The MSR Elixir 2 and Elixir 3 are some of our most popular wild camping tents at Tiso, in fact I believe that over 50% of our Rose St staff actually have one! I have owned an MSR Elixir 2 for almost a year now and have taken it on many adventures around Scotland. These adventures included a two week road trip through the Outer Hebrides from the bottom of the Isle of Barra to the tip of the Isle of Lewis, sleeping in the Elixir 2 every night.

This tent is packed full of features that make it, as MSR say, incredibly liveable. Features that meant I looked forward to putting it up every evening during my trip, it had plenty of space for two people to live comfortably and was durable and strong enough to deal with the unpredictable weather on the Western Isles.

Liveable – MSR describe the Elixir as one of the most liveable backpacking tents on the market. The Elixir pole set up optimises head and shoulder space, at over one meter high even the tallest people can sit comfortably in this tent. Unlike other tents, the Elixir’s height doesn’t just peak at one point, it spreads across the whole roof, creating a very spacious feel. This tent features two doors, so you don’t have to climb over your tent buddy to get out in the middle of the night, behind each door are two large porches for storing all your gear. On a few evenings in the Outer Hebrides we were tent bound due rain or swarming midge attacks, but this was not a big deal with the Elixir, I would have to agree with MSR, it is incredibly liveable.

Easy to pitch – The MSR Elixir is incredibly easy to pitch, I have had a lot of practice, but I reckon I could pitch it by myself in under five minutes! It is a free standing tent, with three main poles, the two longer poles are already connected and the shorter spreader pole is what creates that vast head room. The Elixir has colour coded clips that refer to which pole to attach and colour coded buckles to attach to the rainfly. The Elixir two has two set up modes, the standard set up and the fast and light set up which includes just the footprint (included), poles and rainfly (I would only consider this set up out of midge season in Scotland!). The only downside that I have noticed about this tent is that it is inner pitch first, this means that there are a few seconds where the inner will be exposed to the elements before you manage to get the rainfly over the top. As this tent is so quick to pitch I haven’t experienced this as a problem yet.

Durable - The MSR Elixir tent is incredibly durable and waterproof. The outer rainfly is made from ripstop polyester and it has a water column test rating of 1,500mm. The water column test is an industry standard for rating the waterproofness of outdoor garments. The test involves a column of water 1’’ in diameter filled with water, the fabric to be tested is pulled taught under the column of water. Over a 24 hour period it is tested for how many millimetres of water the fabric can withstand before water seeps through. In testing the MSR Elixir withstood 1,500mm high column of water, it is highly waterproof. Due to its domed shape rain easily flows off its fabric, with no pooling on the roof. Another cool feature are the rain gutters along the two entrances, these gutters pull water away from the door so that you don’t get dripped on when getting into the tent. The floor of the tent has a higher water column test rating of 3,000mm as in heavy rain water is more likely to pool under the tent. The Elixir also includes a footprint, almost like a separate groundsheet, designed to be pegged down under the tent to keep the floor clean, dry and protected.

The MSR Elixir 2 and 3 person tents are packed full of features that make them incredibly liveable while maintaining their status as performance backpacking tents. These tents are spacious, comfortable, waterproof and strong. I would highly recommend these tents for backpacking adventures in the UK and abroad. Like the rest of the Tiso staff, you won’t be disappointed.

Images Courtesy of Rachel Keenan Photography ©