This is a tent I have used almost exclusively for 12 years I have fond memories of this tent and as such my review may be influenced, I will however take you on a journey of where I have used this tent and the conditions its been in rather than spout facts and figures at you or doing your typical review.
Starting an Adventure Leadership course in college the Macpac olympus was the only tent in the gear room, there were about 15 of them all up of varying ages and in different states of repair (school kids can be hard). We practiced tent pitching out on the school lawns and I was happy with the way the tent could be pitched as one unit fly and inner (integral pitch) which meant no longer would the inner get soaked by the tassie rain as you put the fly on.
I also liked that from the moment you pulled it out of the pack it could be up in a minute or so. simply slide the poles in and then with 4 pegs you could be out of the rain. obviously there are more than 4 pegs but that is all you need to get in quick.
In summer you can pith the fly only and have a great light weight shelter that takes up less room than a bivy bag.
So the first trips were your normal school trips, coastal with a bot of wind and rain. No real test for a four season tent of any type. Trips then began to get interesting Central highlands in winter a good test for a lot of tents and once again it help up great. Most other tents i have used will get large amounts of condensation inside the tent in cold weather but the Olympus never did.
Then came a fantastic test of the tent, Victoria’s high country in the middle of winter. We camped on the Razorback ridge Near Mount Hotham for a week and during that time the area received record snow fall. every morning we had to uncover the tents and shovel snow away but the Olympus shed the snow and never sagged or suffered condensation in those conditions either.
Heavy rain can be a great test, with this tent I walked in the lake Ada region of Tasmania during a torrential down pour for three days it did not stop and we packed the tent up after and were still dry. The bathtub floor also prevented water coming in from the sides as the whole area flooded and we only just crossed the dam on the way out after sleeping at the car park.
High wind, not a problem either with all the pegs in place and guys tight as a drum we slept through a hellish night on the sentinel range in Tasmania, where another tent was lifted off the ground and it’s occupants dumped on top of each other at four am.
Used it in the best weather as well, on hot days it can be opened at both ends and well ventilated or as I said before pitched with just the fly.
Some people say its heavy, some like me don’t mind the weight for the security of a trusted piece of gear. I’ll be sad when it dies but I will buy its younger brother.
walktassie 