REI Co-op  Kingdom 8 Tent

On our fourth enjoyable outing with this tent, our family of 6 found ourselves in a cloud on a 2500 ft Arkansas ridge. Overnight we experienced a very severe thunderstorm, with high winds about 50 mph and horizontal rain and freezing temperatures. I can say that we all stayed warm and dry. However, the tent took a beating: Bent poles despite six guy lines (but it stayed up); limited areas of condensation; ice on the lines. It got cold, damp and windy enough to move us into the Garage, in which we comfortably cooked a hot meal. Probably best to avoid setting the long side of the tent directly in the path of the wind if possible. We all love the tent, and have returned the poles to REI for replacement.

After much research and reading through most of the online reviews through this website, I decided to buy the Kingdom 8 for our family of five. After reading the reviews, I was concerned a bit about how the K8 would withstand windy conditions. Our first time taking the tent out was Memorial weekend to one of our favorite camping spots near the Grand Coulee Dam at Steamboat Rock State Park. May in Washington state can be rainy and windy so I was a bit nervous. The weather forecast looked like we may get some wind and rain during our four day camping trip so I made sure to guy out the rain fly as many other reviewers have mentioned. Setting up the tent was smooth and easy, I noticed how the tent may be a bit structurally weaker than dome tents but I loved the space. As a 6'2 man, I appreciated the taller structure of the K8 and it definitely seemed very spacious inside. We had an inflatable queen sized mattress, a single cot and also a bunkbed cot and we still had room to walk around inside the tent. The connect tech garage, as most reviewers have already mentioned, is a "must have" for the tent. It truly is a great accessory that makes the K8 the perfect tent for a family. We loved having the "patio" feel that the tech garage added to our K8... it was a great place to leave our shoes at night as well as a shaded place to sit in our chairs during the day. Lastly, on the final night of our camping trip to Steamboat Rock, we had a pretty intense storm come through the campground. The rain was not terrible but consistently fell for a couple of hours. The true test came through the form of a strong wind gust (my biggest concern). While making dinner, a strong wind came through the campground and broke my inlaws awning attached to their travel trailer. As we were helping them keep it from breaking off their trailer, I looked over at my K8 tent, just 20 yards away and was concerned that the wind would destroy the frame of my tent. Once we got their awning under control, I ran over to make sure our tent was not harmed and that the frame rods were not bent (which other reviewers had warned). When we looked our tent over, I noticed the guy lines had kept the pressure from the strong wind off the frame rods keeping them from bending. I was impressed the tent withstood the strong wind that only moments ago nearly ripped off the awning from my inlaws trailer. I was grateful that I guyed out the rain fly and that it proved to be enough to withstand the strong wind. Coincidentally, I did not guy out the connect tech garage and it did fine as well. The next day when we were packing up the tent, each pole was fine and not bent at all from the wind. Obviously, this is just one trip but I am one happy customer. I really love this tent, the comfort and space it provides. The only thing I would echo from other reviewers is that there would be more stakes and guy lines provided. Altogether, this is a wonderful tent and I would recommend it to anyone

I almost didn't purchase this tent based on some questionable reviews here but a sales rep at my local REI was able to change my mind. We used a queen mattress and 2 twins and there was room for another queen with some room to spare. The first time we used this tent we encountered a crazy thunder storm with hard driving rain and high winds straight off the ocean. We got pounded for two days with bad weather. This tent held up like a champ and the interior stayed dry. I am so happy I bought this tent. However, I did make some modifications. I added an additional center guy line on each side of the tent, 3 lower guy lines on each side as well as 2 guy lines on the tech garage. In addition, I upgraded all stakes to the MSR Ground Hog Stakes. Trust me, if you upgrade your stakes and pitch this tent properly you can be confident that you'll be safe and sound in this tent. When we set up our tent, the ocean front sites were about 90% full. The next morning, everyone's tent either collapsed in some way or flooded out. The second day there were only a few tents left standing and we were one of them! The rest of the the trip was outstanding and my family will always remember the storm we survived on our first family camping trip. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars was due to the fact that you need to add guy lines and use better stakes to really secure this tent for foul weather.

Update on our previous review. Just spent a VERY wet weekend in the North Carolina mountains. It seems like it rained from about 30 minutes after we got the Kingdome set up until for 3 days. Sometimes misty nasty stuff sometimes pouring thunder showers. Glad we have the optional garage to hang out in during the showers. All the time not a drop of water got inside the tent. We have used the tent for probably about 20 nights so far, 2 wet weekends, and it's about as dry as a tent can get. Picture below is right before we took it down hope you can tell how wet everything is. A couple days of drying it in the garage and ready for next trip.

Such a perfectly thought out tent. I am 6ft 5in and I can stand up in the tent which is rare. Its unique shape gives you AMPLE space but more so a 4-6 person with gear vs 8 person. The vestibule is an absolute must and adds a ton of storage space for everything you DON'T want in the tent. The screened in room is perfect for getting ready for bed area or enjoying a cup of coffee before the rug rats wake. I am an eagle scout and have had many many tents in my day. I have a quarter dome 2 plus as well and have never been more impressed with the tent quality of REI's tents (maybe with the exception of Mountain Hardware). I have now used this tent for probably 6 camping trips in the past year for a total of 20 nights or so in 4 different states and I can assure you it is worth the money.

I used this to camp on Gunflint Lake near the BWCA. Our view on the other side of the lake was Canada. 2 kids on camp pads and 2 adults on a queen air mattress. We have used this tent for 2 years now. Anywhere from 80 degrees down to about 30 degrees. It has survived a stiff breeze coming off the lake and hitting the tent broadside, a severe thunderstorm and multiple consecutive rainy days. This tent has stayed up, stayed dry, and has thrilled us with its durability and space! No matter how lousy the weather day we know we can look forward to crawling into the tent to escape! So much space inside!! The sides roll up if its warm out and a beautiful breeze goes through it. It is a piece of cake to put up. And the tent actually packs down and goes back into its bag easily! And i LOVE LOVE their backpack style storage bag!

We had the Kingdom 6 tent, which was great. After using it once this spring, we got cots for the 4 of us and back to scouting this fall. We took it out, all excited with our new cots. But they would hardly fit - literally pushing at the ends to the point it would almost not zip. I didn't understand how a 6 person wouldn't hold 4 cots. So we called REI and they said "No Problem." They said just to take the 6 in and we will exchange it for the difference - amazing customer service. We used it this weekend, and it is great. There was one bit on unknown around rolling up the sides of the fly and how to attach at the corners. The six was easy with toggles at each corner, but the 8 doesn't have the corner toggles to hold the fly rolled up. I am working to figure this out - there has to be a reason. Otherwise - we absolutely LOVE IT!

I have used this tent twice and am currently in love! My husband and I bought this tent to replace a 10' x 12' dome tent. The verticality of this design on a smaller footprint really makes getting ready for the day so much better. The two-room design provides a cool weather and warm weather sleeping option. Set up sleeping in the screenroom in summer and full-sided in the spring/fall. Even with the fly, a tent this large had plenty of ventilation for our needs. We also bring a fan for circulation, which we will use this summer. Both uses have been in colder weather (at elevation in RMNP in September and in SW Missouri in October), so we are looking forward to using it more this year. We don't typically spend a lot of time in our tent when we're camping, so keeping the fly on and guyed out tight has not been an issue for us as other reviewers have noted not being able to see out. Keeping it guyed out has kept it upright in stronger Missouri winds when (from reading other reviews) I was worried about how it would stand up. Love this tent and am looking forward to more use this year!

Was able to get this using an REI member coupon, which makes this easily a great deal. I just returned from a beach trip and I must say I love everything about this tent. I would like to quickly respond to a few of my concerns that I had based on all of the other reviews. Wind - During our beach trip we probably experienced 10-15 mph winds and the tent performed flawlessly. Very little movement at all. I had it guyed out and I had the vestibule facing the prevailing wind. It definitely is a high profile tent, so it is going to be more susceptible to high winds than other tents, but that is the trade off for ANY large family camping tent with the type of headroom we have in this one. If you pitch it properly and look for natural wind buffers in doing so, you should not have any problems. Zippers - I read several reviews about the zippers separating or snagging, and a design flaw. The zippers did snag occasionally, but the reason for this is the waterproofing flap on the doors opposite the vestibule. Once you learn how to open the door by placing your finger inside of the flap it easily opens without snagging. No problem at all, and I will gladly accept this trade off for the waterproofing on that door. Garage - In my opinion the optional garage is absolutely necessary. On our recent trip we spent 50% of our time in the garage. Sitting watching the ocean, playing cards, eating meals. You can look at the attached photo of my wife and girls in the tent to get an idea of the size of it. You can't stand up in it, but it is easily large enough to sit comfortably. We kept all of our food coolers, etc inside the garage. Adding the outdoor carpet in it makes it a great place to take off shoes and keep the sand out of the tent itself. Rain Fly- The single greatest feature of this tent is the Rain fly. And the flexibility it offers in rolling it back horizontally and vertically, one side or both. The negative I have seen reported in other reviews is that with the rain fly on in the rain, you cannot see out or open any windows. This is true, when it is completely attached, but with the optional garage attached, we kept our doors wide open with the mesh and they are protected from the rain by the garage. Allowing rain protection and full visibility. We camped in area surrounded by RV's at this campsite, and we were approached by 4 different people commenting about our tent and asking about it. Everyone was impressed by it. I have a family of 4, and a dog, and this was the perfect size for us. It allows us to have a sleeping area in the back, a screen room in the middle for bug free hang out space, and a covered garage for outdoor space. As someone who obsessed over this purchase, and was considering a Coleman instant tent for much less, I can say you wont regret getting this.

"THIS" is an AWESOME camping tent! I use the larger area for my Queen sized air mattress, and the smaller area for a desk to use the ham radio, like an office.