Big Agnes  Gold Camp 5 Tarp

I initially wanted a tent that was durable and would work in coastal environments in high winds. The Big Agnes Gold Camp 5 tarp paired with the mesh inner serves my needs perfectly. Following the instructions on the inside of the bag I was able to set up the tent easily. As a short female, my only dilemma was putting the tarp over the mesh inner with the center pole extended. I had to buy the mesh inner elsewhere. There was adequate space inside for sleeping and a low chair. The two doors were super convenient. The benefits of this tent are that it’s lightweight and easy to store. The biggest advantage is that there is one pole and minimal parts that might breakdown.

My friend and I did the NH cross trail and I used only the cover for our shelter. We fit two bikes in the middle as a divider then my friend and I used bugs nets to cover ourselves under the structure. Held up great, packs easy and light. The tent fit right into my apidura saddle bag and I weaved the poles on my Topeak handlebar bag. I went this option because it was more affordable than a true bikepacking tent.

Great tent very happy with my purchase. It is easy to set up and perfect for you and your buddies to go camping/backpacking.

Used this shelter on a 8 day elk hunting trip. Worked great. Even with the heavy rainfall a couple days and everything stayed dry. Easy to setup and had ample room for a couple of guys and gear.

Used this on an elk hunting trip in September with my son. It was easy to setup. Had plenty of room for all of gear to be inside to stay dry and had room to spare for more people.

I did not buy the mesh inner or the floor. I like the ground for a floor and have had no problems regarding bugs or anything. I use it for myself with a cot. Just a utilitarian shelter big enough if it rains to set up a chair. You could easily sleep two. More than that and I believe you'd be a bit tight. Simple set up.

This product is as expected. Good quality and simply designed. I would love to see the center pole incorporate a twist lock style adjustment section as opposed to the button hole style simply for ease of use with gloved hands or in the dark where the small button and holes can be a bugger to line up. Other than that one minor detail I'm plenty happy after my first 10night trip with it as shelter for myself, wife, and dog.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Very versatile tarp/tent. Can be used a sun shade, emergency shelter, or a tent. When used with the mesh inner and footprint, you kind of have three shelters in one. Bought to use on river trips in Alaska. The many set-up options for this tarp make it a sweet addition to the tent quiver! Light, but also durable. You will feel like you won the #sweepstakes!

I spent years looking for a tent that could hold 4 persons and set up quickly with the fly and inner together since my 50+ years experience in the woods has taught me that it will rain or snow close to 100% of the time when I am putting up or taking down a tent. This mesh inner, in combination with the tarp, is ALMOST the greatest tent ever, but in the end, it is a HUGE MISS. The angle of the slope of the mesh inner is such that in thunderstorms the mesh inner and tarp touch for a good portion at the top of the tent, causing tons of condensation to leak in. What is frustrating is that this could be easily solved by changing the slope, or perhaps putting a fabric cylinder (think a tube sock) at the top of the mesh inner which would make the mesh inner's peak start 4-6 inches down from the peak of the tarp and keep the mesh inner off the tarp at the top of the tent so the tarp wouldn't collapse down on the mesh inner in heavy rain. Additionally, the nylon webbing straps that hold the mesh inner to the tarp are too short which again, makes the mesh inner ride too close to the tarp where it will stick together in and make condensation come inside the tent in heavy rain. Also, the tarp portion needs to have guy lines coming off of every seam--again, this would keep the tarp from collapsing down onto the mesh inner. Fixes to make this go from such a huge miss to (seriously) the greatest tent ever: Something like a tube to make the mesh inner's peak 4-6 inches lower than the tarp's so that the tarp and mesh inner are not so close together Guy lines on all seams of the tarp--some of them need to be located somewhat higher up on the seam than the current ones Longer straps on the toggles on the tarp that attach to the mesh inner to keep greater separation between mesh inner and the tarp. Also, there needs to be just a few more of these toggle straps/loops, some at different heights than the very few that are with the mesh inner/tarp combo now, in order to hold the two together better when stuffed so that it can be quickly set up all together. In summary, this is nearly the greatest tent ever--lightweight, you can set it up with fly and mesh inner together to keep rain from soaking the inside of the inner tent during setup--but if you go backpacking/camping where it rains, you will end up with wet sleeping bags and other items because the mesh inner and the tarp ride too close together.