Wenzel Big Bear 7-Person Tent, 14'X9' 4.5 5 12 12
NICE and LARGE but LEAKS (DRIPS) After searching for tents online for several weeks, I finally decided to purchase the "Big Bear". The reviews, for the most part, were very favorable and led to my decision to purchase. On my first camping trip, it rained for 2 days and the tent did leak in two different places: near one of the top seams and one of windows. They were small drips so I wasn't terribly inconvenienced. But it still leaked nonetheless. I am thinking this may be because the rain fly is attached and could weaken the seams. I decided to waterproof the tent prior to my most recent trip to eliminate the "leak" potential. I set the tent up in the backyard for several days. It rained two days before the trip so I decided to leave the tent set-up to test the new waterproof sealant. When the weather subsided, I decided to check the tent and to my surprise, there was still water inside the tent. A small puddle from a drip and to the left of the entrance.This is a nice, large, and spaceous tent!!! We have gotten several compliments while camping. We used a queen air mattress and a twin air mattress and had PLENTY of room left for moving around and for storage. After much thought, I am returning this tent to Wal-Mart and will try the same tent again or another brand. I like this tent enough to possibly try it again (maybe this one was a dud). I was that impressed with it, other than the leaks (drips). Keep in mind, these were drips and not like the horror "rain" stories that you might read in other reviews of other tents.I have another camping trip scheduled in two weeks and I need a tent that does not leak; if there is such a thing. The stakes are mediocre but I purchased the steel stakes instead.Wish me luck!!! 11/02/2011
I survived Hurricane Irene in this tent The tent has a lot of room.I have a full desk in the tent and it only takes of a 1/10th of the space... I have a full cot...I can stand up, walk around... have storage bins, a chair...One slight drip by a seem where there is a tote thing... and another drip where the other tote thing is.I purchased seam seal so I was able to knock out the drips immediately.I purchase extra large stakes- glad I did.. because as all the tree branches came down and the harsh winds my tent stood its ground.I love this tent. I owned two others but this is by far my favorite tent. 09/01/2011
great deal and price this tent was great.went camping in the winter in the snow and rain, and it passed my test.i put a tarp over the top of it and the wind blew it off, but the tent didn't even need it. no water in the tent even without the tarp and the wind didn't blow rain in like other tents when using no tarp, the one piece tent and rain fly work great together with nothing to lose or another thing to forget to bring.down right a great buy, with room to stand head to toe.only thing i didn't like was you have to tie two lines to the ground for the rain fly, but at least you don't need to tie a tarp down on top of the tent.didn't get much snow so i don't know how many inches it takes to collapse it all, but it a great tent so far. 11/29/2011
Great tent except for a few things I think the price was great for the tent. I have slept a full week in it at a stargazing event. The two times it rained it leaked. Both rain storms were very heavy and I would say it leaked about a 1/2 cup inside the tent. I did use three tubes of seam sealer and let them dry completely for two days prior to usig the tent for the first time. If they sealed the seams more completely at the factory that would be a great help! 10/04/2011