3 tents into 1 tent — talk me out of it

Because then you don't have tents to lend friends?

"because you don't have tents to loan to friends" Good one!

I am in the same boat. I have a Mountainsmith Morrison 2 and a Wenzel Current 1.5. I want a better solo tent and need to decide what to do. I want to hold on to additional gear so when I recruit friends and family along, I really will have extra gear for them to test out overnighters before catching the backpacking bug.

It looks like to me that you really don't have a comfortable car camping tent. For the price of the tent you are considering, you could buy an awesome 3P or 4P car camping tent that would improve your comfort level for those trips dramatically, increasing your size and/or weather resistance. For car camping, the weight really doesn't matter that much, so a high quality 4P tent or a winter 3P tent in the 10 to 12 pound range should be in (or near) your price range.

You've already got light/small backpacking options covered.

Yeah, none of my current tents are great for loaning, though. The Shangri-La isn't the easiest tent in the world to setup. The ALPS is claustrophobic for casual users. The Quarter Dome is a good loaner, but it's the one I most want to get rid of because it gives me probably the least bang-for-the-buck.

I don't car camp very often or at all, and if I do, it's on an occasional night where I'm traveling to backpack, so I've already got another tent with me. A 3-4 person comfort tent isn't on my mind at all.