REI Co-op Base Camp 6 Assessment: All-Climate, All-Season Household Tent

When my spouse and I had children, one of many first issues we did was get a much bigger tent. Fifteen years in the past, the nicest automotive tenting tent I may discover was REI’s Kingdom 6. All these years later, that tent continues to be going sturdy (a buddy is off tenting in it proper now), nevertheless it turned out that we by no means actually wanted all that room. I would fortunately commerce that room for little extra power in stormy climate, which all the time appear to search out me once I’m tenting, and a smaller footprint that may match in additional spots.

That is precisely what REI’s Base Camp 6 tent provides. It is smaller in total livable area than the Kingdom 6, however in my testing it has held up significantly better within the wind whereas nonetheless being sufficiently big to comfortably sleep 5.

Household-Pleasant

Earlier than I dive into the Base Camp, I ought to observe that whereas REI now not makes the Kingdom 6, it makes one thing shut within the Wonderland 6, which is an possibility I will talk about on the finish. I made a decision to swap the area for the stronger design of the Base Camp. I additionally like that the squarer form of the Base Camp suits higher on smaller tenting websites.

The REI Co-op Base Camp tent is obtainable in four-person and six-person sizes. I examined the Base Camp 6, which I might say comfortably sleeps 5 adults and is nearly excellent for 2 adults, two youngsters and one 10-year-old. REI’s specs declare 84.3 sq. toes of inside ground area, which, in comparison with the remainder of the household tenting tents in our information, is sort of precisely common for a six-person tent. You’ll be able to technically match six sleeping pads, however it will be tight, which is just about par for the course with tents. If you need a greater day-to-day dwelling expertise, dimension as much as no less than one particular person bigger than your precise group dimension.

One factor that the Base Camp has that makes really feel extra livable is a plethora of pockets and ceiling hooks for storing garments and equipment out of the way in which. There are 14 mesh packets across the tent (kind of the entire decrease portion of the tent is mesh pockets). Maintaining issues tidy and arranged all the time makes life in a tent higher.

{Photograph}: Scott Gilbertson

There are two big doorways with full zippers, so you possibly can fully open it up whenever you’re loading stuff into it. The highest of the tent is mesh, and there are two triangular mesh vents on both facet of the tent, together with mesh panels on the doorways. All of those will be closed up with zippers apart from the roof, which is simply mesh. All of the venting choices mix to make this a fantastic tent for hotter nights as there’s a option to get the air transferring regardless of which approach the wind is blowing. Even when it is lifeless nonetheless, it is good to know that some warmth is escaping out the highest of the tent. There are vents within the rainfly as properly, which will be propped open to permit a breeze by means of even throughout a storm.