Customer Reviews

Eureka! Sunrise 11 - Tent (sleeps 5-6)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

My wife and I have four tents. For ultralight backpacking, we use the REI Half Dome, for a quick one or two night camp or early season iffy weather, we use the Sierra Designs Alpha 3. For multi-day car camping our standard tent is the Sunrise 11, and for really big campsites that don't have a lot of shade, we use the Copper Canyon 1512. I could fit 5 REI Half Dome tents in that Copper Canyon 1512, it's huge. Although that Copper Canyon 1512 is lux, unless you have a wide open meadow, it is really too big for most camp sites. Eureka also makes a Sunrise 8 and 9, but I think the Sunrise 11 is just about the perfect size for car camping in maximum comfort in most established campgrounds. We've had the Sunrise 11 for about 7 years and have spent over 30 nights in it. Overall, I really like the Sunrise 11. Sleeps 6? Maybe, but I prefer just my wife and I in a queen size air bed with plenty of room to move around and for our stuff. We can easily stand up in it. I don't like the room divider, but we just keep that rolled up. A few years ago we camped for 4 days near Taylor Reservoir, Colorado. It rained heavily non-stop, but at least there was no wind. The only water inside the tent was at one of the internal mesh storage pockets sewn into the tent wall. I thought I had seam sealed the tent pretty well, but must have missed this one spot. Luckily, my oversight only resulted in about a 3 tablespoon puddle each day. You must seam seal all tents, use a ground tarp and replace the cheap tent pegs while you're at it. This isn't a four season tent, but it has held up pretty good against some mean weather. My wife has so far stayed warm and dry, and that's what allows me to stay out there longer. I've since sealed all the seams once more and garden hose testing results were dry. Ready for another season. The Sunrise 11 is well ventilated even with the rainfly on. I'll choose less warm and airy over hefty-bag like condensation and suffocation any day. I think the primary selling point for me were the dimensions of this tent. Most developed campgrounds will have a 12 x 12 ft tent pad. I bought the Sunrise 11 because it will fit our big air bed and gear inside and still maximize the setup on a typical campground tent pad. Tent pads are square so I like square floor tents instead of hex. Setup is significantly easier with two people, but can be accomplished solo with minor swearing. Getting the rainfly on solo takes a little more ingenuity. Lay it out upwind, stake it down to keep it from flying away, insert poles, attach a rope and standing on the opposite side of the tent, pull it over. I'm not thrilled by pole sleeves because they hang up on the pole ferrules, but these aren't full sleeves, only at the very top. You clip the rest of it. Overall, I think this is a well made, stable, large, rain shedding tent and has served me well. UPDATE 06/09: We camped in high winds for 3 days at the Oasis near Great Sand Dunes National Park. I tied everything down and we had no problems. Same tent is still going strong. The tent barely fit between the trees. You never really know if a big tent will fit, but so far I've been able to squeeze this Sunrise 11 in. Its been really close a few times. (If I'm unsure, that Alpha 3 is light enough to bring as a backup). If you go a little smaller in size, like a 9x9, then it will easily fit any place I've ever car camped. For a 9x9, I might go with the Eureka Grand Manan 9 over the Sunrise 9. It looks like the rainfly offers a little more coverage and it is a more subtle color. (nothing against blue.) I'd like to give that one a try. This is why I have so many tents. UPDATE 7/6/09: We camped for 3 days at Lone Rock (#7) near Deckers, CO. I wanted to set up the Copper Canyon 1512, but it wouldn't fit. I also brought the Sunrise and Alpha because there was room in the truck. I probably should have just set up the Alpha, but went with the Sunrise. We had heavy rain, high winds, and even a little hail. The railroad tie and gravel tent pad only prohibited the rain from draining off. At one point we had about 2 inches of water under this tent. The floor felt like a water bed. Only about a 1/4 cup of water water blew through a pin hole in one corner. No big deal. Impressive considering the amount of water under the tent. This Sunrise is a great tent.

I've had this tent for over 10 years and it has seen plenty of camping. It is well ventilated with good seams. We've slept is it during hellacious rain storms with high winds, lightning and buckets of rain and it is has performed admirably. Be sure to seal the seams every year as you would any tent. We usually camp in the woods so it hasn't had much uv exposure, but we still use this... I'd buy another... At 7 foot center, you can stand and stretch in it. Our family is only three, me, my wife, our son and our flat coat retriever... plenty of room to play cards etc in rain storms...

****** 2010 addendum: Well, we bought this same model again. My son and his friends have taken over our old sunrise, it still holds up.. you have to follow careful habits, like using a good ground cloth and sealing the seams (as already mentioned) My wife and I are able to have the luxury of full sized cots with excellent foam mattresses.. Great Tent.

Highly recommended.

The tent is very spacious and airy. That may be the reason it can be colder than some of the tents which are smaller and not as well ventilated. A word of caution - make sure it is well staked down or the shape makes it take off like a sail. We went camping in Yellowstone this summer and the wind blew it around as we were putting it up. Also, the size can make it harder to find a good camping site.

We looked around at a number of family tents. We purchased one and found that it was extremely difficult to set up in even the most minimal amount of wind. My wife and I are both experienced campers and hikers so we were surprised when we couldn't get the tent up properly. We even borrowed a friend's family tent and proceeded to rip the base the first time we tried to stretch the tent out to stake it.

This tent is different. It is logical to put up. Once up it is spacious. The first time we put it up only took ten or fifteen minutes (include the time to yell at our 1 year old and 3 year old to get off it or we can't put it up). Internally it has some nice storage features (lots of little pockets and places to store items). I never thought any of that kind of stuff was usefull or necessary until trying to find where the diaper cream went amongst all of the sleeping bags. The tent has nice features without appearing loaded with gimmicks.

And here is the real clincher - the sack that the tent comes in actually fits the tent. Not like you have to bring a hydraulic press to squeeze it in - it actually fits. What a relief after a long weekend of camping. I have never written a review before but was moved enough by the quality of this product.

The only downside I can think of - the stakes included are the cheezy plastic variety that don't always work in all soil types. And there is not a waterproof assembly instruction printed on the bag (always a nice touch but not needed here since assembly is so logical). Also the way the rain fly goes on is a bit odd (attaching the cross poles to the fly and THEN sliding it over the top).

But the downsides so pale in comparison to the pluses. We are 100% satisfied so far!

This tent is tall, roomy, and could sleep four comfortably, though it was just me and the kids. I had a large cot in the center and the kids slept in sleeping bags on either side. Tent comes with a netting organizer that suspends from the top of the tent where I kept keys, cell phone, etc. It also has a netting shelf with mirror that I didn't use but will be convenient in the future. This tent withstood three nights of heavy rains in the Texas hill country without leaking! It rained buckets, and the tent was sitting in muck, yet it did not leak. As I took it down, I noticed water seeped into one corner slightly and water seeped through the floor where my cot's feet were, but the tent had been sitting in mud (on a tarp) for three days. I should have padded the cot's feet to prevent this. Set-up and take down are simple, and it has sturdy poles. Trust the reviews -- this tent is fantastic. You won't get a better tent for this price.

I have used this tent for about four years now with no complaints. Our church youth group has used the same tent for about five years with no problems. [...]

Unfortunately our family has 5 people. With duffel bags and winter coats for fall camping we have no room to maneuver. As we are now going to be a family of 6 we'll need to upgrade.

However, we've had this tent for 10 years and it has served us well, rarely leaked. Once when we had a lantern hanging it pooled water and leaked. The zipper never snagged. This year, however, a pole broke. We don't like the way the poles don't stay engaged while we are assembling the tent.

All in all, I'm happy I chose this tent. I took it camping in Michigan, and after pre-seam-sealing and two thunderstorms, there were a few droplets of water that leaked in through a couple corners. Not bad, compared to the river that ran through my last tent! At least now I know where to put extra seam-sealer next time.

Besides the enjoyable amount of space inside, I absolutely loved having little cloth hooks sewn in around the tops. I took a few plastic hangers with shoulder hooks with me, and I had a place to hang an overhead flashlight and very lightweight clothing items to air out. I wouldn't recommend hanging anything heavier than a light cotton shirt, but the chance to take advantage of the vertical space made it worth the investment in a taller, heavier tent. It comes with two detachable mesh bags to hang on the walls, and one larger pocket organizer built into the back wall--this last one was more of a nuisance because it hangs straight down, without a good way to tie it down and away from taking up space in the middle of the floor. I didn't use it, so I might cut it out the next time I set up the tent.

Setup is definitely easier with two people, but I was able to get it set up all by myself.

We bought this tent to replace a similar Eureka tent that lasted more than 10 years. We love our new Eureka tent! We didn't even use seam sealer, but it still stayed dry inside during rain on our recent camping trip.

The old tent had four main poles that connected to a center piece, and it was very easy to put up, even by one person. This new tent is just a little harder to put up because there are two very long main poles that arch across the top from corner to corner. We decided that the best process for putting it up was to first stake two corners on the same side of the tent. Then, with the tent flat, we put the two poles through the sleeves and attached them at the two staked corners. Next, the two of us each stood an an unstaked corner so we could simultaneously arch the two poles and fasten the other ends in place. Finally we staked down the third and fourth corner and the sides. Putting up the fly was a breeze.

The tent has a large window on each side, and the zippers worked smoothly! The cupholders and pockets are great, and there are little loops on the inside of seams so you can hang other stuff.

I spent endless hours online looking for a good tent. This was my first time camping and I was not sure at all what type of tent to buy. There is simply too much to chose from. I was basically looking for a reasonably price 3 season tent with good rain protection. Eureka SUnrise had the best reviews and I decided to go with this one.

We went for 2 nights camping at Acadia National Park in Maine. I tried to put it together myself alone but it was too hard to do it. I had to ask a friend to help me out. WIth 2 persons it is very easy to put up. The feature i liked the best was the 4 windows. It was a bit hot during the day and the cross ventilation kept the tent inside cool. At night it got a bit cold so we zipped the windows and after that it was nice and cozy inside. It did not rain so can't comment on that aspect. It was easy to fold it and took a lot less time. The poles are a little heavy so if you have the $$$ then I would suggest to go with light weight aluminum pole tent.

I gave this tent 4 stars because the tent description said that even a single person can put it up but I found it very hard to do it especially there is no way a single person can put the rainfly by himself. The tent is 7 foot hight at the center and the rainfly has to go over it. You have to put the rainfly on the ground flat first, put the poles in it and then lift it and put it on top of tent. It is a huge rainfly and if its windy it is almost impossible for a single person to do it.

Overall I am glad that I purchased this tent. However at I paid $210 for this tent and not it is selling for $174 :(. I would say it is a good deal.