The extra I gear I check the extra I discover myself beginning sentences with, “I’m not ultralight however …”
NEMO’s new Mayfly OSMO would introduce itself the identical means. Solely, it might probably finish that assertion with, “You’ll love me anyway.”
As somebody with a candy spot for modifying low cost gear, I wouldn’t name $400 MSRP “price range.” Nevertheless, in contrast with most choices by NEMO, Large Agnes, Sea to Summit, and Marmot, the Mayfly is cost-conscious.
It is available in a bit heavier than most of its competitors however leverages some modern options, a bevy of storage, and NEMO’s proprietary OSMO material. It supplied some severe consolation and worth for each ounce.
In brief: The Mayfly OSMO is a tent that’s equally snug for automotive tenting and backpacking. It matches neatly in between NEMO’s Hornet and Dragonfly tents, providing the very best of each worlds. It’s heavier than both, and might solely match two vast sleep techniques with tapered pads. Even so, between spectacular stormworthiness, a good worth, glorious storage, some modern options, and loads of consolation, the Mayfly boasts glorious worth for the burden.
In the event you’re purchasing for light-weight tents, GearJunkie’s guides to the Greatest Backpacking Tents, Greatest Ultralight Tents, and the Greatest Tenting Tents have a whole lot of choices for comparability.
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Weight
3.5 lbs. (packed); 3.0 lbs. (minimal) -
Flooring dimensions
85” lengthy, 52” vast at head finish, 43” at foot -
Flooring space
27.9 sq. ft. -
Peak peak
42” -
Building
3-season, semi-freestanding tent with 9.5mm aluminum pole -
Vestibule space
7.1 sq. ft. on both aspect -
Doorways
2 doorways, twin arcing zippers -
Rainfly material
100% recycled OSMO (1,500 mm) -
Flooring material
68D PU polyester ripstop (2,000 mm) -
Tent physique
Polyester taffeta/ No-see-um mesh
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Straightforward setup -
Spectacular storm resistance (when totally staked out) -
Versatile packing possibility -
Ample vestibule area -
Beneficiant storage -
Good air flow -
Sturdy construct -
Twin entry and exit
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Solely accommodates tapered vast pads -
Snag-prone rainfly zipper -
Brief rainfly sides -
Tent zipper usually requires two palms -
Mounted foot-end anchors sometimes forestall taut setup -
Heavier than most of its competitors
NEMO Mayfly OSMO Tent Evaluate
NEMO’s OSMO Cloth
A lot of what makes the Mayfly work so effectively is its proprietary material. NEMO is fast to notice that OSMO is Bluesign-approved, PFAS-free, 100% recycled, gives 4 instances longer-lasting water repellency, and stretches thrice lower than nylon when moist. The Mayfly’s OSMO Rainfly is a mixture of 15D nylon and 30D polyester.
NEMO’s priorities with OSMO have been low-stretch, excessive strength-to-weight ratio, higher water repellency, and abrasion resistance. It isn’t as gentle and low-stretch as Dyneema. However OSMO is way quieter, wear-resistant, and simpler to seam-seal.
It’s not by probability that GearJunkie’s information to the Greatest Backpacking Tents has two OSMO tents amongst its high picks (as of this writing).
Streamlined Setup
Tent setup doesn’t get a lot simpler than with the Mayfly. The poles are pre-bent and every thing is color-coded.
Once you lay the physique out, the way in which the pole system goes is clear. The ideas clip simply into the corners, and the fly is hooked up to the poles with Velcro straps to cut back wind flap.
Anchor Programs
Head-Finish ‘Axial Nook’ Anchors
Frankly, NEMO’s new Axial Nook Anchor system may be my favourite tent anchor system. It’s a notable improve over its Hornet and Dragonfly tents.
A swiveling socket in a small metallic housing gives a versatile however safe anchor for the tent’s head-end poles. The anchors make tensioning the head-end corners a breeze. Additionally they provide a keyhole system for the rainfly corners. Merely slot the rainfly’s nook peg, twist to lock, and stress.
In windy circumstances, the choice of anchoring the fly to the spreader poles first, earlier than attaching the inner Velcro straps made life a lot simpler.
The foot-end nook anchors are a single size of wire, tethered to the tent corners at a set angle. This steady loop makes staking out the foot-end corners easy. However, on smooth, unlevel floor chock filled with buried rocks, I needed for a method to stress the traces individually.
Divvy It Up
With every thing packed collectively, the Mayfly is available in at 19.5 inches lengthy, 6.5 inches vast, and three inches thick and 42 ounces (not together with the three further stakes you’d need to convey for stormy climate). Nevertheless, because the identify implies, the Divvy system makes it simple to divide up the tent.
When the poles and stakes have been packed individually, I might squash the tent and rainfly all the way down to a dimension smaller than a 1.5L Smartwater bottle. The Divvy dice would permit it to suit ergonomically into most 50-70L packs.
Weight
In 2024, any tent over 3 kilos can get simply lumped into the “Good for tenting. Might be lighter for lengthy trails” class. For the Mayfly, it is dependent upon what you’re evaluating it to.
Held towards the likes of the Dragonfly, Marmot Superalloy, Large Agnes Tiger Wall UL 2, and Sea to Summit Alto, the Mayfly is available in wherever from a number of ounces to over a pound heavier. Nevertheless, the Mayfly gives extra options at a lower cost bracket, with a extra sturdy and sustainable building than most of the options.
Examine the Mayfly’s weight to different tents on GearJunkie’s information to the Greatest Backpacking Tents.
Within the Subject: Weathering the Storm
I spent a number of nights in a flood-prone subject throughout a wave of thunderstorms with 25-35 mph winds. The Mayfly can’t be arrange fly-first however with the hatches totally battened, it’s a beast.
Save for its 9.5mm diameter poles and fork hub (notably beefier than the Hornet and Dragonfly), the Mayfly falls proper in between its siblings in climate configuration — with six major stakeouts and simply as many optionally available pullouts.
NEMO solely consists of 9 stakes. However totally guyed out and secured at 12 factors, my Mayfly stayed rock strong and comparatively quiet for the circumstances. Solely on smooth, moist floor, resting my weight on my knees, did I get damp spots.
Even so, the rainfly does commerce full protection for air flow. Its sides present a beneficiant vestibule space. Nevertheless, I discovered that luggage or gear left on naked floor are nonetheless vulnerable to getting moist in driving rains.
After a number of straight days of rain, I discovered myself wishing that NEMO supplied the touchdown zone vestibule tubs it consists of with its Dagger and Dragonfly Bikepack as an optionally available accent.
On dry days, both finish of the rainfly doorways might be tied again. Although for the pinnacle finish, I discovered myself wishing for a second, greater tieback to maintain the door from slowly unraveling within the wind.
I anticipate even the Mayfly being a sweaty shelter for 2 in windless summer time downpours like we get in Louisiana. In nearly every thing in need of swamp storms, although, the Mayfly is a high contender in air flow. It might experience out most storms simply high quality.
Mayfly OSMO Storage Galorage
A large, central, triangular overhead mesh pocket gives a minimum of 15-20 L of storage. This loft alone is genuinely two-person-appropriate, with sufficient area for pairs of jackets, socks, insulation, and so forth. On the head finish of the tent, there’s a lengthy, shallower pocket, very best for telephones, filters, batteries, knives, and different quick-stow objects.
On both aspect of this are two of NEMO’s diffuser pockets, which flip stowed headlamps into smooth lanterns.
In complete, the Mayfly gives seven inner loops for hanging gear, and two exterior ones hanging from the spreader bars over every door.
On the wettest nights, the exterior pockets made for a handy, dry, tick- and critter-free place to hold my footwear.
Two-Individual Prospects
It’s no secret that “two-person” within the tenting and backpacking gear trade is brief for “appropriate for 2 folks in an intimate relationship.” By that normal, the Mayfly lands solidly in the midst of the pack for private area.
The Mayfly can match two vast pads in the event that they’re tapered. Some vast/common combos will work. Testing some odd couple pairing, I used to be capable of get two of my favourite shoulder season pads, an oblong 21-inch Close to Zero Feather Insulated and a 24-inch REI Co-op AirRail Plus, to suit snugly.
In contrast to so many different two-person tents, the Mayfly genuinely gives sufficient area for 2 folks to take a seat upright. With over 14 sq. ft of vestibule space and a 28-square-foot ground, the Mayfly feels genuinely spacious.
Used solo, the NEMO Mayfly OSMO is a palace. Because the form of one who normally sleeps in a spreader bar hammock beneath a 12-foot tarp, a palace is simply my pace.
Room for Enchancment
Sans sleeping luggage, the tent pinches a bit on the midsection. It was a minor subject. But it surely was sufficient to make me miss the Hornet’s answer: a tether between the tent physique and rainfly to drag out the mesh.
The Mayfly’s zippers have been additionally fickle. Half the time, the tent door was one-handed, and half the time, it was two. The rainfly zip was snag-prone all the time, although by no means badly sufficient to tear the material.
With 17-inch pole segments, the Mayfly isn’t as bikepacking-friendly as a number of of NEMO’s different tents. Likewise, in 2024, there are lower-budget options that embody make-or-break options. Tarptent’s Double Rainbow can simply accommodate two vast, rectangular pads for all of $300. 3F UL’s Floating Cloud 2 gives a selection between swappable three- or four-season tent our bodies for $209-222.
However, between consolation, high quality, sturdiness, storage, sustainability, ease of setup, and OSMO efficiency, the Mayfly does rather a lot to clear its personal orbit.
NEMO Mayfly OSMO Tent: Snug Conclusions
NEMO’s Mayfly falls right into a candy spot, with clever compromises. For one particular person, it’s a palace. For 2 folks, it hangs with the competitors in consolation, whereas coming in cheaper than the standard suspects, and providing significantly higher storage.
Ample configurations, sturdy poles, and a bent towards airflow facilitation make it a well-rounded decide that shrugs off the odd gale. Inclement climate nonetheless requires good setup, particularly with regard to tent orientation and equipment association within the vestibule.
The Mayfly additionally feels prefer it leans closely on the worth of OSMO material to outstrip competitors from some cheaper options. However OSMO delivers. Its sturdiness and low-stretch waterproofing are spectacular.
General, the Mayfly completely serves the area of interest of mid-end backpacking tents. It‘s cheaper and extra feature-rich than most pricier backpacking tents. It boasts higher building and extra sustainable supplies than extra price range choices.
NEMO would possibly contemplate this tent entry-level. I’d name it a rattling good worth, and one in all my favourite new tents.
