A few years ago, I found myself staring down my calendar at one of life’s transitional moments: my seasonal job would end, my other seasonal job would end and my lease would be up. Rather than begin to scour the classifieds section of the local paper and yield to an increase in my rent, I came to the resolution that the better option was to purchase a one-way plane ticket to the southernmost point of South America with the goal of wandering from Tierra del Fuego to the coast of the Caribbean Sea.

My loose itinerary involved backpacking, hiking, surfing, city wandering and more, all in environments that ranged from high alpine to subtropical. I quickly realized that my gear closet was not as full as it appeared. One of the most important purchases that I had to make was a tent. After doing quite a bit of research, I landed on Nemo Equipment’s Dagger, for a few reasons: it was small enough to carry on a six-day trek, it was spacious enough for casual camping at a campground or in a yard, it was durable enough for months of use and it had two large vestibules for gear storage (a feature that I was specifically looking for).

All of these qualities I gathered from the specs listed on Nemo’s website and through a visit to an REI to see the tent in person, and they all held true throughout what ended up to be four months of travel. The Dagger proved itself indispensable, and I’d happily recommend it to anyone in search of a tent that balances size and weight with comfort and durability. Right now, it’s 30 percent off — a savings of $120 — at Backcountry.

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