This GigaTent Six Person Family Tent review is about a 2-room freestanding cabin style family camping tent with 2 doors and steel-fiberglass poles, best suited for 2 season camping.
Key features & benefits
- Cabin style tent.
- 2 Rooms.
- 2 Doors.
- 5 Windows.
- Steel & fiberglass poles.
- Fully freestanding.
- Reasonable price.
Where to buy
This tent is available on Amazon. They operate globally, so please follow the link and check shipping conditions for your location.
What type of tent is this
This is a really nicely designed cabin style tent with a partial coverage fly. The structure is more or less freestanding and this holds even after you attach the fly. This means that you can rotate it and move around, but do not miss to stake it properly, all necessary stakes and 6 guylines are included in the package.
Note that it is available around also under the name Giga Tent Katahdin six-person tent, just to know that this is the same tent.
The picture below shows the tent without the fly, so you can see its impressive frame structure. This is a pleasant tall construction with 84 inches (213 cm) peak height and windows on all the sides.
The tent is with an internal divider so this is formally a 2-room structure. Both parts have their separate doors and you can see them in the picture above.
Materials
The poles and stakes
There are many poles here, 12 in total, a combination of chain-corded steel and shock-corded fiberglass. They include:
- 4 Steel 19-mm diameter legs poles.
- 4 Eave fiberglass poles.
- 2 Roof fiberglass poles.
- 2 Side fiberglass poles.
The legs attach to the roof and eave poles through 4 hub elements that are pre-attached to the tent. There are also 12 steel hook stakes and 4 heavy-duty stakes.
Fabric
The wall material is a 190T polyester taffeta with 600 mm coating, and the fly is the same material but with 1200 mm coating. The mesh areas are a 50D no-see-um type. Note that they suggest seam sealing of the walls, so you should not rely on it before doing this.
The bathtub floor is a thick polyethylene, they do not give a waterproof rating but this is a sort of plastic and typically with a very high rating. This tent meets the flammability requirements of CPAI-84.
Ventilation
As long as the sky is clear you should never have issues with ventilation in this tent. But it is without floor vents, pity they did not add them, this is necessary when all the openings are with panels on.
Who is it for
Capacity: The declared capacity is 6 people and the picture below shows what the manufacturer suggests for using the tent. The area is 112 ft² (10.4 m²) and this implies 18.7 ft² (1.7 m²) per person. This is not bad and the tent can accommodate such a number of people.
Seasons & climate: They describe it as a 3-season tent and it looks like this. But the ceiling is with lots of mesh which cannot be closed. So it is best to avoid very cold areas, and use it in summer, late spring, and early autumn.
The official waterproof rating is good enough for most situations in a 2-season camping. But they suggest seam sealing as mentioned above. This is a tall tent with a high positioned fly and I would not use it in very windy conditions.
Weight: With its 29 lb (13.2 kg) this is everything but hiking and backpacking tent as they describe it on Amazon. So it is best to ignore such a senseless description. But the weight is not necessarily a bad thing, it has a very strong pole system.
The packed size (L x D) 32 x 11 inches (81 x 28 cm) is such that you clearly need a car for this tent. This is a car camping tent so the weight and the packed size are not particularly important.
Specifications
- Declared capacity: 6 people.
- Weight: 29 lb (13.2 kg).
- Dimensions: 13 x 9 ft (396 x 274 cm).
- Area: 112 ft² (10.4 m²).
- Area per person: 18.7 ft² (1.7 m²).
- Peak height: 84 in (213 cm).
- Packed size (L x D): 32 x 11 in (81 x 28 cm).
Final thoughts
So to summarize this GigaTent Six Person Family Tent review, I hope the text has been useful to you and you have a clear picture of this tent. This is a really cool design, the tent is pleasant and functional, and the price is appropriate.
This tent is quite new on the market but it has already received a number of reports by users. Please see how I rate it against my standard set of criteria which I use consistently for all the tents here in the site:
GigaTent Six Person Family Tent
Pros
- Freestanding tent.
- Very tall & pleasant.
- Strong construction.
Cons
- No floor vents.
- Heavy.
- A bit small for the declared capacity.
If you need more options in the same or any other size range, just check around, this site is all about family camping tents and you will find something for you. Check this CORE 6 Person Straight Wall Cabin Tent 10 x 9 which is also a nice cabin tent, and also the Core 6 Person Straight Wall Cabin Tent with a Screen Room.
Note that this is not a sponsored text, and I am not paid by the manufacturer. Please use the comment box below in case of questions or comments.
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