User Review: Asolo Chameleon 6

Summary

They should call this the big top. You could hold a circus under its vestibule. The peek hight is tall enough for a pygmy giraffe. If bigger is better this is BETTER.

I had read some not so good reviews on this tent. I went into it thinking that it may be made of tissue paper. This is not the case. The floor of the tent looks pretty robust. The sleeves that the poles slide through are made of the same material as the tent body they are not as rugged as I have seen from other manufacturers (REI).

Does this mean they're weak? No, the design of the tent those sleeves are not under under pressure. You may not want to slam the poles through the sleeves but you don't want to do that with any tent. The construction of the tent is well above average. The poles did not deform or hold a bend like I have seen with other large tents. The clips look like standard fair. The zippers are big and appear robust.

The inside is large and roomy with a divider. This is nice if you need some privacy. At its peak this tent is 6'8" so even if you play basketball you won't feel cramped. The tent has has lots of ventilation. The thing that separates this tent from the pack is the vestibule. It is like having a single car garage attached to a tent. I think a picnic table might fit in it. I can envision a camp poker tournament under this giant vestibule.

I am 6'1" and don't think I had to stoop not even under this glorious, enormous, monster vestibule. On the other side of the tent there is an average vestibule if you don't have enough room. If you have to wait out foul weather at least you won't be cramped. 

The directions start off with take the too longest poles and cross them across the tent. To say the directions stink may be an understatement. The poles are color coded the poles with the black ends are the crossing poles. The pole with the red end is the vestibule surround and it is a snug fit. The grey is the support for the vestibule. Once you figure that out its a piece of cake. I put it up by myself and its no harder than the Kingdom 6.

If I had to do a direct comparison between six man tents with room divider the REI Kingdom 6 comes to mind. Head to head I say the REI is made with heavier materials reinforced in areas that are stressed. The REI has many more storage pockets which is nice. REI has had many years to refine and improve their design. For Asolo it is not a bad first effort. I think if you take care of this tent it should provide many years of use.