Customer Reviews

NorthPole 2 - room Dome Tent Gray / Green / Off - white

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

 

 

the tent part of this tent is fantastic- very roomy, ideal for family camping. But the attractive 'porch' area in the front was poorly designed if you live/camp anywhere with a remote possibility of rain. The 2nd night of our only camping trip with this tent, a rain storm blew in off the coast. The design of the rain fly, as you can imagine from the picture, caused the rain to pool in front of the tent door and all over that front shady area which would've been SO nice! we returned the tent asap.

The tent is very large. The canopy feature seems like a great idea. If you think you will be camping in any slight wind, this tent will not hold up. In an average of 10mph winds, we put this tent up for the first time since purchase. The sides kept caving in, the whole thing would fold down... it was awful. We figured that maybe the rain guard would help to keep stability but right after we had the canopy set up, the pole that goes across the top of the canopy entrance snapped, ripping the sleeve that it slides through. Then a pole snapped on the main frame right after. We will be returning it as soon as possible.

We bought this tent in 2008[...]. It has been great. As a mom on my own with two kids camping, I was able to put it up myself, with a little help from my then 7 year old. We fit 2 thick double inflatable mattresses in it, and there was still space for luggage, etc. We joked that we are spa-camping with this tent. We have used it three times. The second and third time we did get some rain, and none of it got in the tent either time. One issue we do have is that one of the poles needs to be replaced as it broke. We are contacting the company to replace, and look forward to many happy family camping trips with this one. Also, I recommend trying to put the tent together in the backyard first, so that you are experienced once you get out camping. That is what we did.

Tarps collect water, and, from what I have seen, dome tents are not the sturdiest in a wind. From looking at other reviews, I would say plan on setting up your rain fly when you put up this tent for some added support, and don't put out the front tarp if you are concerned about water accumulating.

As for my own experience with this tent, we just had it set up for a test run in our back yard for about a week. We set it up per the instructions, rain fly, tarp, and all. We also had a tarp, slightly smaller that the tent, under the tent as a ground cover. This tent is big, and it take two people to set it up.

We got rain nearly every day it was up. Reading the manual, it suggests sealing the seams and a coat of waterproofing spray. We wanted to see how it would do on its own, first. We got a very small amount of water pooling in the tent from some of the end seams of the windows and from the loop that holds the back window flap. So we will be sealing it up. Some water collected on the tarp out front, as well.

On the last night we had it up, a strong thunderstorm moved it. We got nickel to quarter size hail and wind gusts measured from 60 to 70 mph. I was amazed at how well the tent held up, especially considering the soft, moist, Iowa soil it was staked into. We had some stakes pull out which we re-seated during a break in the storm and after it had passed. The hail did not seem to do any damage. The water that accumulated inside the tent was not significantly worse with the harder rain and the wind. We did not have any poles break on us, as I have read about in a few other reviews, and it did not fold in on itself.

We had no problem getting the tent back into the bag, but we noticed the bag had a tear at a seam which is something other reviews have also noted. We will be contacting Northpole to see about sending us a replacement.

We bought this tent, at a steal, to introduce our small children to camping. For that purpose, and for the price, I am happy with it, thus far. We will likely get a smaller tent each for us and for the kids when they are a little older.