I heard someone approaching our campsite, so I stuck my head out of our Ramada Peregrin 2 tent to find the only ranger working Santa Cruz Island that night, as he strode toward us. “I have good news and bad news,” the ranger said. I arched my eyebrows. He continued, “The good news is that the boat is coming tomorrow. You won’t be stranded here another night.” “Ok,” I said, “The bad news?” The ranger grimaced, “The bad news is that we will be enduring gale force winds tonight. If you want to move your tent to a more sheltered area, you may.” I looked down at our Peregrine Radama 2, smiled, and said, “I think we’ll be ok.”

We were. The Peregrine Ramada 2 is a wonderful tent. It held up well in the wind and allowed both of us to get a good night sleep.

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Pros

Given the gusting winds, we set up the tent with the rain fly. This is a tightly constructed tent. While other campers in our area were moving their tents to more sheltered areas, we left ours out in the open, confident in the Radama 2’s ability to shelter us. Inside the tent, the air was calm and warm. We could only hear the wind. The rain fly kept the wind from getting to us.

The tent even had a good amount of flex. I woke up in the middle of the night and watched the wind bend the tent body above my head. Then the tent would pop back up into place as if nothing had happened. My tent mate never even noticed.

The Radama 2 is also spacious. The gales picked up as the sun went down, so we were forced to retire to our tent a little earlier than we anticipated. My old tent is a little too snug for anything other than snuggling. The Radama 2 allowed us to truly relax, and when it came time to sleep, no one’s elbows were in anyone else’s ribs.

The Radama 2’s fly has two large vestibules extending above both its side doors. Both vestibules and doors are nice additions. My old backpacking tent has one door and one vestibule, and after not having someone climb over me in the middle of the night to find shoes and exit the tent, I’m never going back to the one door/one vestibule model.

At 5 lbs 7 oz, the Radama is a bit on the heavier side of backpacking tents, but if the weather is going to be nice, leave the tent body at home and just take the Fast Flight Floor Protector, poles, and rain fly to bump your weight down to an easy 3 lbs 6 oz. The poles and fly clip to the floor with ease using a clip made by DAC called “Jake’s Foot.” More on those clips in a moment.

This tent sets up in seconds even in the gusting wind.

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Cons

As I mentioned before, the tent is more than a pound heavier than other backpacking tents when one is packing the full tent body. Adding the floor protector to your pack too adds an additional 8.5 oz.

The way the fly attaches to the base via these little plastic clips is suspect. The plastic is thick, but I worried about breaking one as I unclipped the fly from “Jake’s Foot” when I took the tent down. Also, clipping the floor, tent, and fly together isn’t the most intuitive process either. I took the tent for a trial run in our living room, so I knew how to make it work, but my wife was momentarily befuddled. She figured it out, but it took a moment.

The stakes that come with the tent are also extremely easy to bend. I had one bent in half before I realized I had hit a buried root. You might consider using different stakes, especially if you are going to be using the tent on even harder surfaces, like ice or frozen ground.

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Summary

If you are looking for a easy to set up, tightly made backpacking tent that comfortably sleeps two campers and gives you the option of leaving the tent body at home, the Peregrine Radama 2 is the tent for you. Don’t handle the fly clips too roughly and take it easy on the stakes, and you won’t have anything to complain about at all.

Tech Specs

Manufacturer: Peregrine Outfitters a Liberty Mountain company

Website: Peregrine Radama 2 Tent

Capacity: 2

Season: 3

Weight: Max, with floor protector: 6 lbs 5.5 oz

Min, without tent body: 3 lbs 6 oz

Dimensions: 90.5 in x 59 in x 45.3 In

Number of doors: 2

Number of vestibules: 2

Number of poles: 2, DAC Pressfit™ 7001 8.5mm Aluminum

Wall, Fly & Floor: 75D 190T polyester PU2000mm

Mesh: 40D Nylon

Windows: 4, mesh

Storage: 4 pockets, 4 gear loft loops

Fast Flight Floor Protector (sold separately)

Dimensions: 90″x59″x45″

Weight: 8.5oz

MSRP:

Tent: $149.95

Floor: $19.95

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