I wanted a new car camping tent, so I picked this tent up for $425 at MEC.
I recently bought this tent because it has some unique features, and most of all it has more height for the size footprint it has compared to other tents with the same square footage. I was looking for a roomy feeling yet compact footprint tent that is easy to set up and has nice features for car camping to very comfortably sleep two people, and I got that with this tent. The front and rear vestibules adds some good features that other similar tents don’t have too. This design has many elements that I do like, but unfortunately it does have what I consider some design flaws that I am surprised the manufacturer did not pick up on before going to production.To make this short and sweet, here's a list of Pros and Cons I found about the tent.
Pros:
1) Intuitive, easy set up with four poles. I only needed instructions the first time.
2) High tent height and near vertical walls give it a very roomy feeling for its footprint. It fits a queen size inflatable mattress easily.
3) Front and rear large entrances for flexibility
4) Many gear pockets to stash stuff in
5) Vestibules give ample room to keep gear dry
6) I really like the organized and easy to use folder/stuffsack/backpack/carry bag the tent stores in. It’s very easy to pack up and gives options for carrying different ways.
Cons:
1) Front door of the tent is mesh only – should be double door nylon and mesh to give the option for ventilation or privacy/rain protection. With the way it is, if you want privacy and to protect from splashes when raining, the vestibule door has to be closed, and there’s not much ventilation when it’s like that.
2) Rear door has a similar issue, it’s nylon only no mesh – it should at least have a portion that could unzip for a meshed window for improved ventilation.
3) Way, way too many guy lines for the fly… really, is it necessary to have 10 of them? Even though they are nicely reflective, anyone walking near the vicinity of your tent other than the entrances at night is going to trip. Trust me.
4) All three main tent poles bent permanently in middle with the first use. I didn’t abuse/force anything, excessively tie anything down and it wasn’t in high winds at all. The material the poles are made of simply is not suitable for this design and should be made from a higher strength aluminum or fiberglass - period. I have not used this tent in anything more than light-medium winds, but I would suspect there would be much more bending going on if there was more wind, especially due to the high tent profile.
5) It’s a little heavy for anything other than car camping. Possibly can be used for canoe camping without many portages.
Despite these shortcomings, some of which I think should have been obvious and addressed by the manufacturer, I still would recommend this tent. It would be an awesome tent if Big Agnes fixed these problems.
