Customer Reviews

ALPS Mountaineering Vertex 4 Tent 4-Person 3-Season

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The Alps Mountaineering Vertex 4 is a very nice tent, with some very well engineered features and only a few complaints.

When camping alone the 7.5'x8.5' floor space is very nice. When camping with a significant other, you also have enough room. However, as with any tent, you don't want to brush the walls or rain or even condensation from dew will wick through and you'll be damp in the morning. With the 4'4" height, the walls are at a fairly steep angle cutting back a little of the useable floor space. With a twin sized air mattress which puts you 6" or so off the ground, you lose 6-12" of floor space. With two twin sized air mattresses you better be on pretty close terms with your tent partner (after camping with a buddy over Memorial Day weekend, I thought about just using sleeping pads, but ended up buying a larger tent for when I camp with friends). The 8"x22" pack size is nice and compact, and it is just small enough for motorcycle camping and possibly hiking.

I LOVE the pole design. For the size of the tent, the aluminum poles and shock cords are quite thick and strong. It is a very sturdy tent. Camping at the beach recently, it was subjected to some pretty strong winds (I had a little trouble setting it up since it kept trying to blow away) and the poles held up very well. I love the hub system, makes putting it all together quite simple. In fact, with a little practice, this tent can be set up in about 5 min (not counting the pegs I had it up in about 5min my first time, though I'm not a rookie in setting up a tent).

My one big complaint, lack of sufficient mesh. There is very little mesh in this tent. Maryland summers can be brutally hot and humid (the Weather Channel recently rated Washington DC as #6 for worst summers of U.S. cities). By myself, my body heat can make it uncomfortable, two or more people and it is stifling. For around here, it is more a 2 season tent (spring and fall), and you can make due with it much of the winter with a good sleeping bag.

Overall, I like this tent a lot. With a little more mesh it would be a great tent. Alternatively, if there was a way to close up the mesh there is, it would be better for the winter which would make it a great 4 season tent. It is easy to put up, it fits back in its stuff sack quite well, it is about typical on space for a 4 person tent (2 can be comfortable with air mattresses, 2-3 with sleep pads, 4 only if one or two are children).