Tom got a nice deal at WalMart - $88, and no shipping charge for store pick-up:

www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do


Good product for fairly mild conditions. It's pleasant looking, quick to put up and strike, covers a decent amount of ground, and provides shade and mosquito protection. Would be legal at the park and beach where regulations may prohibit enclosed tents, since it has big panes covered only with mosquito netting. While the opaque fabric is said to be water-proof, a good portion on the footprint won't get rain protection because of the large mosquito-netting openings in the sloped wall.


Erection proceeded smoothly with two people. After the tent is laid out on the ground, one person needs to position and prop up the center pole while the other person goes around the tent perimeter staking the corners. Some additional braces are then added inside. The very mild breeze in the park was definitely felt by the person holding up the pole before the corner stakes went in. Putting this thing up in stronger wind would not be fun or maybe not be possible. The center pole is composed of several interlocking pieces and doesn't seem strong enough to withstand much wind stress. Since the tent starts out lying on the ground, and has no floor, it will get dirty inside if pitched on dirty ground without exceptional precautions. Even building it in a well-maintained park resulted in a number of leaves and grass clippings sticking to the fabric and being retained in the bag.


The documentation claims a thirty-foot corner-to-corner hexagonal footprint, but our build was only twenty-eight feet across. Perhaps another two feet could have been achieved, but not easily. Flaps around the perimeter were supposed to prevent surface winds from going in, but again, our installation did not have enough tension to achieve this, and there are no grommets in the flaps to facilitate attachment to the ground.


Break-down was quick and easy. Leisurely break-down to tent in bag took two people 20 minutes, and could have taken considerably less. Good feature: the bag this tent came in had an extra zipper for enlarging the bag a bit. Since a tent will grow once it's deployed, this eases stowing it back away.


Is it at all useful for the playa? Alla doesn't think so, but Tom thinks it just might work. It certainly is not a panacea, as the screen doors would let in dust, and enough sun to prevent prevent morning sleeping. Any significant attempt to cover them would probably defeat the ventilation and increase the wind profile beyond the capabilities of the center pole to support. The footprint is large, and much of the space has low clearance, so it would not be particularly useful. This would not make you popular with your campmates if space was tight. Setup would have to be managed to be done quickly during a break in the winds, and the fabric would pick up enough dust to make it unpleasant for subsequent use. Even so, it would make a distinctive, and somewhat useful structure for mid day shade.