"After moving from Texas to California, I decided I needed to upgrade my gear from "Texas climate" to "California climate" so that I could still continue to camp and hike year round. After spending several days going to various outdoor stores, comparing tent features, and talking to sales people about outdoor conditions,I decided on getting a Marmot Swallow 3+ season, 2 person tent.
The Swallow featured many of the attributes I found to be needed in a tent that could go from cold to warm extremes in climate.There are plenty of flaps on teh sides of the tent that can be opened on hot nights to increase air circulation. There is a large roof vent flap ventilation to help reduce condensation in colder weather. The unique double door side entry allows quick and easy access for two people to move in and out of the tent. The vestibule created by the rain fly allows plenty of room for gear storage if needed.
The tent fits into a unigue "Burrito" folded pouch, that can be hung up in the tent and used as a gear storage pocket. The burrito pack is also a nice feature when packing a backpack. The tent sets up very easily and quickly, I've even set it up in the dark.
After several trips and different climate conditions, this is a great tent to have for backpacking."
"I am an ecotour guide with 3+ decades of experience in the field and glad to offer a few observations of my Swallow 2 person tent. I purchased the tent for 2 sea kayak trips to Newfoundland where I needed a bit more room and stronger shelter from the elements. The roomy, bright interior and vestibule is very nice when held down in difficult weather. One night gale- force winds blew all night long pinning a corner of the roof to the floor of the tent. The tough fabric held up nicely in the wind but left 2 poles bent, although not enough to require repair in the field. Loops on the fly for guying additional lines may have compromised the wind dammage. Heavy and prolonged rain driven by high winds caused a few minor drops of rain water to enter the tent along a side zipper seam, but nothing to be alarmed about. One thing that I did find annoying is that the 60 mph wind kept unzipping the fly. A velcro tab sewn over the zipper which could be deployed from inside would be a good idea. I usually transport tent, fly and poles seperately in my kayak's compartments, and this works nicely to efficently use space and distribute weight. I have a much lighter tent for backpacking and thus have no experience with the Swallow in this regard. It does set up easily, is intelligently vented, and I've had many comments from clients on the handsome design. I like the Swallow, and without much hesitation would buy another."
"After the post-college spare years of $70 tents that kept us dry 2/3 of the time, I decided that our camping, hiking, and fishing trips were frequent enough to merit forking over for a good tent. The Swallow met or exceeded all expectations.
On its second camping trip, it provided absolutely watertight protection from an hourlong South Dakota plains thunderstorm that left other ("good") tents sodden and limp. The Marmot stood up to 60 mph wind gusts with no pole-bending or stake-pulling. Rain fell so fast that water ran under the tent and we felt like we were sleeping on a waterbed, but not a drop inside. I truly didn't think this was possible.
Since then, the Swallow has protected us from other cloudbursts and wind gusts. In one pleasant surprise, when we were stuck in an all-night dust storm, we woke up with surprisingly little dust inside the tent (with all flaps and flys zipped).
Ventilation is excellent, especially if your trips take you where it's above 90 F during the day and close to 30 or 40 F at night. In spring and fall weather with overnight temps around 15 or 20 F, the Swallow keeps warmth in, but its vents can be adjusted to let a good chunk of moisture out so that the tent walls don't drip! It's cheery and light inside. There's a single big door on one side and a convertible single-double door on the other. Plenty of gear pocket space inside, and the tent pouch folds out as a gear loft when it's empty. Folds up nice and compact. My only beefs: it lacked the stakes for the fly and vestibule stakeouts, so I had to pick those up -- good thing we discovered this before the second trip in the thunderstorm! Second beef is more general, that the footprint wasn't included. This is a worthwhile investment -- why spend $300 on a tent and skimp on the $30 footprint that will protect the tent? I'm sure this helped keep us dry. Overall a fantastic little tent that's suprisingly roomy for two average-sized adults."
