I've used this at Mt. Hood, backyards, assorted places, nothing extreme. A little tight for two, but for just me it's sweet. I LOVE the two doors and 2 big vestibules. I can set it up any which way and there's always a door and vestibule facing me. Zippers seem a little weak but no problems, everything works great. Love the window, free gear loft (which MHW charges 30 bucks for!!!) it's really quite perfect. kinda ugly colors. that's the worst thing I can think of.

Customer Service

outstanding. REI and LLBean have everlasting props from me. I just returned a pair of 10-month old boots to REi that leaked. they were special order, but they took 'em back no problem. THe sales chick looked at me kinda funny-like, though. I think she was grumpy on account of the Christmas traffic.

Similar Products Used:

smelly old Jansport, really stinky North face, great REI Taj. (and I mean smelly literally: 20-year old nylon REALLY REEKS!!!)

It has been a year since i had this tent shipped to my front door, and it's about high time that i gave this thing a decent evaluation. Let's get the cons out of the way. During my first use, one of the pole segments developed a crack about an half an inch long starting from the tip. Chalk one up for beginner's negligence. On the next consecutive uses, i found that the vestibules could not be tautly staked out unless one uses the maximum length of the adjustalbe stake loops (not very adjustable then, huh?). I also had to buy some cord for a couple of guy out points on the front and rear of the fly that would've otherwise been unusable. On desolate, sandy peaks, the no-see-um mesh acted like a filter, only allowing the finest (oh yes, just the finest) dust to settle on my gear and my face. Not a very good night's sleep. When fully (and I mean fully) guyed out, the half dome uses 12 stakes. This set-up withstood winds of exposed campsites on ridges, 3000M peaks, and typhoons. The guy line tensioners, however, would loosen after a few hours, and I had to get wet anyway just to tighten them again. Rain never seeped into the tent, it just dripped freely from the opening in the fly vent when strong winds would push water up the vertical faces of the fly up and over the vent opening. BUT! A little duct tape fixed the poles, who needs adjustable stake loops, cord is cheap, a little sand never killed anybody, 12 pegs won't break your back, good knots keep the guy lines in check and a few drops of water on your face can be refreshing. No other tent can be this light, this cheap and this easy to set-up and still offer the vast floor space, cavernous vestibules and over-all conveniece that the half dome is known for.

Customer Service

haven't bothered

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TNF Talus TNF Peregrine MSR Velo MSR Ventana

Overall a great tent at an excellent value. Tent pitches very nice and taut when guyed out and I've had no problems with rain (for the first few uses I also didn't have the tent seam-sealed). Condensation is a bit of a problem; the tent body itself gets great ventilation when the fly is opened, but the fly has a tendency to collect quite a bit of condensation even with the roof vent open. On the other hand I've never had a tent that didn't have problems with condensation so this is not a new problem. Tent packs about as light as youre gonna get for $150 though the advertised 5lb weight is really more like 7lb with all the stakes etc. Overall a great pack though. I would highly recommend it.

My boyfriend and I backpacked 12mi up 2000ft so the light weight was a plus. The fabric is sooo thin, almost seems too thin, but it was a pleasent surprise that (w/ the fly) the wind and rain didn't penetrate. And it rained like hell so we were nervous to use it for the first time- vest. don't touch the ground everything close to the edge (shoes) never dried out. Wind was not a problem, and the openness at the top relieved condensation. Ground was dry w/ footprint but some rain entered at the seams. I am young and so it was pricy for me- I am going to give Peak 1 Mantis(Galelio) a try.

Customer Service

love it- these boys know what they are talking about. a little too salesman-ie though

REI half dome plus 2 is a great deal. I am 6'3" and my wife is 5'11" and we fit perfectly with some room to spare at the foot of the tent. We recently took a trip to the Boundary waters Canoe area and it rained 2 different times for a few hours each! We stayed perfectly dry the whole time. Not one drop through the footprint or the bottom of the tent! A great buy for the money!

Customer Service

I have never dealt with CS at REI yet.

This tent is great for backpacking... The first time I used it was with a friend and it was so nice. It rained so heavy... but nothing got wet thanks to the vestabules. They held both of our packs and it was so nice and warm in side. This is a great tent for anywhere. With the rainfly on it is great for NorthWest Camping

Have spent about 30 nights in this tent. Rain, heavy dew, heat and wind. It has worked very well. Got wet once from condensation when I did not guy out the fly. Condensation collected on the fly and ran into the mesh at the foot of the tent. When guyed out, condensation and rain are no problem. Ventilates well with fly tied back on hot nights. Never had a leak in four straight days of heavy rain. Large vestibules are great for cooking/wet gear storage in the rain. Dual doors are the ticket for two person lodging. Tent is absolutely canvernous if solo. Lived in this as a base camp for two for 9 days. While not the Embassy Suites, was plenty roomy and comfortable for our needs. If the weight is not a problem for you, for the price, you cannot go wrong.

Customer Service

Broke a zipper due to abuse. REI fixed it in a few days at no charge. They were even cheerful about it.

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Canvas tents, Eureka, Big box store Brand X

Desert Backpackers Beware! Yes, REI is an exceptional company and this full-featured tent is an exceptional value. That's why I bought it. Unfortunately, it proved to be unsuited to my specific needs. I am primarily a desert/canyon backpacker. I bought this lightweight freestanding tent to use for solo and 2-up trips. I found smellytoes' comments about doors and fly to be accurate, but these were not dealkillers. The fatal flaw was that when the wind blew the tent sucked LOTS of fine sand into itself right through the mesh and sprinkled it all over the tent's contents. I think the main reason this happens is because the vestibules' bottom edges do not hug the ground but are several inches off the ground when pitched tautly. Collapsing the windward vestibule tight against the tent reduced but did not stop this process. Furthermore, once the tent was full of fine sand it didn't want to let go of it. Even breaking the tent down and turning it inside-out and shaking it vigorously did not do the trick; the sand stuck tenaciously to the coating. So I must regretfully warn against using this tent in sandy or dusty places. The customer service person at REI even said that this was not the first Half Dome 2+ that had been returned to that store because of sand problems. Anybody know of a lightweight freestanding 2-person tent that works well in sand?

Customer Service

Outstanding, of course. They cheerfully took back the tent and footprint and refunded the full purchase price. For this reason, my next tent purchase will likely be from REI also.

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Sierra Designs Flashlight. Also a Eureka that was very similar in basic design to the Half Dome 2+.

Overall a nice tent. It''s an amazing buy. There are several downsides, however. The tent fabric doesn''t align properly sometimes, which makes the doors difficult to open. The rainfly touches the tent when not guyed out. I don''t like the way the doors are held open. On a positive note, I went out with it without sealing the seams first in a decent amount of rain and It didn''t leak at all. The vestibules are positively cavernous, and the dual doors really help. I would definitely recommend this tent to cost-conscious buyers.

Customer Service

AMAZING! REI has, quite possibly, the best customer service ever. They respond to my problems quickly and accurately. Great return policy.

None

I love this tent! You absolutely cannot do better for the price with the features (relatively low weight, 3+ seasons, 2 vestibules, optional flow thru vent in rain fly). I used the precursor to this tent (REI Half Dome) for 5 years and had no problems whatsoever. A Scout group I work with bought 6 Half Domes for trips and has used/abused them consistently for 4 years+ with no problems. No rips, no broken zippers, no leaks. (And the emphasis was definitely on abuse there--even in the snow) The Half Dome Plus 2 has great dual vestibules and plenty of space for tall people (6''2" tested). In this tent you''ll have to plan on being cozy with the person sleeping next to you though. It has enough space for 2 people, but not much extra. And my tent has never leaked. Actually, I''ve been pretty pleased with the cinches on the rain fly for keeping wet rain fly from contacting the tent. The rain fly vent is great for reducing condensation, as long as rain isn''t coming down horizontally. My only caution is that in very cold (below freezing) weather the elastic in the tent poles may stretch out (at least on the older model tent, the Half Dome), so it helps to be gentle with the poles. To sum it up, I love this tent for backpacking--tough, feature-packed, and CHEAP.

Customer Service

Although I''ve never needed customer service on these tents, REI has been GREAT on other items I''ve bought there.

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Backpacking tents by: Sierra Designs Eureka North Face