A couple of weeks ago I bought an
REI Basecamp 6 tent for family camping and bug out use. It's a six person dome with aluminum, shock corded poles, and a separate rain fly. (My family is four people but I wanted a bit more space than a 4 person tent.) It's self-supporting but has loops to stake it down if it's windy. The floor is 10'5" x 8'4". This afternoon I finally had a confluence of good weather and free time, so I got to set it up in the backyard.
This is how it looks without the fly:
Here's the side, showing how the poles are clipped to the tent. Note how much of the tent is mesh. It has great ventilation:
And here it is with the rain fly:
Closeup of the big vestibule on one end:
Smaller vestibule on the other end. Note how I have this one configured differently from the other end. There are enough zippers, toggles, and stake loops to give you a lot of flexibility:
I like how the rain fly is attached, using Fastex buckles:
Moving inside, we see the mesh gear loft. You can remove it and hang a lantern from a loop in the center of the roof:
There are several mesh pockets sewn to the inside of the tent for storage small items:
This is a really neat feature. With the rain fly installed you can undo two zippers on the roof. Then, there are two plastic rods inside Velcro-covered sleeves, that you can use to prop open two vents in the fly. Unless rain was blown into the vents, they should be pretty weather resistant, and you can always close them in case you need to batten down the hatches:
Finally, the setup instructions are sewn to the outside of the carrying bag. I thought this is really smart:
I am really looking forward to getting this tent out in the woods this summer.