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Reviews > Shelters > Tents > REI Half Dome Plus 2 > Owner Review by Andy RadREI Half Dome Plus 2
Reviewer Information & Background
I started backpacking 21 years ago, mostly 3-day trips with at least one 7-day trip per year. By backpacking, I’m referring to summer, winter camping, and fall hunting. About half my trips are light weight solo and the other half with my family. I own a llama that was purchased when my 3rd child was 2, some 10 years ago. This allowed me to continue backpacking as a family activity. When I’m not with the family/llama I tend to take less-traveled trails or bushwhack the hard mountainous terrain in and around Idaho. In recent years I’ve begun substituting a collie for the llama.
Product Details: The REI Half Dome Plus 2 is a 2 person, free standing, 2 pole, double wall, polyurethane coated tent with 2 very spacious 9.6 sq ft (0.9 m2) vestibules. Entry is through either side via large D shaped doors. The tent has factory seam-sealed floor and fly, has a gear loft, and 2 interior pockets. Doors are no-see-um mesh as are the front and rear windows. Fly has a clear film (plastic) window for viewing through the mesh window, and two adjustable vents on top. The tent utilizes attachment clips rather than pole sleeves, and is a simple one-person setup. The Half Dome comes with 8 quality aluminum alloy stakes, not the cheap easy to bend stakes, and 4 guy lines. 4 stakes are for the tent corners, 2 stakes and guy lines for the side vestibules, and 2 stakes and guy lines for securing the fly's front and rear. The stuff sack is over sized with webbing cinches, it adds a little weight, but sure comes in handy when packing a wet tent. The vestibules/fly openings are reinforced with a few Velcro strips to ensure weather tightness. As per the instructions, the vestibule attaches to the end of the tent pole, thus pulling it close to the bottom and covering the 4 tent body tethers. In wet weather, I prefer securing the vestibule with the 4 tent stakes and pulling it a couple inches away from the tent corners. This ensures that water will not be wicked in by the tethers. Tent weight as per my sample is 5 lb 5 oz (2.4 kg) for tent body, fly, 6 stakes, and 4 guy lines. Add an additional 4 oz (140 g) for stuff sack, pole bag, and stake bag. REI footprint weighs in at 9.9 oz (280 g). My field results represent 2 years of occasional use. I've used the tent on several summer and fall weekend trips into the central Idaho area between elevations of 5000 to 8500 ft (1500 to 2600 m). Temperatures have been anywhere from freezing to 85 F (30 C) and several times accompanied by rain and winds approaching what I estimated to be 25 mph (40 kph). I've never had rain enter or leak into the tent. The tent is rather heavy compared to my other tents and generally only gets used when bad weather is expected or when borrowed by family members. My daughter and her husband used it once, liked it so much that they purchased the same model. As for the accompanying footprint, I find it rather heavy and generally use DuPont Tyvek at 6.6oz (187 g), but insist that borrowers of the tent use the factory footprint. Because of the large D doors, when the fly is removed entry is extremely easy, as the camper can stand erect, take their shoes off, and step inside. When using the fly, crouching is required to enter the tent, but it is not a difficult task as the doors are large and vestibule zippers extend far up the sides. I'm 6 ft (1.83 m) and find the length is more than adequate. The dome shape keeps the tent out of my face and away from my feet. Tent height is ample for dressing and playing cards when held up during a storm, and that is with the gear loft in place. As mentioned previously, the tent is heavy compared to my fair weather single walls, but is a battleship when it comes to keeping rain out. Last fall on a 3 night trip, my wife and I had light rain the first 2 evening, but come the third day a storm moved in. By 3:00PM, temperatures dropped from the mid 70s F (20oC) to low 40s (4oC) in early afternoon. We arrived at our destination and we were mostly interested in finding a spot that had a slight slope and not much hill above us. We were concerned about the water that would be running down the slopes. We found a decent spot with a fantastic flat bowl had it not been for the upcoming storm, but were able to pitch above it with little slope above us. I dug a ditch around the upper part of the tent to channel the run-off around the tent. It started raining early that evening and continued through the night. It turned to sideways snow by morning and by 8:00am there was about an inch of slush and 5 inches of water in the bowl about 10 foot below where we pitched the tent. The diversion channels had been well placed as there was a stream of water running away from the tent. The vestibules were large enough that we were able to store both back-packs under one and have our dog, Sable, under the other. During the night Sable decided that all the noise from the rain on the nylon was too much to handle and exited to find better shelter. That was a poor move on her part, because in the morning she was wet and cold. The tent is roomy enough that we were able to pack up camp from inside the tent. Not a drop of water leaked into the tent, and there was minimal condensation running down the interior walls. I’ve never had a tent that performed so well before, but that is also attributed to picking a good spot and preparation. The fly had running water on the underside from condensation but it did a good job of adhering to the vestibule as it traveled to the ends. We meet 2 other couples on the way out and they complained about rain entry in their tents – one couple pitched their tent in a low flat spot and awoke to water accumulating around them. Gives new meaning to the term "house boat". This is a heavy tent, but considering the room, clear viewing window, ability to store gear in both vestibules, and the ease of setup, it makes for a fantastic foul weather tent. Light color fly and viewing window brightens up the tent interior when stuck inside during bad weather. Likes
Dislikes
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