NEMO Dagger OSMO 2P Tent Review

The NEMO Dagger OSMO 2P Tent is a spacious freestanding double-wall tent for two people that is lightweight enough for backpacking but roomy enough for other camping adventures. Designed for two people, it has two doors and two vestibules, including 1 optional mini-mudroom called a landing zone to keep your gear dry on wet ground (you’d think they’d include two for both vestibules.) The tent is made with NEMO’s new OSMO polyester/nylon ripstop fabric which reduces rain fly sag when wet and improves waterproofing. The spacious interior and numerous livability accents make the Dagger OSMO 2P a great tent for tall people or couples that want more room to spread out.

Specs at a Glance

• Type: Freestanding
• Double-Wall: Yes
• Seasons: 3+
• People: 2
• Doors: 2
• Minimum Trail Weight: 3 lbs 2.8 oz (pole, inner, rainfly) – measured
• Packaged Weight: 4 lbs 0.3 oz
• Tent dry sack (1.4 oz) | Pole storage bag | 0.5 oz | Stakes, Cordage, Repair Sleeve, Sack (7.0) | Tent Pole: (16.4 oz) | Inner Tent  (17.1 oz)| RainFly (17.3 oz) | Landing Zones x 1 (1.8 oz)
• Minimum number of takes to pitch: 4 (8 recommended)
• Seam taped: Yes
• Poles: 1
• Inner-tent dimensions: 90″ x 50″ x 42″ (L x W x H) – measured
• Interior (31.3 sq ft) | Vestibule (22.8 sq ft)
• Footprint: Sold separately (compatible with Dagger 2 footprint)
• Denier: Unpublished
• Hydrostatic head (waterproofing): Floor (2000 mm)

New OSMO Fabric

The tent is made with a new hybrid fabric called OSMO that NEMO created which is a composite weave of nylon and polyester that sags less when it gets wet compared to conventional tent fabrics made from nylon coated with polyurethane. Conventional nylon rain flies absorb water when they get wet from rain or dew and sag, which is why many tents look like shrunken prunes after it rains. In addition to flapping in wind, nylon rain flies sag onto the inner tent walls in a double-wall tent, exacerbating the internal condensation transfer which makes your gear wet inside. So by eliminating the sag, you experience less internal condensation transfer and your gear stays drier.

In addition to better performance in rain, the new OSMO fabric is made with 100% recycled nylon and polyester yarns and without the use of flame-retardant chemicals or fluorinated water repellents (PFAS). And unlike the NEMO’s past neon-colored “leaf” green tents, the OSMO fabric is a stealthy greyish-green that blends in well with natural terrain. The first time I pitched the Dagger OSMO 2 in the forest, I had a hard time finding it again after hiking away from my camp to hang a bear bag because it blended in so well!

Unfortunately, NEMO has opted to withhold some of the technical specifications of the new OSMO material such as the denier (a measure of thickness) of the floor and rainfly, although they have published the hydrostatic head (a measure of waterproofness) of the floor, which is 2000 mm. For both these reasons, we’d recommend using a footprint with this tent: the Dagger 2 footprint is compatible and sold separately 

Freestanding Tent Design

The NEMO Dagger OSMO 2P is a freestanding dome-style tent with a very spacious 90″ x 50″ inner tent floor that is wide enough for two wide sleeping pads, with lots of extra space at the head or foot ends for additional gear storage. There are many advantages to a freestanding tent design: it enables a rectangular floor plan and near-vertical walls, it’s easy for one person to set up, and can be set up on the ground, snow, or wooden tent platforms with ease.

The Dagger OSMO 2 comes with one multi-segmented tent pole that slots into four corner jakes feet connectors with an integrated cross-piece that creates vertical sidewalls for better livability. While the multi-segmented, dual-hubbed pole is somewhat bulky when packed, color coding eases setup while ensuring that you don’t lose a loose pole.  segment.

Inner Tent

The inner tent has a bathtub floor and high sidewalls to prevent wind, dust, or rain from blowing under the rainfly walls and into the living compartment. The upper half of the inner tent is all mesh with white mesh sidewalls for privacy and a black mesh ceiling for insect-free star-gazing: the freestanding architecture also means you can use the inner tent alone on clear nights or you can roll back the rain fly cover and expose part of the ceiling for stargazing.

The inner tent has two doors so each occupant has their own entrance and exit. Each door has two zippers (one vertical and one horizontal) instead of one curved zipper. This design reduces tension on the zippers which can lead to zipper failure and makes it easy to open the doors one-handed.   The screen doors can also be rolled back using gatekeeper clips which are easy to engage and release, unlike more conventional toggle and dowel door tie-backs.

There are mesh pockets in the corners of the inner tent but not on the head or foot ends, which I find rather limiting. There’s also no gear loft, although there are overhead loops where you can suspend items. However, there are headlamp pockets with light-diffusing fabric at both ends of the tent so you can create an ambient lighting effect at night. During the day, the interior is well lit even when the rain fly covers the inner tent and there is plenty of headroom to sit up inside if you want to hang out, read, or play cards with your tentmate.

Rain Fly and Vestibules

The setup of the rain fly is facilitated by color coding, so you don’t have to guess how to orient the vestibules with respect to the inner tent doors, which is an issue with many two-person tents. The corners clip into the jakes feet hardware used to set up the inner tent, so you still only need one tent stake for both, although in fair weather conditions the freestanding nature of the tent makes that optional (although you want to weigh down the interior enough so the tent doesn’t fly away in the wind). This is super handy when there’s snow on the ground and you don’t want to hassle with digging holes and freezing your tent stakes in them.

The vestibule doors, however, do require two stakes to set up, but there is a big benefit to the way they’re designed because you can leave the doors open without having to worry about which end of the tent is pointed into the wind. In addition, NEMO includes a “landing zone” (1.7 oz) with the tent, which is a triangular footprint that fits inside one side of the vestibule and provides a clean dry surface for you to place gear if the ground inside the vestibule is wet.

The landing zone is attached to the side of the inner tent and the underside of the vestibule with small plastic hooks. It is completely covered by the vestibule and does not get wet if it rains. This makes a nice place to store any item you want to keep off the wet ground, like a backpack, especially if it’s is not waterproof.

The vestibule doors have two-way zippers and a top kick-stand vent so you can unzip them from the top and prop them open for added ventilation. The vestibule doors can also be closed with velcro tabs positioned along the opening and rain gutters positioned along the door prevent you from becoming drenched if it’s raining and you need to exit the tent.

Comparable two-person backpacking tents

Recommendation

The NEMO Dagger 2 OSMO is a spacious and highly livable two-person, freestanding tent that has space for two wide sleeping pads in its interior. It’s made with a new composite nylon/polyester fabric that’s very low stretch when it rains and absorbs less water, dries faster, and helps reduce internal condensation transfer in a double-wall tent. While the internal storage pockets in the inner tent are somewhat lacking, the extra length (90″) and rectangular floorplan, landing zones, and huge vestibules offset most livability concerns, particularly for taller individuals who need a longer tent. Personally, my favorite feature on this tent are the large vestibules and the new muted color, which I find much more calming and stealthy for wilderness camping when you want to blend into the backcountry.

Disclosure: NEMO donated a tent for this review.