Nemo Galaxi Two-Person Tent Review

Motorcycle travel is supposed to be fun. But there's nothing like ruining a wonderful day on the bike with a bad camping experience. Struggling to pitch a finicky tent and then crawling into its cramped quarters to snuggle up with damp riding gear is no way to end a great day. The right gear is paramount to keeping motorcycle travel fun. The Nemo Galaxi two-person tent is the right gear.

When I rode the Mid-Atlantic Backcountry Discovery route this fall, the last thing I wanted to do was pack the old tent I've been using since I was a kid. If Peter Egan's famous tent, Big Pink—whose diminutive dimensions could make a pair of Cub Scouts claustrophobic—is the gold standard of tenting terribleness, my old beige tent can't be too far off, though for different reasons. I think my parents used it on their honeymoon in 1974. No wonder I always found something unsettling about sleeping in that tent.

Time to get a tent that, if its walls could talk, wouldn’t scar me for life. Time to turn to Nemo.

Nemo (New England Mountain Equipment) is based out of Dover, New Hampshire, where it designs all its gear out of a refurbished 200-year-old textile mill. Since 2002, Nemo has garnered accolades from around the outdoor gear world. The Galaxi wasn’t designed particularly for motorcyclists, but the same qualities that make a tent suitable for backpacking make it just right for motorcyclists: light weight, ease of use, and high-quality materials. Why no one makes a tent with, say, a list of grand prix world champions printed on the inside or a rain fly featuring Kenny Roberts’ famous helmet graphics is beyond me. I know I’d buy one just for the sake of posterity.

The Galaxi 2P tent ($200) is free-standing and includes a separate rain fly and footprint. Fully packed, it weighs only 5 pounds, 8 ounces. Its prebent poles feature a center hub design that links them together through a metal ring at the apex. Losing poles is a thing of the past.

Because of the free-standing design and pole system, the Galaxi takes just a few minutes to set up. In some cases, it’ll take longer to find a flat piece of ground than actually setting the thing up. Its 68-denier polyester rain fly likewise attaches easily and can be partially rolled back to enable a view through the mesh canopy. Two doors and vestibules add to the convenience factor.

Related: Great Compact Camping Gear Essentials For Your Next Adventure In The Great Outdoors

For a two-person tent, the Galaxi’s dimensions offer generous space. The tent’s side walls are nearly vertical and the center height is 38 inches, which allows plenty of headroom to sit up and put gear on. Its 88-inch width is capacious enough for a single person to stow bulky motorcycle gear without feeling the least bit cramped.

The outdoor gear world is pretty crowded these days, which means there are a lot of good tents out there. Nemo distinguishes itself by focusing on quality and value. The Galaxi seems thoroughly engineered. Every detail has been thought through. Sealed seams, 70-denier polyester footprint, aluminum stakes, guy cord—it’s all included. You know when you put on a motorcycle jacket and think, “Someone put a lot of thought into designing this?” Same deal with the Galaxi. Attention to detail is all the more important in something like a tent that, at the end of the day, is just fabric, mesh, and metal tubes. Getting the minutiae right is hard. Nemo got it right.

Until Nemo makes a tent that looks like a giant King Kenny helmet, the Galaxi will be more than adequate for the adventure traveling motorcyclist.