Review: MSR Zoic 2 Backpacking Tent

Backpacking Tent
MSR Zoic 2
$350, 4 lbs. 6 oz.
Moosejaw.com

Everyone wants ultralight backpacking gear—but not everyone wants to live with the sacrifices inherent to ultralight gear. While few pieces of gear can produce as much reduction in the weight of your gear kit as switching from a standard to an ultralight tent, you’ll also notice the tradeoffs in a tent more than with almost any other ultralight gear. With MSR’s Zoic 2, backpackers get the comfort of a tent with good space, along with superior ventilation and good stability, weather performance, and durability.

I tested the Zoic 2 with a couple friends (alternating in it) on a 90-mile hike through Glacier National Park in September, and I shared it with my wife on a four-day family backpacking trip in August in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains.

The MSR Zoic 2 tent interior.
The MSR Zoic 2 tent in Glacier National Park.

A traditional freestanding, double-wall, two-door tent that pitches using crossing hubbed poles common in many backpacking tents, the Zoic goes up intuitively within a few minutes. A short “eyebrow” pole over the crown elevates the ceiling above both doors, creating more headroom and vertical side walls, overhung by the rainfly, that prevent rain from dripping inside when you enter and exit the tent. That pole geometry, with strong but lightweight 7000-series aluminum poles, creates a shelter that can withstand the kind of wind and weather most three-season backpackers encounter in the mountains: It demonstrated during windy evenings in Glacier and the Sawtooths that it holds up as well as most tents of comparable weight and design.


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The Zoic’s measurements speak to its livability: Its 33 square feet of interior space exceeds what you’ll find in many two-person backpacking tents (especially freestanding models) of comparable weight, while the 88-inch length and 39-inch peak height are both very good but not unusual in this weight category. But also unusual in this category, the tent’s width accommodates two 25-inch-wide air mattresses; many backcountry tents are only slightly wider than two standard, 20-inch-wide air mats. Two friends—one five feet, 10 inches, the other six feet tall—who alternated sharing it in Glacier both raved about its interior space.

Two opposing doors, common in backpacking tents, greatly enhance livability and ventilation—I wouldn’t recommend a backcountry tent without two doors except in ultralight models whose weight and other design advantages justify the inconvenience of a single door. The 18 square feet of total storage space in the two vestibules, also not uncommon in tents in this category, is definitely roomy enough for packs, boots, and wet stuff.

With 15-denier nylon micromesh throughout the interior canopy—except for solid nylon around the base of the walls, which helps keep out blowing sand or splashing water and mud during heavy rain—the Zoic 2 ventilates exceptionally well on mild nights and collected virtually no condensation under the rainfly after a calm night in the high 30s Fahrenheit with two of us inside (and both vestibule doors open) in Glacier.

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The MSR Zoic 2 vestibule.
The MSR Zoic 2 vestibule.

While that overhead mesh is susceptible to tears if you’re not careful, the 70-denier taffeta nylon floor is tough, and has a 3000mm Xtreme Shield polyurethane treatment—that’s a waterproof coating that lasts up to three times longer than standard coatings, according to MSR—and watertight seams with a DWR (durable, water-repellant treatment).

The 40-denier rainfly rolls up easily to expose half the tent ceiling to the night sky for stargazing and warm, dry nights, while having it in place lets you quickly unfurl it again if rain comes during the night. The packed size of 21×5 inches is certainly much bulkier than ultralight tents, but no more or less bulky than tents of comparable weight.

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There are many good reasons to buy an ultralight backpacking tent. (See my expert tips in “How to Choose the Best Ultralight Tent for You.”) But none of those reasons compensates for the need or simple desire for more space—and none eliminates the tradeoffs inherent to ultralight tents (and other gear). Many backpackers are not pounding out the long miles every day that make pack weight their top priority.

The Zoic 1 ($300, 3 lbs. 5 oz., 21.5 sq. ft.) and Zoic 3 ($400, 5 lbs. 7 oz., 46 sq. ft.) offer a similar design, space-to-weight ratio, and value.

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MSR Zoic 2

Space-to-Weight Ratio
Sturdiness
Ease of Use
Ventilation
Features
Value

The Verdict

If you like the idea of a spacious tent that’s still only a few ounces over two pounds per person—light enough for backpacking and roomy enough for front country campgrounds—the Zoic 2 delivers solid performance at a price that’s also much lower than many ultralight shelters.

4.6

BUY IT NOW

You can support my work on this blog by clicking any of these links to buy an MSR Zoic 2 at backcountry.com or Moosejaw.com, a Zoic 1 at backcountry.com or moosejaw.com, or a Zoic 3 at backcountry.com or moosejaw.com.

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See my review of “The 9 (Very) Best Backpacking Tents” and all of my reviews of backpacking tents, ultralight backpacking tents, backpacking gear, and ultralight backpacking gear that I like.

See also my “5 Tips For Buying a Backpacking Tent” and “How to Choose the Best Ultralight Tent for You.” (Both of those stories require a paid subscription to The Big Outside to read, which costs as little as five bucks, or just pennies over $4 per month for an entire year.)

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Want to make your pack lighter and all of your backpacking trips more enjoyable? See my story “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking.” If you don’t have a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read part of that story for free, or click here to download that full story without having a paid membership.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See categorized menus of all of my gear reviews at The Big Outside.

—Michael Lanza

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Leave a Reply to Casey Cancel reply

8 thoughts on “Review: MSR Zoic 2 Backpacking Tent”

  1. Thank you for the article. I am considering options to upgrade my ten year old MSR HOOP. The Zoic 1 will accommodate my 78 inch frame for a Sierra Club backpack trip through Paria canyon in 2021.

    Reply
  2. Hello, have you tried the fast and light body for the zoic 2 and do you know how much weight reduction it applies on the full tent?

    thanks

    Reply
    • Hi Sebastien,

      Thanks for the good question. I have not tried it but have used many like it, which generally simply use the same rainfly and pole structure and replace the inner tent with a ground cloth. I expect this would be just as structurally sound as the full tent setup, and the weight savings, according to MSR’s website, is significant at 14 ounces. The trade-offs, of course, are having no bug protection—the intended use is outside bug season—and a bit less protection from wind or hard rain splashing off the ground into the tent. There’s also a chance items in the tent can slide out from under the rainfly, or that small critters like mice can visit during the night. But all in all, such fast-and-light setups offer a great option for lighter trips.

      Reply
  3. Strongly considering the 3p tent. How did you find it in the cold since it seems to be marketed for warm weather camping. I would use it down to about -5 Celsius

    Reply
    • Hi Casey, good question. Three-season tents with all-mesh interior canopies are definitely designed for relatively mild nights, to keep you cooler. But it’s perfectly reasonable to spend nights around or just below freezing in a tent like the Zoic, and would not be that unusual in late summer in the mountains, anyway. It just becomes more important to have an adequately warm bag, because the tent is designed to trap less heat, and you’ll feel any cold wind blowing up under the rainfly. The mesh will provide the benefit of good ventilation to minimize condensation under the rainfly on cold, calm nights, but it still helps to get cross-ventilation by opening the rainfly doors even a little (emphasizing the need for warm bags).

      The only situation to avoid is the possibility of snow, because it would be unpleasant to have strong winds blowing snow up under the rainfly edges inside the tent, and the pole structure isn’t designed to hold a significant weight of snow on the rainfly.

      Good luck and enjoy the Zoic. It’s a good-quality tent.

      Reply
    • What about (heavy) rain?

      Some reviewers said the tent doesn’t perform well in the rain. They wrote they got wet feet and heads.

      I’m considering buying the zoic and I’m going to use it in the Netherland, were it rains pretty often…

      Reply
      • That frankly surprises me a little, Marte. As I wrote above, the Zoic floor has a 3000mm Xtreme Shield polyurethane treatment—that’s a waterproof coating that lasts up to three times longer than standard coatings, according to MSR—and watertight seams with a DWR. The problem may have been that the ends of the tent rainfly lack a pre-installed guyline to pull the rainfly away from the head and foot ends of the tent, which would help prevent splashing in heavy rain. There is a small tab and you can install a guyline there to achieve that, but that would have to be done by the owner post-purchase. Overall, I think the Zoic is solidly rainproof.

        Reply