REI Clipper Tent

Reviewer Bio

Name:  Christine Korhonen
Age:  29
Gender:  female
Height:    5’4” (1.6 m)
Weight:  165 lbs (75 kg)
E-mail:    solifei@hotmail.com
Region:  Georgia, USA
Date:  March, 2003

I started backpacking when I moved to Georgia in 2001.  Before then I went on day hikes and car-camped while I traveled from coast to coast.  I’ve currently been going on overnight backpacking trips with a couple of longer trips thrown in.  I pack more heavy-duty than lightweight, and I’m working on getting my pack weight down.  I do most of my hiking in the southern Appalachian Mountains.

Product Information

REI Clipper
URL:  www.rei.com
Year Purchased: 2001

Measured Dimensions: 
Length:  86” (2.2 m)
Width:  32” (810 mm) wide at foot, 56” (1.4 m) at widest point, 46” (1.2 m) wide at door (head)
Height:  46” (1.2 m) at highest point
Vestibule:  46” wide at tent door, 17” long, 32” wide at vestibule door (1.2 m x 430 mm x 810 mm)
Packs to 24” long x 7” diameter cylinder (610 mm x 180 mm) in stuff sack provided
Poles fold to 18.5” (470 mm) sections

Measured Weight: 
Tent:  1 lb 12 oz (790 g)
Rainfly:  2 lbs 3 oz (990 g)
Poles and pole sack: 1 lb 8 oz (680 g)
Stakes & rope with stake sack: 11 oz (310 g)
Tent stuff sack:  2 oz (60 g).
Total packed weight:  6 lbs 4 oz (2830 g)

Product Description

The REI Clipper is a two person, three-season, freestanding tent made from ripstop nylon.  The Clipper has three shock-corded poles, which form a triangle when set up.  It has a front entrance and mesh ceiling.  The floor is roughly kite-shaped and made of coated nylon taffeta which extends 2” (50 mm) up the sides of the tent.  The upper half of the door is mesh, and there are two fairly large (8” x 25”, 200 mm x 640 mm) interior side pockets.  The Clipper has a coated polyester ripstop rainfly which forms a small vestibule in front of the door when staked out.  A new model of this tent came out in 2002.

Field Conditions

I’ve used the Clipper at least once a month for the past two years.  I’ve taken it across the US from the Smokies to Glacier to Zion to Lake Superior.  I’ve gone car-camping with this tent and carried it on overnight and multi-night backpacking trips.  I’ve camped in the Clipper by myself and with various other people abiding by the two-person maximum occupancy.  The tent has withstood rain, snow, sticky heat and swarms of bugs. 

Set up

The REI Clipper is easy to set up.  I spread out the tent, put the ends of the poles in their respective grommets and then attach the clips to the poles.  The hardest part is distinguishing the short pole from the two longer poles.  The instructions sewn on the stuff sack state the short pole comes bent, but the longer poles have also developed bends over time.  I’ve put some tape on a section of the short pole to tell it apart from the others. 

The tent is freestanding and does not need to be staked out.  However, the poles near the door tend to bow inwards.  In order to achieve the maximum space inside the tent, the front corners should be staked. 

The rainfly drapes over the tent and its grommets attach to the ends of the poles.  The pole tips have plenty of space for the both the tent and fly grommets.  There are ladderloc buckles on the fly which allow it to be tightened after it is put up.  The rainfly can also be set up without the tent.  With the tent gone, the fly attaches to the poles using Velcro tabs on the fly’s underside.  I’ve never used this feature outside of an initial set-up inside my house.  The fly does not reach the ground, and there is a gap ranging from 3” to 6” (75 mm to 150 mm) around the bottom of the fly when set up in this manner.

Use

Keep in mind that I’m 5’4” (1.6 m) and all of my friends are under 5’10” (1.8 m).  The REI Clipper is spacious for me.  I can lay inside with my big pack and room to spare.  I end up spreading out all of my stuff and getting some lost in the corners.  The two front pockets are good for keeping flashlights, socks and other items within reach.  When camping solo I usually sleep with my feet facing the door.  Even though the tent narrows and the ceiling slants away from the door, I can sleep in the center of the tent without brushing against the tent walls and sit up without hitting the mesh ceiling.  The mesh ceiling is very yielding, so even when I do brush against it, I hardly notice it.  The drawback of so much room is difficulty keeping the tent warm, especially in winter.

When I’ve camped with friends, they’ve complained that the tent is snug for two.  Two people have to sleep with heads near the door so their shoulders are at the floor’s widest part.  It can be done if you leave the packs outside.  The vestibule is small and will just barely fit two big packs and two pairs of boots if you don’t mind straps hanging out and having to climb over your stuff to get out of the tent.

When I got the tent, I was very excited about the mesh ceiling and planned to spend many hours looking up at the stars while staying warm and bug-free.  However, this hasn’t happened.  I usually put up the rainfly before I get in the tent because it is raining or cold or both.  I sometimes put the fly up as a precaution because I don’t want to get out of the tent in the middle of the night if it starts to rain.  The fly can be put on the tent and then rolled up to expose the mesh ceiling. You have to get out of the tent to roll the fly down if it starts to rain or gets cold.  The fly cannot be lowered from inside the tent.  There are no windows on the fly to see out with the rainfly up. 

Durability

I accidentally cut a 1” (25 mm) hole in the main seam above the door when I was carelessly playing with scissors.  This hole got a lot of stress when the tent is put up.  The ripstop fabric lived up to its name, and I used the tent for over a year without repairing the hole.  The hole was stretched as wide as it would go, but I didn’t notice it getting bigger over time.  I have finally sewn the hole shut and the tent is as good as new.

I’ve just noticed a new 1/2” (10 mm) hole in the rainfly.  I didn’t cut this hole and don’t know how it got there.  The fly looks like it was chewed by a mouse, and it probably happened when the fly was stowed in my pack while I was staying in an Appalachian Trail shelter.  Either that or there are some mice in my house that I don’t know about.

The tent was bought used and came with stains which look like red Kool-aid on the floor and tent body.  I haven’t been able to get these stains out.  Even though the tent body is white, it repels dirt pretty well.  I haven’t washed the tent aside from trying to remove the stains, and it’s only slightly grungy.  To clean the tent I pick it up and shake out any dirt or twigs before I break down the poles. 

I use a ground cloth under the tent floor to prevent water from seeping up from under the tent.   The tent floor does wet out when exposed to water.  I have not treated the floor with a water resistant finish.  The seams came factory sealed, and I have not done any further seam sealing.  I dry the tent out when I get home if it’s gotten wet.  I store the tent stuffed in its sack.

Problems

I have two problems with the REI Clipper (in addition to its weight):

1.  Wetting out.  Though the rainfly covers most of the tent, it doesn’t go all the way to the ground.  I’ve had problems with the exposed sides of the tent wetting out.  This occurs even in light rain lasting a couple of hours.  Gear can get wet if it touches the wet tent.  Normally I’m by myself and don’t touch the sides, but when I was camping in a heavy downpour it didn’t matter.  The rain and water backsplash from the hard-packed ground soaked the exposed tent, ran down the inside of the walls and pooled on the tent floor.  This problem could be avoided by lengthening the fly to the ground.  The fly works well, and the parts of the tent which are covered by the fly don’t have this problem.

2.  Ventilation.  With the rainfly up and door unzipped slightly, there is just enough ventilation to prevent condensation inside the tent.  If I want more ventilation with the fly up, I can open the fly’s door, but there’s no back window to allow cross-ventilation.  Because the tent has a mesh ceiling, the rainfly has to be up if there is precipitation expected.  A cross breeze could be created if there was a vent in the fly.  It would be great if this vent could be opened from inside the tent.  There is plenty of ventilation with the fly off, but I don’t often use the tent without the fly. 

New Model

The 2003 Clipper has several modifications.  The poles are lighter, there’s an integrated attic, and the rainfly cannot be set up without the tent. 

Pros
Clips provide easy set-up.
Freestanding.
Big interior.

Cons
Weight.
Shortness of rainfly.
Lack of ventilation with fly up.
Short pole could be better marked.

Recommendation

I’ve used my Clipper a lot and have grown attached to it, but if I were in the market for a freestanding car-camping tent I would look for one with a longer fly and with more ventilation when the fly is in use than the Clipper.