evrgrn  Starry Night 2P Tent

Not too many reviews here on this newer product so I thought I'd help out. As part of REI's new "evergrn" brand, this tent is being heavily promoted and was set up (and was the only tent set up) in two local stores that I visited. If you want to see this, good chance you could see it at your local REI, setup, before you buy. I tried it in the store before buying. I am a twenty-something who hasn't camped in probably a decade. I didn't want something too big because 1- it's just me and 2- Storage space in car and in my small-ish apartment. For this reason I was initially drawn to backpacking tents...but the more I looked the more I wasn't sure that I wanted to pay the premium for a tiny tent, since I was "car camping." I seem to be the exact demographic this tent was designed for ;-) Things I liked in my "shopping" phase. • having a fun/unique design. Reminds me more of an enlarged backpacking tent (in some ways) than the venerable dome tent. • More usable floor space and higher center height than most 2P dome-style tents. (Bigger domes have better "stand-up" room, but I don't want a huge tent!) • nice usable rectangular interior space • 'dat skylight! I haven't camped with this yet -- only picked it up yesterday -- but I have set it up in my living room. Here are a few things I like and dislike so far, after setting it up 2x at home: Likes: • Sturdy Poles • Big Sky View • Two Doors • One-person setup-able • Carrying bag is large enough to "stuff" the tent back into (I gave up after second attempt at folding). Dislikes / Worries: • Rain fly is a little fiddly and especially if it starts raining in the middle of the night, it's going to be unpleasant to scramble out of the tent and get the "roof" attached. (To be fair most backpacking-style tents share a similar design of upper-mesh. I guess I'm used to dome tents with 1-2 dinky windows and an optional rain fly) • They make a big deal about it being "2" poles, and I wondered how that could be since it's 2xArches and 2xCross bars. The answer is that the cross-bars are permanently attached to the arch-bars. So you end up with these awkward 3D poles that feel permanently tangled when collapsed, and especially when you're pulling them out of the pole bag. I think I would have preferred having 4 poles instead, it would have made the setup ever-so-slightly more difficult but overall easier to deal with. • Speaking of poles, the rain fly has a pole in the center that's permanently attached to one side. I don't like! There's a sleeve to thread the other side through, and you have to do this weird ninja move to slide it through the sleeve before you snap the poles together. Then it's hard to fold up the rain-fly because you have a collapsed pole rattling around in the center. Would prefer a detached pole -- maybe make it a different color. • For some reason (Again...probably from a lifetime of dome tent camping) I thought there was an option for the whole door to be mesh, but it's just that triangular flap at the top (Or open the door completely). • Speaking of the vent in the door, the way you open it is a little odd (You can see in the video). You have to unzip the bottom of the mesh, then unzip the nylon flap (Which flaps to the outside), and re-zip the bottom of the mesh. Looking at the construction of the tent I can see why this was necessary, but I would have taken a slightly smaller vent "inset" into the door if it meant less zipping. It also would have made the "flap" flap to the inside. • They printed the instructions on a nylon flap and sewed this to the top of the stuff bag. The flap is forever in your way when you're trying to put the tent away! Other notes: • In addition to the mesh pockets in each corner, there are several "hooks" throughout the upper portion of the tent. None top-dead-center like you might find in a dome tent, but around the periphery. I'll count them the next time I put this up. • There are extra clips top-and-center, presumably for the rain fly (They're too small to clip around the main poles) but these are not noted in the instructions. I'll update this review (or post another?) after I get a chance to use this tent outdoors!

The idea of a tent with 4 covered walls and an open roof is brilliant. This would be even better if it was half the weight. Too often we see ultra light tents that are perfect for stargazing, but need the rain cover for any privacy (blocking off all visual and preventing star gazing). I would love to see this same tent idea applied to an ultralight. I understand that the fabric is half of what makes the tent lighter weight, but I feel the overall weight could be brought down by using lighter material for the poles or making them thinner. However if you do not need to carry this tent any distance then I highly recommend it.