First things first, this is a tent, ok? In case you dont understand what that means, let me explain it for you by telling you what it is NOT. This is not Mountain Hardwear, Marmot, North Face or any big name, high performance brand. Its . You buy these at or Target, not REI. So understand that you make certain sacrifices in quality right off the bat with this tent and to complain about it is like buying a Chevy and getting upset that it doesnt have the features, craftsmanship, or design of a BMW.
That being said, lets talk about this tent.
Heres what I like: It sets up quickly, tears down just as fast, and you can still get everything back in the carrying bag it came with without giving yourself a hernia from overexerting. With the rainfly off, you get decent (although not great) ventilation for those hot summer nights. Its roomy. I love the screen porch as an entry to kick shoes off in that greatly minimizes the amount of sand and dirt that ends up inside the tent itself and therefore inside my sleeping bag. The price. For $130, you cant go wrong.
Heres what doesnt thrill me: As other reviews mention, the rainfly does jack squat to protect anything in the screened porch from moisture in the event of rain. It will get wet. And the floor will get wet too and will probably pool up water. Which you will likely step in unknowingly in an early morning pre-dawn, coffeeless haze and slip and fall and completely soak yourself when all you were trying to do was to drain your middle aged bladder that cant make it through one complete night in the flipping woods without waking you up. I mean, maybe you wont. But someone could. Or did. But definitely not me. But hypothetically, I bet that would suck. Also, the back panel is a completely open screen. With the rainfly on, it provides no additional ventilation and seems pointless. With the fly off, it allows for ventilation but cannot be closed so there is no option for privacy. Then again, youre in an 8-person tent. You gave up on the concept of privacy the moment you zippered yourself inside this nylon castle with a gaggle of other campers. Oh, and about the 8-person thing: thats relative. Sure, 8 people if youre cramming them in. Then again, why stop there? I bet the whole Thai soccer team could fit in this thing. But for us normal, slightly overweight Americans, 8-people is pushing it. Id say 6 at best, and even then youll have to get creative. But I easily fit two queen-sized air mattresses for my four kids and had plenty of room for myself and all of our gear. There wouldve been room for their mother to join us too if she hadnt run off with her bass player. But I digress... 8-person is a bit generous.
So there you have it. All things considered, this is a pretty good tent. If it got too close to the fire and completely melted, or if a tree fell on it and rendered it useless, Id buy it again. Probably.
Great tent, all things considered
First things first, this is a tent, ok? In case you dont understand what that means, let me explain it for you by telling you what it is NOT. This is not Mountain Hardwear, Marmot, North Face or any big name, high performance brand. Its . You buy these at or Target, not REI. So understand that you make certain sacrifices in quality right off the bat with this tent and to complain about it is like buying a Chevy and getting upset that it doesnt have the features, craftsmanship, or design of a BMW. That being said, lets talk about this tent. Heres what I like: It sets up quickly, tears down just as fast, and you can still get everything back in the carrying bag it came with without giving yourself a hernia from overexerting. With the rainfly off, you get decent (although not great) ventilation for those hot summer nights. Its roomy. I love the screen porch as an entry to kick shoes off in that greatly minimizes the amount of sand and dirt that ends up inside the tent itself and therefore inside my sleeping bag. The price. For $130, you cant go wrong. Heres what doesnt thrill me: As other reviews mention, the rainfly does jack squat to protect anything in the screened porch from moisture in the event of rain. It will get wet. And the floor will get wet too and will probably pool up water. Which you will likely step in unknowingly in an early morning pre-dawn, coffeeless haze and slip and fall and completely soak yourself when all you were trying to do was to drain your middle aged bladder that cant make it through one complete night in the flipping woods without waking you up. I mean, maybe you wont. But someone could. Or did. But definitely not me. But hypothetically, I bet that would suck. Also, the back panel is a completely open screen. With the rainfly on, it provides no additional ventilation and seems pointless. With the fly off, it allows for ventilation but cannot be closed so there is no option for privacy. Then again, youre in an 8-person tent. You gave up on the concept of privacy the moment you zippered yourself inside this nylon castle with a gaggle of other campers. Oh, and about the 8-person thing: thats relative. Sure, 8 people if youre cramming them in. Then again, why stop there? I bet the whole Thai soccer team could fit in this thing. But for us normal, slightly overweight Americans, 8-people is pushing it. Id say 6 at best, and even then youll have to get creative. But I easily fit two queen-sized air mattresses for my four kids and had plenty of room for myself and all of our gear. There wouldve been room for their mother to join us too if she hadnt run off with her bass player. But I digress... 8-person is a bit generous. So there you have it. All things considered, this is a pretty good tent. If it got too close to the fire and completely melted, or if a tree fell on it and rendered it useless, Id buy it again. Probably.