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 Almost Perfect!!! (but not quite)Nov 11, 2009
Just got done with my 1st trip using this tent today, and have a few observations that I hope can help those thinking of purchasing one.
1st, never believe the weatherman!!! Decided to take a nice overnight fall foliage drive w/camping and the forecast called for partly cloudy with 30% chance of rain yesterday then clearing to mostly sunny with 20% chance today......well, it started a light shower at 1st around 9pm last night, then a steady moderate downpour developed soon later that lasted for over 24hrs strait without letup till 3pm today. Thank goodness the tent did not develop any leaks, but had weeping on the side floor panels just below the non-door window and one side wall that actually caused water to trickle down into a corner of the tent, not alot given the conditions we were in, and was managed by using a couple spare socks. Thank god we had an air mattress or we would have got wet.
2nd, you must realize that rarely is any tent perfect out of the box. As what i did was just that. Strait from the box to the set-up. The problem i noticed is the poly oxford floor is durable yes, and has a good interior coating. But due to its more porous fabric, really needs an exterior coating to shed water better, as the rain saturated the fabric, and eventually permeated the coating. All of the seams held tight, quality of fit/finish/and fabric were 100% and the fly worked perfectly!!! Just do yourself a favor and pick up a can or 2 of your favorite waterproof spray and use it to coat the entire outside floor tub.
3rd, more of a general gripe to the manufacture to make this tent as close to perfect as one can get, but do not detract from the ratings in any way. Need a way to attach the fly to the poles to make the entire structure more sturdy. Provide the extra quy-out lines w/stakes you so recommend in foul weather, and to make things simple, just produce all your Timberline tents as 2door models!!!!! (for the life of me I can't figure out why Eureka's top-line 4man Timberline is not offered in a 2door style)
 The Outfitter is superb!!Sep 28, 2009
Used this within a few days after receiving it. It rained for over 26 hours-constantly (sometimes heavy thunderstorms)and NOT one leak! I did use seam-sealer on the floor exterior seam and all exterior seams on the tent and fly prior to using it (as many experts do recommend doing every few years with any tent). The tent has a LOT of room for one person and gear and plenty for two people with gear. From what I have read and researched the "Outfitter" has thicker material and flooring vs. other Timberline tents and I am VERY glad I paid the extra money for this one. Believe me, I AM TOTALLY SOLD ON THIS TENT!! I have three tents now but will use this one primarly for solo backpacking. It is very well made, light-weight, secure and I KNOW now it's water-tight. It is VERY easy and quick to put up- anyone can do it in a super-fast manner! I quickly (and involuntarily) tested it with buckets of rain coming down on it. Can not recommend it enough. Get it!!
Eureka Timberline 4 person tentAug 16, 2009
I am very pleased with the Eureka tent and am looking forward to using it during our October foliage season. We purchased a 3 season tent last year to do some fall camping in western Massachusetts, but there was so much mesh siding in the tent that the outside air temperature was the same inside the tent. Even though we were using down bags, we were miserable when the night temps dropped to the 30's. I have camped extensively in Colorado in the same temps (or lower) and not been uncomfortably cold in tents such as the Eureka that allow the mesh openings to be zippered shut. Four season 4-person tents from REI or EMS were priced about $200 more than the Eureka--much more than I wanted to pay to occasionally go car camping on a weekend. The Eureka is quick & simple to put up, and one person can do this. I watched my camping companions struggling to bend the poles just right to put up their dome tent--a two person project. The others had a tent (high end brand) that was like assembling an erector set. We were done setting up our Eureka in just a few minutes and didn't have to struggle to do it. We chose the option of having the more heavy duty floor and zippers and have not had any problems.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Why Timberline?Apr 23, 2009
There are many reviews on the long-lived Timberline series and the Outfitter model features. The toughness, durability, reliability, and weather resistance of the tent is well established, so the question is why choose the a-frame Timberline instead of one of the alternatives? The 3 and 4-man alternatives I looked at were: inexpensive tents (under $150), high-quality ultralight tents (Bibler, Black Diamond, and Eureka for example), outfitter-class dome tents (Eureka Assault Outfitter), large recreation tents (Copper Canyon and Cougar Flats) and walled tents. Each tent has fitness for a different purpose, and my purpose was to suit my family of four with two adults and two toddlers for public campground car camping, wilderness car camping, and short backpacking. Here's what I looked at:
For the part-time outdoor travel life, tents are much less expensive than motorhomes, RV's, trailers, and slide-ins. They also take much less land to store when they're not being used and I have a scarce amount of land. Comparatively, I would consider a $1000 tent a bargain, but nobody wants to pay for something they won't use or benefit from, especially if it's actually counter to their criteria (too heavy or too fragile for example). I ruled out walled tents and hardcore mountain tents (Bombshelter) because the cost was so high for something I didn't need and wouldn't use.
Rec tents (Copper Canyon, Cougar Flats) are also fairly expensive, but at least under $500. They're big and comfortable (near vertical walls and standing room), but they're not as tough or durable as Outfitter class tents (Pine Lodge maybe but then you're getting into bigger bucks). Rec tents are also not as weather proof. They're heavy (sometimes as much as 40 lbs) which makes them impractical to backpack with (I would need a two-tent plan). Ultimately, I decided against them because despite their comfort, I see a tent as a necessary evil. I would much rather do without a tent, but when you need one, you need one. No matter how enjoyable a tent is, it's still a tent and I would rather be outside.
Inexpensive tents might seem to fit the bill because I certainly don't want to lavish money on something where I just crawl in and fall asleep. The problem with cheap tents is they fail when you need them most, and they need to be replaced over and over again making the economy false. I expect frequent camping for many years and an Outfitter will outlast a cheap tent more than the price multiple. I need a tent most when it's windy and percipitous and that's when the cheap ones fail. For me, they're no bargain.
I am formerly a hardcore backpacker, and trekker. I also mountaineered in North America. I was an Alpine-style minimalist. Tents were nonsense. I would use at most a bivy sack in the snow or on a glacier or in a rainstorm. I still carried a lot of weight because I needed a lot of food calories for many days. Nevertheless, a man's got to know his limitations. If I had to carry a wife and two toddlers, not even a mosquito net would be light enough. However, within their range, a 10 pound tent is cake.
For my criteria, the other tent I really like is the Eureka Assault Outfitter. It's basically a dome version of the Timberline Outfitter, but it's about $100 and 3 pounds more. Undoubtably it's roomier (as is the Timberline Outfitter 6) but the Timberline Outfitter 4 meets all my needs.
One shortcoming of this tent is that the fly is not freestanding -- it must be guyed out to stakes or it will fall against the tent wall. This is not normally a problem but in deep snow or on solid granite you would have to get creative. The instructions suggest burying gear, using ski poles etc. I believe dome type tents (Assault Outfitter) with pole pockets or clips will hold the fly away from the wall without stakes and guy outs. If I was planning a lot of snow camping, this is not the best tent as the broad walls are also not the best for heavy snow loads. I am sure it would readily suffice for occasional snow use, even deep snow.
Another note is that cord is not included to guy out the tent walls when not using the fly. The fly clips to rings on the wall sides and bungee cords fixed to the fly are pulled out guy the tent to stakes. Without the fly, there's nothing to guy out the sides. The solution is to add your own guy lines. I used bungee balls. Additional guy lines and stakes, possibly heavier ones (if you're not backpacking) will improve the tent. I don't mark it down for not including these because it's an easy thing to solve. The fact that the tent/fly requires stakes to complete the pitching is however, in my opinion, a real shortcoming.
It's a no-frills tent that does what a tent needs to do real well and nothing else -- because ultimately I'm not out there to dwell in a tent.
Eureka Timberline Outfitter 4Apr 12, 2009
Our Boy Scout Troop has used the Eureka Timberline Outfitters for many years. If they are taken care of they will last most people most of a lifetime. Ours get used every month in all weather. We are just now retiring the last of the first ones the Troop purchased in 1981.
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based on 11 reviews
