EUREKA! Tetragon 5 - 5 Person Tent

I have been using a Tetragon 7(when # indicated floor size 7x7 Tent Area 49 sq. ft.Center Height 4' 4") 3 person tent extensively for 6 years. Great car camping/festival tent. Always dry, good ventilation, good privacy, and easy entry/exit. So when I decided to replace it with a larger tent I could stand up in I purchased the new Tetragon 5 (9 x9 81 sq ft 6' height 5 person tent). Well as soon as I started setting it up I realized how Eureka/Johnson Outdoors had blasphemed the Tetragon name. Evidently Johnson Outdoors hired an engineer and a few pencil pushers who had not only never camped, but maybe didn't actually understand what a tent was for.Tent stakes- supplied cheap plastic stakes that barely fit through the ring of the ring and pin. This makes it difficult at best to attach hook for fly to ring (manual shows metal stakes). The old Tetragon used 2 separate fiberglass bow rods that slid through a sleeve and fit into grommets to form the overhang for the door and window(these did break occasionally and Eureka replaced them with larger diameter ones). This version uses 2 fiberglass fly poles that go front to back to support each side of the overhang(not a bad idea). Instead of making sleeves for these they fit in a small pocket on each end and 2 Velcro loops hold them, loosely, in position. Sleeves here would have been easier, quicker, and added much rigidity especially if one end was closed and just had to place other end in pocket. Floor: why on a 9x9 floor are there TWO seams. Sorry, that's just wrong. Yes they are taped, but taped seams in the middle of the floor where you get the most wear is ludicrous. Fly: fly is well made other than fly pole attachment and difficulty attaching to corner rings due to cheap plastic stakes. The cord supplied for the fly side pull outs is too short to use. How much could an extra 6-10 inches of cord on each side cost??? There is NO extra line to guy out fly supplied(well if they were too cheap to even give a usable length for the sides...) Tent body: 2 floor seams increase chance of leaks. Mesh above rear window that could allow a blowing rain in(no way to block it). Rear window has one zipper vertical on each side and a single toggle in the middle to hold the whole top closed instead of having single zipper that securely closed the window as on older model. Yes this allows wind to blow the top of the window partially open and could allow rain in. Why is the door so big/wide? Reduces privacy and just seems awkward to zip/unzip. I like the ring and pin system as it is trong and easy to use. Poles: Fiberglass, it's OK but heavy and weaker than aluminum (this tent uses clips but if you have sleeves the ferrules can really be aggravating). Aluminum poles have come down in price so much that it would have been nice and would have lowered the weight a couple of pounds. I forgot; apparently Johnson's directive was cut corners and make it cheap to manufacture. These are hefty poles and as such the shock cord is too small/weak/cheap to hold them firmly together. Make sure that they are fully inserted in all ferrules before bending to attach to pins.If you buy this tent you will also need to buy- decent stakes; metal tent stakes or smaller diameter quality ABS plastic stakes. Longer cord for side pull outs and for guy outs(Web loops midway up fly at each corner) for high winds/storms. Ground cloth recommended but remember it should be at least 2" SMALLER than tent floor on all sides. If it sticks out water will get between it and tent floor and your weight will force it through the floor.I backpack and camp extensively. I also have been an outdoor gear/clothing tester. It saddens me to see good products go bad. For it's price the previous generation of Tetragon tents were a best buy(if you run across one somewhere buy it). This generation fell to the pencil pushers.This is an OK tent just a bit better than the cheap department store variety that sells for less than half as much.

This is an all around great tent. The build quality is fantastic: the stitching and seams are solid, the screen is very fine and durable, and the polyester fabric is not too thin. I do feel the bathtub floor should be thicker though, I wouldn't recommend using this tent without a tarp or ground pad of some sort underneath it. Not even the tiniest bugs were able to get through the screen, a problem our friends had with no-see-um flies getting into their tents on our recent beach trip which we were grateful to not have to deal with. The tent was easy to set up by myself for a test run in the backyard. It took two of us to set it up in pretty strong winds while camping, but was still rather easy. Almost the whole upper half of the tent is screen, which is great for some sun and air, but if you're camping where you need your privacy you're going to want the rain fly. I would also recommend using the fly if you are under trees or next to bushes because with all that exposed screen and I would worry about falling are blowing branches tearing it. With the rain fly on there is still great ventilation in the tent, it never felt stuffy or any different from the outside air. There are zippered windows with seams and screens to open it up even more if desired. This tent is ideal for car camping, you would not want this for backpacking as it is too large and heavy.

The tent was easy to set up and spacious..height wise... . but five people would never fit into it... maybe five very tiny little people such as children under the age of 8, but only three sleeping bags fit comfortably. As only one queen matress fits into the tent. Upon setting it up on our camping trip two of the pole holders ripped off on top and we were unable to keep the inside netting flush with the top ( joined together) ... so we could not hang a light in the tent in the center. Also the door was very difficult to open at night... the zipper blending in with the screen zipper ... I spent 10 minutes trying to open it to get out at night.... most tents have a large zipper pull that is easy to find. My first rating on this was excellent before using it camping.... just setting it up at home. It appears to be perfect until you use it. But after camping in Colorado for five days , two adults, two children under the age of 8 squished together.... I have to downgrade it to good. Good for three people maybe two adults only. But definately not my father's well made 1950's good quality tent lasts for years and fits a whole family and doesn't fall apart easily. Quality definately lacking here. Somewhat disappointed for sure.