User Review: Sierra Designs Reverse Combi

Sierra Designs Reverse Combi
Above: The current Reverse Combi, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed September 11, 2006 by Jonathan Bushey

Rating:
Design: three-season
Sleeps: 2
Ease of Setup: fast and simple
Weight: 5 pounds 13 oz (trail weight)
Price Paid: $300 (CDN)

I write this review after having spent approximately 80 nights in this tent:

I was very careful when I chose this tent. I considered several other similar tents, including Sierra Designs' Electron and The North Face's Road Runner 22. In the end I chose the Reverse Combi because (a) I was very happy with the other SD tent I own, the Bedouin 4, (b) it seemed more durable than the Electron, (c) it had a huge vestibule for a tent in its class, and (d) it won several 'gear-of-the-year' type awards from magazine testers.

The Reverse Combi is a relatively expensive tent--which is why I expected a lot from it.

There are some good things about this tent. The vestibules are nice and large--each is capable of storing muddy boots, wet clothes, etc. Typical of SD tents, the canopy is white, creating a brighter feel inside. The buckles, poles, material, and pegs are of good quality. Set up is easy. The reverse combi pole bending design makes the tent spacious.

However...

First off, everything I read called this tent a very "livable" two man tent. The SD website refers to it as the "...most comfortable, livable two man tent on the market today." But there are so many simple, easy, cheap things SD could have done to increase the livability!

For one thing, there are next to no pockets in the tent. One pocket to stash each door into, one tiny pocket at the head and foot of the tent--that's it! There is plenty of wallspace for more pockets, but no. The coffee sling and the attic SD threw in with the tent are both garbage. They looked good on the internet, and I tried to like them, but they both just cluttered the tent.

The vestibule was great, in theory--it is spacious. However, in reality, there are several problems with it. You need to stake out the vestibule very tight to prevent it from sagging down onto the door when it gets damp (even then it sometimes sags). However, this much tension makes the vestibule zippers sometimes catch on the fabric zipper covers. This is very annoying--especially when there are bugs out, or it is raining hard.

Also concerning the vestibule: no matter how well I staked out the rainfly, the inside of it was soaked with condensation in the morning. This caused the rainfly walls to sag, no matter how much tension you staked them out with. With the wet, sagging vesibule walls hanging down you have to pull near super-human feats to exit the tent in the morning to avoid getting soaking wet. The inside of the tent stayed dry, but I was usually damp by the time I got out.

Overall a decent tent, but not worth the fat price tag. Also, what were those 'gear-of-the-year' people thinking? Don't listen to the hype.