The zipper pull is here to call attention to that nice detail. The zipper has a flap over it that is on the outside of the door to shed water until the zipper makes a turn near the bottom of the tent. Then that little flap is on the door itself so tht water runs over the zipper instead of down into it. Nice touch. - The Civilized Explorer- powered by SmugMug

SEE NOTE AT END.
The first time I put it up, I put it up alone. It was not difficult, but not easy. The instructions worked, and I followed them without any confusion. It is a 4-person tent and has standing headroom in the center (for me at 5-foot 10 inches). The poles are long, so if we use the tent in a campground, it will behoove us to watch out where the poles go. More details under each photo. We camped with the tent in Saline Valley over Thanksgiving 2007. There were very strong winds, which did affect the tent, but not to the extent we were concerned. One pole bent noticeably, but no big deal. Photos of the tent on our campout at the end of the gallery.
NOTE: we've given up on using it. It's too cramped inside, the standing head room goes away when you have stuff in the tent and can't stand where the air mattress is - it takes up too much floor space and can't be situated away from the center of the tent.

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civex > This is an overview of the tent from the open garage door, with the fly door unzipped. It is a large tent, taking up as much room as a car. Three poles run through the red tunnels; you can see one end tunnel over the fly door, and another tunnel is at the peak of the tent. The fourth pole clips the length of the fly on caribiners and holds the vestibules out.

civex > The tent is symmetrical. This is the view from inside the garage out. The fly has clear plastic portholes so you can see out without letting the weather in. We camp in Death Valley on Thanksgiving. Overnight temperatures are on either side of 20 degrees Fahrenheit. We camp at Burning Man the end of September. Temperatures during the day approach a hundred, but the big problem is wind and dust. Winds exceed 50 miles per hour at least once during every event, sometimes more often. The dust has reduced visibility to four feet during one of the burns. We don't want that dust in our tent, and this looks like it will seal very well.

civex > This shows the fly open. The bug mesh is on the outside of the tent, and the tent door is within the bug mesh door. There is no way to get to the bug mesh inside the tent without having the tent door open. Both mesh and door are zippered three quarters of the way around, and both have fasteners (like the fly door) to keep them open.

civex > The fly has a flap you can see on the left. The one on the right is tucked under the fly. The flap will be staked out during camping, helping the wind to blow over the tent rather than under it. The zipper has a nice detail more visible in the next photo.

civex > The zipper pull is here to call attention to that nice detail. The zipper has a flap over it that is on the outside of the door to shed water until the zipper makes a turn near the bottom of the tent. Then that little flap is on the door itself so tht water runs over the zipper instead of down into it. Nice touch.

civex > The tent pole is inset into the metal gromet, and the tent stake goes into the lower fabric loop. The upper loop is the one you pull on to tighten the strap to the stake.

civex > Because of all the dust at Burning Man, I'm paranoid about it. The tent has two vents in the fly and tent on opposite sides of the center pole. This is how the fly vent looks when closed. It is held in place by that small black velcro tab visible under the flap.

civex > Underneath the flap is a small stiff piece that you raise and stick to the velcro as shown. Under that flap is another zippered flap which is closed in this photo, sealing the fly against dust.

civex > This is inside the tent. There is a fabric flap which seals the tent separately from the opening in the fly.

The zipper pull is here to call attention to that nice detail. The zipper has a flap over it that is on the outside of the door to shed water until the zipper makes a turn near the bottom of the tent. Then that little flap is on the door itself so tht water runs over the zipper instead of down into it. Nice touch.