Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

After years of camping in a collective tent with my family (about 4-5) all crammed in once space, it was time to buy a smaller tent for myself and possibly a partner. Did my research, and living on a college budget, I knew I couldn't afford to drop $300+ on a nice backpacking tent. At least not right away. However, I finally managed to put it through it's paces this weekend, and I'll admit, it's a pretty decent product, with only a few cons. First, the travel bag it comes in is not meant for backpacking. At all. This is standard Walmart-esk canvas bag that is heavy, cumbersome, and square. However I've had absolutely no problems getting the tent in and out of the bag. The tent isn't an odd shape, and it rolls up really well. However, if you're going to go backpacking, you'll need to buy a separate bag. Second, assembly is a dream! I could probably do it with my eyes closed if I had to. Two poles, same length, lightweight and pretty sturdy. Had no problems getting it set-up, in fact I had my partner set it up (with supervision) who had never set up a tent before. The only thing of note is that the rain tarp (or whatever you locally call it) has a pole that you slip in horizontally across the bow of the tent that can be tricky. More simply put, the pole extends from back to front with only a little velcro pouch to hold it in, thus it is easily missed the first time you try and set it up. Once you know where it is, it's easy. Third, the room. While my partner and I fit rather well with little to no effort in putting pads, blankets, and sleeping bags in, I will note that it was a tight fit. At least, our packs did not fit easily inside. In fact they pretty much didn't, but it was slated to rain rather hard that night, so it was our only option. To be fair, we had an ungodly amount of padding and blankets we were laying on, and ultimately would probably had enough room for at least one pack if we hadn't had so much padding (had to use old fashioned couch-like cushions at the time). Overall definitely roomy enough for one person and their gear+, but a tight fit for two grown adults and their gear. Fourth, and possibly the most important but also easily fixable: It leaked. Not gratuitously, but enough to leave just a little water on the bottom of the pads. However, this was after a night of *very* heavy rainfall and wind. I was curious to see if the factory seal would be enough to make it waterproof, and I can't say I'm surprised that it didn't. However, I will be resealing it myself, which is easy enough for people to do. So don't think too poorly of it's water abilities. Another note: it doesn't come with a footprint, so I would invest in one. In fact, screw the traditional heavy canvas, and invest in some Tyvek 1443R Kitemaking Material. It's SUPER lightweight (it's kitemaking material), waterproof, and comes recommended by pretty much every backpacker out there. Worked like a charm, and it so thin and lightweight that it fits in the crappy square tent bag with everything else. All in all, this is a damn good tent for the price, and you should probably buy it.