Customer Reviews

Columbia Frosty Ridge II Backpacking Two-Person Tent

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

 

 

I've had this tent for awhile now and i'm finally getting around to writing a review.It has its good points and bad points as well.First the good points.It is a light weight two person tent and is waterproof and i have not exp any condensation problems.It with stood a pretty mean rain storm in PA.You will be able to pitch in under five minutes.I can sit up in it,im only 5'7 though.Plenty of storage for little things.Well there not to many bad things i can say about this tent.Yes it is a two person tent,but it is a VERY tight fit though.Despite what the box says i would not use this tent any other time then spring or summer.It is not a four season tent.My main complaint with this tent,are the stakes.They are only good in soft soil or ground and will bend in anything else.So i would advise buying new ones.If you only go camping once or twice a year or want a good lite weight tent for summer use.This is the tent you want.I've posted some pictures of my tent set up.Amazon has three pictures posted.The first one is the 2005 model,which i own.The second and third are the 2006 model.

overall we are pretty happy with our purchase for the money. we camp at the texas coast and it gets really windy and rain is usually a problem. after being soaked in a dome tent several times we thought these lower, more wind-resistant styles might hold up better. this tent, being such, did the trick. we went with a group with two brand new dome tents and recieved a good pour one night. the dome tent slumberers gave up and ran to sleep in the truck after fighting the tent blowing in their face and all of their blankets and such being soaked. we were nice and cozy dry. we hardly could tell it was raining and we had not a drop anywhere. of course, we joked in the morning that this was due to the fact that there was not any ROOM for anything else to get in. it is quite a small tent for two people. one person would be very nice. we just barely comfortably fit, and it was a little tricky getting in and out. the pictures showed the side entrance doors but it came with the front entrance. we could sleep with about less than an inch of space between us if we pushed against the sides. but it was by no means miserable (if you don't mind sleeping close). the raised roof by the head area makes the small space more bearable. there is of course no room for any gear other than your blankets and pillows. you do need a ground mat- "tent saver" as there is not a thicker fabric on the bottom like most dome tents have. this tent is of good quality and very quick & easy to set up/ take down. the bag it comes with is nice- no struggling to stuff the tent and stakes in. i wish it were just a tinsy bit bigger (too much bigger would take away the awesom wind resistance) but i think for the money with the other options i saw -this was a good choice. campin's not supposed to be lush anyway =)

This is a nice, light, well-constructed tent that is easy to set up and take down (folds up easily and into a nice small package). I had read that it was a SMALL two person tent, and it really is small: my girlfriend and I are both quite small, and it's still a very tight squeeze. I woudn't recommend using it as a two person tent unless you and the other person are slim and very fond of one another (and don't intend to bring full-length therma-rests or any substantial gear that needs to be kept inside the tent). As a solo tent, it's great. For it's weight and price, it's worth the squeeze. Oh, and it needs to be used with a groundcloth.

At great tent that packs up and down quickly and into a small bundle. Managed to get this up in less than 5 minutes when rain was threatening, and small enough that it is easy to clean/dry out when you get home. At 5'10 this is a 'one person plus limited gear' tent. You will need to be quite flexible to move around inside much. Space outside of the inner tent but under the rain cover is limited - you will need to keep all of your kit inside of the tent to protect it from rain, further limiting space. Great for a 3-4 day trip where packing is light.

I did a bicycle tour from Philadelphia to Maine this summer - 8 days on the bike - and used this tent as my night-time shelter.

I was looking for a light-weight tent that would pack up into a tight bundle, and this tent fit the bill.

The tent is light and easy to pack. It also will setup fairly quickly. I was able to sit up inside the tent, so I never felt very claustrophobic - but there is no way that this tent could hold 2 adults. I did a backyard test run of the tent before my trip - and slept in the tent with my 5 year old son - and there was not much room at all (I am 5'7", 180lbs).

While stealth camping one night during the tour, I was hit with a pretty heavy rain-storm, and this tent kept me dry (although it was like sleeping inside of a drum with all the rain pelting the tent) ;)

Generally I was happy with the tent, but if I had to re-do my purchase, I would buy a self-supporting tent - which this one is not.

There's simply no way two people could sleep in this tent. From the inside it measures about 4' at the shoulder, the widest point, and about 1.5' at the foot. The stakes are really cheap, and I bent half of them just setting the tent up in the back yard (I guess I have to mention on the plus side, they're easy to bend back too). I noticed another stake had bent after it had been set up a while in moderate wind. In the rain, water likes to pool on the top near the foot of the tent.

I give it two stars rather than one, because they could have done worse. It's not too bad as a one person tent. But if you want a one person tent, you probably want something smaller, if you want a two person tent, you definitely need something bigger. I'm 6'1 175lbs and have no issues with room in the tent on my own. But there's very little room for any more gear, my Redcloud 5600 doesn't comfortably fit in it with me, which is what I was hoping for.

Having just returned from a weeklong (8 nights, actually) backpacking trip in California's Emigrant Wilderness (just north of Yosemite) with this tent I can say I'm very pleased with it. In contrast to some of the other reviews, I had no trouble with the size (8'x5'). I'm about 6'1" or 6'2", and my 15 year-old son is almost as tall (although a LOT skinnier!), and we were both able to fit comfortably. My two brothers-in-law (both adults about 5'10 to 6'0") also bought the same tent for this backpacking trip and didn't have a problem fitting inside. Note, however, that we did not store our packs *inside* the tent with us (although there is a small amount of room for hiking boots just under the rain fly at the bottom) and it's not tall enough to comfortably sit upright for even one person with it all zipped. But we were interested in a lightweight tent that would keep us dry, and this one fit the need very well.

Although we were perhaps lucky and had no rain, the fly importantly covers the entire tent. The first night we woke to a covering of ice and frost (I guess August at 8,000 feet can be like that) but we stayed dry except for some condensation. In order to avoid the condensation it is necessary to stake the tent and fly tightly which allows for better air circulation between the two, and once we realized that we had no problems with condensation for the rest of the trip. The clips that attach the fly to the tent in 4 places were rather clever and easy to use - leaving 3 places to stake the fly - and setup took less than 10 minutes. There are also guy-lines in case of windy conditions, although we didn't need to use them.

As others have mentioned, the tent will not stand on it's own like a dome tent and requires staking, and the stakes will bend in stony ground. The top of the stakes are rounded instead of simply bent at an angle, which made them a lot easier to push/pound in and pull out, and while they're quite light they seemed sturdier than other stakes I've used. But for the price (I got mine on sale for just under $30) it can't be beat for a 2-person backpacking tent. Storage pockets inside are plenty, with one large pocket and two smaller ones on each side at the top, and a clip-in hanging storage bag in the top of the tent which wasn't needed and could have been left at home to save a tiny bit of weight. Best of all, it's just a little over 5 lbs, which is important when you're trying to limit the weight you'll be carrying on your back (what I wouldn't have given for a Sherpa!) and my son and I split up the tent from the poles and stakes to share the weight. Also note that you'll want to get a ground cloth to protect the bottom of the tent, but the 5'x7' tarp we got fit easily into the roomy zippered bag that comes with the tent. There are separate bags each for the poles (2) and stakes (12) and everything seems to be good quality.

big enough for two people, small enough to tie to the backpack with no problem.

I'm 6'5 and my wife is 6' and we were touching the sides all night and ended up with mosquito bites all over our sides from biting us through he mesh. It is very light and easy to put up though.

I bought this tent to go solo camping. Sometimes I put a twin air mattress inside and I still have room for a small cooler and small backpack. The draw back is not being able to sit upright on the mattress. I just recently camped at Bryce Canyon 2/9/10 in the snow and the tent was great. Temps dipped down to Zero at night and the tent was fine. I have also camped with it at the Grand Canyon in the late fall. This tent is easy to set up and pack. After bending the stakes on my first trip hammering into frozen ground I relaced them with sturdier ones. I haven't tried backpacking with it yet but that is also on the list of things to do.