Paria Outdoor Products Zion Lightweight Tent and Footprint - Perfect for Backpacking, Kayaking, Camping and Bikepacking

First off I need to tell you that I have never been backpacking before. Experienced hikers may have a different perception. When I received my tent, I practiced setting it up in my living room. By my third time practicing I could set up this tent by myself in less than 7 minutes. Because sometimes height makes a difference....I am 5' 2" tall. The specs given in the product description are accurate. Now, for the "Tent survival" experience I encountered.1. Wind - This tent performed beautifully during a night of 9 mph-11 mph winds with gusts of 18 mph. I heard no flapping noises from the rainfly, the poles did not buckle and the tent did not cave in around me. Upon inspecting the tent the next morning I discovered no rips on the rainfly, or tie-out points. The poles were fine. The tent looked as if I had just taken it out of the box.2. Rain - I did not purchase seam sealer. My thought is if you advertise your product is rainproof than why should I spend extra money to make certain it is rainproof? The rain began in the early morning hours and continued all day and the next night. It was a steady rain, not a downpour but a hard rain. In spite of all the rain that fell there was no wetness on the floor of my tent or in the corners. I was comfortably dry!3. Snow - We awakened to 1/2" of snow. Though 1/2" of snow is not much with this being a three season tent I felt I should add this to the review. I have no idea when the snow started. When I got out of the tent the next morning I was totally surprised to see snow. Once again this little tent held up well. I found no signs of stress at all with this tent.I feel this is a remarkable tent. The mesh truly keeps the bugs away. The duel doors are nice and wide and the latern hook is not a ring but a hook which I like better. The overhead loft and side pockets are huge. This tent offers plenty of room for me and my gear.

I gave this tent the full test run and full review over 7 days and 6 nights. The first two nights we're backpacking through Snoqualmie Pass up and around Gem Lake and back. Round-trip of about 15.5 miles. 85 Degrees during the day. Down to 43 degrees at night with a pretty strong wind. The next four nights we're backpacking through the Olympic National Forest and along the coast and then into the whole rainforest which is shown in the picture of our whole rainforest Camp spot. This weather however was much different cold rainy windy wet and on the last day of the weather broke and got into the high 70s with a slight breeze. We were hit with heavy rain on the beach for about 30 hours and the tent seem to hold pretty good other than when the rain really hit hard it would almost seem like it would get through the fly somewhat. Not necessarily enough to be worried. The base of this tent is extremely waterproof. We literally woke up in a puddle in the rainforest and were completely dry on the bottom. The quality ripstop and nylon is second to none except the design of the two vestibules with the double steaks is not necessarily a smart idea considering there's no point for to State points. Also the short top ridgepole has no specific spot to go other than a somewhat reinforced point on the rain flight self, which in heavy winds and a lot of movement eventually will wear and tear through without a doubt. I love the design and simplicity and symmetry of this tent. It's straightforward one side matches the other you don't have to try to meet any color coded asymmetrical clips. Which is really nice when you're in a rush to pop up your tent in the middle of a hail storm. I really like how this tent seems really strong but also packs extremely small. I have the tent, rain fly, and footprint all packed nicely into a small size compression sack. I also like how the no-see-um mesh is a little bit heavier Duty than most tense which is key, considering backpacking tents get tossed around and shoved into packs from time to time. There's a very good balance of the material size and weight ratio of this tent. That being said, there are many things that I would do to this tent to lighten up the weight considerably. One of which is downsizing the clips at the corner points. We seem to be much too large. Second is removing one of the steak guy out points on the rain fly, you can just as easily zip the rain fly down and it will be taught. Another huge weight reduction could be in the pole try holder section. Those machine pieces of aluminum are twice the size of what they need to be and could be machined down to half the size and still work just as efficiently. And lastly, not that it has necessarily anything to do with weight but, V round metal eyelet rings for the base of the tent and the footprint I don't believe are made from aluminum or stainless steel because after just one night of rain three of the four eyelets rusted, and this was very disappointing. I would say maybe go with a light stainless steel because they're a little stronger and there's a lot of tension on those points but if that is not cost effective obviously aluminum would be okay as well. It's just a little softer and met oval in time. I am currently still on the fence about returning this tent but I think I will try to give it one more test run in a different element like Mount Olympus in a couple weeks via the HOH River Trail. All in all, I think this tent is great and you guys are on the right track with starting with quality and later developing craftsmanship, streamline design and stitching precision. Because let's face it, if you can get out into the Wilderness and it keeps you dry and out of the elements that's what counts first. If it looks pretty and you're still getting rained on, nothing matters at that point. So thanks for keeping me dry. This is my direct contact, and would love to chat and be a part of testing out your product someday. My name is Doug, I'm currently living in Seattle and traveling the country with my wife as she is a traveling RN. Over the next year we will be in Oregon than California then Hawaii then it's off to Nepal then back home to the U.P. of Michigan to build our new home. I have been backpacking and hiking my entire life and I truly enjoy testing out new products especially when there of good quality. Makes me feel like somebody out there cares about the product and the consumer and not just trying to make a buck.

Took this tent on two trips so far, one was basically car camping with some light rain (no leaks or dripping condensation) and another on a backpacking trip into the northern cascades, where it reached around the frost point each night. No huge issues with condensation but when you close things up on a cold night you will awake to a wet fly. Also, each trip I have had a camping buddy and as long as you arent afraid to bump into each other a bit throughout the night there's room for two and some gear or two and a medium sized dog!Great value, and comfortable/large with features more common on 300-400 dollar tents. I'm all about. But be careful like any light tent tears and cuts are possible.

This is a great tent, it's easy to set up, and it actually possible to easily pack it back into the bag it came in. I bought this after my old Marmot 1P tent got stolen, and the amount of head room/floor space is unreal. The only thing I can find that could be improved is that the tub floor is not a single piece. There is a seam (granted the seam is taped, and water tight) right down the middle which makes me worry about the longevity of the product. I would like to see the floor be made out of a single piece of material. Other than that though, This is a great tent, and you can't beat the price.