Your experiences with Mont Moondance EX 3 person

[Sonji]

I'm looking out for a 3 person, 3-4 season) hiking tent. After a fair bit of research, all paths (functional, features robustness and budget) pointed to the Mont Moondance EX 3p. I am a little concerned however, about the lightweight fly - how robust it is and if it will stand up to some rough hiking surrounds. Would love to hear your Moondance EX 3p stories. Thanks.

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Mont Moondance EX 3

[EGM]

I have no experience with this tent in particular but a quick google says that it has a 30D fly material. That's pretty average possibly even in the heavier end of the spectrum for modern tents so I definitely wouldn't be concerned about durability. Tent flys usually tend to be damaged by people rather than the environment anyway.

According to Mont the moon dance X is 3 season. Keep in mind that it's a huge tent so will be more likely to get caught by the wind.

Looks very comfy and light for its size.

There's never a shortage of recommendations if you decide this one's not for you.

Welcome to the forum.

[Biggles]

Taking my own, different tent as an example, I share your concerns somewhat about what might come across as flimsy material (which can be quite jarring against the astronomical price e.g. $440 for my Moondance 1 Mk I in 2009, versus $879 for the Moondance 1 Mk II in 2020). I sussed the materials out over a lengthy period of time before eventually purchasing in November last year. In the store I crawled in, moved around, sat up (BIG improvement over the Moondance 1, moving around won't be a problem at all in the EX). Go into the store and thoroughly check it out; take your walking companion with you: both get in to get a feel for the amount of room. I think you will find the EX will be more comfortable with 2 people and their gear, not 3, as well as more sensibly 3-season use. For true 4-season applications you should look higher up in the tent range where the tents feature more robust materials and designs. The Moondance tents are great for being free-standing and portable, but they can be troublesome in high winds and claustrophobic the more people and gear you carry in.

My initial reaction upon the requisite touchy-feely of the tent in the store was "that's very flimsy!": a landing comment made by many people!! It's also very, very expensive for what it is. Top marks for the quality of the poles; average marks for the very flimsy guylines.

The tent you are interested in has the same construction standard, with slightly higher denier count of 30D (cf. Moondance 1 FN 20D), including poles (which are amazingly flexible, more than I can say for the tent pegs, which one should replace with 'X'-profile pegs; the supplied pegs bent too easily on my first 3 outings). The "rice paper feel" of the fly should not put you off; it feels slippery and uncertain, but it is very, very well proofed and reinforced at stress points. It's probable that a falling branch (not a huge one!) would be sufficient to puncture/tear the fly compared to, for instance, the more robust fly on my MacPac Minaret, which has a similar but slightly thicker fly material. Don't use any sharp items in the tent or nearby where they could contact the fly or floor. Repair patches are supplied with the tent.

The side-fly tension loops on the Moondance models can be somewhat irritating to adjust. I think the design here has been over-thought, and come out as more complicated than it needs to be. The design was simpler and fuss-free on the first-generation Mont Moondance tents, then this curious fly tensioning arrangement came along that requires some practice to adjust correctly. It has certainly been the subject of discussion when I've gone bushwalking!

Invest in the Moondance footprint if it isn't included in the tent price upfront. It is a ridiculously pricey addition, but it will go some way in protecting the equally thin floor from pinholes and rock punctures.

Colour? Um.... Well, I'm fine driving a red car. But not fine living in a red tent! The colour options are very narrow unfortunately. I opted for the yellow fly; can't stand the tent being filled with bright red light the moment the sun makes an appearance!

[paidal_chalne_vala]

I just got a MONT MOONDANCE 2 person tent with the full nylon inner. I will use it a lot for bushwalking and for snow camping / ski touring. I shall give it a test run next week.

[Biggles]

Hedging on the side of caution, I'm taking my taut and robust MacPac Minaret this weekend (car-based camping), because where I'm going will be exposed to the vicious weather heading straight for Victoria, particularly the western half where I am heading. I heard Adelaide has been pelted with large hail and cars damaged. Pity Macpac don't have a tent model to shoehorn my car into...

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

Have an older moondance 2, which admittedly I don't use as often as I used given modern more lightweight alternatives, but can't say enough good things about the MD's design, durability and utility. Great tent that has seen an awful lot of use.

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[paidal_chalne_vala]

I am considering purchasing the tent footprint for the MONT MOONDANCE 2 tent. The tent floor seems a bit thin.