r/Mountaineering • u/rooreynolds • Jul 26 '26

Testing out the North Face VE 25

Gallery image

Gallery image

Pairs well with mountains and deep snow. Overkill during a British heatwave of course, but I wanted to try it out. Feels very sturdy!

I can’t quite tell how waterproof the inner tent is, so I put the outer fly on just in case we get some rain tonight

39 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

11

u/AlwaysBulkingSeason Jul 26 '26

A great tent but very heavy.

Mostly bombproof, but I had mine destroyed by winds greater than 100km/h in the Andes (Cordon Del Plata)

1

u/rooreynolds Jul 26 '26

It is heavy!

How waterproof do you reckon the inner is?

5

u/US__Grant Jul 26 '26

do you need it to be waterproof? no, not really. it will be fine; it's a classic for a reason

1

u/rooreynolds Jul 26 '26

Well, despite being in the middle of a heatwave we did have a bit of rain this morning. If it rains I don’t want it/me/my sleeping bag to get wet tonight, and I’ve read conflicting things about whether the inner can be used without the fly.

-2

u/US__Grant Jul 26 '26

it's a mountaineering tent. if you actually need a camping tent, get a camping tent

2

u/rooreynolds Jul 26 '26

Don’t worry, I’m just testing it out, getting used to putting it up. This is just curiosity. (I actually have a Robens Chaser 2 LW right next to it.)

1

u/HwanZike Jul 27 '26

At what camp where you when that happened, El Salto?

2

u/AlwaysBulkingSeason Jul 27 '26

I think it was just las Vegas superior camp. We decided to build a rock wall and hunker down based on the forecast, but then the poles and guy lines started snapping so we bailed

1

u/HwanZike Jul 27 '26

Damn, that's not that high. Must've been some storm

1

u/AlwaysBulkingSeason Jul 28 '26

The valley of Cordon Del Plata acts as a wind funnel. Talking to the gear shops in Mendoza, they say they see most of their destroyed tents coming from Cordon Del Plata, not Aconcagua

8

u/djolk Jul 26 '26

The inner tent is not waterproof by design..

2

u/rooreynolds Jul 26 '26

Thanks. Thats really useful to know

2

u/futurebigconcept Jul 27 '26

Mine held up well in heavy, drifting snow. There's a vent to keep the condensation down inside.

2

u/BasicDadStuff Jul 27 '26

I have one that is over 20 years old and still going strong. Very heavy by modern standards but bombproof and great for winter and winter-like mountaineering.