Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I don't normally review too many purchases, but since I did about 6 hours of research and purchased 2 other tents before settling on this one, I hope I can help the next person in their purchase. We needed a tent that would accommodate all of our stuff while camping, (there is only 4 of us, but we tend to bring a lot of stuff) and to keep it dry when the temp changes from warm daytime to cool night time. Condensation is no fun when it makes everything wet in your tent. This tent so far has been pretty good with the ability to vent the damp warm air out and keep things dry inside. I was searching high and low for more pictures online, but could find none. So with writing this review, I will include some. I gave this tent 4 stars for a couple of reasons. For starters, it goes up and comes down very easy! Just as they state, about 60 seconds up and 60 seconds down. Of course, it takes longer if you place a tarp down first, and the rain fly makes it a bit longer, but from past experiences with putting up tents this gets an A+. I find it a little strange that the two center posts do not touch the ground when the tent is up, maybe that will change once it is broken in. Even if it doesn't, its not a big deal. We were rained on the first time we used the tent and had some pretty strong winds. Buying an "instant tent" made me a little nervous, but the tent held up well. It was by no means a monsoon, but I didn't feel like we were going to have problems. The biggest gripe I have about modern day tents is the door zippers. I am not sure who thought 2 zippers on a door meeting up together on the bottom of the tent was a good idea, but it is not. It leaves a substantial hole at the bottom for water to enter, not to mention insects and snakes to find their way in. This tent is no different, the large door on the front has 3 zippers that meet in the center. It is covered by a couple of flaps and Velcroed together (the bottom is not attached to the tent, see pictures). That was the only place we had any water in the tent from leakage, it was most likely less than a tablespoon. The side door zipper is a "D" style door so you can position the zippers higher. I did not mind the two different flaps on the side door, in fact it was kind of nice having a spot for the zippers to rest, we always knew where they were in the dark! Having no awning or vestibule on the tent/rainfly means if you enter or leave the tent in the rain you will get water inside, which did happen to us from the side door (ok maybe not an awning, I saw many collapsed awnings after the storm). I plan on packing a "door mat" for the inside next time just in case. I do like how the rain fly is adjustable so the fly remains taut to the top of the tent. Time will tell if the adjusters stay in one piece! Another area I was a bit concerned with were the windows. There is a large window next to the front doors, as well as the front door windows, that does not zip up on the top. They stay open, which may aid in venting, however I found it a bit odd. We had no water from the windows so it will most likely not be an issue, again time (and harsh weather) will tell. None of the windows open all the way, and there are no "tie ups", but you can tuck the excess in the front to keep it from being in your face while laying down. The zippers for the window are not at the edge of the window, (about an inch and a half, the width of the grey stripe) I suspect because there is no rain fly covering the windows (seems pretty smart to me). The vents on either side of the "back" of the tent are low enough to the ground that it doesn't appear that water will be an issue. The vent flaps must be staked to the ground because there is no way to fasten those to the tent either. Again, not sure how they will be in extremely inclement weather, time will tell. Overall, it seems solidly built and again very easy to pitch. Even with some air remaining inside when putting back in the bag, it fits along with the room divider, the rain fly, 7 heavy duty tent stakes (I added those, not a fan of the thin "wirelike" stakes tents are coming with these days, though the Core stakes are considerably larger diameter than others I have seen), the stakes the tent came with and a 12x9 tarp. I think we can live with the slight imperfections of this tent, just because the good heavily outweighs the bad! I do plan on sealing the tent so I know it will be "water proof". I hope this review helps others, and hope to use this tent for many years to come .