We love the tent and recommend it without qualification. BUT, the set-up instructions stink and you ought to practice at home setting it up first. How could a company with great products not make this idiot proof? Don't try it the first time in the dark. We didn't, thank goodness, and now have hints marked on the tent with indelible marker.
First my backgound. I have been tent camping for over 40 years now and have a lot of experience with many different tents (NF - VE25, NF Westwind, SD - Stretch Dome, Eureka - Dome). I have camped in the summer at the beach and in the winter up in the mountains and everything in between. I have had this tent LL Bean Vector XL 6 for 8 years now and can say that it is a good value for the dollar especially when its on sale. This is a very good car camping family tent (too heavy for backpacking) . It has aluminum poles (lighter and stronger and much better than fiberglass). It is easy to setup with two people and it holds up well in the rain. My only complaint is because of it's size (height) it does not hold up well in heavy winds (>25 mph). I strongly recommend that you stake down the tent well and setup and use all the guyline points on the tent as this will help tremendously in high winds.
Now that we've had the Vector XL6 for a couple of seasons and have used it in a wide variety of conditions I thought I'd submit a quick review and tell you about it.
The Vector XL6 has a number of selling points: * Simple, sturdy design * High quality materials and workmanship * Aluminum poles * Easily pitched * Vestibules can sleep a big dog * Perfect size--big enough for our family but never too big for a state park campsite. * Priced below similar tents from other high-end manufacturers
All of these things have made the tent a joy to use. When it rains, getting wet is the last thing I worry about. I know the full coverage rain fly will keep us dry, and if we need to take shelter in the tent during waking hours, it is a large and comfortable space. Also the three panel design of the front vestibule is highly flexible and allows us to shelter our gear and maintain some ventilation in bad weather.
Any tent that's as tall as this will be susceptible to wind, and for that reason, I'm careful to fully stake the tent and use the guyouts no matter how calm the weather.
There was one instance when I found myself cursing the tent though, (as I mentioned in a review I submitted to Epinions a while back). The Vector has the front vestibule sewn to the main tent body, not the fly. They say this is to make handling the fly easier, but it also gives the tent better ventilation and better cosmetics. One rainy morning when we were forced to strike camp quickly between rain squalls, we realized the vestibule was soaked and filthy. We needed to keep the tent clean and dry for the next night's use, but the wet, filthy vestibule stood in our way. After a few minutes of scrambling, we finally stuffed the vestibule in a tall kitchen bag and got the rest of the tent in the back of the van without messing it up. I didn't appreciate having to deal with that, but next time it will probably not take me off my game to the same extent.
There are lots of good tents on the market, this one works for us, and maybe you too.
We purchased the 6 person Vector tank in 2010. We don't camp that often, and we've used the tank 3 week-ends. Our only concern with the Vector design is the center poles for the tent (not rain fly). They are long, made out of an aluminum alloy metal, and the tent design puts a lot of stress/ pressure on them. During the 5th tent set-up the tent center pole snapped on us. LL Bean was quick to replace it and they were willing to replace other tent parts if we thought they were damaged due to product integrity issues. We still continue to recommend this tent particularly to families who are seeking tent space. We do though make them aware of this product design concern.
