Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Slumberjack In-Season 2 Tent ???

I'm perusing the market for 4-season tents that my grand-son's boy scout troop can buy. I've come across the Slumberjack In-Season 2 tent, which is advertised as a 4-season tent and it has the specs to make one believe that they at least tried to make it a genuine 4-season tent.

The price is real good and much less expensive than other high quality 4-season tents. It's so good in fact that it makes we want to "look a gift horse in the mouth."

Also, over the years I have bought some Slumberjack gear and it wasn't top-of-the-line stuff. It didn't last very long. So I'm skeptical of Slumberjack gear. Also the In-Season 2 has four zippers on the rain-fly and as we all know those zippers can be a weak point.

Is there anyone reading this that owns one of these tents? Has it endured a real barn burner wind storm? How did it do? What's your overall impression of the tent?

KC

Eureka Timberline

Powerguy:

I respectfully disagree. The Eureka Timberline tent has been around for sixty years and it has proven itself as a durable 3-season tent. It is a good value for that type of tent, when one factors lowest life cycle cost into the equation, because they last so long. But it's not even close to being a 4-season tent.

Just the same, thanks for the suggestion and the response.

What I asked about was if anyone has personal experience with the Slumberjack "In-Season 2" tent.

KC

Ok, just so I understand this correctly.

Your looking at a 3 season, cheap, heavy tent for the boy scout troop to buy for 4 season camping?

Cheap, four season and barn burner wind storm performance do not go together in the same sentence.

No. I'm NOT looking at a 3-season tent. What I'm look at is a tent that the manufacturer claims is a 4-season tent that's built for extreme conditions. I'm asking if anyone has actually had any first hand experience with that tent to confirm or deny it's 4-season performance.

KC

I ordered this tent from Campmor.com and it arrived today. The manufacturer claims that it is a 4-season tent. It retails at $269 and I got 20% discount with a coupon so I paid $216. This tent is worth the money that I paid for it, but IMHO it's not a 4-season tent.

I set it up and compared it to three genuine 4-season tents that I already own; North Face VE-25, Cabelas XPG-4, Moss Stardome. The fly material is not as heavy as the other tents. The Slumberjack tent has four zippers and they are not as beefy as the others. The poles are not as big in diameter and they are very light and that makes me wonder what is the wall thickness of the poles. It has four poles on the main body of the tent but they are not arranged in a true geodesic design that would reinforce each other. I have no confidence that this tent could withstand a heavy sustained wind storm.

I'm going to return the tent to Campmor and advise the troop not to purchase that tent.

KC

Thanks for the info.

Would you say it is a good 3 season tent as compared to others in its price range? My daughter and her husband are looking at tents and being newly married are conscious of the cash outlay. I'll likely kick in a bit to get them good quality if needed.

Alps Mountaineering offers good discounts for scout troops and leaders. I don't know if they have a tent that will meet your specs, but it might be worth a look.

Bill:

The Slumberjack tent is a good 3-season tent for the price. It's kind of heavy at 7.5#. So not on the top of my list for 3-season backpacking tents.

Tell your kids to check out the REI quarter Dome T-2 tent.

REI Quarter Dome T-2 tent

Same price. Better 3-season tent and it weighs about 4 1/2#.

You can get 3-season tents that weigh less, but they cost a lot more.

KC

duckcall:

I would like to get a good look at their Extreme 3 Outfitter tent. There's a Sportmans Warehouse in Colorado Springs. I'll see if they carry that tent.

KC

We have a salvage store locally where good deals sometimes pop up. I ended up buying 2 of these for under $100. I think I caught one priced at about $50, the other was closer to $30. The cheaper tent had been purchased and used at some point and returned.

I've used them only a couple of times, but not in harsh conditions. I set them up in the yard and a steady downpour from the water hose did not produce any leaks.

http://www.amazon.com/ALPS-Mountain...6&keywords=alps+mountaineering+tents

For extended use it might not hold up as well as the more expensive models, but at the price I paid I'm pleased.