Explorer 6-Person Tent by Sherper's

If you look at the Alps website you will see they offer a series of "outfitter" tents based on their Taurus and Mermac models e.g. same basic design but with larger (=more durable) zippers and oxford nylon (=tougher) floors. The Taurus and Mermac designs are super easy to put up and use only 2 poles - my 9 & 11yr olds can easily set up my 4pps Taurus AL by themselves and our scout troop uses the Mermacs for the same reason. The main difference is that Alp's Taurus tent series have a more complete rain fly that zips down in front and back to create awnings and the Taurus comes with ALUMINUM poles which are more durable, lighter and don't give splinters like fiberglass. The Mermac has no awnings and comes with fiberglass poles - we live in Minnesota and fiberglass can get brittle cold. Aluminum can bend if abused - fiberglass breaks. SO.... why is this Sherpers version the best? Because if you want a 6 person, 10'x10' footprint outfitter duty version WITH factory aluminum poles THIS SHERPERS VERSION is your only option. Alps sells a Taurus Outfitter sized for 5 people with an 8x10 footprint and aluminum poles for $389MSRP(as of this writing!!!) but they don't offer a 6 person version. Alps also sells a 6 person Mermac Outfitter but it comes with the less protective rainfly and fiberglass poles. All that being said - I used this tent twice at 2 separate scout camps and the tent performed flawlessly. Two adults on cots had PLENTY of room and the awnings and doors on each side allowed each person a place to store shoes and other "outside" gear outside the tent. A couple of tips - we used a cheap 5mil 10x10 blue tarp for a footprint - costs $12 on Amazon and worked just fine. No need to buy an expensive fitted footprint. We used moving blankets on the floor inside to create "carpeted" interior that is also easy to clean. Bring a 2x3 piece of astro-turf as a door mat. This is for car camping of course - not for use as a mountain trek with your titanium spork!!! Conclusion - great price for an awesome tent design with heavy duty upgrades and aluminum poles. Get one while they last!!! [I AM NOT GETTING PAID ANYTHING - I GENUINELY LOVE THIS TENT AND IT IS EVERYTHING I WANTED AFTER DOING THE RESEARCH]

Great for nature. Comes with five of its own Brown Recluse spiders (LIVE). Sorry but I was too busy killing them to take pictures. Missing a loop sewed into top of tent so gear loft is useless. Size is perfect, main reason I bought it. Love the fact that the poles CLIP to the tent - no pockets to slide poles thru. Pockets are a major pain when setting up in rain. Like the vestibules on both ends. Want to see how it performs in the rain. Even with guylines the tarp sags enough if wet it hits the tent. BTW guylines should be a bright color. Can’t be seen at night. Major tripping hazard. Also as you trip over them the tent can be easily torn. This is typical of most tent. I automatically replace them with paracord with reflector windings. We will see. Overall great tent, snap to set-up, take down, plenty of room. Bring bug spray for first set-up.

As a family of 6, with of those being under the age of 12 and unable to carry much of their own weight/supplies, it was a struggle to find a large enough tent that was also lightweight enough for long backpacking trips. We just purchased this and used it for the first time. The set up was super easy and quick for us 2 adults and we believe 2 of our older kids can probably do it next trip after watching us this first time. The tent itself was surprisingly roomy and comfortably fit all 6 of us and some of our gear without difficulty. During our first night in the tent, we experienced an unexpected wind storm and the tent withstood 35mph winds for almost 24 hours straight without problem once we tightened everything down once. We were pleasantly surprised with how the tent stood up during the storm. I cannot say enough about this tent and we look forward to using it again soon!

I've used the tent about 10 times. So for I really like it. It's a breeze to set up, even for one person. Dry durable floor (I use a footprint). Good quality zippers. I guess my only complaint is - I wish rainfly had a double zipper,. When the rainfly is stacked down it's kind-of-a pain to get through the fly.

Great tent and easy to setup.

I really appreciate the materials used in the construction of this tent. The fabric and zippers are definitely a step up with the fabric, the floor especially being thicker, and the zippers being larger than the average tent zippers. The aluminum poles make set-up a breeze. I was disappointed with the quality control. The fabric at the bottom of the door was either torn, or never sewn on in about a 3" area. I am handy with a sewing machine, so I repaired the defect myself rather than deal with a return. I purchased two of the 4-person models of this tent as well and they had no defects. To go with this tent, I also purchased the Alps Mountainering 6p footprint as well as the Alps Mountaineering Size Large Zippered Tent Bag. The footprint fits well and the larger, zippered bag alleviates the frustration of getting the tent back in the included bag which works, but is very snug.

This is a well-built tent. I set it up in my backyard by myself easily to test it's waterproof ability. It sat out over night in high winds and heavy rain. We had a tornado watch that was not in the forecast. Next morning it was bone dry inside. So can handle heavy rain and probably 40-50mph winds. Was not able to take it down right away since I had a morning class. As soon as I got home, the rain exploded again for 2 hours and we had 5-10 minutes of quarter-sized hail. When all stopped and the sun came out and when I checked the tent was undamaged and totally dry inside. So, despite never sleeping in the tent yet, I LOVE IT! My only concern is the tent comes with beefy 12.5mm aluminum poles. I'm trying to locate a set of replacement poles to have on hand just in case. Sherper's only sells 11mm fiberglass poles as replacements that would not be robust enough in my estimation. Sell aluminum OEM 12.5mm poles and this is perfect.

Best bang for your buck tent currently on the market. Our scout troop has used alps for the past 5 years. They let us camp 9 months ago year easily and can be stretched to 12 months if you plan and are careful.