Rei Half Dome 4 Tent

We bought this tent on sale in May and it's now seen 16 nights of use in 8 different locations. It's been set up on volcanic rock (with footprint), survived the heat of Death Valley in June, and now a nice Arizona monsoon complete with hail. So I guess it's earned a review...

Overall, I'm very happy with this tent, especially for the money. It leaves little to be desired, but I think my expecations are in order. I don't expect this tent to be something it's not, like a backpacking or 4 season tent.

We use this for just 2 of us + gear. 2 adults + 2 duffels with lots of room to spare. Love it. Easy to sit up or move around in. There are lots of pockets to store things & they are mesh so you don't lose what you put there. A few loops allow attachment of light objects via carabeener, even a VERY small "clothsline"...very handy. This is an entirely liveable space.

Since we move around a lot, ease of pitch is important. This thing is a snap. I can do it by myself, but with 2 of us it takes well under 5 minutes from bag to shelter. With cleaning/shaking out & folding, it takes under 10 to pack it down. One note: the tent, fly, & footprint are a tight fit in the bag. We use an additional stuff sack--not a problem if space isn't an issue (& if it is, why are you looking at a 4 person tent?).

I also have to say that given the way we've used this tent, I'm impressed with it's durability. Only 16 days, but it's holding up well. It's a big tent, and one con to that is wind. In high wind (~30-35) the Half-Dome certainly swayed but did not collapse...bend but don't break.

The only reason this got a 4 star is the fly & overall rain protection. It IS pretty good, but could be improved. First, the fly is pretty much a committment; it's either on or off. It should be easier to roll it back for day/evening airflow & enjoyment and then quickly pull it down for night-time privacy & warmth. If it's off and a rain kicks up, you're getting wet (so watch the skies!). Second, and this is being picky, the tent is not rain PROOF. Water gets in two ways. In a torrential downpour, water (& mud) splashes up off the ground & over the low lip of the bathtub floor (yes, w/the fly on). Water can also get in from the top, but only after MUCH rain. We had an inch in an hour + pea-sized hail...no leaks :) But then it rained at a decent clip for another 12 hours. Eventually it DID leak, but only a few dozen drops, so really no big deal. In the morning I saw that the hail had pushed the fly against the tent, forming a well & then transferring the water. Unique circumstances. So now for the positive...I read a review that it was hard to close the fly vents from inside the tent. Not so! The side doors zip from the top & bottom. Just open the door a bit from the top zipper & you can easily access the vents w/o getting wet.

This is a great tent & was well designed. If chosen for the right purpose, it will not disappoint.

I was going to give this tent a three, but after our recent trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area - I had to give it a four for keeping us dry.

REI makes some nice private label products. This tent is no exception. Easy to set up, nice tall ceiling, plenty of gear space. It's a good tent and I recommend it. But, here are a couple of the reasons that may sway your decision in one way or another.

Cons:
There are no visual instructions with the tent (they have a video online now, but it still leaves some questions unanswered).

As another author wrote there are only 6 stakes (4 for the corners and two for the vestibule). However, it does come with 4 guylines ... which was also my first beef with the rainfly. There are 6 possible places to attach the guylines. This is the part that a visual instruction guide would help with.

The other thing about the rainfly is I wish the vestibule had the ability to stake either side. As it is, if you set up your tent a certain way to catch or deflect the wind - if it switched directions on you, you have to either zip the whole vestibule or turn the whole tent.

While the vents are nice ... rain does puddle near them. Not to the point in which it comes in the tent (unless it's windy), but if you want to shut the vent you have to be very aware of the puddle, otherwise you'll spill the water inside.

PROS
We backpacked into the BWCA in northern Minnesota over the 4th of July weekend. Beautiful on the first day - the gear preformed well and didn't feel too heavy (but, it is a little on the heavy side). The second day it rained and we spent the whole day in the tent. Got a lot of good naps and reading done. Stayed dry all day.

That night it poured and despite the less than ideal tent location (only flat ground was lower that much of the rest of the site), the inside stayed dry. At one point in the night we felt the bottom of the tent and could feel at least an inch of water running under us.

I'm not sure if it was the tent itself or the combination with the footprint, but it was certainly nice to get a dry night's sleep that night.

Very good tent and very good value, especially when on sale. Like the other reviewers, the only reason its not 5 stars is that it should come with more tent stakes. This isn't a deal breaker, since I picked up MSR Groundhog stakes (and cord) to use all the guyline points.

I've set it up but haven't used it in the wild yet. Two concerns: 1) if you guy it out nice and tight and make it look perfect and taught, the doors are hard to unzip; you have to give tent some slack (no pun intended) for the doors to unzip smoothly; and most importantly 2)the top of the vents do not look long enough to really prevent wind-driven rain from penetrating. If these were an inch longer, it may be better. Time and use will tell.

Other than the above, I really like this tent. I bought it for 2, even though its listed as a 4 person tent. Trust me, this is the perfect size for 2 people and their gear (or dog). I'd hate to be crammed inside this tent with 3 other adults and their gear. The vestibules are nice, not huge, but nice. There are mesh pockets everywhere. Setup is a breeze, with color-coding. Since there was no real visual instructions included, it took me a few minutes to figure out what they included a short anodized alum tube for. I figured it had something to do with the tent poles and realized it was for temp repair of a bent pole; slide it over problem area of pole and it works like a charm.

One concern I had was that the fly vents could not be reached from inside the tent, forcing you to go out in the rain to close them. I found that although its really not designed for it, you can still reach up through the netting inside tent and close the vents, especially if you have someone with small hands.

Overall: very nice--buy it!

I bought this tent to use car camping with my wife and two small children, and also as a backpacking option when it's just the two of us and our 95lb Chesapeake Bay Retriever. This tent is absolutely fantastic, and reasonably lightweight for the amount of floor space - it's HUGE inside!

Our first trip with the kids turned out to be three days of every kind of rain the Pacific Northwest can throw at us, but this tent was bone-dry inside the entire time. With two adults and two children at night, the excellent ventilation kept condensation at bay, and we were very impressed.

Setup is very easy & fast, everything is color coded (as usual with REI tents), and with guys tight, the tent held up to the wind & driven rain very well. The ONLY gripe we found with this tent is the rainfly zipper - since it's right down the middle, you can't open the fly without getting doused by water in the rain as the side collapses inward. Not much of an issue overall, but it would be nice to have the zipper offset from center to help shed water when opening/closing.

That said, the vestibules are enormous, with plenty of room for packs, boots, and cooking. We couldn't be happier with this tent and would recommend it to anyone. At just over 7lbs, we also have packed it on fairly level hikes (we have an REI Passage 2 for our mountain climbing trips!), and the extra 3lbs is MORE than worth it when spending more than 1 night outside - again, this tent is HUGE inside, and very livable when the weather turns foul.

We love this tent. Packed, it takes up half the space of our previous tent and is a third of the weight. We're travelling the world on motorcycles and this tent has seen most of the States, all of Canada, a good section of Europe and North Africa - including nights in the Sahara. It's seen sand, wind, heavy rain and wild animals that found it's doors a great place for a nap - and in every case it performed incredibly well.

The ventilation is great and with the fly it can be surprisingly warm on a cold night. We've camped in +10c and been fine with the fly and decent bags, and in the 40's in the desert with no fly and found it perfect.

The mesh is surprisingly durable and we've not had to repair any of it even with lugging drybags in and out of it daily. There *area* some deformations in the mesh but I think that's to be expected with use and doesn't impede its performance.

Through torrential downpours we've had no leaks and the footprint has held up well to rocks, mud and sand. The space inside is generous and the shape makes it feel larger than you'd think. The near-vertical walls on two of the sides makes this a great option for two people and loads of bags or three people comfortably. I think four is a stretch but it's probably possible...

Just got back from a week of bike camping. The REI Half Dome 4 worked very comfortably for two on air mattresses, with gear. It held up very well and we stayed completely dry inside even though there was rain and thunderstorms every night. We were with a large group, and it seemed like our tent was one of the easiest to set up and take down. I was very pleased.

We sleep on Exped Synmat 7LW matresses that are 77.5" x 26" each. Two of us plus our duffel bags fit inside perfectly. Maybe 3 on mattresses would fit, but that would be wall to wall.

I think REI skimped on the number of tie downs and tent stakes that were supplied with the tent. It should have 4 corner tent stakes and 4 fly tie out stakes at a minimum. If I was really worried about wind, there are 4 more tie downs on the fly. It came equipped with only 6 stakes, not even enough to do the minimum on the tent and fly. I purchased an additional 4 tent stakes before the trip, so we were set. This lack of enough stakes is the only reason I didn't give it a 5 star rating.

All in all, it's a very nice tent. We also bought the ground cloth and it is a nice addition to protect the tent floor.

I like to explore and camp off from my ATV & UTV.
Storeage space can be and issue, so that is why I go with the backpack style tents.I used the REI half dome 2 for two years, but it was to small.
I then went to the REI half dome 4 for the next four years and thought it was and excellent tent.
The only down side being the zippers due to, to much stress on them from the tent pole design.
I now have the REI half dome 4, 2013 model and can only say...What a great improvement in the design.
More interior room with the more verticle wall design, yet same floor size. Better overhead storeage and now there is no longer the stress on the door zippers. They will last and work eaiser now.
The new design takes slightly longer to setup due to pole configuration. But is still very quick and easy.
I think this is the perfect tent for my style of camping needs.For one person, It will hold my double air mattress, lawn chair and gear. It will keep you dry and comfortable.

This is a great tent for the price. I've only used it once in the field, but it held up very well to 30 mph winds. It's really easy to setup and has a good amount of storage. Having two doors and two vestibules is really nice. The zippers work quite easily. Overall, I'm really happy with it.

I rated it 5 stars partly because of the price even though I do have a few minor complaints. It's a bit heavy for a backpacking tent, but it would cost twice as much or more to get a tent a couple pounds lighter. As with basically all tent size ratings, it's hard to imagine, in this case, 4 people in this tent. People on the edges would up against the walls. Three of us fit pretty comfortable with room for some of our gear that we didn't want to leave outside. As others have mentioned, REI was a bit stingy with the stakes.

If you're looking for a high quality tent rated for 4 and not concerned with ultralightness, then this is a great find.

Purchased this tent for a recent camping trip. The tent is absolutely wonderful, it is spacious enough to sleep 4 people (shoulder to shoulder) and still be very lightweight and pack small. It is extremely easy to set up and take down. During our trip, the tent withstood 2 nights of thunder storms and another night of hail storms and random snow showers throughout most days . The rain fly held up amazingly and provides a decent sized shelter, near both entrances, to allow you to keep gear outside and dry. There was little to no condensation, even on the coldest night (28 F). Also there is plenty of storage pockets throughout the tent and strategically placed loops to hang lanterns or gear. I have not used it for backpacking yet but because it packs up and weighs about the same as my old 2 person tent, I am sure that it does just fine.

I've never written a review before on any product ever, but after surviving what was a terrifying storm in this tent I had to offer my feedback. After two rounds of scary thunderstorms our tent the next morning looked just as it had the day before. No leaks, fly performed with perfection. Nothing up rooted or out of place. We pitched this tent on a ridge exposed all night to seriously heavy rain and raging powerful wind. Most importantly it stood up to the massive hail that pummeled it. Huge hail pounded into it for a long long time. My vehicle left behind at the trailhead was damaged from the hail so severely it was nearly totalled (IT'S been in the body shop for 3 weeks now). But this tent, so light it's hard to imagine, sheltered us during this most terrific storm. Hwy 20 didn't even survive the storm! Great job REI!!!