Customer Reviews

Columbia Bugaboo Four to Five-Person Family Dome Tent

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this tent mainly because of the height. My main criteria was that I be able to stand up inside the tent to be able to change clothes easily. I agree with another poster that it doesn't feel like a true 9x12 tent that it claims. I think the slanting walls of a dome-style tent take up a lot of the room you think you're going to have. I have an airbed that is a double bed size and sits 22 inches high. It fit nicely and I still had room to put a small table along with 2 suitcases and assorted junk.

The tent stakes are cheap and I actually had 2 bend while trying to put them in the ground. But its also fairly cheap to buy some sturdy tent stakes to use in the future. Don't let that keep you from buying the tent, but know that you should probably go ahead and buy some at the same time that you buy the tent.

The rainfly makes for a nice entryway overhang. Luckily it didn't rain on my trip, but I can see how the rainfly along with the vents at the bottom of the tent side walls would allow for nice venitilation without getting wet. I had nice ventilation at night by opening the vents at the bottom and opening each of the windows about 5 inches at the top. I had privacy to sleep and plenty of fresh air at the same time.

I also noticed that the zipper on the door caught on the yellow fabric zipper guard along the outside of the zipper. But that was easily avoidable once I started holding my finger against the yellow fabric as I unzipped the door.

I used the small foot lockers that are accessible from the outside to run my electric cord through for my light and fan. It worked very well so I wasn't tripping over the cords running in the doors. I just put them through the footlocker door and zipped it snug to the cord. Worked beautifuly.

The assembly of the tent is very easy and I did do it myself once. But it is much easier to have 2 people to put it up. Its much easier to have one person holding the end of the pole onto the peg while the other person puts the other end of the pole on the peg. Taking the tent down is easily a one person job. Just make sure you follow the directions for folding the tent back up and it will fit nicely into the provided bag.

This tent is definitely worth the cost. I know have friends who are thinking of buying the same tent!

Enjoy and happy camping!

We purchased this tent so we can introduce our family (my wife, 2 young children (4 and 3)) to the joys of camping. This tent easily hold all 4 of us with plenty of room for another kid and all of our gear.
The tent sets up quickly, but you need 2 people to properly pitch it - so one man setup is out. It becomes pretty tight and sturdy once properly setup and staked, and has very good ventilation.
The directions are not the best in the world, but they will do.

We bought The Columbia Bugaboo tent based on the positive amazon reviews and the design, with the rainfly almost reaching the ground for extra wind and rain protection. So many tents have a wimpy rainfly that would let wind and rain blow into into the sides. We felt the rainfly on the Bugaboo would work well in adverse conditions, and we were not disappointed.

The tent performed well on our first outing to a remote high mesa in northern New Mexico in late September. Temperatures were mid-seventies during the days and around forty degrees at night.

This was my first-ever camping experience and my husband is an "Old Marine" whose idea of camping is sleeping on the ground in the open next to a humvee, not my cup of tea. We looked at a lot of tents and I studied web reviews for weeks before purchasing the Columbia Bugaboo. I'm somewhat claustrophobic, so wanted a larger tent with plenty of space for two people. We considered the Columbia Cougar Flats, but thought it would be too large, plus more difficult for the two of us to set up. It was quite windy when we arrived at our camping spot, so the decision to go with the smaller Bugaboo was a good one.

Before our trip we practiced setting up the tent at home. Too bad this tent doesn't have its own footprint, we bought a 10 x 12 tarp and folded it to fit under the Bugaboo. We found the tent fairly easy to set up by two adults. The instructions are provided on paper and a condensed version is on a tab sewn into the carry bag. We purchased several sets of sturdy metal and plastic stakes, which we used to fix the main loops of the tent to the ground. We used the lightweight stakes that come with the tent to secure the rainfly guylines.

We had great sunny weather during our trip, but it was breezy to downright windy at times. The tent held up well to the winds, but we had very carefully anchored everything to the ground. I doubt the tent would have performed as well if we had neglected to secure all the tabs and lines, using the stronger stakes at key points.

We didn't use the attic or shoe closet dividers, and I never could get the hooks for the cup holders to latch to the wall rings. Of course, the Old Marine thought cupholders in a tent the most ridiculous idea ever, but he did appreciate the quality of the tent and the several little accessories. The pocket flaps were very handy to hold eyeglasses, half-liter water bottles, and flashlights. We pretty well filled the tent with two Coleman cots, our sleeping bags with liners, and multiple duffle bags, totes, a plastic bin for odds and ends, etc. I cannot imagine how this tent could accommodate five people, but it was just right for two. Other reviewers are correct in commenting that the angled walls of the tent make it seem smaller than 9 x 12. But the angle at the base of the tent makes ample room for bags and "stuff."

The plastic loop at the apex of the tent was nice for hanging a battery lantern. Other loops were large enough to hold hangers to air clothes during the day. We placed beach towels on all the floor areas except under the cots, very cozy for walking around. The doormat and exterior shoe doors were nice. We removed our shoes outside and used a small brush and dustpan on the doormat constantly, which kept dirt out of the tent interior.

We were careful with the zippers, thanks to the reviews that warned about them. The shoe door zippers were the trickiest, requiring careful and patient slow motion to open and close. I was in charge of opening all the windows and zippers on the fly each day and appreciated the little pockets on the fly to store the guylines and the loops/toggles for securing the windows and flaps. The cyclone vents plus screened windows allowed good cross ventilation during the day. Like other reviewers, I wish the back window zipped closed, this is the one flaw in an otherwise great design and makes the tent unsuitable for truly cold weather.

I would not hesitate to recommend the Columbia Bugaboo tent for use at temperatures of forty degrees and above. Ours is, as yet, untested in rainy conditions. We plan a trip to the same 7,100 ft. site again in mid-October. I'm shopping for a tent heater prior to that jaunt!

All in all this is a fabulous tent, as others have noted.

We put this tent to the test on a hot August night that errupted in a major 1 hour thunderstorm with drenching rains for 2 hours. The tent stayed completely dry - except for the seam that had the "In case of leaks..." instruction label stitched into it! The seam holes around this label acted as a wick and sucked in a steady drip of rainwater in the center of the sleeping area. A dab of sealer should do the trick to make this tent 100% dry.

Also, potential buyers should note that this tent does NOT have the The "Clean Sweep zippered floor flap" mentioned in the product description above. This was a major selling point for my husband, and a disappointment when no zipper was found.

We've decided to keep the tent anyway, as the positives far outweigh these negatives.

We purchased the tent based on Amazon reviews. Overall, the tent is a solid value, and held up well on the first trip.. We usually camp in the Smoky Mtn. national park, which tends to get its share of rain and cold weather.. On the first trip with this tent we got both, so we really got to experience the claims... In general the reviews here are accurate.. Here a few of our own observations:

-It is small for it's advertised size. The dome structure takes away some, as does the "porch", and the manufacturers were, ahem, generous in rounding up when they call it a 9x12. Our 10x12 base tarp was considerably larger in both dimensions. There were two of us on our first trip, and a queen inflatable easily fit in the center, with plenty of room for gear on both sides. I think you could get 4 cots, or two "full" inflatables in the tent for 4 adults. Five adults would fit, but that is really pushing it.

-Overall it stands up well to rain. We experienced about 12 hours of drenching rain, and did not have a tarp over the tent. One small leak developed on an overhead tieback. Other than that it was dry. Maybe a tablespoon of water. We siliconed the whole fly and all of the seams before taking it out, and I'd recommend this process if you want to stay dry. On the second day the fly was starting to wick condensation where the poles touched, so we'll be hitting with another can of sealer before the next outing. Overall, the floor held back the water very, very well. You could probably use this tent as a boat in a pinch!

-Setup of the tent is very intuitive, at least it was for us.. Poles are color coded, and if you take the time to center the poles and not force anything when setting up, pitching can easily be accomplished by one person, without ripping anything. At its pricepoint, this tent is as well/better constructed as anything else out there.

-The concerns about privacy / cold air getting in / are real. Without the fly, this tent is basically a screen porch. OK in some situations, not the best for others... Columbia should have added a zippered back window. This would give more options: some privacy in warm/dry weather, and some insulation in cold / wet weather. Our recent outing got down to the low 40's at night, and the tent was very drafty.

-We did not get a chance to test the venting system, but this looks to be a nice featue that will be quite useful in hot, humid summer weather. It was all but that on the first trip!

-The gadgets are borderline useless. The little mesh loft for the roof is good to store stuff, as are the built in pockets. The remote control light had a mind of it's own, and the cupholders and dividers for the little lockers are a waste of otherwise good nylon. I think most would gladly trade this material for a zippered rear window.

Overall it is a good value, and we are pleased with our purchase. You certainly won't find any of these tents on base camp at Everest, but it is perfectly suited for frontcountry car camping for a family of 4-5.

This tent has a lot of nice features:
-Set up is easy.
-Over 6' tall ...great clearance!
-Lots of windows for ventilation.
-Skylight.

This tent has one bad feature:
-Leaks from window seam.

We experienced light rain for about six hours. The tent had a large puddle in the center (where the lowest point was), causing our sleeping bags to absorb al lot of the water. This is unacceptable.

I was going to exchange for a new one until I saw another reviewer experience the same issue.

I got this tent over the summer because I had a six week archaeological field school.We bought this tent for the last three weeks because my friend and I were tired of listening to a tarp flap around and water puddles on the top of the house tent.

The tent stayed up for three weeks straight. It was roomy enough for the two of us, sleeping bags, a large cooler, duffel bags, all of our field equipment, and occasionally folded up camp chairs when it rained. You have to be careful with the stakes because they bend easily when putting them in the ground but they can be replaced. We had problems with the directions at first but eventually figured it out. The seams and rain-fly are already water proof. All of the accessories were very nice. The cup holders worked out great and we used the light as a flash light. This tent did great in the rain and even the severe thunderstorms that came through. It stayed nearly vertical in a strong storm one morning while everyones tents had nearly blown over. We had no problems with water in the tent. The only time there was a puddle was during a thunderstorm because the rain blew in the vents at the bottom. Over all this was a great tent, the only mishaps were due to us not closing up the vents and the rain-fly all the way. We used this tent in June and part of July.

The Bugaboo is a great tent for family camping out of the car. We have previously used backpacking tents, so the roominess of this tent was really nice. We liked being able to stand up in the middle of the tent. Has some great "skylights" and lots of ventilation. Held up well on its first camping trip to Maine, through rain and wind and all. Cupholders are a little over the top and did not work well, but everything else did!

Bought this for my 60th birthday. I haven't been camping in 38 years. Last tent i used was a 100lb canvas umbrella tent. Soooo, I didn't know anything about this type of tent. I read the previous review about not being able to set it up alone so I decided to try it. I read the directions carefully and found them to be insufficient. I raked my spot, put out my ground tarp and laid out the tent on top of it. It comes in a nice carry duffle and the pack weighs about 25 lbs and has a plastic copy of the instructions sewn into it. I started at 2:30PM (93 degrees) and had it up by 3:15 PM. Not bad for a 60 year old woman who had never seen one of these before, except in pictures. BTW, I used my rake upside down to support the blue main poles while i slipped the loose end of the pole onto the second pin. I slept in the tent last night to try it out. I found it to be very comfortable both in the 93 degree heat and in the 70 degree morning temperature. Excellent air circulation! It was a full moon last night and it was bright enough to see inside the tent! I have only 2 criticisms. The tent stakes are not sufficient to hold that tent down in a wind storm if you are on sandy soil and the instructions aren't very complete. I just went around the tent examining it carefully and figured out all the fasteners; some are velcro on the inside of the rain fly which help stabilize the tent. (The instructions mention only the quick clips.) As for size, the sloping walls would make it hard to sleep 5 adults but 2 adults and 3 children should be fine. Time will tell about its durability. My close examination of this product found it to be well designed, good materials, and carefully made.

I purchased this tent for my husband & I to use with 2 cots for the tent. The tent boasts a 12X9 size, but I beg to differ. The entry-way eliminates some much-needed space, and if it were 12X9, our 2 cots snuggly fit horizontally inside with a quaint spot to place our belongings at our feet. I think without the cots, you could fit 3 adults in this tent. In my opinion, people do not like to be sleeping like 'sardines', but have a little room. Overall, I am happy with this tent, it has nice features, great floor, and comes with a battery operated light that velro's to the outside and ceiling of tent(with remote control!)Easy to put together (2 adults) and is completely dry to rain! I've seen the Black Mountain (columbia) and that is bigger and also a great value! Happy Camping!