Wonderful! Glad the the first pitch went well and that the video was helpful for you! Even more excited for you and your new tent and all the adventures ahead. Thank you for sharing and happy camping!
Sincerely, I do appreciate the time and detail of your review. I said a few things that I regret. Please accept my apologie! Outstanding review. Thank you
Oh man, that would be rad! A Dyneema tent body with shortened carbon poles... I'd love to see Big Agnes or someone design an over the top technical/crazy light family camping style tent like this. I really can't think of anyone who's doing that right now, probably just too $$$. It would be clutch to have the standing height and extra room for bike tours.
Awesome video. Now if I could just decide between buying the Big House 4 or the Bunk House 4. But your video has sold me on the quality of the products. Thanks for taking the time!
Great, glad you enjoyed the video! Yeah, that's a tough decision for sure! I know your question is rhetorical, but here's my recommendation if I was in your shoes. Ask yourself how often your family camps in adverse weather? The tents and dimensions are essentially identical. The main difference is the rain fly & vestibule area. I find family campouts are often spring/summer, light weather conditions and can even get quickly rescheduled if the weather looks too bad :). If that sounds like you, the Big House is a good option. The rainfly is smaller and doesn't go all the way to the ground on the sides. This aids ventilation and keeps the tent cooler in the summer camping season. Its also lighter w/o the extra fly material and fly poles on the bunk house, let alone $100 cheaper. If you do want that extra vestibule space, you can add the vestibule to the big house and it essentially makes it identical to the bunk house (except that the rainfly is still a little shorter on the sides and doesn't go all the way to the ground). Going this route gives you the most versatility in your tent set up and is only $29 more in the long run. ($399 Big House + $129 Vestibule vs the Bunk House at $499). Set it up w/o the vestibule when its warm and nice, and bring out the vestibule for the stormy trips. If you live/camp somewhere with a lot of rain or your family is a go go go rain or shine crew, then the bunk house would be the best option for you. You can always roll back the extra fly material to emulate the ventilation on the big house. With tents a scarce as they've been lately it may come down to which one you can get in stock! Hope this helps and doesn't make your decision even harder! Let us know if you want to rent one of the Big house tents and test it out over a weekend. Happy camping!
@@BumDogSuMo I have the bunkhouse 4 going on 4 seasons. Its the best. I love all Big Agnes products, good quality and the customer service is outstanding.
Im kinda curious with the vestibule on it. I saw your comment about harsh weather and choosing bunk house instead. Sad i purchased the big house already
Hi Daniel, thanks for reaching out. I wouldn't regret your purchase at all, the Big House is a great tent and will provide better ventilation in summer. Most of my family camping style outings happen during summer and favorable weather. I've never had a leakage situation with the Big House line, its only when you compare the two tents side by side, yes, the Bunk House has a larger fly set up. The vestibule is a great investment for the Big House, and it provides a lot of covered 'garage space' in the front of the tent. We've set up chairs in there, played cards and it gives you plenty of covered storage for those flash showers that roll through camp. If you're biking, its a great area to store your rides. Happy camping!
Hi Lora, thanks for the note and suggestion. It's definitely not for everyone, and depends on your regular use. I've heard from others who don't use it often that they tuck it under the tent, but your method of cutting it off can definitely save you a few grams in weight, especially if you never plan to use it. I will often fold it back under (a little or completely) at night if we are expecting rain or dew so that it doesn't collect or pool. A bonus is that it's then dry for us in the morning. Thanks for sharing, and happy camping!
I’m looking for a tent just to use a few times a year with my family in the Mid-Atlantic where in the Fall or Spring it can get down to 40 degrees at night. And you can get caught in pop up thunderstorms. Would this protect us in an unexpected rainstorm? I don’t see much commentary about the limited rain fly and how much that matters. I don’t want to overbuy for my needs but also want to make sure we have a great tent that could protect us in chilly overnight weather and in an unexpected downpour. I am also considering the MSR Habitude but think that may be more tent that we need to camp a few times a year. How good is the durability and workmanship on this tent? I know MSR is considered very good in those areas. Big Agnes doesn’t give the denier for the polyester used. Thanks!
Hi Listan, thanks for reaching out. Shopping for tents in so much fun but it can be daunting. We'll try to help you narrow it down and answer some of your questions. The Big Agnes Big House 4 will offer plenty of protection for pop up storms but as you point out the rainfly doesn't offer full coverage. That's great if most of your camping is summer or fair weather as it won't be as hot or muggy with the shorter rainfly skirt - it promotes more airflow through the tent and rainfly gap, and also makes the tent a little lighter with the shorter fly. In our experience with these in our rental fleet, they are well built and well stitched. The material is thick in all the right places. As with all tents, care must be given to treat it well and maintain it but if well taken care of these can last a long time, especially if you are only using them a few times a year! None of these larger high profile family tents (standing height) are going to be particularly great in high wind or gusting storms. They're just too exposed. With that being said, we've had good results with the Big Agnes family camping tents and I know in the MSR line, Habitude are also about as bomber as you can get in a tent with so much surface area. One important aspect is how you pitch your tent when you expect extreme winds -> you want to limit the exposed profile as much as possible, which often means pitching the back or back corner of the tent into the wind. Having a side or open vestibule area facing the wind can increase the impact and likelihood of a collapse. Methodically and consistently guying out all the anchor points and affixing your rainfly to your poles (velcro loops) is also very important on these larger tents and will make a big difference in all conditions. On the Big Agnes side, I'd recommend the Bunk House 4 for you. www.bigagnes.com/Bunk-House-4 . They also make a Bunk House 6 & 8. It's essentially the same as the Big House 4 but you get the full rainfly down to the ground on the sides and a rainfly vestibule area in front as well. I believe it's MSRP is at about $499. You can always leave the fly off or roll up the sides if you are camping in a dry/hot environ. Compared to the Habitude, I'd just say that the Hab is a little taller (73inch/185cm) center height with the Bunk House at 70 inch/178cm center height. The Habitude is also a little lighter coming in at 12lbs (5.72kg) vs. 15 (7.03kg) for the Bunkhouse. The Bunkhouse seems to have beefier poles and the tent has a more vertical side wall. In my experience that helps the tent feel larger and more spacious inside. The Habitude is little more vaulted in shape even though its center point is actually taller than the Bunkhouse. Both should work fine down to 40 degrees, especially with the rainfly on to trap additional heat, and using a sufficiently insulated sleeping pad. At the end of the day, with inventory and supply shortages it may just come down to which tent you can actually get your hands on! Of course if you only use a couple of times a year and/or you want to check it out, we can support you with a rental on the Big House. We don't currently offer the Bunk House although we will likely add that to our inventory in the future. Nor do we currently offer rentals on the Habitude. Have fun with your tent shopping and let us know if we can answer any more questions for you. Happy Camping!
@@CirqRentals Thank you so much for this detailed and oh so helpful reply! I will re-read and rely! Any experience with the Nemo Wagontop 4p? Their 4p tent seems to be a bit roomier than most and the quality of materials looks amazing. Downsides are “Is this thing going to blow away!” and that’s maybe it. Oh seems a bit more challenging to set up than others.
Ha! Adding more complexity to the mix! We're big fans of the Nemo products and the Wagontop has been a cool addition to the line. We're not directly experienced with the Wagontop in the field unfortunately, but most Nemo products are well designed and backed with a lifetime warranty. Just looking at the specs, I think the biggest difference is the nice 80inch standing height and the single wall tent construction (no rainfly). This configuration is great for quick set up and makes it a little lighter than comparable tents with a fly. The only drawback can be internal condensation which is more common with single wall tents. Again, we don't have personal experience with this one so can't say how it actually performs in the wild but that would be the one thing I'd be most curious about. The included vestibule area (which is standing height) is really nice on the Wagontop. The other nice thing about the Big House and Bunk House with the rainfly & tent body is that you can set them up in 'quick pitch/fast fly' mode if you are setting up in the rain and/or you can set up just the fly and poles for a picnic/beach shelter mode. BA even includes the webbing harness to allow you to do this w/o using (or buying) a separate footprint if that's not already in your cart. I've personally used a number of Nemo products and been very happy with them. My Hornet 1 has been a go to ultralight solo tent for long time, but there is always a trade off between UL and durability. I've babied the heck out of mine and had no issues, but I've read comments from others who had issues with durability (on the Hornet, not commenting on the Wagontop). It looks like the WT may be on sale at REI right now, maybe you can have them set it up for you and check it out in person?
Thanks for the feedback, Gustavo! We’ve been working to add more close ups as we upload new videos and will keep adding more. We’ll incorporate some staking close ups too, great suggestion. Happy camping!
Hi gary7vn, thanks for your feedback. This is one of our earlier videos and you will find most if not all of our newer content provides both standards. Thanks and happy camping!
Thanks, will add your feedback for future videos. Most of our more recent videos do feature more close up details. Thanks for your note and happy camping!
No love for the vader fx?? Hi jake, thanks for the feedback. We'll definitely incorporate for future videos. We do use lavalier mics, so they are more likely to pick up breathing, especially at higher volumes. We've received comments from those getting a lot of value and insight from the video, but not specifically on that sound issue. Thanks for the note and happy camping!
Hi Chris, We try to feature more in depth coverage on the various tent features and 'how to pitch' than a lot of other great videos out there that are shorter and more 'review' focused. The videos serve as both a resource for general audience and more acutely as a tutorial for our rental customers who may be setting up and using these tents (or any tent) for the very first time. Even still, we know they can be shorter and more succinct so always working toward tighter videos in the future. Thanks for your note and happy camping!
