ALPS Mountaineering Aries 3 Tent: 3-Person 3-Season

My Wife and I have bought this tent about 3 years ago and have loved every trip with it. It is easy to set up and very spacious for 2 plus our dog. We occasionally leave the fly off for great stargazing before we go to sleep. Reading the concerns about the leaking problem. We sealed the areas in question with seam sealant before our first trip and have had no problems.

We have brought it out 4 times. It is a hardy little tent! I love that the poles are color coded with the tent. It did fine in the rain. Winter is finally here and we are thinking about taking it out for some snow camping! I always throw a tarp under tents just in case, but I'm sure it is fine. My boyfriend is not a seasoned camper so I got him set up with a sleeping pad and bag...after that, any tent is a good tent lol.

Took this tent on a three day canoe camping trip in Wisconsin this past weekend. Big thunderstorm came through during the night, heavy wind, lots of rain. In spite of our campsite being on a sandbar (iffy ground for stakes), the tent held up wonderfully. We lost the stake holding out the vestibule on the windward side, but otherwise the tent flexed just like it should in the wind, stayed put and kept us dry!

Pros:
- Easy setup once you've got it down. Color coded corners on the tent, rainfly, poles and footprint.
- Decent interior height, plenty of space for two people plus gear in the 3 person
- Full rainfly for rain protection and warmth
- Rainfly can be easily pulled back from the front and left secured on the back for a clear view and ventilation with a quick re-cover if it starts raining in the night
- Double vestibules and doors are great for access and gear storage

Cons:
- Mesh is so fine it hampers airflow. This tent will be warm in the sun or hot weather even without the rainfly
- Maybe this is more an issue with my 6' height, but its amazingly hard to crawl in and out of the tent with the vestibules up.

Tips:
- Get the matching footprint. The tent base is trapezoidal.
- Stake out the rainfly, especially the lower tie-outs on the front and back. The rainfly seems to be much more effective if its kept taught and not touching the mesh of the tent.

I've gotten experience with this tent in multiple weather conditions so far. It worked very well in the rain, no issues with leaking. Quick and easy set up. I bought a compression sack separately and it packs down very small and light.

When we added a second dog to the family a new tent was a requirement. We also had a budget so this was the best option with our needs. It is easy to set up and has plenty of floor space.

My favorite feature is the shape. It is tapered so it is smaller on one side. The bigger end has plenty of space for our feet and dog beds without feeling cramped.

We took it out at some unconventional times of the year and it has held up to inclement weather well. One of our dogs is a bit skittish and his claws did mess up the mesh a bit, though that is to be expected. This is our go to tent for dog camping and it has held up just fine. It is kind of like the work boot of tents. It is a bit heavy if we ever wanted to take it on anything more intense than the weekend overnight, but it is reliable and holding up.

I'm not a big fan of the gear loft design, I have to say. Things drop out of it all the time because it is slanted. Not sure if that is just a manufacturing issue or if they are all that way.

My son and I took this snow camping and it was perfect for the two of us and our gear. The vestibules and two doors were nice to keep our wet stuff outside.

I've only set up the tent 3 times, and it gets easier every time. It's also pretty light. I haven't had any experience with it in the rain yet, so can't comment about that. I love the fact that there are two doors, and that you have a clear view of the beautiful sky when the fly is not needed. I had a foot print from a previous tent that I cut to size, and it rolls up nicely with the tent and fits into the bag. Also, the head room is comfortable. I can't stand up straight, but there's plenty of room to move around for me, my dog, and my pack.

I saw this tent on sale, saw the "100% Guaranteed Returns" and thought, why not. Some people I know told me to look into this particular tent a little further, and it turns out the rain fly has leaked at the pole crossing for basically everyone who's ever bought it (which might explain why it's on sale), and now I have to pay for return shipping. Worst online buy ever.

I recently received my tent and have set it up a couple of times and so I am sharing my first impressions. I'll update it when I have more experience with it.

First, I was able to set this tent up in about 6.5 minutes just by looking at the picture of it that comes on the bag. There are only three poles so it's not too complicated. The hardest part was figuring out which end of the tent was which.

The rain fly was also a little confusing to figure out how to attach correctly. But that was also due to the fact that I couldn't see which end of the fly corresponded to which end of the tent. Still, this part only took about 4 minutes and I'm sure it was just as fast if not faster the second time. With two people this should be a piece of cake!

When I was setting the tent up in my front yard it happened to start raining. If you've ever been in Memphis and have experienced one of our random flash rainstorms, you know that they can get pretty heavy. Once it was over I checked out the interior of the tent and couldn't find any leaks or water so that was good! I'm not sure how it would hold up for a more extended storm (this one was about 45 minutes).

I bought this tent earlier this year and was just able to use it this past weekend in the Upper Penninsula of Michigan with my girlfriend and dog. It was absolutly perfect size for the 3 of us. It would be pretty cozy with 3 people in this, but would be fine with two adults and a child. Our dog had room to move around in the night and we both slept great. With two people it set up in about 3-5minutes. Having doors and vestibles on both sides really helps. Quality is also great- I was concerned about my dogs paws and claws on the mesh, but we had no issues! I shopped around for awhile and this is def a great option.

Sets up nice and simple. did it in the dark in less than 5 min, and only the second time. For its size its light. great use of space and roomy up top. Camp and back pack with my bird and I can even have another person along no problem. dual entry and vestibules are great, great design. Vented fly works great, kept tent not so hot in the sun, much better than I thought it would. I'm glad I shopped around and found this. I had to add this... Went to Rio Grande Gorge and it rained 2 nights one night very hard with light ice. tent was Awesome I didn't have to stay the second night but this tent made it worth while for sure. and that was with only 2 stakes for the fly doors.