This tent was a gift to Dave and I from his parents. His dad had purchased it with his own money for himself in Spring 2017, used it for one season and wanted to upgrade again for his own reasons. The tent was gently used when it arrived to us. It has spent almost two weeks this year being tested in various conditions across Wisconsin and Michigan, during which these opinions were formed.
The REI Quarter Dome 2 is a durable and reliable shelter that keeps you and all your stuff warm and dry.
All of our tents seem to be hand-me-downs from my husband’s dad. (I’m okay with me.) Before upgrading to this tent we had spent several seasons in an older but respectable Orion tent. My father-in-law is a cross country bike guy. He likes to load up the panniers on his recumbent bike and ride the many miles of bike trails that extend from the Chicagoland region (it’s more than you’d think.) Retirement means Glenn spends a lot of time pedaling across the vast plains. Good for Glenn. He’s also the kind of guy who likes to loan out his stuff so that he can “decide to upgrade his equipment” and then never ask for his stuff back. Shout out to Glenn.
Bike Guy Glenn and the Backpacking Prybers both have similar requirements in a tent. It needs to be fairly light, it needs to pack down somewhat small, there needs to be a reliable rain fly and a somewhat sizable vestibule. The REI Quarter Dome 2 does all of this, and kind of excels at some of them.
Notable stats on the REI Quarter Dome 2:
Weight: 3 lbs. 5 oz.
Packed size: 7 x 18.5 inches
Floor Area: 28.7 square feet
Vestibule Area: 21.5 square feet
Peak Height: 42 inches
Doors: 2
Vestibules: 2
Hubbed pole set: 1
The two vestibules make up quite a bit of space, which is ideal for protecting your gear from rain even if there’s two of you and you each have large backpacks. Glenn liked it because the two doors and two vestibules made it easier for him to get his shoes on and get moving first thing in the morning.
The last time I assembled this tent it was by myself in the dark and it wasn’t too difficult at all (once I’d gotten the placement of the rain fly sorted out.) The hubbed pole set is pretty idiot-proof and the footprint of the tent is more of a trapezoid than a rectangle, meaning you’ve got a wide end and a narrow end. Once that much is sorted, assembly is a breeze. The poles also make it a free-standing structure. It’s very easy to pick it up and move it, or turn it over and shake the bugs out of it. Over the coming days on that trip I was battered by rain and thunderstorms. I spent probably a solid 24 hours inside this tent and never felt claustrophobic or trapped. That said, I was solo on that trip and might feel differently if there were two people in there. (That’s not this tent’s fault). For a two person ultralight tent, it’s really quite cozy.
If you are expecting wet weather to roll through, it’s a good idea to make sure your rain fly is taught before the drops start. If you do that, you’ll never see a drop of water inside the tent. The rain will roll right off the fly and never bother you inside.
This bit of the fly didn’t exactly sit right on the tent poles, possibly because I assembled it by myself in the dark. Moisture did collect on this spot more than elsewhere, but no moisture entered my tent.
A note on this vent: If there is a large temperature discrepancy between the air in your tent and the air outside, or you expect humidity to roll in during the night, make sure this vent is closed. We stayed one night at L’Anse Township Campground this spring, directly above Lake Superior. When we went to sleep the temperatures were probably in the 40s, and had likely dipped into the 30s during the night. The trouble was, humidity off the lake (cold humidity, at that) crept in through this vent in the night and settled on top of everything. When we woke up e v e r y t h i n g was chilly and damp (clothes, sleeping bags, shoes, everything). Thankfully, it was our last night out and we were heading home that day anyway, but if it had been earlier in the trip it would have been a downer.
Overall: Highly recommended. This tent looks almost brand-new even after three years of use.
Price: REI asks $349 for a full priced version of this tent, and that seems very fair for what you get.
Good for: Retiree bike guys, backpacking couples, solo camping near-ish to your car.
Not good for: Solo backpacking. I’m not entirely sure how I would carry this, and also everything else, if I were doing a solo backpacking trip.