Nemo Dagger Ultralight Review

COMPLETE REVIEW

Nemo Dagger Ultralight is a backpacking tent made by NEMO, a company from New Hampshire. The name of the company stands for New England Mountain Equipment (NEMO). NEMO is on the market for more than fifteen years and specializes in outdoor gear. Their authentic and slick tents brought them several awards over time, for design and innovation.

In addition to tents, NEMO also manufactures sleeping bags and pads, camp furniture and more.

The Nemo Dagger Ultralight is a 3 season tent that comes in 2 versions: 2 person or 3 person capacity.

As its name suggests it is one of the most lightweight and compact tents you can find. You can learn about its full specs on their website, so we are just going to give you the essentials:

Specifications

Packed size: 18.9 X 5.5 in dia

Packed weight: 3 lb. 12 oz

Floor dimensions: 90.2 X 49.6 inches

Floor fabric: 30D PeU Nylon (3000 mm)

Fly Fabric: 15D Nylon Ripstop (1200 mm)

Frame: 1 Hubbed Aluminum DAC Featherlite NSL 9.6 + 9 + 8.5 mm

When you purchase the tent you also get 8 stakes, a stuff stack, 2 guy-out lines and a repair kit.

The Nemo Dagger has 2 doors and 2 vestibules and while it is light enough for you to easily fit it in your backpacking gear, it is also roomy enough, both the 2 person and 3 person versions. The extra space is given by the trapezoidal vestibules which are also great for storage and by the raised pole frame. In fact, the generous space is definitely one of this model’s strengths. There are also several other small pockets you can use for your most needed gear.

You can also keep your privacy intact with the help of the built-in privacy panel. Another cool feature is the existence of the overhead light pockets that offer you an equally diffused ambient light throughout the tent.

Setting up the Dagger is a few minutes job. You can easily do it in any conditions and the clips and stakes won’t pose any problems.  

The Nemo Dagger is wind and water resistant. With its rigid freestanding structure and several tie on points, this tent is very stable and can bravely cope with winds of 15 mph.

When it comes to water resistance, the Dagger also manages to pass the wet test and keep you dry even during heavy rain. If you are dealing with aggressive storms you can also add guylines to offer you even more protection.

However, one drawback of the Dagger is condensation, which builds up and it is more persistent at the foot box and the head. Aside from that, there are vents at the top of the doors, which allow you to control ventilation from inside the tent, which is a useful thing, although it will make entering and exiting the tent a bit more difficult when using the vent. But even though it’s not the best design they could come up with, ventilation is still functional.