I have been a backpacker for more than 2 decades and have always turned up my nose at tents, but for car camping this is fantastic! Staying dry is a priority and I looked for a tent with a good rain-fly and tub floor first. We have used this for the past 4 years and have been very pleased with it. We put 3 cots along the outer walls and leave the middle open for standing. With our personals stored under the cots, we have lots of room to set up a little table to play cards or whatever on rain days. You could easily put more cots/beds inside and be comfortable (4-5 would work). Yes, it is an 8-man tent, but that is only enough room to lay out sleeping bags, nothing else. We have endured some pretty serious thunderstorms and stayed perfectly dry in the main tent. I did run some seam-sealer and sprayed the tent before our first use (4 years ago), but mostly because I HATE having a wet tent. I think it would be good to go right out of the box too. The vestibule does get wet when it rains, but there are drain holes and mesh near the door so the water doesnt pool. Its nice to sit in there on Crazy-Creek chairs when the bugs are bad and gives some extra storage space. If we really want that area to stay dry, we just tarp over it and have had no trouble. Yes, I would buy again today if I was in the market for a car camping tent for a small family or a couple looking for lots of room.
Im a 68 yr old senior who started camping as a child in the 50s
Id like to share my thoughts to any of the Haters.
I pitched this myself in about 25 mins - I dont hurry unless necessary
It went up in a very conventional dome tent style, though its a long walk around if the pole comes off the pin
(My weathermaster 6 has tight fitting clips for the poles)
I think the elastic cord in the poles is Iffy, given the weight of fiberglass poles, but if any break, theyre easy to restring.
Most of the tents Ive owned get new, better stakes - This one was put up with 8 aluminum Y alloys - if I recall 16 of them
I installed the fly on the windward side 1st, as any breeze will help pull it over the top
Just looking at pics, I knew the porch would get wet, no big deal
I knew this isnt a four season tent - My great Marmot Limestone 4 is far better, but sucks in summer unless I leave the rainfly open.
This tent is made to ventilate and keep you dry - which it seems to excel at.
Overall, if you are respectful to the process of pitching and use, this tents as good as any and a lot better than some other more expensive tents
(I dont know how many tents Ive owned over the years (Im currently 10 LOL))
They all have a purpose - sub 3lb 1person backpackers to this thing.
Im headed to Minn 8/8/17 for a week, hope it storms (I love storms)
Thanx for taking the time to read this
Greg
Be sure to tarp up the vestibule area if you expect any rain or you will have a nice muddy pool at the front. Good size for a family of 4. Wish the rear could be zipped up to control airflow like the sides.
This tent was amazing! It fit 4 people with plenty of room to spare, plus, it kept us dry during a crazy storm with a strobe light lightning and an intense downpour with a bit of flooding. Our tent kept us totally dry, while the storm leaked right through my friends tent next to us. That storm also completely destroyed 2 other tents a few sites down. Ours held up perfectly!
A great tent. Lots of space and very nicely designed. It can easily sleep four adults. Set up and take down was easy with instructions attached to the inside of the packing bag so they will always be there. Very happy with the purchase.
Had to minus one start because there is no little door to fish a power cord thru. So we spent the week tripping over the cord. The porch was great to stay bug free and only got a little wet in the rain. If your camping with out power its a great tent. Goes up easy. Plenty of room
I bought this tent for car camping on what turned out to be a damp 3 nights (but no real downpours). I love having the screen house as kind of an air lock for mosquitoes. I would go into the screen part, kill anything that followed me, then go into the main tent. Cooler and one camp chair stayed in the screen house. The screen house is also good for taking off damp footwear away from insects but outside the main tent, and I applied bugspray in there too. I looked at so many tents before buying that I didnt realize this one didnt have an electric port, but bringing it in through the door worked fine.
It seems to me this would perfectly fill an unfilled niche if the screen house had zip-down flaps to keep the water out that could then be put up on poles as an awning in front of the tent. Since I only got passing showers the screen house never got too wet though, so it didnt really effect me this trip.
This was going to be a four star review until I got home and set the tent back up to dry. The shock cord in the screen houses pole had already snapped. In the old days this wouldnt have mattered, as the pole pieces fit together tightly enough that they would hold together while you fed it through the pole sleeve. These days the shock cord is mean to hold the pole together and without it you the feeding process is much slower. It seems that, much like Craftsman, has traded quality for affordability. As a recent returnee to camping, I suppose cheap worked for me. If I start doing more of it, Ill buy a tent for quality, but for now Ill stick to this one. Its a shame too, because the attached screen house isnt something you see in many models. Many of them have a screen door with a divider you can put up to simulate this arrangement but then you dont get the full mosquito-lock affect that this one provides - nor would I be comfortable applying bug spray in the main cabin of a tent.
We just used this tent for the first time for a week. It was very fast to setup and take down. Had some rain and it was very dry in the tent even with the Windows down. The one down side is it never gets pulled tight on the sides. Its like the poles are to tight to get rid of the side slack.
We have owned MANY tents...everything from a lightweight backing tent to a two room condo tent. This particular tent was the most difficult to set up, but if youve ever set up a tent before youll be able to figure it out. It rained a few times during our trip and we stayed completely dry! Huge plus!!! We loved the porch area and felt it helped to keep bugs out as we didnt have one bug in our tent the entire 3 days (even with two small kids going in and out)! We used the porch area mostly for shoe storage as it wasnt as waterproof as the actual inside of the tent. The main tent area fit a queen and two twin air mattresses with room for our bags and room to change. We did get many looks and comments on how huge it was, but it fit our needs for our family perfectly.
Reviews
4 years going strong and dry!
I have been a backpacker for more than 2 decades and have always turned up my nose at tents, but for car camping this is fantastic! Staying dry is a priority and I looked for a tent with a good rain-fly and tub floor first. We have used this for the past 4 years and have been very pleased with it. We put 3 cots along the outer walls and leave the middle open for standing. With our personals stored under the cots, we have lots of room to set up a little table to play cards or whatever on rain days. You could easily put more cots/beds inside and be comfortable (4-5 would work). Yes, it is an 8-man tent, but that is only enough room to lay out sleeping bags, nothing else. We have endured some pretty serious thunderstorms and stayed perfectly dry in the main tent. I did run some seam-sealer and sprayed the tent before our first use (4 years ago), but mostly because I HATE having a wet tent. I think it would be good to go right out of the box too. The vestibule does get wet when it rains, but there are drain holes and mesh near the door so the water doesnt pool. Its nice to sit in there on Crazy-Creek chairs when the bugs are bad and gives some extra storage space. If we really want that area to stay dry, we just tarp over it and have had no trouble. Yes, I would buy again today if I was in the market for a car camping tent for a small family or a couple looking for lots of room.
Haters?
Im a 68 yr old senior who started camping as a child in the 50s Id like to share my thoughts to any of the Haters. I pitched this myself in about 25 mins - I dont hurry unless necessary It went up in a very conventional dome tent style, though its a long walk around if the pole comes off the pin (My weathermaster 6 has tight fitting clips for the poles) I think the elastic cord in the poles is Iffy, given the weight of fiberglass poles, but if any break, theyre easy to restring. Most of the tents Ive owned get new, better stakes - This one was put up with 8 aluminum Y alloys - if I recall 16 of them I installed the fly on the windward side 1st, as any breeze will help pull it over the top Just looking at pics, I knew the porch would get wet, no big deal I knew this isnt a four season tent - My great Marmot Limestone 4 is far better, but sucks in summer unless I leave the rainfly open. This tent is made to ventilate and keep you dry - which it seems to excel at. Overall, if you are respectful to the process of pitching and use, this tents as good as any and a lot better than some other more expensive tents (I dont know how many tents Ive owned over the years (Im currently 10 LOL)) They all have a purpose - sub 3lb 1person backpackers to this thing. Im headed to Minn 8/8/17 for a week, hope it storms (I love storms) Thanx for taking the time to read this Greg
... you expect any rain or you will have a nice muddy pool at the front
Be sure to tarp up the vestibule area if you expect any rain or you will have a nice muddy pool at the front. Good size for a family of 4. Wish the rear could be zipped up to control airflow like the sides.
Lasted through an INSANE storm
This tent was amazing! It fit 4 people with plenty of room to spare, plus, it kept us dry during a crazy storm with a strobe light lightning and an intense downpour with a bit of flooding. Our tent kept us totally dry, while the storm leaked right through my friends tent next to us. That storm also completely destroyed 2 other tents a few sites down. Ours held up perfectly!
A great tent. Lots of space and very nicely designed
A great tent. Lots of space and very nicely designed. It can easily sleep four adults. Set up and take down was easy with instructions attached to the inside of the packing bag so they will always be there. Very happy with the purchase.
Only missing a small door for power cords
Had to minus one start because there is no little door to fish a power cord thru. So we spent the week tripping over the cord. The porch was great to stay bug free and only got a little wet in the rain. If your camping with out power its a great tent. Goes up easy. Plenty of room
(Mostly) Great design, poor quality
I bought this tent for car camping on what turned out to be a damp 3 nights (but no real downpours). I love having the screen house as kind of an air lock for mosquitoes. I would go into the screen part, kill anything that followed me, then go into the main tent. Cooler and one camp chair stayed in the screen house. The screen house is also good for taking off damp footwear away from insects but outside the main tent, and I applied bugspray in there too. I looked at so many tents before buying that I didnt realize this one didnt have an electric port, but bringing it in through the door worked fine. It seems to me this would perfectly fill an unfilled niche if the screen house had zip-down flaps to keep the water out that could then be put up on poles as an awning in front of the tent. Since I only got passing showers the screen house never got too wet though, so it didnt really effect me this trip. This was going to be a four star review until I got home and set the tent back up to dry. The shock cord in the screen houses pole had already snapped. In the old days this wouldnt have mattered, as the pole pieces fit together tightly enough that they would hold together while you fed it through the pole sleeve. These days the shock cord is mean to hold the pole together and without it you the feeding process is much slower. It seems that, much like Craftsman, has traded quality for affordability. As a recent returnee to camping, I suppose cheap worked for me. If I start doing more of it, Ill buy a tent for quality, but for now Ill stick to this one. Its a shame too, because the attached screen house isnt something you see in many models. Many of them have a screen door with a divider you can put up to simulate this arrangement but then you dont get the full mosquito-lock affect that this one provides - nor would I be comfortable applying bug spray in the main cabin of a tent.
Good tent.
We just used this tent for the first time for a week. It was very fast to setup and take down. Had some rain and it was very dry in the tent even with the Windows down. The one down side is it never gets pulled tight on the sides. Its like the poles are to tight to get rid of the side slack.
Its an awesome, easy to set up tent
I thought the screened in part was going to be tiny, but its not! Its an awesome, easy to set up tent. Great value.
Love our condo tent!
We have owned MANY tents...everything from a lightweight backing tent to a two room condo tent. This particular tent was the most difficult to set up, but if youve ever set up a tent before youll be able to figure it out. It rained a few times during our trip and we stayed completely dry! Huge plus!!! We loved the porch area and felt it helped to keep bugs out as we didnt have one bug in our tent the entire 3 days (even with two small kids going in and out)! We used the porch area mostly for shoe storage as it wasnt as waterproof as the actual inside of the tent. The main tent area fit a queen and two twin air mattresses with room for our bags and room to change. We did get many looks and comments on how huge it was, but it fit our needs for our family perfectly.
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