Tent search
- Thread starter BIGdaddy
- Start date
monkeyplunger
Observer
Since 2004 i have regularly used my sierra designs alpha 3. (3 person, 4 season). I have used it about 50 times so far which is about once a month up until last year when work got real busy.
I have used it for all types of trips, from overnight to two weeks in back country and from 100 degree heat to the coldest i have personally every camped at -22f. As for rain it did very well, on one trip in the smokeys the remnants of a hurricane came through and it rained solid for 3 out of the 5 days - the inside was dry asides from the water brought in when physically getting into the tent.
It has also endured a massive wind and sandstorm in nevada. The wind was so hard that i though the tent was going to be destroyed. I dont know if it was a miracle or a good tent, but it survived. There were 70 mph wind gusts with sand - I honestly thought the sand blasting would wear through. My motorcycle windscreen was wrecked after in that storm, along with some small chips in the paint. Everything was full of fine sand, it totally sucked.
For me it has been the best all around tent - backpacking, motorcycle, jeep, and car camp. What i like about it - the screen on top zips shut with a cover which can make a huge difference when cold. It also has very generous screen area at front and back when it is hot (both of those zip shut as well for cold). I also like you can get inside from the front or back. The rain fly is great (but needs to have guy ropes attached to the side loops and staked down to be truly effective in keeping ALL water out during thunderstorms or heavy rain.
The only thing that is a drawback is that it is 9lbs fully packed. But you can ditch quite a few items for lighter backpacking if needed. It says its a 3 person tent, but like all of them - it is a tight 3 person and comfortable 2 person. It is not so bad either with the wife and 2 dogs.
For family camping this tent might be a little small so when looking for a larger one the rainfly should be looked at carefully as someone else pointed out. It works as i believe the key to the design is that the rainfly is about 1-2 inches from the main body and goes all the way to the ground. and has many loops to stake and add guy ropes to keep it tight and away from the main body of the tent. They dont make the alpha 3 anymore and the 4 season ones seem to be more like mountaineering type than mine. They only one i can see which looks much larger but similar design is the wu hu series. They have tent poles which clip and a rain fly which goes all the way to the ground.
One brand of tent at the overland expo that looked really cool, very durable, and set up real fast were the OZ tent and jet tent. If you are willing to spend the money i think those tents will give you years of good car camping fun. I believe some other posts have more details about them.
I have used it for all types of trips, from overnight to two weeks in back country and from 100 degree heat to the coldest i have personally every camped at -22f. As for rain it did very well, on one trip in the smokeys the remnants of a hurricane came through and it rained solid for 3 out of the 5 days - the inside was dry asides from the water brought in when physically getting into the tent.
It has also endured a massive wind and sandstorm in nevada. The wind was so hard that i though the tent was going to be destroyed. I dont know if it was a miracle or a good tent, but it survived. There were 70 mph wind gusts with sand - I honestly thought the sand blasting would wear through. My motorcycle windscreen was wrecked after in that storm, along with some small chips in the paint. Everything was full of fine sand, it totally sucked.
For me it has been the best all around tent - backpacking, motorcycle, jeep, and car camp. What i like about it - the screen on top zips shut with a cover which can make a huge difference when cold. It also has very generous screen area at front and back when it is hot (both of those zip shut as well for cold). I also like you can get inside from the front or back. The rain fly is great (but needs to have guy ropes attached to the side loops and staked down to be truly effective in keeping ALL water out during thunderstorms or heavy rain.
The only thing that is a drawback is that it is 9lbs fully packed. But you can ditch quite a few items for lighter backpacking if needed. It says its a 3 person tent, but like all of them - it is a tight 3 person and comfortable 2 person. It is not so bad either with the wife and 2 dogs.
For family camping this tent might be a little small so when looking for a larger one the rainfly should be looked at carefully as someone else pointed out. It works as i believe the key to the design is that the rainfly is about 1-2 inches from the main body and goes all the way to the ground. and has many loops to stake and add guy ropes to keep it tight and away from the main body of the tent. They dont make the alpha 3 anymore and the 4 season ones seem to be more like mountaineering type than mine. They only one i can see which looks much larger but similar design is the wu hu series. They have tent poles which clip and a rain fly which goes all the way to the ground.
One brand of tent at the overland expo that looked really cool, very durable, and set up real fast were the OZ tent and jet tent. If you are willing to spend the money i think those tents will give you years of good car camping fun. I believe some other posts have more details about them.
Last edited:
So a quick update on my tent dilemma, if it helps the OP out. I ordered the Kingdom 6 and was unhappy setting it up in my garage because there was a light wind that blew it down like an accordion. I was unhappy that I had to stake the tent down and wanted a sturdier tent. I packed it up and drove 1.5 hrs to my local REI to return it for the Basecamp. I was willing to spend the extra $150 for the tent if need be. Once I got there the tent person at REI was very knowledgeable and talked me out of buying the Basecamp and keeping the Kingdom 6. He had owned all four of the tents that I was considering and basically went through each one and we discussed the pros and cons of each. He told me his Basecamp was on craigslist and he was keeping the Kingdom. Basically he stated that all tents that big need to be staked down and once the Kingdom is staked down it is rock solid. I originally wanted a free standing tent but understand his reasoning that all 6+ person tents needed to be staked down because the ceilings are so high and the tent acts like a sail in the wind. He showed me how to stake a tent down even on a granite slab where you don't have typical soft ground to pound the stake in, so I think I am GTG now.
RockyMtnFamily
Explorer
Years ago I bought the Sportsman's Guide Geodesic tent thinking it looked like a cheap knock off of the Cabela's Alaskan Guide tent. It lasted two nights on the White Rim trail before being shredded and tossed downwind on our second night. I had plenty of time to reflect on how much money I had saved as we traveled 65 miles, mostly by dirt road to get to our base camp near Moab.
The next year I repeated the trip with our newly purchased Cabelas Extreme Weather (XWT) tent. We slept like babies despite a heavy wind storm that left a couple inches of snow above the rim of the canyon. My lesson learned from this is to spend the money on good gear or you will end up paying for it later. I think that this tent will take whatever nature throws it's way and plan on passing it down to my children when they have families of their own.
Kevin