Outbound Explorer 6 Tent - Special Buy

Comments about Outbound Explorer 6 Tent - Special Buy:

I have been looking for a replacement "cadillac camping" tent for quite some time now. I have a very nice ENO tent for backpacking, but for years I have used cheap [@] tents for casual trips. I wanted to upgrade from the cheap tents and go with something that would last longer (or so I thought). I picked this tent up because the reviews looked OK and it has a garage to keep stuff out of the weather. This is by far the worst tent I have EVER seen. The poles may as well have spaghetti inside instead of elastic. When I received the tent, I opened the box to find that both poles were already broken. REI was nice enough to pay for return shipping and send me a replacement. One of the poles in the replacement busted while taking the tent down for the first time. Very poor construction! It's pretty sad when you can find a better tent [@] for 1/4 the price.DO NOT buy this tent, if you want something similar get the REI Hobitat!

Comments about Outbound Explorer 6 Tent - Special Buy:

Used this tent for the first time this past weekend. It definitely requires two people to set up and is a little tricky the first time. Should be much easy next time though.

The materials used seem to be better quality than the tents I've had in the past. The large vestibule is awesome for storage and keeping dirt out... much more useful than I anticipated.

11x11 inside is great size for our needs. We had a queen air mattress and two twin self-inflating pads all side by side. Then another twin cot fit along the feet of the others. With the bags in the vestibule, this left plenty of room to get into and out of the tent without tripping over bedding.

The full rain fly is great for rain and for keeping in heat which we needed with temps dropping below 35 degrees. However, as others have stated, there isn't much ventilation so I'm worried about it getting hot/stuffy in warmer months. The vestibule has screen windows as does the back door to the tent... so you could get a cross breeze if you open all the screens and kept the tent door into the vestibule open... although if bugs get into the vestibule there is nothing to stop them from getting into the tent.

Comments about Outbound Explorer 6 Tent - Special Buy:

We have 3 kids and backpack camp regularly - this was not a good buy for us. 2 people minimum to set up, huge fly, over 20 stake locations for tie downs, and three very long heavy sectioned poles. Floor material was poor quality. Craftsmanship was good. Design was poor. We did not have serious wind or rain, but it would not have held up well in either. Zippers were poor quality. Worst was that there was only screen material on one side... no cross ventalation. Sides drooped in and it was difficult to set up and use.

Comments about Outbound Explorer 6 Tent - Special Buy:

This is a GREAT tent. Our family of four used it for a week in Yellowstone and really enjoyed its space and easy setup. It is easy set up with two people. Also I can set up the tent by myself pretty easily by standing the poles up in position and then clipping the tent to them starting at the top. If you open the doors and stand in the tent it works well. The fly is huge and more difficult to do alone. The pole in the fly for the vestibule can be a little challenging to feed through or take out.
The extra space in the vestibule is very handy to keep things dry but out of the tent. We used some Astroturf for a floor in the vestibule. It give you plenty of clean space to take off shoes and store them out of the tent. Inside the tent stays very clean with the vestibule keeping all the dirt.
We had a strong thunderstorm in the middle of the night with strong wind and rain. The tent didn't budge and no water got to the tent. The rain fly covers the entire tent to the ground and is supported off the tent sides very well. The guy lines are easy to use and reflective for night safety. The mesh at the top of the tent also prevents moisture buildup.
The tent seems to have good quality materials that will last. The only real improvement the tent could use is for the second door to have screen like the other one. Not a real problem since most tents only have one door any way, just a nice to have.
We fit a queen size and two twin air mattresses and still had floor space left over. It was difficult to find a 6 person tent that wasn't undersized and overpriced. Most larger tents that are affordable don't have full coverage flys either. For our family this tent puts it all together.

Comments about Outbound Explorer 6 Tent - Special Buy:

Tent has a very nice layout, size and the vestibule with the variable set up options is great. Held up well in wind driven rain with no leaks.

However, the door opposite the vestibule entry has no screen, so, unless you like bugs in the tent, that door is useless for venting. There's no windows in the main tent & the open roof venting is not enough to get fresh air. Even in the shade, the tent got very hot and stuffy. Sleeping at night with the main screened door wide open did not help. Removing the fly isn't an option as it needs to be staked/guyed.

We would have keep the tent had the back door included a screen or if there were windows to get cross air flow in the tent.

Comments about Outbound Explorer 6 Tent - Special Buy:

Tent camping at Ricketts Glen June 2011. Once you figure out how it sets up, it's easy. Plenty of room with two cots inside.
We had thunder storms every night (2 in one night) and everything was DRY!
The multiple set up options for the front are great for rain, cold, heat etc.

Comments about Outbound Explorer 6 Tent - Special Buy:

We are so happy with this tent! We had 60 mile per hour wind speeds with a severe thunderstorm and everything stayed dry and in tact. A lot of space in the vestibule for coolers etc and having 2 doors out the vestibule is nice. At first I was concerned about not having enough screen on the tent walls for ventilation but the fabric breathes well and it didn't not get too warm considering the 90 degree weather. Plenty of room to stand in which I love too.The back door is made of the fabric-screen would be nice though. Overall a really great tent, I highly recommend it!

Comments about Outbound Explorer 6 Tent - Special Buy:

Make sure fly is centered makes assembly in front much easier. Very roomy

Comments about Outbound Explorer 6 Tent - Special Buy:

Just bought this tent and it was delivered today. I set it up in my back yard by myself (big mistake). The tent is very roomie and is made out of great material. Once set up, this tent could house a family of 4 comfortably (6 with no bags inside). There is plenty of storage space via netting pockets around the tent. Also, there is a front and back door, which for you safety junkies, is a great feature in case of an emergency.

Definitely want to have help setting up the tent as it is fairly invovled and will take about 15-20minutes. I also had trouble getting the tent pole in correctly on the very front of the rain fly, creating the open space in front of the tent. Ended up not getting it fully installed, but the tent worked just fine after some creative jerry rigging.

I am excited to use this tent on my upcoming road/camping trip with friends and i will post back afterward with my findings!