Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Not only does its distinctive design draw favorable attention from other campers, I as an owner get a kick out of it. It is an exceptionally nicely designed tent with attention to details that make it a pleasure to camp in. My tent is an olive green color with a black hood. The tent is divided into 10 panels that give it a substantially circular footprint. The panels are seamed and have an internal waterproofing sealant at the joints. Each of the windows and vents can be closed. The tie-off points for the window shades within the tent are attractively placed. For me, looking up, when in a sleeping bag, at the configuration of panels, windows, and air vents provides a picture that for me is aesthetically attractive. The center tent pole is strong steel and provides a handy grab point when standing and changing clothes. The tent is also sufficiently high that you can have a chair within the tent -- convenient for reading, putting on shoes, and so forth. The four plastic windows allow for a ready look at the outside world. Beneath them are airflow vents on the exterior of the tent, which can be slightly enhanced to scoop breezes by leaving one side of the flap zipped to the tent and unzipping the other side of the flap that faces a prevailing wind and tying off its line to one of the existing tent stakes. Though this description is somewhat wordy, creating four such wind scoops becomes intuitively obvious when setting up the tent, provided that the front of the tent faces into the prevailing wind. The proposed rigging requires no added effort since all of the lines are staked out anyway. For warm weather camping, the screened doors at opposite ends provide decent air flow. Notwithstanding the many vents, on warm, bright, sunny days, with little wind the tent can be hot. At night, no problem. The features all combine to produce a very nice camping experience. The tent has 10 pegs that fix the base and attached ground cloth to the ground. To preserve the life of the tent's ground cloth and to provide some additional cushioning, I lay down an additional 9'x12' tarp and place the tent on top, folding in tarp edges where required. The tarp also provides a valuable assist when taking down the tent, because it provides a clean surface to work on while carefully folding the tent so that it readily fits into the tent bag - also less crud, which might spoil the tent in the bag. It's easy to set up. Once the 10 pegs and tarp are in place then the tent is raised by setting the center pole, after which the 10 lines to the tent pegs can be set. The tent panels are not rigid and will flap in the wind, but having 20 pegs supporting the tent tends to distribute wind load over many points. When I purchased the tent, I set it up in the yard prior to an epic downpour and heavy wind. The tent did moderately leak but not so much as to make it difficult to clean up with a sponge and bucket (both of which I find handy to camp with). Since then I have camped in the tent only once when it rained. Prior to that experience, I had sprayed a 10.5 oz. can of "Kiwi Camp Dry Performance Fabric Protector" on the exterior to waterproof the tent. The can covered eight tenths of the tent before running out. In the rain while camping after this treatment, there was only a trivial amount of leakage concentrated beneath the door entries. Since there is not a tent fly (but only a single layer of fabric) it is best not to let items touch the fabric, which cab wick moisture to whatever it touches. For cooler weather camping, the tent completely closes except for the air vent at the peak. I give this tent a rating of 5, not because it is perfect for all users, but because for me it does such an exceptionally nice job with a highly original concept, and because I like it so much. Some may wish for a lighter tent (mine weighs 13 pounds). Others may prefer a slightly heavier weight more water-resistant fabric. As for myself, I feel that an annual application of the Camp Dry treatment will over the years bond me ever closer to this product. Frankly I am happy with it the way it is.