Just back from an aborted camping trip.... 4 days in the Western Maine mountains (supposed to be 6 days) with not-so-good weather. This is our 2nd season with this tent and it is so great. The vestibule makes a nice place to hang out in heavy wind and rain as well as a convenient place to put your shoes on/off so as not to track stuff into the sleeping area. Even with bad weather and all buttoned up, this tent has great light and ventilation. We have the 6 person model for the two of us and two medium dogs and have plenty of room. No problems with any of the shock poles and no leaking at all either. I am back to buy the footprint ground cloth today although we were using standard tarps with no problems.
We purchased an LLBean 8-person tent in the mid-90's for our growing family and the tent worked very well. No leaks and only 1 zipper break (which LLBean fixed at no charge, even after years of use). This year, after having camped in the tent for 15+ years in a variety of settings with kids, dogs, and equipment, we noticed that the fabric was starting to get a little thin in places. So, knowing that we were soon to be empty-nesters anyway, we decided to get a new, slightly smaller tent. We recently used our newly purchased LLBean 6-person King Pine Dome tent and were again impressed with the quality. Lots of room and easily assembled (experience helps). We especially like the headroom, the side-length pockets, the screened "porch" area, and the fact that the fly covers the entire tent all the way to the ground. We also purchased the ground pad/cloth, which made the pack-up easier and cleaner. We had read about the problems other folks were having with the tent poles and were somewhat leary of that issue. However, so far, no problems with our tent. Again, I think experience helps. All-in-all, we're very satisfied once again with another great product from LLBean. Keep'em coming!
Great tent. Great range from locked down safe, warm and dry to almost 100 percent breezy screen. Front 'porch' is perfect idea. Can go completely without separate tarp if cramped for space. I like that the footprint is not attached to walls of the front room. This allows you to toss things into the tent by just lifting the side, but when tensioned just right, you get no bugs, dirt or rain. When packing out, you don't have to sweep out the front room, just shake footprint. Used on two trips this summer. 3 pple =perfect number. Short woman can pitch and take down single-handed.
I can't say enough about this tent! LOVE IT!!!! Buy this with the footprint it's well worth the money. When bad weather hits you can zip up the screen portion of the tent tight and everything stays dry inside. Great ventilation. Love the fact that you can open up the flap in the back of the tent and stake it out to make an over hang shelter during a light rain storm. What I would like to see is this tent made bigger for an 8 person.
