REI Kingdom 6 Tent

"We Finally had this tent out on a cub scout trip in constant rain the first night and freezing conditions the second night. We needed a tent for two rambunctious boys, five and seven, my girlfriend and all of our stuff. We are a tall group (She and I are both over six four) and with recent surgeries a tent you have to crawl into is not a realistic option anymore. I bought this tent to replace a Hobitat 6 that had a few issues. The rectangular layout of this tent was much better for us having full length headroom. You better have a large camp site to put this thing on. With the garage it is enormous. That said the garage was a godsend on this trip. It let us store things and keep them dry. We also used it as a mud room which went a long way toward the inside of the tent clean. Not an easy feat with two boys on the loose. Storage and hanging loops everywhere help to keep things organized. The only issue we had despite the cold wind and rain was a small constant drip that developed just above the head of my sleeping bag on the right side of the tent on the end opposite the built in vestibule. I hope I can chase down the cause and eliminate it because other than that it was bone dry. If I can't REI has always been excellent on standing behind their gear. The great thing was when the sun started to shine the next morning I just rolled up the sides and let it air out so it was totally dry for the next night. I had it guyed down tight for the winds of the next night which I would guess to be about 20 knots with gusts to 30 for a time and it didn't seem to have any issues with the wind at all. I think this should take a good deal of wind if properly tied down despite its height and size. Set up is easy and the pack will easily hold the tent, poles and ground cover. Having the back pack style bag makes carrying around a tent this large easy for shorter distances. All in all a GREAT family tent! One note... The one vestibule that comes with the tent IS NOT REMOVABLE. It is integral with the rainfly so anybody who thinks they can put the larger optional vestibule on one end and the garage on the other or leave both off for better airflow are out of luck. This is a bit of a shame because I like the design of the optional vestibule better. With this currently a special buy if you have had any inclination to buy a large car camping tent I wouldn't hesitate."

"Just came back from a spring break camping trip with the kingdom 6 + optional vestibule in southern georgia. There are five in our little family with myself and wife, 5 year old, 3 year old, and 3 month old. Set up was easy, rainfly has great coverage without sacrificing breathability or livability, on the contrary, it goes out of its way to make it more so. The rainfly has an ample vestibule that held all of our gear and camping chairs while we were gone from the site, the sides of the rainfly roll up to increase visibility and it is very easy to increase the tension with the pull tabs at the base of each pole and the handy velcro ends at each tip of the top spine pole. The optional vestibule gave room for us to sit huddled and sheltered from the elements and allowed me to cook breakfast without getting snowed on. In short, it gives a lot of storage space (we could all put our boots on at the same time under it) and added weather pertection.

We had hard rain one night with some small hail, snow flurries in the morning then warm sunshine on the last day. Camping by a lake would have meant either high winds or lots of condensation. The first night was very windy 20-30 mph with gusts even higher. With the guy lines staked out, the rainfly hardly fluttered and the tent stood strong. The rain/hail didn't get through the tent at all, even with the wind, and no condensation in the morning! The next night was calm but chilly with a low of 32, but again, no condensation in the morning, fabulous.

I am 5'10" and can stand up everywhere in the tent, the tent stands firm and the walls are almost vertical. Plenty of pockets and loops for everything you'll need. The floor of the Kingdom is great, super tough coated nylon oxford, think NAVY gunny-sack material, super tough, but soft to the touch. We love this tent and look forward to many more hospitable camp-outs with it, but if the weather goes bad, we'll sleep soundly. Great tent."

"Great tent. Decided on Kingdom 6 for size and fly set-up options, which I've seen on no other tent. Practiced set-up at home, once with help, then by myself very easily. (I am 5'6".) Have camped with it once, and set it up by myself in moderate wind with some gusts. Took longer just because had to tie on guy lines (which will now be left in place) and use max stakes for the wind, but then was very sturdy with almost no flapping noise. Easy to adjust tension. Two adults plus large dog will usually use it, as was case this weekend. Very roomy, fit two large self-inflating pads, dog bed, small (15x15)camp table, storage box, and still floor space left to lounge and play a card game. Appreciate all the pockets, the door(open/close using only one zipper, separate zipper for venting), all the options for setting up the fly, loops for clothes lines, "room divider" maintains privacy when fly rolled back to expose one "room" to outside world, or divider can be tied out of way. Like the built-in vestibule. Thanx to reading previous reviews, we took extra stakes and used them for fly in wind. Can see four folks being comfortable with some gear space, six if used to being cozy and using it just for sleeping. On set-up, do follow color coding so that end without vestibule has the waterproof door. Realized our mistake (fly on "backwards") after all set up, but, since no rain, didn't make a difference."

"We decided to upgrade from a smaller tent and after much research we purchased the Kingdom 6. I am very happy with the quality and design. The assembly is very straightforward and I can do it alone while my wife distracts our two young kids. The room layout is symmetrical with a zip down curtain in the middle. We tend to leave it all open for family camping. A queen size air mattress does fit on either side of the divider. We then used a twin size air mattress for our 4 year old. The remaining space was pretty tight but we filled that with a self inflating roll up sleeping pad for our two year old. That fills the length of the tent completely but there is a little extra room at the foot of our sleeping arrangement to get around. The vestibule was really great to serve as extra storage area and nice transition area for the kids to take shoes off. The amount of room is just right for our car camping family of four. If you want more space (or house more people) I'd recommend using the much smaller sleeping bag pads. We may ween ourselves off the jumbo air mattresses. Yes, you should pick up some extra stakes. When I was shopping I had a hard time getting a sense of scale from the pictures. I'm including a pic that should help. We really like this tent."

"We've been wilderness camping for over 30 years. It was time for a new tent. We tried a name brand/mainstream brand of tent that seemed like a good fit for us. Wrong! We were out "city camping" at Auqua Caliente Hot Springs and had a nice gusty day starting before Sunrise. The wind slammed the tent to the ground and did a good job of dissasembling it while we worked to keep it set up as a viable shelter.While we hiked around camp looking at all of the other tents suffering wind damage the majority of tents still standing were REI. Wow. I really never knew about REI. After doing a lot of comparison research based on our needs we ordered the Kingdom 6. After setting it up once on our property, we headed up to 7,000 feet and snow this weekend. The snow had stopped so we set up camp. The Kingdom 6 went up in 5-10 minutes tops. Don't bother with the footprint. We just picked up a heavy duty 10' x 12' tarp at [...] Much sturdier than the footprint and gives you 2' of tarp under the vestibule.This tent is awesome! I can actually stand up inside. Queen size matress in one room with room to spare and then another whole room on top of that. More loops and pockets than you can possibly use. Retains heat well but ventilates easily.Best of all we had that snow storm blowing out with some good gusts of wind and the Kingdom 6 laughed at the wind.Buying another as a gift."

"Overall very good tent especially if you like room. We saw the Kingdom-4 setup at REI and even though it was only for me and my wife, we wanted room and purchased Kingdom-6 with additional vestibule and footprint.



Tent setup isn't too difficult but requires two people (third comes in handy when windy). Fly is good design because it covers sides completely, but when you want to roll up fly side there are NO QUICK-CONNECTS to fly straps. You have to "dig" it out from under the tent poles; especially when you've secured tent for strong winds (we almost didn't purchase tent because of this; seemed fly wasn't really thought out). Another down side on fly, is no window(s) unless you roll up a side; you can't look outside without unzipping something. Another option would be to place a window in the vestibule(s).



The additional vestibule was GREAT to have but would be better if it was larger and included poles for "shade" setup. NEGATIVE of additional vestibule was rain got into tent from sides (see image). Maybe we didn't install vestibule correctly but vestibule wasn't big enough to overlap tent completely (we had strong winds and staked tent tightly). Note: If you don't purchase additional vestibule, ther's not much protection on "back" side of tent from weather; fly only covers sides. "Front" of tent comes with a small vestibule that works well.



Even with negatives we really liked the tent. It held up well to very strong winds with rain (except vestibule area mentioned above). This would be a very good tent for family with small childern. We have a 6-man Eureka we used when our kids were smaller. We wish Kingdom-6 had been around back then:-)."

"I upgraded to a Kingdom 6 a day after picking up a Kingdom 4 which I ordered online. The store had a Kingdom 4 set up on display and I decided the extra $50 was worth the extra space to take advantage of the two room feature because the kingdom 4 looked a little small when divided in half. I set up the tent that evening in my back yard by myself in about 30 minutes and it was easy. I am guessing I can have it up in 15 - 20 now with experience. As other reviwers mentioned it is important to take notice and match the color coding on the stake loops to make sure you have the right end of the tent matching the fly and the different doors (and footprint). By the way the backdoor is the orange stake loops and the front door is the black ones. I was truly impressed with the size of this tent, I am 6'3" and am extremely comfortable standing in this tent. My queen size inflatable mattress fits perfectly in one room with plenty space to spare at the head and the foot of the mattress. All of the pockets throughout and loops for hanging are great. The fly works well with a lot of protected space outside the front door and there are so many options on how you can configure. You can roll one side up for a beautiful view from one room and total privacy in the other. Most of my camping is long weekends at Stampede dam with a group of 4 - 6 in the Sierra Nevadas and this tent will truly be a kingdom for my dog and I. Although rain is not common, if it happens we now have a comfortable place we can all gather. I truly spoiled myself when purchasing this tent but feel it is well worth it now and for many years."

"I've been an avid outdoors nut and camper for several decades now. For most of those years I've used backpacking tents because they are versatile. I've been contemplating a larger tent for my 4x4 excursions, however, because I figured if you have a rig why not go comfort? My experience with large tents in the past has always been too heavy and difficult to set up for whatever little side vestibules you get in the deal. The search was on. Large domes and cabin tents all with multiple complicated pole threading or positions that require more than one person to put them up, heavy by sheer volume of fabric and one narrow area in the center of the tent for which you can stand requiring bending and kneeling to access the rest of the tent "side rooms". Enter the Kingdom 6.



I have to say, from the moment I opened the shipping box I was completely impressed. The carrying duffle design seemed very user friendly and I liked the fact that it had shoulder "backpack" style straps for easy carrying when faced with the dreaded walk-in camp sites. I couldn't wait to get it into the outdoors and see how big it actually was and how well it would perform in my rugged environments. I camp alone often so it was important to get a tent of this size well designed enough that one person could set it up quickly if needed. This tent delivers on point. The directions are very basic but that was ok as I usually find my own way that works for me. It took one set up to get it down enough to do it in the dark! I can set this tent up just as quickly as my friends with the traditional 3 person dome tents. Very important that you order the footprint as it protects the bottom of the tent but more importantly gives you a reference point while choosing a spot. This tent isn't for little backpacking tent sites. It's got some floor space. Everything is color coordinated which I LOVE. Makes it so much easier to set up. Black with black and orange with orange. The first time you get this thing up you will be excited about the head room. From door to door you have SPACE. Floor and head SPACE. The rain fly went on easily and quickly and its versatility is something I have never seen before. Very impressed. Oddly though it only came with 6 stakes and at minimum you need 8. 4 corner, 2 middle sides and 2 to hold the vestibule on the rain fly. In addition, if you encounter windy conditions you will need 4 more to stake down the guy lines on the sides of the fly. Really found it odd that all these stakes did not come with the tent. Big oversight on REI's part and seemingly a bit cheap but hopefully they have taken this issue up and bucked up to the need. That being said. Easy fix with a run to the sporting goods store.



First up, Big Horn Mtns, WY. On its maiden voyage it encountered some good weather. Very windy that night and the guy lines were essential. Very solid in wind. Barely a flap noise to speak of. I have to admit when I first set it up I didn't understand why they didn't put a vestibule on the other side of the rain fly as well. I got my answer as I sat in the tent and had a picture window view of the rain falling and didn't feel a drop. Not to mention, a second permanent vestibule would make the footprint huge and there have been times where space alone can dictate how big your tent can be so having the versatility is very handy. For the next couple of months I took it camping in the mountains around my home in Montana. I began to realize that some thought really went into this tent. From the easy pole design, maximized floor and room space, color, mesh lines and multiple pockets all well thought out. Kudos to the designers. The zippers seem very sturdy and even when the rain protecting flaps on the one door or the zipper on the rain fly get snagged, the fabric slips out with ease and no damage. With so much mesh, however, you need to be very careful when putting it up and taking it down. I've already gotten a few "runs" which don't affect anything other than I look at them and kick myself for the mistakes hard learned. It doesn't affect its function at all and that is what counts. Around midsummer I went with a friend on an extended trip through Montana, across Idaho and through Northern Washington to the coast. Sometimes we shared the Kingdom 6. The two room design worked well. I think they could have probably used the heavier non translucent orange material for the inner doors. The cost in weight would have been no big deal since this is more a car camping tent anyway but if the light was behind the person in the other side you could make them out defeating the purpose of privacy. Other than that the interior is very spacious. The pockets EVERYWHERE came in handy. The multiple loops all along the center were nice to have for hanging lights or a clothes line. REI could have put an additional tie back on each of the inner doors. As it is now there is one but I would think that one additional one lower on the tent side wall would help. Easily rolled the doors back though and the roll itself held them in the full open position. I did end up purchasing the additional vestibule for this trip as I wanted to have a dry place to store camp tubs etc for more than one person. I'm glad I did. (It DOES come with the stakes necessary which was nice to see and it goes on and off easily) I've seen reviews that have said it's not a very warm tent. I put to you that any tent this large would not be warm with just one or two people in it. It is designed for 6 heat generating bodies. 1 or 2 people would never be able to generate enough body heat to keep this type of space warm. Therefore, I bought one of those Coleman catalytic tent heaters. The tent heater did not work well without the secondary vestibule attached as the air simply rose up and went out the other end. With the added vestibule there is still a small area that can vent out the heat but it's minimal and does the job to make it comfortable until lights out. It did very well in the rainy Northwest and boy did we hit rain. The fabric keeps the rain out but is light and dries quickly when it's given the chance. I encountered no leaking or seeping of any kind the entire year. Currently using it to camp along the California coast (More paved roads to walk in sites here than my mountain off roads of Montana).



Packing this tent up is incredibly easy and I appreciated the extra room in the storage duffle so I didn't have to fight it in. Even has enough room for the footprint but I keep that out anyway for complete drying. A note on the footprint. It comes with a mesh bag that is incredibly TOO SMALL for it. I've tried many different ways of folding the thing and can't manage to get it in so I abandoned the mesh bag.



All in all… I brag about this tent to everyone. They've come to term it the Taj-ma-tent. When I've got it all set up… I have a foyer, living room, storage room and extremely comfortable bedroom. Car camping has never been so sweet! REI you get an A+ for superior design and materials on this one!"

"Bought this tent in March in anticipation of an extended road trip this summer with our family of five. In the past we've used smaller backpacking tents, or borrowed a bigger tent from friends. After looking at lots of options in the large family tent category we settled on this new design from REI. At that time there were only one or two reviews of this tent so we didn't see any of the warnings about using all the guy lines and extra stakes to secure the tent in the wind. On it's maiden trip we returned from a day of trail building to find that the tent didn't look quite right. Upon further investigation we found that the poles were bent (see photos) and in their compromised state just a moderate breeze (15 mph) caused one whole side of the tent to cave in almost to the ground. It had not been a windy day (we were working only a half mile away) so we were perplexed as to how the tent had been damaged. Apparently the large profile of this tent and the lack of crossing poles for structural stability makes it very susceptible to even moderate wind. We were very disappointed since we loved the other features of the tent - ample interior space and storage options, wall divider, ventilation, fly options, vestibule, etc. We considered returning this tent in exchange for a Base Camp 6 which appears to be more structurally sound. But after reading additional reviews of the Kingdom 6 and the recommendations for using the guy lines, we've decided to give the Kingdom 6 another chance - mainly because of all the other great features and the fact that we generally don't plan on using the tent in severe conditions. [...] We will buy the extra stakes and use the guy lines every time. As other reviewers have suggested, the extra stakes should be included with this tent."

"The Kingdom 6 is a great choice for families or those who need extra room car-camping or travelling with dogs. This tent would also be a great base camp tent while rock climbing, etc. With three or less people, you could actually sleep on one side with the vestibule for gear storage and store as much gear as you've got in the other "room" if necessary. The tent itself is huge. Six people would be super cozy, but four or five would still fit with some extra room. You can stand up in all parts of the tent, not just in the center (at the peak height), which was a nice surprise.The dividing wall that separates the two rooms works well: it has a zipper down the center and a toggle hook at the bottom to secure it. When not in use, the dividing flaps roll away securely and are not bothersome. I like the two "rooms" because I travel with dogs and like that they can be separated from the other sleeping area (and our sleeping bags, etc.). The set-up is easy, and after the first time, you won't need the directions.There are two large doors, and with the rainfly, there is a large vestibule (you can almost stand up in it) that extends from one door. What the pictures do not show you, though, is that the other door has an awning extension over it; the rainfly does not extent to the ground on that side. The materials on the door are waterproofed, and the zippers are covered by waterproof flaps. My only complaint is that in a real storm, that side might take on water. You can buy the optional vestibule for that side to basically extend the rainfly all the way to the ground, which would be preferable in a lot of rain. The extra vestibule is [$], though, and I think it's a bit much to pay when it could've been designed to simply include two vestibules. I've left the tent out in the rain and snow for three days now, to test the waterproofing, and so far, there are no complaints. It has rained steadily, but it has not been windy. So far, the awning has done its job.Overall, this is a great tent for summer car camping, and I believe it will offer a dependable amount of rain protection in moderate conditions without the additional vestibule."