I first want to commend those who designed this tent. It overall was great. Once we put it up a couple of times it was rather 'easy' after that. It is pretty big so if you are back-country canoing you may have a hard time finding a spot large enough for this beast depending upon where you are. We have 2 small children and it was a GREAT tent for them. We just returned from a trip to Isle Royale and the 'screened in front porch' was wonderful as the bugs were a little bothersome. I would recommend the footprint as it keeps the tent more tidy and you don't tend to track in dirt to the sleeping area. The only draw back I experienced with this tent was with the fly. The fly does not come out far enough in the front 'screened in porch' area and when it rains there is a small-medium sized area that lets the water in. The water drips off the fly and drips into the screened in area leaving not large but certainly not small amounts of water. Bummer when you are already in a humid environment and the water doesn't seem to evaporate. I hope LL Bean fixes this flaw because without it the tent is magnificent! We re-named it the Kingdom.
It gets 4.5 stars because it's not a 6 person tent in my opinion. We're a family of 4 (with a 4 and 6 year old). Pefect 4 person tent with ample room for gear. Set up was a breeze and I also recommend buying the custom footprint becuase it clips in nicely to the tent itself. I also own a 2 person, 4 season, LL Bean expedition tent that's about 10 years old which has held up wonderfully. I expect to get as many good years out of this tent as well.
We bought the 6 person version of this tent about a month ago and have now used it three times. Although I would recommend this tent, I have a few small qualifications to this recommendation. It would be very cramped for 6 people. I'd suggest that this is more of a four person tent. I would also highly suggest the purchase of the associated footprint. Although you can certainly find cheaper versions, this one clips in to the actual tent corners and provides a snug fit. This is very important as the "screen porch" area of the tent does not have its own floor. My only true complaint (design flaw?) is that rain comes freely into the screen area. Yes, I know, the screen area isn't really meant to stay perfectly dry... but why not included a zippered rain fly on the front opening? After all, this is where most people will store their packs and other belongings. Set up takes a full 15 minutes, if alone and at least 10 minutes with help. With all of these comments aside, I'd still recommend this tent.
I just bought this tent for me and my famley of 4 and its not as big as I thought it was but it did the trick we had a really bad storm and we did not get wet inside the tent the screen room got wet but its a screen room I would tell anyone looking to buy a tent that this is the one
