $240.

Not a tent specifically, but a couple of tips for cramming into tents designed for more…ummm…"compact" persons:

1) Drape your rain jacket over the foot of your sleeping bag to protect it from condensation when your bag inevitably touches the tent wall.

2) Tunnel tents generally provide more head and foot room than domes of the same length because of the steeper end walls.

3) Golite's "Adrenaline" family of mummy bags (as well as their "Ultra" Quilt) have Pertex Endurance panels on the head and foot. These panels should protect the ends of the bag as it's squashed against the walls of a too-short tent.

4) Depending on the tent, you might get away with sleeping diagonally in a "two person" tent.

5) It's a shame that gear manufacturers are lured into producing Hobbit-sized tents in their quest to go lighter.

Cheers,

-Mike M

Might consider the MSR Missing Link, which is shown at:

http://www.msrgear.com/tents/missinglink.asp

and which seems to have a combination of the following factors that seem to fit your criteria:

(1) size — VERY wide at the front (something like 9 feet or even a little more) with the width narrowing toward the rear of the tent (good for second person who's shorter),

(2) weight — about 3 lbs plus an ounce or three,

(3) cost — retail over $200 (currently listed at $259 by Backcountry.com) but might find it on sale as low as $100 or thereabouts (recently it could be had for less than $80 at REI) since it's being discontinued by MSR, and

(4) appears well-suited for casual camping use that will not include exposure to heavy winds.

BPL has a good review of the Missing Link that's available to subscribers, and several more in-depth reviews can be found at BackpackGearTest's website:

http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Shelters/Tents/MSR%20Missing%20Link/

JRS

Edited to add this link to Backcountry Gear which has the Missing Link currently on sale for $107:

http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/tentdetail.cfm/MSR566

I'm 6'3 and weigh over 200lbs, so I share the pain expressed here. Why the manufacturers make long sleeping bags of all varieties but make so few tents to fit them is beyond me. There are a few diamonds in the rough out there, and I've found a couple.

I own an MSR Missing Link, and am quite pleased with the interior space. It's a single-walled tent, so it would do best in a dry environment (West Coast) than a wet environment (East Coast). However, I'm an East-Coaster, and the interior condensation has at least been tolerable for my taste. I prefer to sleep towards the door, since that's where all the headroom is, but there's plenty of room in it for two adults, or certainly one adult, all his gear, and his dog. The downside of the Missing Link is it absolutely needs a huge space to pitch it. The guylines in the front need several feet of room, so you end up needing nearly a 10'x10' space to be comfortable. The guylines can also create a nighttime tripping hazard for unwary campers.

I've also recently purchased a Sierra Designs Hyperlite AST tent from a friend. It's a kite-shaped 2-person tent that's perhaps even roomier than the Missing Link. Mine has so far stayed very dry in the rain and humidity, which is a major plus. It's a freestanding double-walled tent that comes with its own poles, whereas the Missing Link relies on your trekking poles and guylines. This means that the Hyperlite AST weighs over 5 pounds. I really don't see how you could cut the weight on such a roomy tent without going down to a tarptent.

I'm sad to say, though that both of these tents seem to be out of production, so you'll have to find one used. Both are good brands, so you shouldn't have any problems with durability.

However, if you're looking at the REI brand, give the Half Dome a look. It's the only 2-person tent in my local REI that I can comfortably fit in. I know what you're thinking: it's over 5lbs itself and that's just disappointing. But more space means more material, which means more weight. Sometimes we taller folks just have to carry a little extra weight. If you like the newer Quarter Dome design, you'll be disappointed that the Quarter Dome 2 is also (sigh) too short for a long sleeping bag. You'll have to either sleep alone diagonally, or pay up in price and weight for the Quarter Dome 3.

And yes, this is frustrating. I guess being tall isn't always an advantage. ;)

I'm 6'7" and I have plenty of room in my Shires Rainshadow 2 Tarptent. This is a 3 person tent which works great for me and my 2 kids on family backpacking trips. I can't say enough good things about this tent. It's only 40 oz, provides great protection from the elements and the bugs, and is extremely quick and easy to set up. The Squall tarptent is the 2 man version of this tent and would save you a few ounces as well. There's good reviews on both the Rainshadow and the Squall on BPL.

WOuld a TarpTent Double Rainbow work for a 6'6 or 6'7 skinny guy?

I would think so – with the floors extended the length is 96". Even in the bathtub configuration the floors are 88". The nice thing about the Squall/Rainshadow tarptent designs though is that your head and feet are not even close to the tent wall. Worst case you might brush up against the netting, but that stretches and you don't have to worry about condensation. So in my experience, the usable space is much more.