Big Agnes Jack Rabbit SL3 Tent

Comments about Big Agnes Jack Rabbit SL3 Tent:

This tent is bar none the best tent I have ever owned or used. I would recommend this tent to anyone and everyone.

It sets up so fast and easy!

The poles are excellent and easy to use!

It is awesome!

Comments about Big Agnes Jack Rabbit SL3 Tent:

We really put this through its paces on our first time using it.

The first night in a regular old campground in Shenandoah, it performed flawlessly. Up in 5 minutes, whisper quiet inside despite the wind, the perfect breeze through the vents, down in 5.

Night two amazed me and proved this tent was well worth the money. Set it up on an outcropping of rocks around a 3,000 foot summit. The rock was smooth and large, so we only managed to stake one corner. The guys were put out, but not as they should be. I was nervous; I knew the wind was coming. 50 mile an hour winds woke us up and I felt so happy to be inside! Sure the vestibules flapped around since they were t steaked and the tent rocked and swayed with the gusts, I really thought it was going to collapse, but nope! Jack Rabbit held steady, dry, and comfy as can be all night.

Big enough for my six foot husband, my five foot self ans both our packs at my feet. I literally adore setting this up, it's almost too easy. Literally my ONLY complaint is the zipper on the fly seems to want to catch every dang time, but really, that's it?

I would recommend this tent to anyone; it's a seriously fine piece of equipment!

Comments about Big Agnes Jack Rabbit SL3 Tent:

Gotta love when your first time out in a brand new tent is when your camp area is under a severe t storm warning! I had to set the tent up in the rain so i was glad i did a quick practice run at home. Went up super easy when it came to crunch time. When i woke up to heavy rains and wind i found not a single drop of water in the tent, under the fly, or in the vestibule areas. I was a little leery of the lowered 4th wall and the winds, but nothing came in except for a cool breeze. Still no water after the rains held up heavily all day. The vestibules arent huge and the zippers for them are a little tricky at first when your hustling to get in, but overall not a problem and I was still able to keep some gear out of the rain. Havent backpacked with it yet to get a feel on the weight, but just carrying it around the house doesnt feel bad. Excellant purchase! Plus it comes with Big Agnes' customer service, great people!

Comments about Big Agnes Jack Rabbit SL3 Tent:

We got this tent for backpacking - only - because it is so light weight. It is pretty delicate which just confirmed that we will only use it for backpacking - not car camping. The tent worked well for my husband and I and our 2 dogs. It was a little noisy the first night. The fly seemed to be rubbing against the poles and making noise. the rain fly also gets caught easily in the zipper when closing it from the inside. Those would be my only two complaints. We did not experience wind or rain on our trip, so I can't comment on that.

Comments about Big Agnes Jack Rabbit SL3 Tent:

I've had this tent for a year now and love it. It's just like its award winning cousin, the Copper Spur UL3, but a little bit heavier. It seems like the added weight adds durability since the Copper Spur is more mesh. The walls are raised up and keeps dust out during a windy day. The door design is better as well as it opens from the side and not the bottom. It's very roomy although I use it as a 2 man tent and there's ample space to bring my gear inside. There are pockets on the mesh higher up although it would be better if it was closer to the floor for easy access. I have had no problems with condensation (always had the vent open) and it feels very sturdy. I was concerned about the durability of the floor since it seemed thin but I have not had any tears or water seeping in. Get a footprint for it though. For the price and weight, its probably the best 3-man tent on the market right now.

Comments about Big Agnes Jack Rabbit SL3 Tent:

As of 8/8/2012:
Just got the tent and set it up in my front yard. It's just the right size for my tall/scrawny frame (6'1"/150lbs), I'm glad I didn't get the 2-person. I've always been a car camper, and love my HUGE tents I've grown up with, however now I'm getting my backpacking gear accumulated. This tent is the perfect size for me and all my gear, and if I can ever get my girlfriend to go camping it'll still work for the both of us. Three people will not happen, unless they are children maybe. The peak interior height is perfect for my height. I don't feel restricted when sitting up, and any taller and it would add weight and lose strength in wind (I bought this tent because my last tent broke in the desert wind due to fiberglass poles and bad aerodynamics). This tent appears to be very sturdy when I shake it around to simulte hardcore wind.

The floor is seam-sealed, but the walls are NOT(where the green floor meets the tan walls), even though the descrpition says all seams are taped. The rainfly would be covering that part, but it's worth mentioning due to the inaccurate description.

The color-coded clips that everyone hypes up are nice, but any tent in the world has that with just a small amount of spray-paint. It's good to have, but don't not-buy a tent just because it doesn't have this feature.

The zippers are small (standard for most tents though), likely to keep weight down, so I will take extra care to not damage them. When the tent is taught, the zippers become even harder to use. I had to loosen up the tent a bit because the zipper would not work properly, at the bottom when the zipper changes direction I would have to hold the fabric just to get it to make the turn, and it would always get two zipper teeth jammed into one zipper-slot, so I'd have to back up to free them up and try again to get all the zipper teeth alligned. Bigger zippers would be nice.

I haven't had it rained on yet, so I can't say about it's waterproofness.

Today is mid 70's here in Portland, OR and inside this tent it is hot, unless I take the fly off, then it's nice and drafty. That's great. That means I can be cool during the day and stay warm at night. The mesh is great because it goes all around you, so it vents well, and the lower non-mesh part goes all around the tent too, so you're not visible when laying down changing clothes. Best of both worlds. Sometimes makers put mesh really low, then you can't be bashfull when changing like I am.

The fly goes pretty much all the way to the ground, and doesn't have a dumb window built into the door like other brands. The "window" is the double-zipper setup on the door, just unzip it from the top a bit and look out. easy. Saves weight and cost this way, and the window won't fog over the years, and you won't get a face full of sunlight in the morning when you're trying to sleep in.

The weight on this tent is great. The pack-size is pretty standard for a 3-person tent, so I hope you have a large backpack if you'll be hiking with it.

I wish it came with the gear loft and ground cover like some other manufacturers, but I guess I can't have everything. I wish I could say they are cheap additions, but they are not. I will be buying them, however.

The built in vents are tiny, as are vents on most tents. They're better than nothing, but I wish tent makers would put either more vents, or bigger vents.

The color is nice. Can't please everyone all the time, but it's much nicer than blue or orange or yellow. I like the neutral tones, and this tent wears it well.

The tent stakes are garbage unless you'll be pitching the tent in tilled soil. They're thin aluminum. That's good because I didn't waste money on my tent having some awesome stakes when I already have some nice ones. But if you don't have some, get some, as these will bend very easily. New good ones are cheap.

The top cross-pole that supports above the door, is a metal pole with a ball-end, and the recieving clip on the tent is like a plastic ball-socket. It's a very nice and convienient way to attatch, but I'd imagine the plastic will wear over the years, I will be watching that part closely, and I will always be very carefull with it. I wish it was attached like the 4 corners are, where the pole goes through the grommet, that would be stronger. However, if it lasts, it is an improvement.

Well, I hope I gave enough info for you to make your own decision, without discouraging you from considering this wonderful tent. You can pay more for lighter tents that are more fragile, or pay more for tents that have stronger materials but are much heavier, or pay less for tents that are heavier and have problems related to the design, ergonomics, aerodynamics, and water infiltration. This tent is the best value I could find, all things considered. Buy this tent from REI because no tent will last forever, but REI's return policy does last forever.

Comments about Big Agnes Jack Rabbit SL3 Tent:

Bought the Jack Rabbit 3 for a backpacking trip in the Bighorn Mts. Finally replacing the Sierra Desighns Flashlight Clip, which we really liked. The Jack Rabbit fit all our criteria-lightweight, roomy for a backpacking tent, easy to set up, small when rolled up, wind and weatherproof. It performed great. We had thunderstorms and hail at 10,000 feet and kept dry and warm. No leaks at all. The Jack Rabbit 3 is roomy, room inside for two people easily with space left over for gear and packs. We're very pleased with this tent.

Comments about Big Agnes Jack Rabbit SL3 Tent:

After a year of extensive research trying to find a new tent that would be ideal for my girlfriend and I to take car camping and backpacking that was moderately priced, light, spacious, easy to set up, and durable the jack rabbit sl3 was the perfect match. I was between the fly creek ul3, rei quarter dome 3 and this tent. After checking all three of them out at rei and reading reviews/ watching videos I decided to purchase this tent. I took it up to the eastern Sierra on its first weeklong fishing trip. This tent was set up and fully taught long before my brother and dads northface tents. I didn't get to fully test out the fly since we had clear weather but hopefully will soon get to try it out in the rain. Bottom line is that this tent is easy for anyone to set up, it is very spacious for two,light, comfortable and a good looker.

Comments about Big Agnes Jack Rabbit SL3 Tent:

I bought this tent about six months ago and have already taken it on a few trips. The set up is incredibly fast and easy. The colour coded tabs were definitely a big help.I love the headroom and how light it is.
We've had a few cold nights in Joshua Tree, Monterey and Death Valley, along with mornings with A LOT of dew, but the tent stayed nice and dry on the inside. Putting the tent away is easy too because it dries out in no time.
I have yet to have any rain on our trips with this tent, so I can't comment on it's performance in that respect. We plan to take the tent out for a 5 day - 85km canoe trip in Alogonquin, so we will see how it holds up.
The only thing I would change about this tent is the amount of mesh used for the top half, it makes me nervous about rain possibly getting in if the winds are high.

Comments about Big Agnes Jack Rabbit SL3 Tent:

I used this tent this past summer backpacking and hiking through The Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park. It was easy to set up and take down. At times, the zippers were hard to zip and unzip unless you held one end.

Glad we got the three man tent - the two man would have been too small

I did not put waterproof becuase we had great camping weather and did not have any rain.