ALPS Mountaineering Chaos 3-Person Tent, Clay/Rust (5352025)

Great tent for what you're paying. I'm an avid hiker/camper with much experience and bought this in a pinch for something bigger than my two man. Full rain fly with dual vestibules and doors is absolutely the way to go. This way you have a place to stash your bigger gear outside vs inside. Super easy to set up, and has great storage pockets on the inside for all your little bits of gear. The double sized zippers on the doors are also a plus keeping them from binding up. Any review stating this isn't water resistant is bs. Yes, you will need a footprint to help with keeping water out, but it holds up well and if you have any idea how to stay dry while camping you should be fine. It's short money well spent on a well constructed affordable tent that should last.

I did tons of research before buying this tent but I wanted to really test it out before writing a review. The first time I took this tent out I went to a festival where we had a really bad rain storm hit and it rained for about 10 hours and zero water made it into the tent! There is so much storage/organizing space in this baby! There are 3 mesh pockets at either end of the tent and it comes with a mesh gear loft. So that's 7 places to store stuff and keep it organized! Which is a god send when you're at a festival for days! It's really easy to set up by yourself and even easier with a buddy. The 3 person tent fits a queen air mattress but will leave you with no extra floor space. I went with a full sized air mattress and my boyfriend and I fit comfortably and had some floor space left. We took it on a 2 month cross country road trip this summer and set it up and broke it down many times and it's still in really good shape! I will say please please please buy the floor saver!! I didn't and when camping in the desert we got a few tiny holes in the floor (which is quite thin) from rocks or something and now I doubt it will be as amazingly waterproof as it was when I first got it. The inside part is totally mesh which makes it really breathable either without the rain fly or with the doors tied open. It's relatively light and packs pretty small and I think split between 2 people it would be good for some backpacking but I haven't gotten to that yet. The only thing that bothers me, and only a little as I expected this, It is quite low to the ground and can be difficult to get out of, especially with the rain fly staked out. I LOVE this tent and it has been perfect for me! I highly recommend it!!

We have used these tents on multiple backpacking trips in Yosemite and ATL trails. The dual doors is very convenient and there are pouches on the interior to hold your things. The vestibule is roomy enough for boots and several backpacks that you might want out of the rain or from critters. I must say, this was the absolute easiest tent to set up and take down that I've ever had which is nice when your exhausted coming off the trails and have to set up camp in a hurry. The rain fly is well done as it goes all the way to the ground and has plenty of separation from the tent. It is light weight and fits nicely in a backpack (we had 80 liter backpacks).

I got this tent and am very happy with it. When there is no rainfly on it can keep you cool with the nearly complete screen tent walls. A great help in hot florida. Makes camping in the summer more bearable. The weight is fine for me and my wife. We split the load and its not that bad. It seems durable and we sprayed some waterproofing stuff on it to make sure we stay dry and it kept us dry from dew. We haven't experienced any rain yet though with it.Update 11/15/13The tent is still in use. I ended up buying the footprint for it to keep the floor nice. While no holes have developed in the floor, I felt with it being several years old now, it could use a bit more protection. An added benefit of this is I can set up the tent if its raining and not get the tent wet. I put the footprint down, then the poles and rainfly on top. You can pack all those in the large bag and the tent in the smaller one. The tent does collect condensation in it during the night. Having slept in 20* weather I have had ice form on the inside of the rainfly when I wake up in the morning. Also I had condensation develop in between my foam sleep pad and the tent floor. So if its super rainy out and you have the vestibule extended out completely you may have condensation when you wake up in the morning. I have also tried using the guyline tie down holes over the pole that runs across the tent(you'll know the ones I'm talking about by looking at pictures), but when putting any tension on the guy lines bends the pole and deforms the tent. So because of that, I'm not sure how well it would work in a strong wind or snow. This isn't labeled as a 4 season tent so snow shouldn't be an issue when you buy this tent but if you get caught in an early fall snow storm or late spring one you might have to get creative with the tie down loops over the vestibule to help keep the tent properly formed. I would tie it up to a tree to help the poles stay upright.

Used this for a 4 day 2 person trip. It rained and was super hot out. The rain fly does not touch the screen of the tent, so the moisture does not seep through. The tent is mainly screen so it breaths really well. Super easy set up. It was just 2 of us and plenty of room, but would be tight for 3 adults. The vestibule gave enough room for a bag on each side!

I finally pulled the trigger on getting a tent, no more bunking with friends. This was extremely easy to put up and takes 5-10 minutes when taking your time. It takes just as long taking out of the bag then it does setting it up. This is a great mid-priced tent that you can hike or camp out of the truck with. It was in the 30s at night and I don't know that I'd want to use it in colder weather but all in all it's a great purchase.

Before I ordered this tent I did a lot of research online on about 20 different tents. Regardless of where I looked, I couldn't find a bad review for the Chaos 3. Since using the Chaos 3, I now know why I couldn't find one.The first night I tested out the tent was on the top of a small mountain where it rained hard from about 3am until 7am with about 30-40km/h gusts of wind. When I got out of the tent in the morning I was still perfectly dry and so was the inside of the tent.The second night I had it out It rained on-and-off for about 10 hours while it was setup and it stayed dry inside the entire time. This time the underside of the fly was wet but nothing wicked through to the inside of the tent.The third time I used the tent, it rained hard for a few hours during the night and once again we stayed dry inside of it.All of the times I set up the tent I had a partner with me and it only took about 3 minutes to setup (minus pegging and guy lines). The hub system the poles are designed with are basically fool-proof. They slide together easily and feel solid once together.The vestibules are a great feature of this tent and I used them to keep my boots or bags dry; both of them are a great size. Even on the nights where it rained a lot the vestibules did a great job of keeping my things dry as long as I was careful to keep my things from touching the fabric to prevent wicking.The size of the tent is comfortable and even roomy for 2 people, especially with the vestibules. At 6', I can sit up in the tent with no problem.The gear pockets and gear loft on the inside of the tent gained my trust by keeping my phone, wallet, and keys dry. They are also convenient for things like a headlamp or glow stick in the middle of the night. I could easily and quickly find my headlamp in the pitch-black night by keeping it in the gear loft.The only thing that makes me a bit uneasy about this tent is the thin floor fabric. Although It has kept me dry all the times I've used the tent, I am very careful to not lay the tent on anything which may puncture the floor fabric like sticks or small rocks. I may purchase the floor saver for this reason.I backpacked with this tent and I gained a lot of faith in it. Before this tent, the sound of rain on a tent used to make me nervous because it was usually followed with getting wet. In the Chaos 3, I love falling asleep to the relaxing patter raindrops on the tent because I know I'm going to stay dry and comfortable. It is definitely the most impressive tent I have ever used. It also looks cool both with and without the fly.I highly recommend the Chaos 3 for anyone who wants a good backpacking tent that they can take to and through some pretty extreme conditions and know they will still be comfortable on the inside.