Customer Reviews

Columbia Conrad Ridge 15-Foot by 10-Foot 8 Person Screen Dome Tent

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

 

 

We purchased this tent in March and have camped out in it twice now, once in the backyard just for fun and once for a week at a time. We really enjoy this tent and it is exactly what we were looking for. Here are my findings:

Setup: Very simple. It's basically a double "dome" design, with two sets of two long poles that cross over and form two connected domes. The stakes are metal rather than plastic, although they do bend somewhat easily in hard ground. The rainfly has one long pole that goes down the center and is easy to get up and over the tent. It could be tough to set up by just one person, but if you need a tent this big, you've probably got more than one person there to do it. There are plenty of ties, clips, and velcro to hold the poles to the tent and the rainfly down on top.

Space: This is a VERY roomy tent. There is more than enough room for most people to stand up in it, and you could easily fit two queen size air mattresses in it and still have plenty of room for lots of other gear. There is a divider that you can hang in the middle and essentially make the back area a sleeping room and the front a covered sitting area if you want, or divide it into two separate sleeping areas.

Construction: The tent is well constructed, but does not have the usual "bathtub" fabric on the bottom. A ground cover/tarp is a must, since the floor is made of the same material as the sides. The rain-fly openings are somewhat of a hassle, since they can only be closed from the outside. The inside zipper also does not match up with the rain fly zipper, so it's a little more work to get in and out of the tent when the rain fly is closed than most tents are. The big openings on the rain fly have very good tiebacks though, so when you have them open they stay out of the way.

Weather: This tent vents VERY WELL in the heat. The entire thing is basically mesh underneath the rain fly, and there are big openings in the front and a smaller window in the back so the air flows through it well when it's all opened up. As for the rain, we sealed the seams on our tent before we went camping with it, and we did not get wet. There were a couple of seams that leaked a little that we're going to reseal, but they were small and in unimportant places. We did encounter some very strong winds on our trip, and we are working with the warranty department to get some replacement parts. The poles bent a little bit and the "pocket" where the pole in the rain fly hooks in ripped. These winds, however, were a part of a severe weather system and lesser winds have not caused any damage to the tent.

Verdict: This is a great family tent and provides lots of space and more than adequate shelter. There are a few design flaws, but they are nothing more than a small annoyance. If it is very windy, however, your best bet is to take the tent down.

I bought this tent for a family camping trip. I really like the concept of the tent and the price was right.
There is not much more I can add to the review detailing the whole tent from setup to verdict by JPaint21. I absolutely agree with the review.

I just want to add an issue I have with the tent.
- The Poles

During my weekend trip we did not experience rain/winds of any kind. When we took the tent down the poles were bent at each connection point. I'm sure if this tent experiences any wind at all there is a high risk of damage.

Have had this tent for two seasons now, and have to say it is a very awesome tent. Very big. Very roomy. If you know you'll have enough room at your campsite for something this big, go for it. We're in Wisconsin and have used this at places like Sylvania in the UP and the Big Eau Plaine Reservoir. We got it initially for the amount of space as we had an infant sleeping in a pack-and-play and needed a tent that the p-a-p could stand up in and not touch the walls while at the same time giving the wife and me enough room for a queen sized air mattress. This tent did and does the job flawlessly while at the same time still giving us the front half of the tent to set up a four-chair card table if we wanted.

Sealing the seams before any trip is a must (as the manual says) and I would also recommend a tarp or groundcloth for underneath as well. We've had some windy and stormy nights and the tent has held just fine except for two of the poles. With one pole, the nylon cord inside broke and had to pull very tight to re-tie. With the other pole, the fiberglass as started to split down an entire section. Had to use packing tape to keep it together to finish the camping trip (hence the four stars). Waiting for tomorrow to call about warranty on the poles.

Overall, if you have the need and the space, this is a great tent.

Decent tent for the money so far--three trips total. Have not had a rainy day or night with it yet, but we sealed the seems prior to use like you would any tent just to be safe. Set-up requires two people and is about as fast as any larger tent. The two of us have plenty of room along with cots, totes and chairs, but I'm sure four or five could be comfy with less gear. The power cord flap is on the right side of the tent; the side you see in the ad picture. Definitely can't lose this tent in the woods either thanks to the bright orange rain fly!

The d-shaped fly zipper versus the t-shaped screen zipper may give some novice tent campers issues, but has not given us any since you can just unzip the left side of the t-screen along the floor to reach the bottom of the d-fly to get out. I think the off-set closure may work well to help avoid leaks under rainy conditions anyways--we'll see. Having a fly that fully covers three of the four sides of your tent is great though I wish the overhang at the back of the tent was a bit longer.

There's a cheesy YouTube clip out there that shows most of the particulars of this tent too that was actually kind of useful prior to my purchase.

I was really happy with this tent. I used it down in Mexico and it was airy and had good ventilation. The setup was easy as well. We had two large cots and a queen size blow up mattress. With all of that there was still plenty of room for a portable toilet, bags and room to move around. The ceiling is very high. Overall I'm hoping thinking this tent will be good for warm weather (especially if you stake out the rain fly). So far it has shown to be good.

i never set a tent up in my life but had this up in 20 mins while other campers stuggled for hours

I received this as a gift and I have used it 5x already. We can put it up really quick and it has ample room. We use this as a master suite and kitchen storage area. This tent gives you plenty of room for a queen size mattress and all your gear. I would recommend this tent to the weekend camper.

Our tent failed the second trip out. We had some wind that broke two of the poles. It is a very large "high profile" tent that does not hold up to even modest winds. The front door flap is a bit inconvenient to open and close. It has taken numerous emails to finally get a phone number to replace the poles. We will repair the tent and modify it to hold up better in the wind. Looks like several other folks had the same problem.

This tent is easy to set up and very large with perfect middle divider, and also opens up nicely to let sun light in. The price is unbelievable, I mean I bought a COLUMBIA tent for the price of a no name KMART tent!!! Love it and would buy another one in a heartbeat, great name and great company!

This tent is very easy to set up. Both my wife and I were first time campers and we did not have problems getting it up. We only had a minor issue with tying down the center of the rainfly to the top ridge poles after the tent has been erected. Probably we will try to secure the two ties at the middle of the rainfly first before erecting the tent next time. There are tons of room in this tent which make it extra comfy. The bottom of the tent is thin so you do need a good tarp underneath to protect it. We got a heavy duty waterproof (15' x 10') tarp online at Tarpaflex. It is slightly smaller then 15'x10' by 1/2 an inch which fit this tent perfectly. The ventilation is excellent. We have yet to experience heavy rain and we hope that it will hold up well.