Asolo Chameleon 6 Tent - Special Buy

Comments about Asolo Chameleon 6 Tent - Special Buy:

OK...I'm an old guy (47). In my day I've done some camping...Did my tour up and down Australia's east coast on a bicycle (did New Zealand too.) So, I've put a few miles on these old bones. Now, I've got a family and am working on the car camping thing. I bought this tent because I had a pair of Asolo boots way back in 1990 (see..I told you I was old) that were great. I know... what a lousy way to pick a tent; but hey you've got to have some reference frame and car tenting is new to me. Anyway, this is probably an Asolo product in name only...boots and tents just don't seem to come from the same design team. But if LL Bean can sell underwear next to their snow shoes I guess I can give Asolo a little slack.So, the reason I almost sent this back to REI with a good ol' "I want my money back" speech is because the set-up directions just plain suck. I got the first two poles to work and could not for the life of me figure out how the other 3 poles fit. I decided I must have early onset dementia and asked my much younger and smarter wife to figure it out. You know what...she couldn't figure it out either...and she's got education! After a sigh of relief that I still might make lucidity for my kid's high school graduation, I decided to sleep on it. You see, we were now full blown car camping at Ft. DeSoto (beach side), it was getting dark, I was shall we say "becoming a little difficult" with the whole set-up direction thing, and that bottle of Chianti was whispering to me..."Just let it go, Just let it go". So, I let it go and slept on it. Luckily, it did not rain as the fly was not up and doubly lucky it was not windy as we could only figure out how to put up part of the tent.Here's the thing that kept bothering me. The tent poles (which are really nice by the way) have these little pieces of colored tape on the ends (black, grey, yellow and red) but the set-up directions don't mention them...at all! Now why would perfectly good tape be used on the ends of tent poles without a purpose. The purpose I surmised was for a different tent.. Eureka these MUST BELONG TO ANOTHER STYE TENT (sorry for screaming but that is what I was going through). Of course nothing worked because the darn factory put the wrong tent poles in my tent. That's when I decided to send the darn thing back. Now here is why I probably won't be lucid for my kid's HS graduation. The next morning I told my wife "Honey, REI's gonna get a call on Monday!" (Like REI is really gonna be put off by me but hey...its my fantasy.) My wife, however, suggested that the directions should be ignored and we should just try putting on the fly and see if we can figure it out from there. Well, it was morning, I was in a good mood and I decided to humor the little lady. And you know what happend on the way to putting on that darn fly, I discovered a so very subtle but oh so pleasant surprise...a small strip of red fabric on the sleeve of the tent fly. I quickly checked the other sleeves...yep a black strip matched the black tape pole and a grey strip matched the grey tent pole (we never did find a yellow strip to match where the yellow tent pole fit but no matter because the last one had to fit whatever was left). I quickly took to putting this darn thing up and within a couple of minutes our tent had been completed, I no longer hated REI for sending me this god-awful tent and my blood pressure went to Island Time...There you have it. My story with this tent. I've included a couple of pictures if you'd like to see our awesome camping spot. I would recommend this tent but can't give it more than 3 stars for the following reasons. First, I don't have enough experience with other "car type" tents to make a valid comparision. So I'm going middle of the road. It seems similar to other dome tents I've used so I think it will last. I like the material and the layout inside....nice and square with no funny corners. It's made in [*] and I'm a homer so I gotta deduct a bit for that one. Finally, REI would take this back if I complained so I give a bit of a nudge for customer service. That's it. So far, I'm on board (now if I can just figure out a way to keep the darn sand from sticking to everything). Cheers.

Comments about Asolo Chameleon 6 Tent - Special Buy:

I bought this tent on the daily deal for [$] and I am returning it today. Ripped twice while setting up in backyard. Very cheap tent material with all seams stretching almost tearing mesh. Poles seem a bit too long for all areas. Huge vestibule is nice and my 6'2 husband could stand up straight. Really wish it was made better. Ripped while inserting pole in two different spots. Cheap stakes for such a huge tent. Keeping the Alps mountaineering that is much smaller but will last us much longer than this Asolo.