Big Agnes Big House 6 Tent

Comments about Big Agnes Big House 6 Tent:

I was very excited when we bought this tent. It is huge, and yet so easy to set up that one person can easily do it. I also loved all of the windows, the many interior storage pockets, and the fact that there was a skylight window (both in the tent, and also built in to the rainfly). My family used the tent on 3 trips and loved it. On the fourth trip it rained, and water came into the tent through both the zipper and up through the bottom of the tent (yes, we used a footprint). I returned the tent and there was no question about wanting to buy the exact same thing again (without the leakage of course). This time I set the tent up in our yard before a rainstorm.....and the water came up through the floor again. At this point I was done buying/returning tents, and I returned the tent and bought a tent from a different company altogether. This tent has so many positive things about it and provided that I only camped when it wasn't going to rain I would have been completely in love with it, but when 2 out of 2 tents leaked I no longer am confident in recommending either the tent or the company itself.

Comments about Big Agnes Big House 6 Tent:

I'm a traditional car camper and finally took my daughter camping with us (3 yrs old). We wanted a tent that was large enough to fit us all with gear. We went up to Lake Mary near Flagstaff at Lakeview Campground and experienced a lot of rain (3 plus hrs) over one week-end. Just after one week-end I have decided to return it. It just isn't REI quality.

Some things about this tent are true - it is huge, very large and comfortable inside. It has great ventalation when the fly is NOT on. Set up was extremly easy with only three poles and the fly was even more easy to attach (uses clips instead of the stakes). Although I should have realized something about the quality of this tents when two grommets broke (and that's only setting up the tent the first time!)

However, there are alot of negatives as well. The venting/mesh is great however it leaves no privacy. When my wife and daughter had to change after going to the lake we had to put up the fly first (other tents like the REI base camp you can go in a corner or lay down and the tent will block most of the view - this tent however has venting going all the way around and has no privacy what so ever). When it did rain, we found the fly to be terrible. The so called vestibules are extremely small - the one in the back of the tent is a joke. After 1 hr of rain we already had some leaking coming in from the rear door. The vestibules are so small that they really serve no purpose. The front door mat my wife thought was cute, however after using the tent everyone found it annoying. It collects dirt like crazy and for some reason is very hard to clean. The color of the tent was nice in that you can find your tent in a crowded campground with ease, however the color seemed to collect more bugs than other tents.

The added option of a vestibule is nice, and might solve some of the rain problems (execpt for the leaking) but for an added one hundred dollars, why not go with the REI Basecamp and settle for a smaller, yet rain proof fly. If the added vestibule was included, I might change my mind about returning the tent, however since it is not, I'd rather go with the REI tent that has an included, large and rain proof vestibule that you can actually use.

All in all, this tent is OK, I've had worse, but I expect REI to cover better products than this. I would not recommend this to a friend. Simply costs to much for what you get. I'm planning on returning this one and purchasing the REI Base Camp 6.

Comments about Big Agnes Big House 6 Tent:

My family and I absolutely love this tent. It's super easy to set up. I can do it by myself in 10-15 minutes (5'7" female) depending on how many times my toddler tries to jump on it. We were originally going to go with the REI Hobitat, but opted for this instead since the Hobitat required two people to set it up. With small children that tend to wander off we don't always have the luxury of two adults able to perform such tasks.

We very comfortably sleep two adults, two small children, and a medium sized dog with a little room left over to spare. Most of that left over room is occupied by our bags. If the tent were any smaller it would be tolerable, but not as comfortable.

We have had no problems with the rainfly. Our first trip out in this tent we were hit by a surprise afternoon shower and we were able to quickly and effectively put the fly on in the storm. We had no troubles attaching the awning poles as long as we did not tighten the fly down first. This leads me to the things we did have problems with.

The welcome mat is useless and quite frankly annoying. It's cute and everyone comments on it, but in the rain it pools water. It actually became a muddy mess and a lot of that was tracked into the tent. No big deal though, we kept our bags near the entrance so we were able to clean our feet without getting mud on our sleeping bags. We will be purchasing the vestibule in the future.

I also recommend the footprint. When we purchased the tent the footprint was out of stock so we used a tarp instead. We had to use some giant origami folds with the tarp to get it to fit just right under the tent.

My only other complaint, and this is really minor, is that all of the pockets are down low. Which is great at night when you need to grab your flashlight, or even for storing kids toys out of the way. We are able to stay fairly organized this way. However, we had some things we wanted to keep out of the little ones reach, such as glasses which the toddler terror had previously broken. Since REI does not carry the Big Agnes gear loft we bought the very inexpensive REI Schwagg pockets.

Comments about Big Agnes Big House 6 Tent:

I am normally a backpacker but lately I have been camping with friends who exclusively car camp at state parks. While I have been openly teasing them that their 1000 pounds of gear is *not* camping, secretly I have been envious of their ability to change into a swim suit while standing up!

I bought the BA Big House 6 because I wanted a tent that I could set up alone but that would be far roomier than the backpacking tent I had been using and I am soooo glad that I did!

What I got:
Big House 6
Vestibule
Footprint

Pros:
Assembly - The BH6 went up super easy in a matter of minutes. It has three main poles but is free standing with only two. I can put it up alone but it was easier with two people. The footprint was easy to use and the vestibule was sturdy. The front of the tent is color coded so that you get the rain fly on the right way the first time.

It also tore down quickly and packs super well into the duffel bag it came in. There is no arduous stuffing into pockets that are too small...the duffel spreads open with one side for the fly, one for the tent and a pole sleeve in the middle. There is a side pocket for stakes. The footprint fits easily with the fly but I kept the vestibule in it's own bag.

The tent was super roomy - I went all the way to the dark side with a queen size air mattress and I still had plenty of room for gear, the mattress and room to move around, change, etc.

The tent had great ventilation even with everything closed up (most likely because of the mesh) and I loved the ability to roll up the rain fly half way without having to unstake it. It was cool where I was camping and the tent was cool. There wasn't any condensation at all.

The construction on the tent is great - what you would expect from Big Agnes - all of the seams are well sealed, zippers are beefy and have good action, poles and grommets work well together, clips fit well. There are two clips that are strange, they clip the third pole to the cross poles, and I think BA could have come up with a better design on those but other than that, no complaints.

Vestibule - the vestibule is awesome. It is huge and I think it will more than pay for itself for storing gear, dogs and stinky camp partners when it is raining. I liked that both sides unzip and roll back so that it can be opened up and allow air movement. I used it to keep my camp chairs out of the morning dew and my shoes dry.

Weight - At just under 14 pounds this tent is awesome for campground camping but also doable for canoe or hiking trips if split amongst three people. My backpacking tent is 7 pounds so I would totally consider backpacking with this if there were three or four of going together.

Cons:
Caveat - I have not had the opportunity to use this tent in the rain yet but I would be a little concerned about how to keep water out of the tent while getting in and out without the vestibule. The fly overhang on the door isn't large. With the vestibule there shouldn't be any problems at all...you could have a party under it, it is so big.

Stakes - I read in other reviews that there aren't enough stakes and guy lines on the tent so I bought more of both. I was glad to have the extra stakes and I think the extra guy lines would be good in bad weather. I bought six extra stakes and used four.

The welcome mat - like many have said, it is cute but unnecessary. I had the tent up for about 4 minutes and there was already dirt on it. I just tucked it under the tent to keep it out of the way and forgot about it. If BA would make a detachable version it would make more sense.

Pockets - the BH6 is completely ringed with pockets which is awesome but they are all around the bottom of the tent. I got four REI Schwag pockets and hung one in each corner. This worked great for being able to just reach in and grab my keys, head lamp, camera.

Vestibule - Like I said above, I really like the vestibule and would definitely want it if it was raining. However - in good weather it just becomes a giant bug catcher. We got tired of sweeping out hundreds of gnats and mosquitoes and just took it down about half way through the trip. I don't think there is a flaw in the design other than there was no quick way to peel back the top of the vestibule for de-bugging because of how it attaches to the tent. If there was, we probably would have left it on.

Ventilation - I don't need this tent to be a four season tent so it was perfect for me but it was definitely cool (I was camping in northern Michigan). My friends have a much larger tent and it got stuffy and stinky. My tent stayed aired out and comfortable the whole time (which is awesome) but if you are a freeze baby, bring a warm bag.

Conclusion:
All in all, I am very, very pleased with this tent. Coming from a backpacking tent this was pure luxury and definitely made the trip more comfortable. The other people at the campground kept commenting on the tent - how quick it went up and down, the vestibule and the roominess - and I would absolutely recommend this to anyone.

Comments about Big Agnes Big House 6 Tent:

My 5 person family use this tent monthly for excursions to Joshua Tree, mountains,etc. Easy to set up, fantastic storage, excellent fly and plenty of room for kids and gear. This is truly for car camping as it is heavy, but not as bad as other family size tents out there. Big Agnes makes a quality product. Bottom line... AWESOME. Get it.

Comments about Big Agnes Big House 6 Tent:

Our family of four loved this tent. Plenty of room. The gear pockets inside the tent helped keep stuff off the ground. The dual entry/exit flaps worked well. Very easy and quick setup. Everything stored away compactly and neat in the storage bag.

Comments about Big Agnes Big House 6 Tent:

I have used the Big Agnes Big House tent several times for family camping trips. I purchased this tent as a second to our 3-person backpacking tent which our family of 4 had outgrown. I have 2 boys(ages 9 and 11), plus my husband and I (both tall). Tent purchasing priorities were: ease of set-up/take down; tent interior space; tent height (wanted a tent we could stand up in); and, ventilation. On the second camping trip we took, we arrived in Yosemite to thunder, lighting and very quickly thereafter, rain! My kids and their friend set this up in light rain (without needing the instructions), before the skies opened up. We have used this tent for weekends, over-nighters and week-long trips. It is roomy enough that 4 tall people fit comfortably with room for bags inside. Lots of interior storage pockets. Haven't noticed any condensation accumulation. No complaints.

Comments about Big Agnes Big House 6 Tent:

PROS: Relatively easy set up, 90 sq. ft. of interior space, height of the tent allows everyone to stand up inside, nice duffel to store and carry the tent, large optional vestibule for cooking and storing gear(64 st. ft.!), 12 all-around mesh pockets inside the tent to stow away everything, mesh around the entire perimeter and top of the tent - fly can also be folded up half way for 360 degree views with weather protection of the fly for top 2/3 of the tent, skylight for star gazing even with the fly on.

CONS: Pole for back awning is difficult to insert into the grommets - we had to aggressively bend ours to fit! No full fly for front and back doors so we are concerned about water leakage in a heavy storm. Only provided 4 guylines even though we need at least 2 more to properly stake down the fly. (We can obviously buy more guylines but it's still annoying that Big Agnes would skimp on guylines!)

WISH LIST (Hope you are listening, Big Agnes): "Zip-offable" vestibules for the front and the back doors. This will provide the added weather protection but also allow for more ventilation when no vestibule is needed. (We bought the optional vestibule which attaches to the front door but the back door is still exposed.)

BOTTOM LINE: The Big House 6 is a great tent for our family of four for mostly warm weather car camping. We can fit a pack 'n play and 3 sleeping bags in the tent without any problems. The abundance of mesh on the tent body is great for warm weather camping and beach going. (The tent is airy and open enough to use as a beach cabana.) On the other hand, with the abundance of mesh, the tent may be too chilly for true 3 season camping. Thus, it is an excellent tent for car camping during warm weather where comfort and ease of set-up are your key criteria in selecting a family tent.

Comments about Big Agnes Big House 6 Tent:

We bought this tent for car camping for a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 active boys). The set-up and take-down were really easy, even for 2 six-year old boys. It was also easy to keep clean and it held-up very well throughout a very windy night. Probably the only draw-back is that it can be very cold inside (it's very cavernous) on a super cold night.

Comments about Big Agnes Big House 6 Tent:

Last September I used the Big Agnes Bighouse 6 tent as my basecamp shelter for a couple of weeks in a remote New Mexico canyon at approximately 7600 feet in elevation. Given that this was the tail end of the monsoon season in the Four Corners, the Bighouse 6 saw and survived short but torrential thunder storms and high winds (40+ mph gusts). I was extremely impressed with its stability in squalls and windstorms given its relatively large profile and lightweight, 3-pole construction. I used the fly (including properly installing the eyebrow poles - key given the fly design), and the footprint, and set up on some higher sandy soil. It kept me dry and provided unfailing protection for my large amount of gear which included a large cooler, roll-up table, 60AH battery pack, sleeping pad and oversized rectangular -20F rated outdoorsman's "retro" sleeping bag, high end astronomy gear (including two telescope optical tube assemblies, two German equatorial mounts, eyepieces, etc.), multiple duffles for freeze dried food, stoves and fuel, clothing and hiking gear, books, maps, charts and several large 3-gallon water storage containers. It still looks as new!