Marmot Limelight 2 Review

Likes
The Marmot Limelight 2 is a good quality budget backpacking tent. The Limelight’s pole construction employs a basic and time-tested design. Two moderate quality DAC Press-Fit poles start on opposite corners and cross once in the center. Like most of the tents reviewed here, the Limelight also has a single pole that runs perpendicular to the two primary poles. This lifts the tent body up and out, creating vertical walls and more interior space. The Limelight has one D shaped door and a pointy nine square-foot vestibule. There’s also a very small covered space on the opposite side of the tent that can be used to stash something small.

The Limelight is a reasonably sized tent. Its dimensions are slightly larger than the average of the eight tents tested here. Thirty-two square feet provide plenty of space for two people. At an even five pounds, the Limelight is only a half pound lighter than the average weight of the tents tested here; it makes for a decent backpacking tent.

The best part of the Limelight is its value. $190 makes this the second cheapest tent in its class. Furthermore, it comes with a small gear loft (for a phone or headlamp) as well as a footprint. Both are much appreciated. As is the polyurethane window in the vestibule.

Dislikes
The Limelight is a fine tent and will serve most budget backpackers well. Our primary complaint lies with the tent’s vestibule. While it is larger than most others, the shape is a very pointy triangle. It’s very difficult to close the zipper from inside the tent. You’ll likely find yourself kneeling down and fully extending in order close it up. In wet and/or dirty conditions you may find that you bring some debris back into the tent with you. The vestibule’s shape is also better for storing gear than for cooking. Out of all the vestibules on the tents reviewed here, the Limelight is our least favorite.

The Limelight’s door design makes camping with two unnecessarily difficult. The door is D shaped, creating a large entrance, but also dropping the door into the dirt or into the tent. The single entrance also requires both people to enter separately and climb over one another when getting out. We used the Limelight for two straight weeks in Yosemite. By the end of our time there we had adapted our sleeping arrangements based on who goes to bed first, who gets up first, and whether or not one was more likely to get up in the middle of the night. In one particularly fierce downpour, one person entered the tent (unzip fly, unzip inner tent, sit down, zip fly, take off shoes and jacket, climb in) while the other person waited impenitently in the driving rain. Two doors and two vestibules would make the tent more livable.

Pockets. There are two, but they’re both on the door side. One person will have two, the other none. It’s a terrible design made less bad by the small gear loft.

The cross pole’s connectors are also a nuisance. Most tents connect this pole with grommets, but the Limelight uses reinforced mesh slits that require great force and precision in order to inset the pole. Grommets are easier and stronger; we’d much prefer them here.

Finally, the inner tent’s construction is flashy, but functionless. Marmot uses a mix of curved mesh and solid nylon panels to create an aesthetically pleasing, but pointless design. We’d prefer to see either all mesh or, better yet, nylon on the bottom half and mesh on the top half.

Best Application
Budget backpacking.

Value
The Limelight is the second cheapest tent in its class. It’s a good value, but the REI Half Dome 2, being $10 less and more livable, is a much better value.

Other versions and accessories
The Limelight is also available in a three-person design. While we haven’t tested this model, it is important to note that it includes two doors and two vestibules.