Any chance 2 full-size air mattresses could fit in this thing?
Looking at the comments, you would think that this tent has no windows. However, based on the model number, 36437, it does have windows (you can even see the rear window through the door in the photo). I found this description:
SKU: 36437
Roof: Polyester mesh
Walls: Polyester taffeta/Polyester mesh
Fly: Polyester taffeta
Floor: Reinforced polyethylene
Door: One Dutch
Windows: Two with inside zip
Carry Weight: 8.4 lbs (3.8kg)
Sleeps: 3 to 4 people
Product Codes: 047297364378
[QUOTE=douglasb, post:21, topic:364386]
Any chance 2 full-size air mattresses could fit in this thing?
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Sure but for them to be inflated you’ll have to stack them on top of each other which is not the most comfortable setup.
Curious what the dimensions are packed. I’m sure it’s too big for backpacking, but wondering if I could use it for bikepacking. It’s certainly light enough. Either way, I’m already in for one for less adventurous excursions. Just wondering if there is value-added.
[QUOTE=todmacher, post:24, topic:364386]
Curious what the dimensions are packed. I’m sure it’s too big for backpacking, but wondering if I could use it for bikepacking. It’s certainly light enough. Either way, I’m already in for one for less adventurous excursions. Just wondering if there is value-added.
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It could be: 6" x 23" is the listed packed size. The poles are what make it 23" though, so you you split them out you could fit it in any size you wanted.
[QUOTE=douglasb, post:21, topic:364386]
Any chance 2 full-size air mattresses could fit in this thing?
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I fit two twins into a 9x8 cousin of this model over the weekend. Was about all you could get in there, except a very skinny aisle between them. And they were butted against the walls for the most part - would not have wanted rain in that case. Same tent comfortably held one queen mattress during a week-long adventure earlier this summer. I’d say buy if you need a cheap tent that you don’t expect to last for years and years. Although I am on my third summer with my cheap tent and it sees about ten nights per season. But I ScotchGuarded and taped all the seams. And make sure that it’s dry when I put it away. A dollar per use so far, wouldn’t bother me if it got lost tomorrow. IF I found a cheap replacement like today’s woot!
[QUOTE=gregbowman, post:9, topic:364386]
Definitely a warm (hot) weather tent . . . there doesn’t appear to be any way to limit the ventilation from the top vent that is hidden in woot!'s pic that is there under the rain fly. It appears also that the top half of two of the sidewalls are mesh also . . .
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Making no claims on the quality of this tent or how it will perform, here’s a cold weather camping lesson… Top venting is nice in the hot weather but it is critical in the cold. With 4 men in a tent, there is a lot of water vapor in there. when it hits the cold tent it condenses and roles down the sides and onto your sleeping bag soaking you over night. top venting must be kept open if you want to survive a sub 0 night in a tent. (New England Scout leader w/ over 1200 nights in a tent.)
I never owned this exact tent, but owned a Wenzel that was similar. As most people have said, it’s good for warm weather. The sides of the rain fly cover a mesh panel which lets the tent breath fairly well. There is a window oposite the door which zips up and the fly attaches to the poles, which makes it a free-standing tent in fair weather, no need for guy-lines and stakes.
If you’re going to be out in rainy weather however, you’re probably going to get wet. The fly on the sides barely covers the mesh top, so in any kind of wind, water will blow in the side vents and above the door. In strong winds, the water blows up the side of the tent and into the mesh. The poles are typical entry level poles, they don’t age well and are prone to splintering if not cared for. I’m not saying you have to baby them, but don’t toss them onto ground either. Every nick in the outer casing is a potential splinter point. The cross-dome design holds up to wind reasonably well.
If the weather is good/fair this tent will do fine. At $25, It’s hard to ask more from this tent.
I don’t have this exact brand of tent but the tent I have used for many many years. (I think I got it at age 13 and I am now 21) I can put the tent up in about 5 minutes. It is a very good style for when you need to just toss one up for a warm night.
Also you can’t beat the price.
I didn’t have this exact model, but I had a very similar (but a couple years older) Wenzel. I actually took mine backpacking because I couldn’t afford a lightweight tent. It worked well for hot weather shelter for a few trips. I never got it out in the cold, so I dunno how it works below 80*.
The big issue I found (and the reason I’m currently tentless) was that I took it on a relatively benign weekend trip to a campsite in Texas hill country. There was a sustained 25mph wind with gusts of up to 35. The first night, the tent acted as if it wanted to rip apart. The second night the windward side collapsed in and the fly became a flapping annoyance. The wind had snapped the poles in multiple places.
If you plan on using this anywhere that has the potential of wind, beware that Wenzel poles tend to fray and crack at the joints.
This tent is just fine for fun camping. I have the other fancy gear and always end up setting up the basic tent anyway.
I agree with certain aspects of your statement and I disagree with others - I find that adjustable ventilation at the peak is absolutely necessary to maintain proper temperature, humidity, etc. inside the tent vs the ambient temperature and humidity outdoors and when you camp in freezing temps and below, you’re going to want to shut that top for a few hours at a time or severely limit the flow accordingly (there are charts for this if you can’t get a natural feel for it - I believe Idaho State put them out several years ago with basic recommendations on how much flow you want at specific temps and humidity based on occupants and space) to build up enough humidity to make the air inside the tent comfortable to breathe - otherwise, you’re wasting energy at night and when you should be resting you’ll be breathing laboriously. You can’t just leave a tent like this, with this much vent, wide open sub-zero. But, you do need a balance. Also, if you’re a good ole Yankee like myself, you’ll realize that even in relatively cool weather situations, relying on only a fly and not having interior closure of vent is a recipe for a LONG cold wet night if things begin to go wrong. In 95% of the tents offered to the public at Wal-Mart, woot! etc., things tend to really go wrong, fast, because they are ill equipped (manufactured).
I’m not 1200 nights in New England, but I’m literally countless nights (used to be close to half the year when I was younger - over the course of 20 or so years) in all climate zones, including 90 days straight in Montana on a “live on what you can bring in on your back” (INCH bag type) contest, which I won. The thing is that not many of these woot! consumers are anywhere near doing anything like you or I would do, so making the post I did was, IMHO, very good advice for the “general population” - because frankly, if any of them use this exact tent for anything other than a hot, fair weather tent, they’re going to wish they had not.
We can get into a long discussion of proper ventilation of a tent, but I don’t find it applicable to this product, as this tent doesn’t offer proper ventilation for anything but the warmest of nights, so why would it matter? It isn’t even made from a truly decent material for camping comfortably. Those top vents on those canvas scout rigs are much different than what you have on these. You might as well be in the open air with this in anything below 70 or so, 'cause you’d be better off in the right bivvy sack.
Fact is in the RIGHT tent, you can be sealed tight and never have condensation problem one, the fabric breathes, but not too many people have three to four grand to lay down for a two person cold weather tent (and that’s when she is on sale).
If you want a truly GOOD tent made exactly for what you’ve set out to do, see http://tentsmiths.com/ and have one made. They are cheaper than you might think.
I can vouch for this. We have a larger Wenzel with the exact same issues. If you’re going out in any chance of rain, you’ll need to spend another $25-50 on a tarp to cover the tent, or you’ll get soaked.