Awesome Family Tent

By Michael L Ranked #121 - 4-Season Tents May 24, 2011

I originally “cut my camping teeth” on The North Face backpacking tents (VE-23 & VE-25), so I’ve come to expect my tents to be beyond dependable, and hold up to some pretty “hairy” unexpected weather conditions like driving rain, high winds, sleet, hail and snow (or any combinations of the above). Normal camping for us ranges between 4,000’ to 8,400’, and at this point in our life, the backpacking tents are “history” (we want room, comfort, and bigger doors). I love the Flying Diamond 6’s aluminum poles, and they do form an exceptionally strong geodesic structure, evidenced by our 2nd trip out with it …..50+ mph winds (all day & night) in Death Valley N.P., and it never flinched. (For the first time in my life, I’m looking forward to some really nasty weather conditions on a camping trip. I’m dying to take this thing out for a real “test drive”!) It’s very roomy, evidenced by the wife & I sleeping in the main room with gear, while the back room is occupied by our 8 month old, 76 pound German Shepherd puppy inside her large kennel (she gets the back room), and we still had room to spare. The ventilation is great with the 2 doors and the air vents built into the fly. It’s great for sleeping without the fly on….there’s nothing like a celestial light show to lull you to sleep at night. There’s lots of mesh pockets, and the gear loft tabs in the roof provide spots to hang LED lights for interior lighting. With the reflective guy lines, I’m no longer tripping over them in the dark…..great feature! The only drawback I found was in the front door zipper….it takes a little patience to get it around the bottom corner. We love this tent. We’ve definitely become Big Agnes fans, and in my opinion, structurally Big Agnes rivals The North Face, but without the heavy duty, industrial strength pricing.

View Details: Big Agnes Flying Diamond 8 Tent: 8-Person 4-Season

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