REI Mountain 3 Tent

"We used this tent for the first time in February in Kentucky. Night temperature was low 20's with light snow. My wife, myself and our golden retriever were warm and comfortable with plenty of room. We only had minor condensation in one area in the morning and we attributed this to our sleeping position (my wife rolled sometime during the night and woke up facing the tent wall where the condensation occurred). We have also used the tent in much warmer weather (mid 50's nighttime) with no noticeable condensation as long as we vented well. Love the tent works great for us."

"I used this tent on a trial run at Pinecrest in CA. Our "trial run" ended up testing this tent beyond what I had intended. After a 3 mile snowshoe hike in deep powder, set-up was quick and easy. We expected snow overnight but were a bit surprised to find a foot of fresh powder covering everything (including the tent) the next morning. The tent held up and I was not concerned at all about collapsing. The only real downsides were the condensation buildup inside the tent (I still have to play with some of the venting options to see if I can improve this) and the interior space. For a 3 person tent it fits 2 guys comfortably, you could get 3 inside but it would be a stretch.



The large main vestibule is great, having the smaller vestibule is nice for throwing smaller things in that you don't want buried in snow."

"We recently bought the tent for a backpacking trip in the Arctic this summer, but its first outing was to the Cycle NC Spring Ride last weekend. Our tent, along with a couple hundred other tents, was set up on a grassy piece of land next to Albemarle Sound.



In the wee hours of the morning severe weather moved in. The wind grew stronger and stronger. Around 4:00 there was either a microburst or a mini-tornado. One wall of the tent flexed down and touched my husband's sleeping bag. A moment later the opposite side of the tent flexed down onto me. The poles immediately popped back into their normal shape and were fine.



We heard shouting all around us. More than half the tents around us were either destroyed or badly damaged--flipped over, blown away, shredded, flattened, ripped open... What a scene! Full-grown, healthy trees had come down, crushing a couple of tents, though miraculously not injuring any of the people inside.



After the wind, several inches of rain came down in the next couple of hours. The tent floated up like a water bed, but no water came in. It was an amazing experience. The tent came through like a champ. I LOVE this tent!"

"I was recently caught off guard in a blizzard in the Appalachian mountains.



Thankfully, this tent withheld being completely buried. A one day trip turned into four and I had a great time!



The picture speaks for itself."

"If I could add 5 more stars and check 'em off I would. After my son deployed to Afghanistan, I got a 3 min. phone call with a list of items to buy for him. He wanted a rock-solid tent that would withstand the wind and sand conditions of Afghanistan. I bought and shipped this tent to him and this is the ONLY tent of any soldier over there that met their needs. They all want one like his. I set it up at home myself before shipping it out to him and it was incredibly easy---love the clips. He came home on leave a month ago and showed me a video with that tent getting blown HARD and it is flexing--but not budging. It was worth EVERY dime I paid and now I'm getting the 2-man version for me! Of the 10+ tents we own---this one is CLEARLY THE BEST---bar none! It has every advantage you can think of. It lets me sleep at night knowing he at least has this over there. Proud mom of an 82nd Airborne SSG combat soldier!"

"I've had this tent for 2 years now and it's really held up. I was surprised at how well it stood up in the strong winds and icy snowfall of Rainier. My only beef was that 2 of use fit comfortably (3 would be cramped) and the amount of condensation build-up was more than I figured it would be. 3 people would defintely send it over the edge. Set up is always quick (even in the blasting wind). I've had the same issues with the zippers on the flaps as everyone else and the weight for 2 people was ok, but not great."

"Actually I am not a professional guide, but am an instructor for Mtn. Club of Alaska with 30 years experience throughout North America. So I have had my share of tents. Had this one out for 3 ski/ climbing trips this last season and it is a great value for cost. Easy to setup with lots of headroom, but after a storm bound week near Denali (Mt. McKinley) a few design short-comings came up. First is rainfly could use a heavier coating as days of wet snow (and heavy condensation underneath from high humidity) appeared to soak into fly and froze rainfly solid on occasion, but no moisture came through to body. Second, as others have noted, the permanent fly pole is a pain to pack. Needs to be removeable (looking to modify with sleeve design and Fastex Buckle closure) but the vent windows under it are great for cross flow to eliminate interior humidity from wet clothes and gear. Third, would be nice if rear vestibule was centered on tent axis or used two stakes like front vestibule so front and rear were symmetrical and had the same anchoring strength. Otherwise need to watch orientation of tent to high wind directions. Fourth, more interior pockets like Mtn. Hardware Trango would be nice. If not permanent ones, then clip-in accessory ones that attach to clothesline loops like the gear loft does would be nice, so as to tailor to trip needs. Finally, I have concerns on guyline to rainfly anchor point strength (and the way the rainfly attaches with velcro loops), but I installed equalizing lines between points (similar to TNF VE 24) to spread the load between multiple guylines. Would be hesitant to take this above 14,000 on Denali, St Elias or Logan, but would have no reservations anywhere else in Alaska or lower 48 states."

"I just bought and used this tent in some pretty heavy wet snow up near Mt Bachelor. It performed admirably. It stayed pretty well ventilated which was great. I was hesitant to buy the tent as many people complained about the pole in the fly. I personally didnt have a problem with that at all. It made no difference whatsoever in it's ability to pack.



My only complaints were that it was brutally heavy (but I was packing it solo). But this is also a pro, since the construction is sturdy and totally reliable in harsh weather. Also, despite it's listed length, it felt slightly short to me. I'm 6'2" and it felt slightly snug lengthwise.



But this tent kept me dry and happy in some pretty ridiculous weather, and the price is pretty darn great too, compaired to other 4 season alternatives.



Looking forward to some more snow camping already!"

"After spending a weekend in the Sage Creek Wilderness when the temps dropped to -7 (not figuring the 35 mph winds) I decided my flimsy coleman was no longer up to the challenge. I considered the 2 man because of cost but after a few nights w/ winter gear I realized I made the right choice. The vestibule provides enough gear storage for 3 packs, so 3 is definately doable in the tent. 2 fit lovely. For the extra pound I don't know why you'd ever want the 2-man.It's a bomber tent, and has handy features like the vestibule floor, included gear loft, etc. Sets up easily enough for 1 person. With 2 people who know what they're doing it's a cinch. You can tailor how many stakes you need based on the wind levels. You can fit like 23 stakes on this thing if you want, or go with as few as 3 (needed for vestibule.) The tent on it's own is free standing.My complaints, though not great, are: Velcro attachments for rain fly aren't located in an easy spot to get at. I will usually just not attach them if it's not real windy. I wish there was a way to make the front vestibule work w/out the 2 front stakes. Lastly, I agree with the other reviewer about not being able to remove the rainfly pole. It's nice to have it, but would be nice if it could come out for packing.Don't get me wrong, there are other great tents out there...but at [$]more it just doesn't make sense. I've spent a few nights in a Mountain 25. Nice tent but nothing there worth an extra [$] With the solid construction and the decent price tag, it's certainly one of the pieces of gear that I don't go "man...I wonder if I would have been better off with..."Happy camping,ZachPS - for backpacking, I've found the best way to split up the load is to put the fly and tent in the bag and that goes to guy A. Guy B will wrap the poles into the footprint and throw it all (w/ stakes) into the pole bag. Guy A obviously has the "bigger" load...but they both weight about the same."

"I like this tent a lot; I have been using it for the last 3 years and its been great. I use it in the High Desert of Moab UT where it can be from 80 deg to a low of 20 deg. There is always high gusty, dusty winds with very fine sand that can get through any other tent and coat everything. This tent keeps it all out, and warm. Some cold nights when I wake up just my body heat keeps the tent like 10 degrees warmer than outside. We camp in the tents for the entire week at the minimal BLM campgrounds for the week while jeeping. This is a more expensive tent but it is worth it, everyone with lesser tents are always eating sand during the week."