Stoic

Driftwood 3 Tent: 3-person 3-season

Perfect beginner tent

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

My husband and I just got into backpacking this year and were looking for something that wasn't too heavy and bulky (to replace our hammock setup) but that wouldn't break the bank either. So far we have only used it car camping and the setup was SO easy and the tent was really comfortable and warm. Best tent I have ever owned! My one complaint is that my husband and I's double sleeping pad took up basically the whole floor... I can't possibly imagine fitting a 3rd in here! It's spacious for 2, but we are expecting a child and will probably upgrade to a bigger tent once the baby needs its own space!

Good Deal! Some small flaws

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

Overall this is a great little tent and I expect it'll last many nights of camping. The waterproofing is solid and the setup is intuitive. For the price I don't think you can beat this. A few things I really like about the rainfly: first of all it is symmetrical if you rotate it 180°, meaning it's impossible to put it on "backwards". There are no colored tabs to line up or anything. Super helpful especially when getting to your camp site late and setting up in the dark! Also, it is made so that on each door, either side of the fly vestibule can be staked down or be the "open" half. (Or both halves can be open if you like.) Those two features allow a great amount of flexibility, and both are improvements over the design of the Marmot Tungsten. One thing I don't like is the color. I prefer to be a little bit more subtle when camping, and the only rain fly option is BRIGHT orange/cherry. When the sun is out at all this makes the inside of the tent very bright, which is annoying but not a deal breaker. I suppose this fly color may be a plus if you are planning to camp in an active hunt area, or for emergency location purposes. One weird thing that I've never seen in a tent before is that the clips that hold the inner tent body to the poles are very tight and have to be kind of forced/snapped on to the poles. This is a minor nuisance for me but it gives my kids (3 and 5) a little bit of trouble. And the kids always LOVE helping to set up the tent, so any extra difficulty is very frustrating for them. Not sure if the clips will break in and start to attach easier to the poles. I'm not sure if I like the strap on the outside of the tent bag. It certainly makes the thing easier to grab or attach, but I'm not sure if it's worth the extra weight. I suppose if you really want to shed weight you can ditch the tent bag altogether. In general the tent is not ultralight, but for the price (and, from what I can tell, pretty decent durability) you aren't going to get much lighter than this. I wouldn't hesitate to use it for backpacking but I'm not the type to shave ounces at the cost of comfort.

Rain Fly makes this a No-Buy!

I ordered several tents. This Stoic, Marmot Tungsten and Northface Stormbreak 3 - all 3 person tent. I set them up on my living room hardwood floor. I liked this tent a lot - before I placed the rain fly on it. Storage pockets were plenty and well placed, door entry size with all almost all around zippers really great but the minute the fly went up it got super stuffy and the weird intense red glow you get inside with this rain fly was very off-putting. Even though, setup as easy and it seems sturdy, I now do believe reviews that stated that condensation is an issue with this tent. Sending back ASAP.

Love this thing

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

Have used it for about a year now. It has kept me warm and dry in sub freezing temps. The double vestibule is really nice. Super easy to set up. Its not the most compact tent in the world but for car camping, or even shorter packing trips, its been amazing for the price.

Gets the job done

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

My boyfriend bought this tent for a trip to Utah and we used it there for a week, a week in South Dakota, and countless times here at home. It overall is a really good tent it's survived snow, heat, rain, mist, etc. It is snug, fitting two Cabelas sleeping pads perfectly, and keeps the heat in well. We do find that it traps heat in so well that it will often create condensation inside the tent aka we woke up and our blanket was wet. Overall this doesn't cause a ton of issues. It does come with little vents in the vestibules but they don't truly make that much of a difference. The rain fly is great, the tent itself is great with easy set up. Truly a great tent to use. Its very small and compact which allows for easy packing it away, if you're looking for a good 3 season weekender tent this is definitely the one for you.