Sierra Designs Nomad 5.1

I just purchased this tent and set it up in my backyard. I have yet to use it on a camping trip this summer so I will update my review later.

The tent comes with six poles, a huge flycover and a vestibule footprint. Set up took a bit of time as I had to sort the poles and figure out their proper place. Getting the tent itself up took some effort as it is quite large. This is my first family tent and I am used to setting up smaller 2- and 3-man tents alone. I had to get assistance draping the flycover over the tent.

Once I was oriented, the tent took about 15 minutes to set up. I didn't stake it so perhaps it would have taken a bit longer. Now that I have done it once, I should be quicker in the future.

The quality of construction is quite good. The poles are very thick diameter aluminum. I'm not crazy about the zippers -- they have cord pulls rather than metal and I find it takes two hands to get them to zip smoothly (one holding the fabric, the other zipping).

The inside of the tent comes with cup holders, gear pockets and a clothesline in the ceiling. These will come in handy when the time comes.

The inside of the tent has a height of almost six feet so standing up is easy. However, this may be a disadvantage in high winds.

With the flycover on, the tent covers a huge footprint. The vestibules at each end of the tent double the overall length. A vestibule pole is provided to give some head room and better coverage at one end. It also comes with an awning pole that allows you to convert the vestibule to an open covered area. To me this looks like a set-up that would create a big rain catcher -- we'll have to see.

As far as family tents go, this seems like it will do the job nicely. I'm not a big fan of big tents, but my 3.5-man backpacking tent just wasn't big enough for my family of four anymore.