REI Camp Dome 5 Tent - Special Buy

Comments about REI Camp Dome 5 Tent - Special Buy:

We purchased 2 of these tents for our Church Youth group. We use them for everything from Backpacking Trips to overnight concerts. It's easy for them to set up. Light enough to take on a week long pack trip. They have made it though some stormy nights and everyone stayed dry. We actually slept 6 girls in each comfortably. The tent is basic, but that is just what we needed!

Comments about REI Camp Dome 5 Tent - Special Buy:

I first set this tent up in my living room and it's huge! Great for 2 people and all their stuff. You can put a full size queen mattress on the side and gear on the other side. You can stand up in this tent which makes getting dressed easy. There aren't really any storage pockets but I don't care about that. It Takes 2 people to set this tent up, and 1 person to take it down so keep that in mind. If only 1 person sets the tent up you will probably BEND your poles, so please don't do that, get help. The poles are really long and easy to bend. The tent has great ventilation with or without the rain fly on. Zippers are sturdy and so are the seams. I have not experienced this tent in the rain so far but REI tents tend to hold up in the rain. The wind resistance is medium, because the side walls are tall and the poles are long, but it's a better design then other tents it's size. The rainfly is easy to put on, but keep in mind when you do it will catch more wind due to the scoop like design of the fly. The REI base camp tents are much more resistant to wind due to better pole construction and vestibule kick-out. There is not vestibule for this tent so keep that in mind. There are also NO FOOTPRINT for this tent, but you can easily make your own from a large tarp. Footprints are good because they go under the tent and keep ground debris from puncturing the bottom floor which will make your tent leak from the floor, and believe me that can soak everything when it rains if that happens. There is only 1 entrance/exit to the tent unlike the base camp tents. Personally I would have bought a base camp tent instead of this one but the price was very inexpensive for the quality you get. Don't waste your money on cheap tents, you will be wet and angry at the end of your trip! I would have bought a base camp but if you wait for them to go on sale that's the best deal ever!

Service and delivery comments:

I got the tent delivered to the REI store and it did take forever for it to arrive, but that's what you get with free shipping I guess. (4-5 weeks or more)
Keep in mind REI tents have a more or less lifetime warranty and are excellent quality.

Comments about REI Camp Dome 5 Tent - Special Buy:

Love this tent for short "walk-in" and car camping adventures. It's ridiculously easy to set up and feels really solid in its design.

It's a perfect fit with a double size air mattress (hey, if I'm not backpacking, I want comfort), with bags, etc.

It's slightly cramped if you go for the Queen double high mattress (which is really what I'd prefer... Note to manufacturers: Please make a double size double-high air mattress--there is a hot market opp!!!), but still manageable.

One quirk: I can't quite seem to figure out the pole for the fly (it is a bit long for the slots, strangely), but otherwise, it's a dream to put together. It hasn't caused any problems, but maybe because I've always ended up camping in mild NoCal. conditions. Not much wind, etc.

I really love it, though... I can't believe it's still in stock -- at this sale price, it should have flown off the shelves!

Oh, and one more "I wish...": I wish it had a custom footprint. Instead I use a tarp, which is okay, but custom footprints are so convenient and I'm all about keeping it "tight" when you're out in nature (sans the air mattress, of course, heehee).

Happy camping! Love & sunshine--soak it up!

Comments about REI Camp Dome 5 Tent - Special Buy:

Purchased this tent for car camping with the family (3 young boys). It's done a great job considering we have had potty accidents and a couple of puke incidents. It has been in several down pours and we always wake up dry.

Comments about REI Camp Dome 5 Tent - Special Buy:

We will be using the tent on a trip out to the northwest here in a week or so. I have setup the tent by myself once, and with the help of a four-year old the second time. A second set of hands is nice, but one person setup is possible with some patience and a bit of skill.

The first time it was set up, several days of heavy rain followed. The tent remained very dry and comfortable. I'm actually looking forward to tent camping:) I have stayed the night in a lot of tents and this is a nice one. So far a great deal, and with REI's satisfaction guarantee, you can't go wrong with this tent.

I have had no trouble with the rain-fly as other posters have indicated. You may need to pick up a half-dozen extra stakes and line for the rain-fly, if you don't have any lying around from that wallie-world special your not going to need any longer.

I'll check back in after our trip, with hopefully many more photos of the tent in use in the field.

Service and delivery comments:

I paid to have it shipped 2 day and it arrived by UPS in a very timely manner.

Comments about REI Camp Dome 5 Tent - Special Buy:

We bought this tent in June 2007 solely for car camping and have used it at 10,000 feet in Colorado as well as the southern Appalachians. It kept us totally dry after days of downpours in Colorado in which we had rivers of water running directly underneath the tent. I'm 6-4 and love standing up to change clothes. It does have about 4 storage pockets. A queen air mattress fits along with a 3rd person in a sleeping bag, with lots of gear. Ventilation is excellent even for camping in the south and this was important to us. I agree that it requires 2 people to set up. We bent a pole on the 2nd or 3rd set-up, which can occur when you raise the first pole up to create the dome. One pole is not strong enough to completely withstand the weight of the tent which it must carry if you are not careful. The 2nd person can support that first pole. REI replaced the pole in their flagship store in Denver and I bought some extras just in case but the flagship store did not have the right length so I cut them with a hacksaw and they work perfectly. Get some extra poles just in case as this tent is likely to last a good long while. We got it very cheap after the[$]sale 2 years ago and that's the price I notice today. This is a total steal for a tent and is so much better (and cheaper) than our [...]special Eddie Bauer 10 person leaker that we just sold at a garage sale. This is not a tent to take into the Bridger Wilderness but is awesome for getting away to nice campgrounds that you can drive to and use your air mattress to aid a sciatic back.

Comments about REI Camp Dome 5 Tent - Special Buy:

We used this tent many times for car camping. It is very easy to set up and take down alone, although a helper is nice. It's all color coded. We used it for two people and a dog. It has lots of room inside and handy pockets to store stuff. Nice for taller people. It kept us dry and has nice ventilation.

Comments about REI Camp Dome 5 Tent - Special Buy:

We've owned one of these tents for several years and love it: it lives at my father-in-law's place in New England and we use it for solo (me) or duo camping trips when we go east in summer. I'm tall, with a history of back problems, and being able to stand up straight inside this "house of cloth" -- with clearance to spare -- is a _huge_ plus. It's no lightweight, but the plus side of that is that it feels rugged and I expect it to last for many years.

This tent is easy for two to set up, and not that hard for one experienced camper to do alone, though it's true that one has to be gentle with the very long aluminum poles in order to keep them from bending. The fly is just a tad small, and water dripping off it can land on the seams where the walls meet the floor -- the only (minor) leakage I've had was as a result of this, but I've since sealed the seams (I'd recommend that to anyone) and am hopeful this will solve the problem. The fly pole is long and fits very tightly, but I've always been able to eventually fit it into the two end pockets. I would like it if the tent stakes were pointed or tapered -- the blunt ends can be hard to drive into the gravel that's a common pad base at many campgrounds -- but when fully staked out the tent feels quite stable.

If you know the weather's going to stay clear, sleeping in this tent overnight without the fly gives you a very good skyscape; a recent trip in the White Mountains gave me my first chance to "go flyless," and it was a lovely change of pace.

I was thrilled to see this tent go back on sale and have just bought a second one to keep here at home in the Midwest. We don't do much camping here, but at the remarkably low price, it's worth having another Camp Dome 5 even for very occasional use. We don't have kids, but if we did, I would also expect this to be a terrific backyard tent in which quite a bunch of them could fit _en masse_.

Comments about REI Camp Dome 5 Tent - Special Buy:

I bought this tent from REI outlet because it seemed like a good deal. I finally got to put it to use this weekend and was certainly not disappointed. Tent is color coded and very simple to set up, though I did have a slight problem with the rain fly. I couldn't quite get the pole to fit in the rain fly for some reason, but a minor problem and after a few minutes, I figured that it wasn't a big deal and moved on with the pole sticking out 1/2 an inch in the back. I'm sure I could've fixed it if I took it down and started from scratch. It still kept the rain away no problem. Rain was very light overnight, but I noticed no wet spots or condensation inside. Tent was also very airy throughout the night.

It was also definitely roomy enough for my wife, my 55lb dog, and me. I am a big guy and liked having that extra bit of space and I was even able to stand up inside. Tent is made of a strong enough material and we're hoping it will last a long time. It was a great buy!

Comments about REI Camp Dome 5 Tent - Special Buy:

We've used the tent twice in the back yard, once to try out and this last weekend with the kids for a backyard campout. The tent is roomy and easy to set up, though (as with most camping gear) a challenge to get back into the stuff sack. Hasn't been tested in wind or rain, yet.

Mainly, I'm writing this review to let those who are still wondering what to do about a footprint for the Dome 5 that the Dome 6 footprint works very well. All the grommets line up and the footprint is slightly smaller than the floor of the Dome 5, as it should be. Of course, darn hard to get back into the stuff sack. ;-)