TL;DR - We got the wrong tent. It has been returned.
This tent didn't work out.
We only used the tent one (of four) nights when we couldn't find a level slickrock to sleep on, under the stars. It worked that night, but would not have worked the other three nights (on slickrock).
When we purchased this tent, we weren't sure if the semi-freestanding nature would be a showstopper for us. We knew that it meant we'd need something to stake out the corners, but would that really be an issue? Besides that though, the tent seemed to have a lot going for it. It was large enough (allegedly) for all three of us, and very lightweight.
It worked well enough on the one night we used it, but we found that we preferred camping on slickrock, where it would have been much harder to use. So, we returned it.
Pros
- Weight. This tent was shockingly light at 2lbs 14.2oz. We could easily split the weight between multiple packs as well, by carrying the poles or footprint separately from the tent body or rain fly.
- I really liked that the body was entirely mesh. This kept the mosquitoes out but gave a great view of our surroundings.
- Easy setup. Even though it wasn't freestanding, setup - with two people - wasn't difficult and took less than 10 minutes.
Cons
- Semi-freestanding. This is what ultimately resulted in us returning the tent. It worked well on soft (sandy) ground - where we were able to stake the corners out by pushing stakes into the ground - but we discovered that it's much nicer to setup camp on slickrock, and that's where this tent falls down, since the corners must be staked.
- Material thickness. This was expected with a three-person tent that weighs less than 3 lbs., but use of this tent requires that the occupants are constantly aware of "being nice" to the tent. This wasn't a problem for me, but I was worried that my companions (less aware of these things) might accidentally poke a hole somewhere, or catch the fabric in a zipper.
- Size. The size wasn't a problem in itself, but to say that this was a three-person tent was a stretch. We did it, but our sleeping pads were overlapping and there was no way to move or reposition during the night. The tent would have fit two people comfortably (but I still wouldn't put a pack inside due to the material thickness).
- We didn't have a tent-specific footprint. This had more to do with the fact that we bought the previous year model and the footprints were not available, but it meant we had to use a blue tarp under the tent. It worked fine, but a tent-specific footprint would have fit/attached better.
This means that we are currently tentless. I am thinking that we'll pick up a Big Agnes Copper Spur UL3 - a similar tent that is completely freestanding - when we find one on sale.
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