REI Co-op  Flash Air 2 Tent

When it comes to tents, I'm typically leaning toward something that I can stand up inside and have some room. When I camp on my own, I usually have a nice cot, a camp chair, and a small table inside my tent--that's how I do it. But I've always been curious about the ultralight world. Other than a small two-man tent from when I was a kid, I've never camped in anything that could be considered "ultra-light" by any stretch. So when REI offered to send me a free tent and ground cloth (Flash Air 2 Tent with matching Flash Air 2 footprint) in exchange for a thorough review, I was pleased to go through the experience and write it up to share with everyone. Upon arrival, the package arrived in very good order. The package was easy to open and the gear was in terrific shape. The very first thing I noticed: They have included real tent stakes! Not the cheapo bendy things that are usually included in a tent that is purchased off the shelf--some good tent stakes. They aren't my preferred stakes (which are the MSR Ground Hogs) but they are sturdy and strong, so I'm happy I don't have to replace them right away. I was disappointed in the font size of the instructions included--my eyes aren't what they used to be so it was difficult to get a good read on the initial instructions. And this brings me to my first suggestion: use both sides of the instruction page to print the instructions and double the font size. It will be easier to read and will not require more paper. The setup process is more complicated than most tents so clear instructions are important, especially for first-timers. The packed size was smaller than my regular two-person tent that I use for camping--the one I can stand up in, so I can see the savings for space when backpacking. But it was still larger than I expected it to be. I will say this: after I unrolled it in the house (you DO always check out your gear inside first before going outside, right?) I found that I could easily "stuff" the tent back in the bag without having to bother rolling it up. I hate rolling up tents. The "stuffing" approach usually calls to leave the tent poles and stakes out seperate, but I'm okay with that. There was PLENTY of room in the bag to put it back in if I want to take the time to roll it up. It's nice to know that the tent bag isn't going to just be used for shipping from the factory--it can stay with the tent through its lifetime use. The selection of online videos are weak--I can find only a few and they are not very instructional. It gets more complicated that the pictures on the REI website and the videos I could find don't match the tent--particularly, the photos and configuration include a "pole hub assembly" -- a black joint that connects the vertical standing pole to a horizontal pole across the roof. That part doesn't exist in the kit. I think the instructions online are working with trekking poles and the configuration I was sent includes two "long poles" that are clearly for support. It's possible that this is a re-design, so I may have to get creative in figuring out how to set this hot rod up. It's January where I live and nighttime gets below freezing but warms up some in the day. So the first available nice afternoon I have, I head outside and set up the tent. Following the process as best I can, I get it set up in what looks like a reasonable configuration. I use the included poles rather than trekking poles. With practice, I'm sure that I can get it "tighter" and "smoother" but it's enough to crawl inside and check it out. It takes longer than I had hoped and there are a lot of steps. Here's some of the outside features that I don't like: 1) A lot of support lines. I count 12 lines for this one tent. 2) I could actually use a couple more lines. That might seem in conflict with #1, but there are some points of "loose tent" that could be tightened with a properly-placed outside line. 3) The lines that are provided are much longer than necessary and force the tent to take up much more of a "service footprint" than should be required. It takes a lot of space to set the tent up for such a small tent. 4) The tent stakes--although better than standard cheapos, don't hold in the ground well. The soil is wet so that's some of it, but I will want to replace them with something that grips the soil better. 5) Ugly colors. Barf gray on top, faded orange on the bottom. Ew. Here's some outside features that I do like: 1) The tent material itself does seem to be durable, thin, and light. I like that a lot. 2) Two doors, one on each side. That's really nice. Time to crawl inside. Where's the zipper? There it is... oh, it only goes one way. The "feet side" of the tent has the zipper door, the "head side" netting is permanently sewn. Probably smart--no extra moving parts to break. Will take some getting used to... but I can appreciate the design. I'm inside and there is plenty of room for me to lay down, roll over, stow some gear, and sit up. I'm 5'9"/1.75m so I'll have more headroom than most, but there's room to spare for people taller than me. This is the "two-person" tent design, but I like having the extra width for storage and gear. Here's a really nice feature on the inside I like: the netted gear pockets are alongside the head area and are capable of holding a device such as a phone facing toward you so you can use the video feature while tucked into your sleeping bag: watch a movie, make a video call, you name it. There's room for phone, keys, small flashlight, and easily a few other items. Plus those pockets are on both sides of the tent. After about five minutes inside I realize that I'm starting to get colder than I should... okay, it's just a setup and not ready for overnight--I don't have a pad down, nothing like that... but I realize that even through my coat the ground is starting to suck heat out of my body. Then I feel a breeze coming over me. Yeah, the door is open, but the breeze didn't come from there. It came from my feet. And I look at my feet and there are nice, beautiful ventilation holes with netting over them on both sides. I glance at the head area and there are two more. I check the far sides and there's ventilation there too. This is a warm-weather tent. I check the REI website, it clearly says "3-season" -- okay then, not tonight. A 3-season tent is certainly not a bad thing! But it's January in the Kansas City area. We rarely have overnights above freezing so I'm starting to get concerned that I shouldn't really thoroughly test the tent for several months. Even if I had good winter-rated bedding, I still would get cold with the wide breeze coming from all angles. But I think on the right day, this would be okay. This is a little disappointing to me, because REI does want my comments within three weeks. But three weeks come and go, and every night has been below freezing. I can't test it overnight until it warms up. As I sit and think, I realize that if it was warm weather I could set up a hammock and rain fly in a few minutes with a lot less gear. But it is what it is. Some reviews mentioned that there is condensation buildup--that shouldn't happen in the cold, but it's not warm enough to test that so I can give no opinion. I can say that it would be really easy to set up a rapid ridgeline over the top and put an extra fly on top to protect it from the rain. That's something, right? Taking down the tent is straightforward and simple! The only difficulty is the "short poles" at the head and feet are very tight and hard to take out from the tent. I'm concerned that I'm going to either damage the pole or rip the tent-and that's never a good feeling. But once that's done, I easily stuff it quickly in the bag. That's my most favorite part: you can stuff it in the bag. Other than the time to take out the short head and feet poles, breaking down the tent is super-fast and easy. It DOES set up, it IS a tent, and I'm confident that on a summer day it would be breezy and I'd be happy. On a spring or fall day, I'd want to bundle up a little at night but I'm still certain it would be a nice evening. I'm unsure how it would perform in foul weather and I have low confidence in its ability to keep me warm during cold weather (which really is outside its designed purpose anyway). It's a three-season tent and I'm confident it will do its job under favorable conditions. On the downside, I could purchase four REI Co-op Groundbreaker 2 tents for the price of one of these. As a comparison, the Flash Air is lighter--a whole 2 pounds 5 ounces lighter. But is it $180 lighter? And the packed size isn't much smaller. I'm having a hard time coming up with a reason to recommend the product. SO: Will I keep the tent and use it? Yes. Am I glad to own it? Yes. Would I buy it? Probably not. But I think that response is more reflective of the type of camping I prefer to do rather than the product itself. What matters most to you is this question: should you buy it? The answer there is "maybe" -- and I mean that. If you are seeking a small 1-2 person ultralight tent this might be the one you want. It does its job, it performs as expected, and is certainly capable of delivering a good outdoor sleeping experience plus has room for gear. It is light, easy to take down, very easy to stuff back into its sack for hiking down the way, and is comfortable. I sure wouldn't talk anyone out of buying it! I would recommend you first make the decision on if you want to go with ultralight tent camping in the first place (compared to hammock camping or larger tents) and that will help you come to a better decision. But if you've made the decision to get an ultralight tent, consider this one. I'm looking forward to warmer days, I think I'm going to like it!

I bought this because it was an affordable, amazingly light tent. I used it over a summer and fall in the white mountains. Spent about 30 days in it. OK: Not very easy to put up and did not mate with its footprint in any way. It also needed to be staked out everywhere (completely non-freestanding). In dry, breezy or windy weather I was fairly - actually very satisfied, but when it’s raining and you have to close it all up, flys and everything it is a totally different tent. This thing has zero meaningful ventilation. Condensation is so bad that I may as well have left the rain fly off and just let myself get rained or or brought a tarp to suspend over the tent. Hypothermia is a real concern. I got very close on a cold, rainy night. Had to pack out at three in the morning and get hiking hard to warm my body and get to safety. Ruined the trip as I was 2 days into what was meant to be a 6 day trip. This tent is a safety hazard. I strongly recommend looking elsewhere. I replaced with a big Agnes copper spur ulv. I’m hoping for a better experience. I’d recommend a look at big Agnes or Nemo - Fjallraven if you have the cash. I should specify that I had the one person. Perhaps the 2 person has better ventilation - I don’t know. Really this tent is a potential death trap and I feel it was very irresponsible of rei to sell such a tent. Did they test in in all conditions and still sell it? Do not buy this tent unless you are really into hypothermia.