Customer Reviews

ALPS Mountaineering Taurus 8.5- by 7.5-Foot 4 Person Dome Tent

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am well in to my second season with this tent and it is awesome! It packs up small and is easy to take along. I bought this for use on motorcycle camping trips and it has been everything I expected and more!
A few weeks ago I had set up in one of my favorite campgrounds. The forecast was for thunderstorms and it was right. We had got wind and rain like I haven't seen in years. I had staked and tied the tent down and it held up beyond belief. We got 5 inches of rain that night and the only wetness in the tent was from me coming in.
This is a great product!

I bought this tent as a Christmas present, and it has been one of those purchases where, as you use it you are constantly surprised by new great things about it.

So far, i've only had the chance to use it once, in the dead of winter, which it really isn't designed for, but the tent held up fantastically and was extremely practical and easy to use, if not very warm.

I'm a pretty tall guy, and this is the first tent that i've had plenty of room to stretch out in, and still have room for all my camping gear. The vestibules are great, but there's no way to cover the plastic windows. SO i'll have to rig up somehting to cover them for changing and stuff, but otherwise they are very handy.

It's a great tent, and not just some ripoff "mountainering" tent.

Its worth it.

This is a great tent. My wife and daughter and I fit into it with a TON of space to spare, it packs up nicely, and is super easy to set up. When I started looking into tents I had two major criteria: 1) that it be a dome style, 2) that it have two poles only, preferably aluminum. This tent met my requirements and has been a joy to set up and use. Just last night my wife set it up alone in less than 5 minutes.

I purchased some 6 mil polyethylene to use as a footprint under the tent. Alps Mountaineering recommends that you purchase theirs, but I found the stuff cheaper at a hardware store. Using a footprint will definitely extend the life of the floor of your tent.

I would recommend this tent to anyone looking for an affordable 3 or 4 man tent.

I just bought this tent a couple days ago and received it yesterday. I set it up in my backyard to check everything out and ended up sleeping in it. It is large enough for a queen size airmattress if you are using it for car camping. I was surprised at how lightweight it is and the amount of ventilation. I love that the door windows zip shut so you have added privacy and more control over ventilation-makes it more of a 3.5 season tent. Will have to take this hiking sometime to see how it works out-nice thing is the easy 2-pole setup (and it really is easy).

My boyfriend and I went camping on a very rainy weekend and stayed nice and dry. Perfect size for two people and their stuff. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is because you can't cover the windows of the fly. People can't see in all that well though so it isn't much of an issue. I just thought it was an odd design choice.

Fantastic tent. First off, with all tent reviews remember the number of people you can fit in a tent should always be divided aby about half. So this is a 2 person tent, maybe 3 at most. If you have small children you might fit 4, but in general for comfortable tenting you divide by 2. if you have 4 adults or older children look at 6-8 person tents.

Second thing to remember is that with almost all tents, you need to buy the footprint seperatly (or make one). This is a must for the durability of all tent floors and floor protection.

Now, on to the tent.

It is fantastic. No sleeves for the poles, all clips, for easy set up. I much much prefer this to having sleeves in teh fabric of the tent. Pretty simple for one person to put up and very simple for 2.

The version I purchased had aluminum poles, which are better than fiberglass, though I understand they also sell a version of this tent with fiberglass poles. They seemed sturdy and have been holding up well.

The larger zippers are great, there are several hooks to hang things (and a cargo netting provided) from the roof. Two vestibules and a full rainfly make it great for all weather and add storage space.

Love that it has 2 doors with windows that you can zip shut to block airflow/view, or zip open and it is still screened off to let more air flow in.

Weatherproofing was well done, as with all tents could use maintenance after a few seasons. The full rainfly is a major advantage, and it even has vents on the top that can be opened. Don't get a partial rainfly if you expect any kind of weather (see coleman sundome and similar tents). The stakes are the standard ones that come with all tents, adequate. I prefer larger ones but that is not a knock on the tent since no tents in this price range come with sturdier ones.

Packs up nice and small, even got it back into the bag it came in which is always an accomplishment.

As a note I have about 20 years camping experience in many tents, from cheap to expensive. This tent is a fantastic tent for a couple, or even a couple with a small child. Probably best for car or motorcycle camping, as they have specialty tents if you're doing more hiking/backpacking/biking.

Second note, I don't normally publish reviews, but as anybody reading this has probably now realized, the resources on the internet to research tents stink big time. Every tent has a few great reviews and a few terrible ones. Don't trust the terrible ones for this tent.

I think this is the best tent I have ever had. The rain fly goes all the way to the ground, it has two doors, the door have bug screens as well as nylon skins, and it even came with a cargo net. Easy to put up and take down, it packs nicely and doesn't weigh very much. I am satisfied.

I've had this tent for 5 years now and couldn't be happier with it. I also used it while a professional canoe guide in the Boundary Waters, sleeping in it every night all summer (3 full months).

Not once have I ever gotten wet in this tent, and I've be in some of the worst thunderstorms of my life in this tent. It has a 'washtub' floor, so you don't have your wall fabric near the ground. The rainfly also comes nearly to the ground preventing rain from ever hitting the tent itself.
It's great in the heat as well, just tie back the rain fly, and open up the rain fly vents at the top and you'll have great airflow.
The only downside, and it's very minimal, is the rainfly 'vestibule' isn't small enough that you can sit in. So you'll have to have both the rainfly and door open briefly while you sit in the tent and close the rainfly.
It's also very light and packs and assembles easily. I could usually pitch it in about 2 minutes.

All in all, I couldn't be happier with this tent and wouldn't consider replacing it.

I didn't have much time to read reviews and select a tent. I just knew that I had to have a tent with a full coverage rain fly, and I needed it in one day. Much to my relief, it came in time and I was off to the woods on a 10 day camp out. I was very happy with the tent when I saw the quality of the poles and the materials. It is easy to set up and it has room to spare for my gear and me. I have now spent 18 nights in the tent and weathered a few good rain storms with no leaks. I didn't have any wind to speak of, but it looks like it should be quite stable because of the four anchor ropes and the rigidity of the aluminum poles. I placed a folded up plastic tarp underneath the tent just to protect the floor.

Thanks to those who have provided reviews for this and other tents, I chose to purchase this tent. I have camped several times; however, this was the first time I've been responsible for the tent purchase and tent set-up / take-down. This tent is easy for one person to set-up and very lightweight. The tent has two doors for ease and each of the doors has windows that can be zipped opened for ventilation or zipped shut for privacy. When lying in bed you can look up into the night sky when the windows are open and still have privacy because the windows do not go too low or cover too much of the tent.
A high-rise inflatable queen-size mattress can fit inside the tent well in only one direction if you do not want the mattress resting on the tent's walls. Once the mattress is in the tent, there is not much room left for your other items. The fly can be a bit tricky to put onto the tent...but that may be caused by user inexperience and we finally were able to successfully attach the fly. The fly repelled light rain excellently.
Tent take-down was easy also and everything fit back into the bag provided for the tent. I'm happy with my purchase and have more trips planned!