Gear Review: Cabela's XPG Ultralight 3 Tent

For my family I have the Cabela's Alaskan Guide 6-person tent with deluxe vestible. I guess it weighs about 60 lbs all together. I got this 3-person Ultralight tent to go camping by myself or with my wife only. In my opinion the price and value can't be beat. This thing packs up small, is very easy to set up, has fitted floor liners available and keeps the weather out. The first time I used it for a "man weekend" in northern PA in January. I camped on about 8" of snow and sticks. It snowed another 8" while we were there and the tent didn't have any problems. I got the 3-person tent to give me plenty of room with my gear. This is not a tent that I'd take on the Apalachian trail or some other long hike. For weekend hikes, camping or for the kids I think you get a good tent at a good price. PS. I always subtract 1-2 people from a tent's capacity claims unless there will be no gear kept in the tent.

Always gauge size by floor space rather than the lilliputian persons they show in the brochures.

First off, I have to say that I did not pay for this tent, it isn't the tent I would have chosen so I am not angry about it being kind of crappy. How this tent got a recommendation from Backpacker is beyond me. I noticed that the review said the "tester" not testers, because this 3 person tent cannot accommodate more than 2 people with their gear comfortably. The comment that the vestibule is "shallow" is an understatement, there isn't enough of a vestibule to store my day-pack. And the comment about the dual vents "facilitating airflow" is a joke- maybe on a windy day. The door should be on the short side, so you don't have to crawl over each other to get out, and the lack of a window or additional door stops airflow all together. Even with the rain fly OFF, the high sides and tightly woven mesh keep the air flow to a minimum. I actually felt a big difference when I opened the mesh door half way. I will say that we stayed dry in the rain and even without the tent footprint (we didn't want to sink ANY money into this tent)the floor wasn't damaged by twigs or stones. My husband and I have used this tent (because we don't have another at this time) on several camping and backpacking trips during June and July- perhaps I will praise it's lack of ventilation in October or March for keeping me warm, but until then, my recommendation is stay away.

i like cabelas