Rated 5 out of 5 by CampingLadyLoves LOVE LOVE LOVE
What else can I say about my King Pine Dome 6 person tent??? I'v been camping most of my life and always had the best 2-4 person tent I could buy as my mother use to come for a week every year with me.....Mind you she started camping with me at the tender age of 70 and of this review 86 years of age and still camping!!! We always had fun, but my mother was complaining that she needed to stand up in the tent. . .Well last Spring I finally broke down and bought my K.P.D. 6 person. . .Not knowing what it was to own such a big tent I went to a local camp ground to see how this tent set up, how long, and knowing a rain storm was on it's way to see how the tent would hold up /We were by the Ocean. . . To set up the very first time took me and no one else 30 mins., and I was proud of that!!! The rain storm came 2 days later and I must say was very happy, no leaks!! I stayed warm and dry for the rest of the week . . .dry out time was hard, as I had to start early on a wet surface, but by 2 pm my tent was dry and I could pack it away. . . take down time and stuff time was 10 mins. after the dry out period. . . The next test was in the White Mountains of N.H. Me my Mom and all the wild life you ever wanted to see!!! This time set up was 20 mins. as I knew what I was doing, and with the unexpected rain the tent performed awsome!!!! again no leaks. . . I used a queen size mattress for my mother and I slept in the front portion on a double mattress. . .we we so comfy and again no leaks. . .with being any more long winded. . .I tell ya now if you are looking at this tent, why, buy it you will not be sorry!!!!
January 3, 2012
Rated 3 out of 5 by Bryan Where's the quality control?
I've owned a lot of tents over the years. Overall, this tent's design and construction is sound. Quality control is the issue. On a high-end tent such as this one, major components should not fail on the test setup. We got the tent, set it up in the yard to test for an upcoming trip. We took it down after 2 nights and discovered the pole that supports the rain fly was defective. The shock cord in the middle had come loose and cannot be easily repaired due to the manner the end is glued. Had this occurred after a dozen camping trips, I would not be surprised. However, this tent is fairly expensive and it is more than an irritation that this happened right out of the box.
June 1, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by trjoda Definately Waterproof
I purchased this tent on Sunday it arrived on Tuesday and I decided to try it out in the back yard on Wednesday evening. It was easy to put it up. My 5 and 1/2 year old son and I did it in about 15 min. Good thing we installed the rain fly because it rained for the next 3 days. At times it was very windy and it rained hard. I checked it every day looking for water inside the tent. Each time it was dry. After being wet for 4 days it dried out completely in a few hours of sunshine on Sunday morning. I packed it up in the bag and it?s ready to go. The only thing I would suggest is the footprint and the awning / pole kit.
May 29, 2013
Rated 3 out of 5 by canoeguidedad mixed review
I have used this tent 4 times under different conditions. In fair weather it was easy to set up and we appreciated the color coding. The first night in rainy weather we noted the walls did not leak, but we got wet from water running under the floor from the footprint in the vestibule. We took care to be certain the footprint was staked out as designed and not visible outside the rainfly on the next rainy night and expected to stay dry in a flat spot, but there was still a puddle under the pad my son slept on when we took the tent down the next day. On the next campout I folded the footprint under the tent and did not stake it out to be sure water could not get on top of it. It did not rain, so not sure if that would have solved the moisture problem, but it wound up being a hot *about 80 degees) windy afternoon and there was insufficient ventilation to comfortably stay in the tent during the day with the rain fly on. The vestibule feature is great, and handy for gear wanted close at hand. I appreciate the pockets near the floor for stashing things and the rings to hang a lantern at the top were useful. Overall a tent with a lot of good features, but can not say that it is the best tent I have been in overall due to failure to keep us dry at night and poor ventilation with rainfly on in hot weather)
May 27, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by campgirl2 Totally trustworthy!
We took this tent camping for the first time this week. The weather did not cooperate and it poured rain for three solid days. One day and night in particular, the wind gusts were quite strong and the tent was being buffeted from all sides - so much so that we actually considered moving to the car since we hadn't tested this tent in weather before and didn't know how it would do. It's a fairly high profile tent and the top did blow around quite a bit in the high winds, but everything held firm, and even more importantly, the rain fly stayed put and in the morning we were still completely dry despite the muddy soggy camp site. Even the front of the tent, which we were using mostly to store wet gear, stayed dry. We were able to keep the screen between the rooms open all night so we never got stuffy. We did buy the footprint that goes with this tent and I'm glad - it clips to the tent itself and doesn't budge, it also covers the screen room floor. Perfect.
So, as for the features of the tent itself, the only thing I think would make it better would be for the front "room" to have more loops and hooks than just the one center hook. We could have used more places from which to hang our wet gear. Otherwise, we found this tent comfortable, well-ventilated, sturdy and big enough for four of us. to sleep comfortably.
May 25, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by campingwithtoddler The Best
We love our tent, it provided plenty of room for my husband, me, and our 1 year old, plus all our equipment, and a pack and play! Survived treacherous stormy night and day in it! Highly recommend it!
May 18, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by Newtoreviewing Perfect in almost every way!
We love the tent for the ease of set-up with two people, the many options the patio and fly system have, and the room it offers We had looked at many other tents, but found this superior in style, comfort and convenience. We took the tent to a state park that still had snow and with a portable heater, we stayed warm and dry. Well worth the price!
April 28, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by
Dallasmiami Stood up to a rainy windy night on Cape Cod Canal
We practiced at home, 30 minutes or so to be fully staked out, and figure out the two domes, the colors are helpful. We also watched the online video which gives you a good sense of how to set up.
At the campsite, I set it up with the optional floor in about 15 minutes with 2 helpers with the stakes, on a nice day. I knew the weather was going to get worse overnight so I used all of the guy lines at our sandy campsite.
The 4 kids stayed dry with the fly closed up all night, no issues with condensation.
The floor allows the dirty shoes and gear to stay out of the sleeping area, yet also stay dry under the fly. A small amount of water puddled at the front of the floor near where the zippers come together, at the entrance to the screened room, the kids had left it open about an inch. Other than that, I was happy with the weatherproof performance.
This is max a 4 person sleeping space. We had 4 teens, 3 on the ground and one on a cot and they were shoulder to shoulder.
April 24, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by VandM Just What We Were Looking For
This is a fantastic tent. Although there are just two of us, we love the size. We think of this as the poor man?s (or environmentalist?s) RV. We?ve read some comments here from folks who have had trouble getting the tent back into the bag. The key is rolling it, to get the air out. Here?s how we do it. We zip up all the panels before collapsing the tent, but leave the bottom zipper on each panel open. With the tent flat on the ground, fold one side width-wise half-way to the centerline, then do the same with the other side. Now fold the tent in half, again width-wise; then again. You?ll have a piece of fabric about three feet wide and about 20 feet long. Now roll it up in the direction of the screened-in porch and dump it in the bag. Next we fold the fly in half width-wise. This is a bit tricky. We find that it helps to find the middle seam where it splits the two LL Bean logos, and fold along this seam. Lay the fly on the ground. Put a fold or two in both ends to make a rectangle. Then fold in half, then in half again, both times width-wise. Now you?ll have a piece of fabric that is about 3 feet wide by 20 feet long. Roll it up and put it in the bag. While it?s a snug fit, we?ve been able to get the tent and footprint into the provided bag.
December 9, 2012
Rated 5 out of 5 by
Summitchallenger The Ultimate Family Basecamp
I had a two-person four season backpacking tent that I have used for now 10 years and it has served me well. But having just gotten married and now having a daughter, we needed more room so we looked at tents from LL Bean and my wife liked the looks of this because of the screen room. I liked the idea of having more room because though my tent is great for one, it gets cramped with two and gear.
This came to our house in a pretty big box/crate and when we opened it we found that the tent comes in a heavy duffle bag, so plan accordingly. This is not for hiking and we knew that.
We also ordered the optional tent groundsheet made for this tent. Simply said, be sure that you you this as well.
After receiving the tent, we took an hour or so to set up in our backyard to get familiar with it. This is something else that you should always do because when you are out in the field and it is raining you want to get it up right. The directions are not really helpful, but all you need to remember when you are setting it up is that the tent is essentially two dome tents attached to each other with the poles criss-crossing. This will help you keep the color-coded straps in the right place (and as we say since one of the black base straps is at the rear of the tent, ?black is the back?). By the way, those color coded hooks really make set up very easy?again assuming that you can understand how it works.
The ground cloth is also color coded to match the hooks/straps and this makes your life pretty easy.
The rain fly, with a ridge pole and a vestibule pole, slides over the tent with ease and is very sturdy and protects you from the elements.
Once you set it up you will be amazed by the thought that went into the design. First, the screen room is huge. Note, however, that if you don?t buy the ground cloth you will have no floor in this area. The screen room makes for a great place to sit and read during a rainy afternoon or to stow your gear. We parked our Bob stroller in here and still had plenty of room to lounge around. If you are hardpressed, with the floor you can make this additional sleeping space. And the windows can be zipped in different ways to allow in light or to offer privacy. The strap, from the ridge of the fly, offers a strap to hang your light. Most importantly, even a 6? tall guy like me CAN STAND UP in this area which is nice.
The main area is separated from the screen room by another door that offers a screen window for venting and light. Once you step in there you will find pockets that line the perimeter of the tent floor for stowing lights, clothes, or whatever small items you want, another strap to hang a lantern, room to stand, and a HUGE amount of floorspace. We are able to fit my wife and I on inflatable air mattresses, our daughter in her travel crib, our own personal hiking bags, and STILL have room to spare.
At the rear of the tent is a small vestibule that you can use to store other items (without complete enclosure or a floor however) or simply stake it out to offer good ventilation for the tent. Like the front, you can position the portions of this fly in different ways to your liking.
All zippers work well and have reflective pulls for you to find them at night as well as ties to hold up any portion of the fly that you open.
We?ve spent four nights in it and have loved it. On our third night a western cold front came barreling through our site at the Canyon Rim Campground at Flaming Gorge which is quite open to the elements. We sat inside and read while being battered by the squall line with rain and easily 40 mph gusts. While other tents rolled by, ours did not budge. The lines that we placed held down well?amazing for a large tent?and we stayed dry and warm. That right there was pretty amazing. We?ve also had no problems with condensation as it vents well.
There are some improvements we?d like to see. First, the front door can be a bit tricky to open if you stake the tent out either too loose or too tight. This might need some adjustment after you set it up. Also, the fabric around the zippers could be a bit sturdier in order to make opening the doors and windows easier. But the trade-off is weight, and right now the tent is pretty hefty. Second, the stakes are the plastic peg-like ones and I?m used to the wire/steel ones that can go into the ground easier. Now I think that these plastic peg stakes do provide more stability than the wire style, but they are hard to get into the ground and could break if you put too much effort into the swing (the included hammer is nice). Third, unlike some tents where it does not matter which is the ?front? and which is the ?back? because you can put the fly on either way, this tent can only be set up in one direction, so be sure you have the screen room where you want it. Last, this tent does require at least two people who are familiar with it to set it up. It is simply too big for one.
These are minor concerns for what we consider to be the ultimate family basecamp at a great price. It is well designed, spacious, and durable. This tent really dispels all the negatives you?d think of with tent camping?that you will get wet, that it will blow over, and that it is cramped. A great value.
November 27, 2012
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