Unboxing the Ozark Trail 2-Person 4-Season Backpacking Tent: $3 Score at Goodwill!! (plus ground tarp thrown in extra)

So this is a $50 tent if you include the tax.

If you're lucky you could get it new on sale for $30.

I just set it up in the yard - at first I had the poles going diagonal - as most 2-pole dome tents do. NOPE - when they are aligned parallel with that middle bar then the horizontal span of the tent almost doubles.

I needed a tent for when I help out at my farm friend's place - just covering up a water pipe ditch that is 3000 feet long. So I'll be helping for a couple days - and they have a small private living space. I don't want to intrude with my nasty smelly Primitive Camping self. haha.

So to get this tent with a 50% off coupon - when Goodwill was asking $6.50? SCORE!!

OK the tent weights 6.5 pounds and comes with one of those nasty off-gassing ground fly tarps - Polyethylene. It doesn't smell so bad since I guess it's gotten used enough - and since it is UNDER the nylon tent floor - that will offset the off gassing a bit.

 But at 6.7lb, it's way too heavy to consider a back packing tent.

So the style of ground "cloth" tarp for a tent - that sells for around $10. I'm not sure it's included in this tent originally.

Here's a Youtube review of the tent

It rained every night and the tent stayed dry inside. I didn't even seal the seams and coat it with water repellent before the trip.

So he's got the same Tarp with it - but doesn't mention that it comes WITH the tent. Oops.

Another review?

Another review - has the same blue tarp ground cloth

AGAIN he does not mention that the blue tarp comes with the tent! Oops. See NO ground cover "foot print" tarp!

Wow this tent has a TON of youtube reviews. Hilarious.

Before using it I ripped out all the stitching for the plastic tarp type tent flooring and replaced it with coated rip stop nylon fabric.

Hmm - I didn't notice the floor being any different material.... 

Now the tent is much lighter and packs down even smaller. I got this tent for use with back woods motorcycle camping

hmm. That's a lot of stitching to replace.

I would probably just rip the floor out and leave it as a ground fly tent. Good Earthing Meditation! Get rid of BOTH the tarp and the plastic flooring... just dig a little trench around the tent for water proofing.

3rd review? This one clearly shows the blue tarp ground floor does come with the tent

He says the floor is Nylon - not "plastic" (polyethylene)... I'll go check it out myself again. http://canadianalpinist.blogspot.com/2010/06/patagonias-footprint-cronicles.html - sure enough a LATER version does have a chemical polyester or Poly Taffeta floor - and even Patagonia was using this! I noticed that even the Canvas tents are using this! Crazy:

 The ventilation of the tent with the fly on was also not great and I found myself really uncomfortable with the strong chemical, plasticy odor that lingered in the tent overnight.

4th review

He says you do NOT get the ground tarp with the tent!! Amazing how many reviews do not mention this!! Ozark Trail apparently sells a ground tarp separately....

1) Only thing it doesn't have is a footprint.

 2) I also had forgot my ground cloth and there wasn't any water seepage. Don't get me wrong, use a ground cloth.

  3) I did read a negative comment about the floor material which is the same as the walls of the tent. I always recommend a ground tarp under any tent.

  4) I used the stakes that came with the tent to stake the foot print to the ground and purchased 10 inch nail stakes for the tent (10 of them) I purposely set it up before a thunderstorm to see how well it handled wind and rain.

5) the floor is a little thin; you'll want to use a ground cloth or tarp underneath,

 6) I did use a plastic ground cloth under the tent to protect the floor.

 7) The floor is very thin so a foot pad is a must and I wonder how long the fabric would last while backpacking.

 8) The vestibules are helpful but cannot cover much gear. I like how the rain fly goes all the way to the ground. Not many tents do this but it makes a big difference. It also tolerated some wind gusts around 30mph without a problem. Lastly I would always use a ground cloth or tarp under it. The floor is pretty thin.

 9) use a cheap ground tarp to make this (and any) tent last longer. Notes: I didn't read the instructions the first time, because I'm a guy and don't need instructions. I tried to cross the poles like a traditional dome tent ("X" pattern), which this is not, but it still assembled (???).

 10)  Cons: the floor isn't reinforced tarp like material,

11) The very first thing I noticed and did not like was the bathtub floor was the same material as the rest of the tent and not tarp! If you are going to take this out in a wooded area you are going to have to bring extra tarp for the floor under the tent to prevent holes.

12) Negative is the first morning we woke up to wet bedrolls from the morning dew. For an 4 season tent with a totally enclosed rain-fly I would have figured it would have a waterproof floor.

13)  The first thing I noticed out of the box was that the floor was the same material as the rest of the tent. All decent tents have tarp material for floors.

Hey that's a PRO - not a CON!?

Yep - the floor of the tent is DEFINITELY the same nylon as the walls - so who ever claimed to "rip" out the plastic floor? That makes no sense. Must have been a different tent. Oh I get it - the later model has a different floor! I got the earlier model. GOOD - glad I didn't get a "plastic" tub floor. Yuck.

 Poly Taffeta 185T 1000mm tub floor

This is basically a knock off of the REI and Big Agnes style tents.

It actually makes me a little mad considering I have spent $200 for a name brand tent with almost the exact same features.

  had a very similar tent in design by a mainstream outdoor company that was four times the price and it was of exact same quality.

There are 2 vents on the rain fly towards the top that are engineered to pop up but one of mine wants to stay closed, so I physically prop it open with a small stick. If these vents aren't open and 2 adults are sleeping, you'll probably wake up to some pretty serious condensation issues like wet sleeping bags, because the fly goes almost to the ground on all sides and there would be nowhere for all that moisture you're breathing out to go anywhere. If you know it's not going to rain overnight, both vestibules can either be opened half-way or all the way, for a lot more ventilation.

Velcro to hold Fly to Poles - the Velcro did wear out. This was to be expected. All of the tabs did hold to the fly during the current life of the tent. I wouldn't call this a negative since this is a normal issue and doesn't effect the usability of the tent.

  The zipper on the fly caught almost every time I zipped or unzipped it.

 OK - I didn't even realize the Vestibles have zippers.