Customer Reviews

Columbia Cougar Flats II 15-Foot by 10-Foot 8 Person 2 Room Family Cabin Dome Tent

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Thus far, we have gone on 3 trips and due to rainy summer, encountered rain each trip. Tent was steadfast through some torential downpours with a very small bit of water on floor (we did not waterproof); nothing to complain about! We have two Intek twins and 1 Queen air mattress. The electric port was very convenient, the loft is great for holding pillows to keep clean. We even brought a regular box fan along last time; wonderful! Locker could be a bit deeper, as most items fall out. Most folks, including myself, did not find the instructions well-written. I've taken the liberty of typing up my own, adjusting as I've gained experience as my upcoming trip will be sans husband, like the first and I needed help as I'm a bit too short, so the order of directions is done with that in mind (along with 2 children helpers!). All are welcome to download my version of the Columbia Cougar Flats II instructions http://www.rocketlaunchers.org/documents/columbiacougarflatsii.pdf

No - not Jack-n-the-beanstalk giants, but I'm over 6' and my kids are taking after me. I've been looking for a tent that will fit the growing family of 6. Here's the high and low points for this tent.

Sizing.
My wife and I use twin air mattresses (no sense risking discomfort there). On the 'non-door' side we fit well with our smallest beside us, a space heater (ya - 34 was a bit too cool to go without) and gear. On the 'vestibule' side slept my other mini-giants with all their stuff (waaay too much stuff - gear is an over-simplification). We still had enough room at one of the doors to take off wet shoes w/o messing up the sleeping bags.

H2O.
Enough for a refreshing drink. Amazing what moisture comes about when a cloud moves in over the campsite. During a heavy rain, the tent leaked in 4 places (without any seam sealer - didn't have instructions, so I bypassed this. NorthPole recommends Kenyon 3 or Seam Grip and NO spray for the fabric). Both bay windows collected a bit of water then dripped onto MY sleeping bag through the interior pocket. Pulling out the stakes farther would have solved the dripping. Most of the water came in just beside the doors. Water runs off of the fly and drips halfway down the arch (about 1/2 a cup in 4 hours of the storm). We played a nice game of Carcassonne inside during the deluge, until we noticed the pool collecting on the fly! Yikes - make sure you stake out the fly to avoid this. Even so, I'm the only one who got soaked as I pulled the cords and received the waterfall.

Extras.
The gear loft works well, and I could still stand up with stuff in it. The drink holders are OK, but the shelves are completely gimmicky and a hazard. Only took once to have everything drop on my head to take it down.

Customer Service.
Not by Columbia. I called for 2 different problems. NorthPole sent out the missing part immediately. Very friendly, some wait time. If they are out you get a message and need to call back.

Overall.
Awesome. Look forward to using the bay windows and cyclone vents in warmer weather. Now if we could just get on a slim-fast stuff reduction program...

We received this tent with 1 week of ordering it. It comes with a very nice, strong bag. We set it up at our camp and were a bit overwhelmed at first but got the hang of it pretty quickly as the pole colors match the pocket holes. It took my husband and I about 20 minutes to put it up. I love the big windows, very airy and BIG. My husband had his doubts about taking it down and getting the whole thing back in the bag, but we did it with no problem, poles and all. Overall I would recommend this tent to anyone.

I've read the other reviews so far so I'll try not to repeat their helpful advice. I bought the prior model of this tent (red and beige) for our family of four (incl two cub scouts). We've had it for at least 3 years and have been extremly satisfied with it's function and durability. This tent is not for everyone, but for those who want or need the extra space it is incredibly wonderful. We use a queen size air matress on each side and there is still about 4 x 7 feet of open floor space on each side to use. It is soooo enjoyable to be able to stand up, walk around freely, have no difficulty accessing either side of the queen mattresses, and have room to put everything we want in convienent areas. Plain and simple, there is room to live in in this size tent. You can sit and eat, play a game, have your own space to relax, and get dressed/undressed while able to stand up and walk around freely. The tent is well constructed, has nice built in pockets, net hanging shelves and drink holders, and the zippers work very easily and smoothly-even with young kids grabbing and yanking them. The only new option on this version is the cable access. This has been a non issue for us. When we camp, we have yet to need to "power" anything inside the tent. The set up is very easy. Two adults to set up and take down make it so much quicker and easier, but it could definitely be done by one person. The bag is extremly durable and generously sized. It took us forever to remember how the tent originally came packed, but we finally figured out the best way to pack it up the smallest was to fold it in half lengthwise first (go from 10 x 15 to 10 x 7.5) then fold it 5 x 7.5, then 2.5 x 7.5 and roll it up--PRESTO!! It will fit back in the bag easily! Though this makes no difference to me our tent generally brings a lot of unsolicited attention because of it's size. People are always commenting about how huge it is and want to check it out and ask questions. I really like the almost upright side walls-very spacious! During cold weather (right around freezing) we all sleep on one side to conserve body heat-still using the 2 queen mattresses on one side. We tried a smaller tent which did keep us warm, but we were so uncomfortable it wasn't worth the warmth at all. We got wet from being squashed up against the tent walls and sleeping on the thin foam pads was the pits. We had no room for our stuff inside the tent so it had to be kept in bins outside. Definitely for us the space is well worth being a little cold. We got a propane heater which helps to take off the chill in evenings and early am. We've really not had any structural or integrity problems with the tent or hardware and would recommend it very highly. We have used it about 10-15 times for two nights at a time.

Overall we really liked this tent- it's very spacious and looks good. TALL ceiling!

Some design 'oddities' or features I think are worth mentioning- might affect your choice whether or not to buy:

Door placement: 2 door tent, but BOTH doors are into the same room- one directly across from the other. So if you intend to share this tent with friends, you will not each have your own entry/exit. If you intend to use it for your family alone, it's like the first room is a 'living room' with a big window, and the back room is the bedroom, with a more private design. (Great if that's how you will be using it). With the privacy curtain open, the rooms are still divided on the walls/floor- it does not turn into one giant area.

Rainfly design: the rainfly doesn't extend far enough to cover the doorway- so if rain is dripping from the rainfly and you open the door to enter/exit, it will drip directly into the tent.

Bathtub floor- great for keeping out water- but pick up your feet- or expect to trip. Not a good choice for persons with ambulatory issues. Also we did experience condensation through the floor- although it did not even rain, the bottom of our camping pads were damp. Recommend a tarp underneath the tent, and/or something under camping items to keep dampness away.

Putting it together- directions: When other reviewers mentioned the uselessness of the directions in putting the tent together, they were NOT kidding. Recommend bringing a picture of the finished tent and printing the directions provided by another reviewer. They came in handy. Once you've done it a few times, you might not need anymore....

Hanging shelf: Useless, don't even bother. Doesn't hang straight, and items will fall off.

Hope you find this review useful.....

This is an excellent purchase. Plenty of room for a family. We used one side for a king sized air mattress and had plenty of room on the sides to stand and get out of the bed. The other side we used as a sitting/storage/dressing area and had a small table and two camp chairs set up and still had lots of room to move about. The tent was outside for about a week and did experience some pretty heavy rain a couple of days. We only got one small persistent leak in front of the door around the zipper. I did not waterproof the tent prior to using so this tiny puddle was acceptable. One side of the tent had to be readjusted after the rains but that was due to the ground getting soft and making the pole sink in a little too much. There were three of us and a large dog in the tent and never felt crowded. Very well ventilated and never got hot even with a few hot and humid days. Easy set up due to the color coding not the directions. I set up by myself and took about 45min. but would have been much easier with a helper. Very happy with the tent. Would have been nice to see how the remote lights work but they are no longer included with the tent as with the previous model.

The tent was fairly easy to set up after thourougly reading and following the instructions. I set it up in my back yard just to see how it went together. My one complaint so far is that the shock corded poles that form a semicircle to support the two side windows broke the first time that I used them. I called the phone number that was provided and actually talked to an American in Missouri believe it or not! She told me that this was a problem that they had with this tent and that supposedly this situation had been corrected. New poles should arrive in a couple of days. We'll see.

My wife and I researched a lot and settled on this tent... we couldn't be happier. It's actually very simple to set up and I have done it alone in about ten minutes on more than one occasion.

It has a sturdy rolling case with a strong plastic bottom that actually allows the tent to fit back in it fairly easily. There is an expansion zipper that allows quite a bit more space if you want to store a tarp or mat in with the tent bag.

All in all we can fit my wife I( on a queen size mattress, our two kids on two full sized cots, and our 130 lb. dog and her bed with plenty of room to spare.

The additional amenities(cup holders, three shelf corner storage, and gear loft), excluding the cord port, are a bit gimmicky but actually work alright. The large windows allow for excellent air circulation.

The only complaint I have is that the door zippers get caught on the over lapping fabric fairly easily.

Overall, a great tent that I would recommend. Plus it looks sexy. ;)

The other positive reviews are pretty spot-on so there is not a lot to add. I will tell you that I did a LOT of research before deciding on this tent. My research paid off on our most recent camping trip. We were used to climbing over and around eachother attempting to maneuver in our much smaller low-hung "4 person" tent. What a hassle, always stooping over while unpacking/packing our stuff and getting in and out during the night. Those days are over!

We use a full sized queen inflatable mattress in the sleeping portion of this tent and have enough room to walk and store stuff on either side. We use the other half as a screened porch (the huge bay window is nice!) and for most of our gear storage. Also because the entrances are in the non-sleeping room, you can put a towel down and use it as a mud room (read: no muddy sleeping bags/pillows!)

I believe you will be very pleased with this tent. I cannot emphasize enough the difference between being able to stand up completely within the tent or having to constantly stoop over. This tent is worth every penny, your back will thank you!

After much research on the internet, we finally settled on the Cougar Flats II tent. I was looking for a large two room tent with lots of ventilation and heighth and I found it with this tent.
The directions are a bit unclear for the first couple of steps, but the poles are color coded and now that we have done it a couple of times, it is no problem. I cant remember exactly what the directions say, but putting the roof poles in their sleeves and clips first and then the side and leg poles is the way to go.
Once set up, the tent is so roomy and I love all the windows that open up. You have to be careful when putting in the bay window poles because you have to bend them to fit the window and that is a bit tricky, but not too bad.
The cargo net is great for holding lots of things, but the corner hanging shelves arent too useful because they hang down straight and the tent corner walls are angled out, so they kind of get in the way. We don't use them. There are several loops in the ceiling that we have rigged the remote control lantern and weather radio from, so that is a nice feature.
Like a couple of others have said, the front door zipper might get stuck, but just use common sense and open it slowly and you shouldn't have problems.
One of the other features I like is the largy carry back with wheels on it. We are able to get the tent, poles, rain fly, cargo net extras, and ground cloth all inside. Just make sure every bit of air is out of it.
I highly recommend this tent for families or people camping with dogs because there is plenty of room for air matresses, chairs, dog bed, luggage, coolers etc.