Snow Peak  Vault Dome Tent

You don't have to baby it, but you'll want to.

So I originally bought this tent to help ease my pandemic woes and to try and re-spark my love for the outdoors. Guess what, it worked, it worked a bit too well. I've had this tent for two years now and it's been with me on over a dozen or so trips. Other than smelling like a campfire it's still in nearly pristine condition and has served me and up to three others extremely well in all kinds of conditions. I'm by no means a glamper, usually just going out with the essentials and some good company, but I've definitely come to appreciate all this tent has to offer. That and the good looks don't hurt either. While it's not the smallest package or most familiar setup process, these things are completely outweighed by the versatility of this design and the value per cost of this tent. It's definitely a car camping tent, but it's not so massive that you can't lug it a couple of hundred yards into a walk-in site. The setup process was unfamiliar but I've learned that with a friend you can set it up in a matter of 10 or so minutes (Staking one side down with all the poles in and secured, then stretching the structure out from the other far end springs the outer fly almost perfectly into place). It's a palace, and maybe a bit much for two, but perfect for 3-4 people and their gear. Although I don't think I've ever been mad at the extra room I had with just two people. It's a rainy and cold weather star. You can really bunker this thing down to keep the cold and elements out, and if you get some extra poles or nice sticks you can even turn the front flap of the vestibule into an awning. In hot weather, it performs decently as well, the whole thing can be opened up and you can make the front and back of the sleeping compartment completely mesh. However, you'll never be able to get as much of a breeze as you would in a tent with an all-mesh inner. It's not insufferable, it could just be better. I prefer to just not camp in the dead heat of a muggy midwestern summer anyways though. Now about the title. It's basically a white tent, and there's no way you can fold this thing up without dragging it on the ground or crushing some bugs in it as you pack it away. Does it take extra time to keep it looking nice and to clean it after a trip? Yes. Is it worth that time? Personally, I think so. I'm someone who takes good care of my gear, and I've found that the light fabric of this tent keeps me more on top of practicing proper tent care. Now that it's two years old I'm not as worried about babying it and being so careful with it (It's quite durable after all), but I definitely have developed a maintenance regimen that will have this thing looking as good as the day I bought it for years. For one, I store it in one of those big mesh bags that they store soccer balls in to let it breathe, and only really use the original stuff sack when I'm tighter on space in the car. I'll spot clean it after a trip or two with a couple of drops of dish soap in some warm water, and it almost never stains, grime and bug guts just kinda wipe off. I've only really had stains happen on the lighter fabric of the inner tent if at all. Then after the season comes to an end I'll give it a good wash with the Nikwax Solarwash and Solarproof duo. If you made it this far I'm so sorry for the rambling but also you're welcome for the thoroughness in helping you make a good buying decision. I'll end this on a quick Pro and Con list. Pros: -Quality materials -It's beautiful -Stable in bad weather when guyed out -A true four-person tent -Front and back vestibule flaps offer a lot of versatility in weather protection and ventilation -Rainfly is pretty stain resistant -Lots of room to cook and such in the vestibule -Decent amount of pockets in the interior -A standout design that gets even non-campers talking Cons: -Not as simple to set up as a standard dome tent -Not terribly compact in pack size or footprint -Condensation doesn't form in the inner tent but definitely forms in the top nook of the rainfly (bring a rag if you're taking down camp early in the AM). -No gear-loft like in some other tents, but there are attachment points at the front and back of the inner tent.

Outstanding value for quality and features

I am blown away by this tent! Been using 2-3 person tents for the past 8 years camping and always felt cramped with a partner and a dog. Decided to upgrade to this tent and am extremely satisfied with the purchase. Setup; Definitely had to take my time to familiarize myself with the instructions, though they are detailed the order is a bit confusing. I did not realize the Shelter/Rainfly must be set up first. Definitely would not want to set this up in a hurry at dusk with light fading. Would not be enjoyable at all. Guylines, guylines, guylines....there's alot to this tent. You can probably get away with not using them all but if it's windy....you better. Overall one person can put this tent up with practice, having a helper cuts the setup time in half, with that said expect about 10-15 minutes to set up shelter, and then the inner tent just hooks inside. So tent set up in 20 minutes or less. Features; Big roomy inner tent! Forget the tent, use the rain fly as a stand alone shelter! Large front "porch"/Vestibule area Rear vestibule Side door adjacent to porch Extremely wind resistant Mesh doors on interior tent Downsides; No interior hook for light source inside tent(major oversight imo) Size of packed tent(reasonable considering the size of tent but it was a small surprise to me at first) Get this tent! You won't regret it!!

Leaks on first use

I really wanted to like this product. Snow peak is a well known brand in Japan. Their products are not cheap so I expected good quality. Unfortunately it failed on first use. I used this tent in light rainy day. The outer tent failed on light rain and leaked on inner tent. Inner tent was getting wet well. The bottom of the inner tent was getting wet. I had ground tarp which wasn’t wet a lot too. I am not sure I just got defected one but I’m so disappointed about the product. At same time, I had to prove that this tent had issue to return the product. Thankfully I had some pictures and videos in my phone. I have the membership which gives me a year to return when I am not satisfy. I had a bad experience with the store that i was returning product. The manager looking woman gave me bad look when I returned the product.

Great tent, but get it on sale!

We got this tent last spring and it is a great tent! Plenty of space for us, our dogs, and our gear. Gets a good breeze through it and is easy to get in and out of. That being said, it could definitely have more headroom, have better stakes, and reflective cord instead of the cheap cord and stakes it came with. We got it on sale at a $200 price point, and I think that’s a good price to pay for this tent. I wouldn’t pay for it full price. The stakes are the cheap aluminum dime a dozen hook stakes, and the cording is just white cheap cord. Definitely going to replace as the stakes are super bent after only 2 trips and the cords are impossible to see at night. Also, there is a LOT of staking out that has to be done on this tent, which makes set up very difficult. This tent will not stand unless it is staked down, and set up takes 30 minutes.

Pole snapped after 3rd usage

Setup on this tent was difficult with the poles barely being long enough to click into the rain fly. On the third time setting this tent up the pole snapped clean in half causing the whole tent to sag. When we brought the tent to REI to return the rep told us that he’d seen this problem multiple times & wouldn’t suggest this tent to anyone. He directed us to the wonderland 4 tent which we purchased as our replacement & love it!

very impressed

As an ex-10x10 canvas tent user who finally used this tent yesterday first time; Pro; super light. Compared to my previous 80lb heavy canvas tent, this feels nothing. Les burden to my middle aged lower back. It is significantly smaller. I could save a lot of space. Sleeping space is large enough for 2 adults. 3 could def fit in. 4 will be impossible. The vestibule is large enough 2 adults with chairs and other stuffs during rain. Due to its unique structure, inner tent and putter rainfly, once all the openings were closed shut, it’s quiet warm during chilly night. Set up is pretty easy and straight forward. Price is reasonable. It looks and feels a lot more expensive. Cons; material is pretty delicate. Fabric seems to be very delicate and fragile. Packs that came in the package are literally garbage. I ordered steel packs. I’ll update as I use this more. So far very satisfied.

This tent is phenomenal. During the colder months I use this as a shelter without the inner tent and sleep in my car.. summers is great too, doesn't get too hot. Easy to set up alone as a 5 8 woman! Great all in one

Disappointment

First thing I normally do at a campsite is set up the tent since it's the majority of the set up I have to do. So as I proceed to put this tent up together with my wife, we ended up having a hard time getting the poles together and when we finally put it in the hook thing, it snapped and since we don't normally bring a 2nd set of tent, we had to go home. Prepared this camping trip for a whole month and looked forward to finally spending a good stress-free weekend, spent money on reserving the spot and gas to get there just to go home less than 10 mins after trying to set up. Tried calling REI for an exchange as it may be a faulty product and wanted to give it another chance, but they couldn't even help me and told me I had to contact Snow Peak myself in order tk get a replacement. What a waste of time. Ruined the whole trip.

Shoes

this is a review of the video attached to the tent. Look at the guys shoes. The shoes are brand new right out of the box and not tied. How can you trust someone about a tent who appears to have never been on a hiking trail in his life. That said, he is slick!

The best tent!

The best size tent for 2-3 people. The color is good and it is easy to set up, so it is recommended!