Best Crossover Camping/Backpacking Tent

Marmot has set out to prove that you can produce a tent versatile enough to function for couples that enjoy both backpacking and car camping. The $407.95 Marmot Limelight 4P is large enough to provide a reasonable degree of comfort while also being capable of functioning as a backpacking tent. Although it’s a bit too heavy for just one person to heft, by splitting up the components among both parties it can become much more manageable. Along with being durable and well-built, the included footprint, multiple vestibules, and unique “fast pitch” option make this incredibly appealing. As a pure camping tent, there are certainly more attractive options available at competitive prices, but the Limelight 4P’s impressive versatility earned it our award for Best Crossover Camping/Backpacking Tent.

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See Our Best Camping Tent Review 2021 HERE!

There’s more than one way to enjoy the great outdoors. Some prefer to hike while others like to car camp, and then there are those of us that can get equal pleasure from both. While hiking and camping are two somewhat different activities, that’s not to say that your hiking gear can’t work at a campsite. However, the same can’t always be said for camping gear. Marmot has set out to prove that you can produce a tent versatile enough to accomplish both. The $407.95 Marmot Limelight 4P is large enough to provide a reasonable degree of comfort while also capable of functioning as a backpacking tent. The Limelight 4P’s impressive versatility earned it our award for Best Crossover Camping/Backpacking Tent.

Comfort

Even compared to other four-person camping tents, the Limelight 4P is far from what we’d call spacious. Its dimensions are 6’9″x7’8″, for a total square footage of 51.8, and peak height is just 4’6”. On top of that, the Limelight is a dome-style tent with sloped walls on the top half, so that max headroom dips down quite dramatically as you move from the center of the tent. However, were we to rate this as a backpacking tent shared by two or more people, the Limelight is actually pretty roomy, with plenty of vertical space for the inhabitants to sit up comfortably. The tent poles also have a pre-bent structure that allows for nearly vertical walls on the bottom half, making it much more accommodating (and less claustrophobic) should you place your sleeping pad flush against one of the tent walls.

Roominess aside, the Limelight 4P boasts quite a few features that boost the overall comfort level. Ingress and egress are a snap thanks to doors at the front and back. Each door has a two-way zipper that connects at the bottom-middle, so you can even unzip one side to the top-middle and enter via the half-door. You can also open the door completely and stash it away in the “garage” at the base to keep it from collecting any dirt. Both doors are polyester on the bottom half and no-see-em mesh on the top half. While these are technically the only windows, the entire top half of the tent is also mesh, so on a warm summer night when you can ditch the rainfly, there will be plenty of ventilation and views of the night sky.

One of our favorite things about the Limelight series is the design of its vestibule system. With the rainfly attached, the Limelight 4P boasts not one, but two vestibules, each measuring 16sqft., providing ample space to store your gear or even change out of wet or dirty clothes after a rough day on the trail. Along with these massive mudrooms, there are split-storage pockets in all four corners for your smaller items as well as a gear stash pocket inside the ceiling that will accommodate your lantern.

Ease of Setup

It should take most campers roughly five minutes to set up the Limelight. There are two main poles that crisscross from corner to corner and attach at the top using a central hub. The poles run through a series of clips, and both the poles and clips are color-coded orange to eliminate any potential confusion. Once these poles are locked in place, you’ll need to attach two smaller, grey brow poles that run parallel from the front door to the back door and add more headroom. Once that’s done, simply drape the rainfly over the top of the tent, then clip it into the four corners of the tent body, and finally stake out the front two corners of each vestibule. One person can easily carry out this setup, and in fact, it might be a bit overkill to assign this to two people.

In terms of weight and packed size, it’s almost unfair to compare the Limelight 4P to any of the 6-person tents in our review. The Limelight 4P is half the weight of our next lightest tent, which coincidentally is also produced by Marmot (the Limestone 6P). The total weight of the Limelight 4P is only 8.5lb, including the travel bag, which has a packed size of 27.5”x9.5”x9.5”. The Limelight is the only tent in this year’s review that could realistically function as both a camping or a backpacking tent, and if it’s being used by more than one person, it’s completely viable for each party to split up the four main components (footprint, body, poles, and rainfly) into each of their backpacks.

Weatherproofing

The Limelight 4P is a three-season-rated tent that’s quite capable of handling wind and rain. It is a double-wall tent with lots of mesh, so you’ll need to attach the rainfly, which is made of 68D polyester ripstop with a water-resistant coating to repel any droplets. That being said, the rainfly completely wraps the tent and should provide you complete protection from torrential downpours. However, keep in mind that this protection is a bit of a double-edged sword, and it will also severely cut down on ventilation. There are small vents at the top of each vestibule, and unfortunately, they are ill-equipped at improving air circulation. As a result, many users of the Limelight 4P have complained of condensation buildup inside the rainfly, which has resulted in drops of water seeping through the mesh at the top of the tent body.

Durability

Anyone who has purchased a Marmot product can speak to their high build quality, and the Limelight 4P is no exception. Its floor material is made up of 70D nylon PU with a 3,000mm water-resistant coating, while the tent body is a combination of 68D polyester ripstop and 40D polyester no-see-um mesh (the same polyester ripstop is used for the rainfly). The lightweight DAC (Dongah Aluminum Corporation) Pressfit poles are 9mm in diameter for the main poles and 8.5mm for the brow poles, and they should be more than capable of managing a bit of rough handling. We particularly appreciated this tent’s included footprint, which was a hard find amongst the camping tents in our review.

Other Features

The benefits of the rainfly go beyond just durability, though. One of the Limelight’s coolest features is its “fast pitch” option, which enables you to camp even without the tent body. For those looking to pursue an even lighter approach to camping, a canopy system can be erected using only the footprint, tent poles, and rainfly. Although it’s unlikely to keep out the bugs, it’s a unique feature that makes the Limelight stand out.

The Bottom Line

For camping couples that prefer not to squeeze into a two- or three-person tent, the Marmot Limelight 4P offers a roomy alternative, and its included footprint makes the $400 price tag a bit easier to swallow. Although it’s a bit too heavy for just one person to heft, by splitting up the components among both parties, it can become much more manageable to carry. Along with being durable and well-built, its included footprint, multiple vestibules, and unique “fast pitch” option make this incredibly appealing to those that enjoy both camping and hiking. However, as a pure camping tent, there are certainly more attractive options available at competitive prices.

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