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11 of 11 found the following review helpful:
 A good mid-range family tent Jul 18, 2006
By stubble
A nice big family tent. It's a simple, effective design, refreshingly missing all the lame doodads you see on other low-to-midrange tents, like pointless vestibules, so-called "vortex" venting, funky floorplans, etc. It's just a 10x15 rectangular shape with lots of mesh and a very tall ceiling. I'm 6'5", and could stand comfortably in most of the tent. The walls are relatively vertical compared to a dome tent. This is acheived by sort of a vaulted ceiling design, with a tensioned dome roof and straight side poles. There is a door and a window on each long side, and the short sides each have a crescent-shaped 'bay' window. The roof consists of six mesh panels, making it a well ventilated tent. There's a divider curtain that can be hung in the center of the tent. There's also a gear loft, a multi-pouched pocket at each end, and two nifty little cupholder things that we didn't use. We liked the colors, very unique.
Didn't have any problems with the zippers or other durability problems in a week of use, including a 9-year-old and two dogs. We do take good care of our gear though.
It didn't rain, so I can't comment on the tent's seaworthiness. The fly is taped, seems well designed (no pun intended), and provides excellent coverage. That's one of the main reasons I bought this tent.
The storage container is wheeled, and has ample room for the tent and maybe a tarp if you unzip the expandable zipper it provides. The wheels are good to have, because this baby is quite a heavy package.
Like many other Columbia tent reviews, all I can really fault are the directions. They're worse than non-existent, they will actually lead you astray. You may be a rocket scientist with a stout outdoorsman's character, but these directions will make you weep in sadness for the poor Engrish translations.
Your best bet is to ignore them completely, after which you should have the tent up in no time, even if you're not an outdoorsman. Have help though: while possible, it's not going to be easy to set up alone. The poles themselves are of good quality, both fiberglass (flexible poles) and metal (straight poles).
Overall it's the best family tent I've used, and it feels like a good value. Let's see what the rain brings!
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 Excellent Tent!!!! Jun 04, 2007
By lucnme
"lucnme"
I recently purchased this tent and would like to say that I am very satisfied. I originally wanted to purchase the columbia cougar flats tent but i was worried about the rainfly as it seems to leave key parts of the tent exposed to water should it rain. The timber butte is the same exact size as the cougar flats and has a much better rainfly as you can see in the pictures alone. We went on a camping trip this weekend and unfortunately were rained out in severe thunderstorms. Luckily I had all the tie downs properly anchored and this tent was very sturdy and held up against the strong winds like a champ. The rainfly did everything that I paid it to do... ABSOLUTELY NO WATER!!! Not a single drop. The stitching is coated with water repellant and the underside has a layer of tape to keep the water out. This was my number one priority as i have been soaked in the past with a much cheaper tent. I was able to keep 4 cots and one folding table inside the tent with room to spare. I found the tent to be very simple to build and built it in 20 minutes with 1 person to help put on the rainfly. The poles are all color coded and basically all it takes is a little common sense. Its not rocket science. The material is very sturdy and well built. The tent has 2 doors diagonally accross from each other. The bathtub floor also is excellent at keeping the water out. I found this to be a great buy all the way down to the handy bag with wheels that it comes in. The tent folds up easily and fits back in the bag with no problems. Should there be any problems, there is an extra zipper which gives you a little more room if you need it.The divider curtain in the middle is just a curtain that you hang up manually and not a permanent one like the cougar flats but I didnt even use it. I didnt use the cup holders either but the top storage bin came in handy. In conclusion I would highly reccomend this tent and yes it is as beautiful as the picture shows.
1 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Ended up Returning it... Apr 12, 2007
By Shelley
I purchased this tent for it's size and put it up in my back yard to test it out. No problems with quality or workmanship. It's pretty solid with lots of room. I was able to put the tent up by myself the first time within 30 minutes. I did need help putting on the rainfly, but in a pinch it could be done by one patient person.
The only reason I did end up returning this tent was due to design issues regarding the wind. Since it stands straight up cabin-style, the aerodynamics aren't the best. That night the wind picked up to only 20 MPH, but we thought it was much much worse while inside. It was so loud that it woke both me and my daughter up and we thought the poles were going to snap. I ended up removing the fly and opening the windows to allow the wind to flow through. Then, we spent the rest of the night inside the house. To give this tent credit though, it was still standing in the morning with nothing broken. Still, I did return it...
I then purchased a Columbia Bugaboo 4-5 man b/c of it's dome-shape. It handles the wind much better. It isn't as big, but it is big enough for 4 people easy (2 queen-sized airbeds and a dog in the middle). With the Bugaboo costing 150-bucks less, it is a much better deal.
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