“Daddy are you going to set up the “lazy bones” tent now?” Was the afternoon refrain from my Daughter as we walked into camp after a long day hiking the Grand Canyon.  Others in our hiking party would pull out their tents, fumble around with the pole sets, carefully align everything so that they could attach the poles to the body, the body to the fly, and onward.  In the meantime, we would unfurl our Nemo Morpho AR tent, secure the corners with stakes, plug in the pump, and start pumping.  within a minutes, our tent would pop-up, ready to hold our sleeping bags.  My daughter would grin as she crawled inside the bright green tent to set up her bedding, while the rest of the party were still pitching their tents,  saying “I love this lazy bones tent”.

Every once in a while you come across a piece of gear that is just cool.  The Nemo Morpho AR tent fits into that category.  It is the coolest tent I have used in a long time.  The lightweight 2-person shelter, with Air Beams in the place of poles sets up easy,  sheds wind, rain, and even snow easily.  I have had this tent out on several trips all all of those conditions, and it has risen to the challenge,  providing a comfortable shelter in a variety of unfavorable conditions.

The Nemo Morpho AR is marketed and sold as a Three-Season Shelter,  although I am confident that it has the stamina to function in just about any condition.  The helpful folks at Nemo explained to me that the primary reason that it is not a four season shelter is due to the possibility of the check valve in the pump freezing, rendering the pump useless.  Without a functioning pump,  you have a non functioning tent,  and in blizzard like conditions, this could be a life threatening situation.  With this in mind, this tent is up for any possible three-season weather you can throw at it.

The shape and design of the tent are classic, reminiscent of the Sierra Designs Lightyear that has served so many for so long.  This is where similarities end.  As I mentioned before, the traditional poles are replaced by a set of curved inflatable tubes,  that are surprisingly supportive, yet allow the tent to flex, and then snap back.  I was able to push the tent down almost flat to the ground,  and it would snap back into shape in the blink of an eye.   The tubes, which are several inches in diameter, take up some room inside the tent,  and make the tent feel a bit smaller than it actually is.  The space is not totally wasted, as you can store small items between the tubes.  There are a couple of mesh pockets near the doors to keep small things from disappearing inside the tent.  There is also an ingenious pocket above the door that is made to put a headlamp in, which diffuses the light, and bathes the interior of the tent in a soothing green glow.  It also provide a central place to store the headlamp for quick access in the darkest hours of the night.

The tent is a hybrid single wall design,  with the majority of the tent body being a single layer of fabric,  while the doorway/vestibule area consists of a mesh layer,  and an attached fly.  There are more zippers and straps in the vestibule area to convert it to more configuration than I would possibly know what to do with.  This is good,  as you can adjust the tent to accommodate for the conditions.  This same area can be integrated as part of the tent itself, or you can unzip the floor,  roll it back and have a bare floor vestibule that is isolated from the inside of the tent.  Personally,  I loved the room that the integrated vestibule provided,  and just stored my gear under a pack cover outside.  While the tent is not outrageously heavy for a two-person shelter (around 5 lbs),  I think that Nemo would have a hit if they could shave off a lot of the features (save a pound or two),  and produce an ultra-light version of this same tent.  I would be willing to sacrifice a lot of the versatility carry a lighter tent.

The tent breathes very well for a mostly single wall shelter.  The abundance of vents, and very breathable “40 D Osmo” fabric assured a relatively dry interior in the morning.  In fact the only time I awoke to any detectable moisture was after a heavy snowstorm with two adults inside the battened down tent for 12-hours, in which the moisture was frozen to the inside of the tent.  In milder conditions, I awoke to a dry tent.  While I have not used the tent in hot conditions,  the vestibule area of the tent rolls up,  leaving the front third a mesh lining that will keep out the bugs, while letting any stray breezes, and providing a comfortable platform for stargazing.

My Daughter loves this tent so much,  she has been scheming as to how to raise the $395.00 it would take to buy her own Nemo Morpho AR.  I have to agree with her. The combination of a flexible durable design,  with the “cool” factor and ability to quickly and easily set it up puts the Nemo Morpho AR on the short list of the best tents I have used.

Get your own Nemo Morpho AR at Altrec.com