Originally Posted by
stringbreaker
REI half dome for $199.00 USD seems to get a lot of postitive comments. My son has one thats a few years old and he uses it on long backpack trips in the Washington Cascades and will choos it over his other tents most of the time. If you get the two person there should be plenty of room for you do cook in if you have too
I bought the REI Camp Dome 2 two person tent based on reviews and price/weight ratio. I paid $100 for it and it's around 5lbs. I've only spent maybe 20-25 nights in it so far, including few with pouring rain. It's VERY easy to set up. It keeps water out during worst rain and seems to withstand the winds (needs two extra stakes for the fly for windy conditions, not included) but it's kind of smallish. I'm 5'11" and I can touch the tent walls with my feet and head when stretched. I wish it was slightly bigger. It's also freestanding if that matters although I always staked it down.
Overall it's a great tent for short trips, but had I known, I'd look for something larger and with a rainproof vestibule - after a week I was wishing the tent was larger and had some covered outside area.