Reader Reviews

Rating: 3 / 5

I bought this tent to replace my beloved MSR Hubba which was mysteriously missing from my luggage when I returned home from from a trip to the Grand Canyon in April. (I think someone in the TSA stole it.) Or maybe I left it on the ground when I packed up the rental car on the last day. Lost and found found nothing.
I bought it sight unseen, on a whim, when I got emails on the same day from Backpacking Magazine and Golite. The mag said the Eden 1 was the best all-around solo tent and the Golite company was having a 30% off sale, so I bought the tent for $210 and free shipping. I used it as a Father's Day present from my wife.
Since I don't hike or camp in summertime hot and humid and tick-infested New Jersey, I have not yet slept in the tent, but here are my impressions so far based on setting it up in my yard and comparing it to the Hubba. I rate the setup as 'difficult'. You have to feed the poles through continuous curved sleeves. The shock cords are not real tight and the poles keep coming apart inside the sleeve during the feeding process and pinching on the nylon material. It was a pain in the neck on a sunny windless day. I imagine there would be a lot of cussing going on on a windy or rainy day.
In the photo I am only using stakes at the two ends. You can also add stakes at the ends of the 3 poles. There are also two guy lines on each end pole and 4 guy lines on the middle pole.
On my scale the out-of-the-box tent weighed 3 lbs 6 oz which matches the published weight. (4 oz less than the Hubba). For just the poles, tent body and 8 stakes (no stuff sacks or guy lines or extra stakes) I get 3lbs 0.5 oz. A half dozen of the aluminum stakes weigh slightly less than 6 MSR needle stakes and slightly more (.5 oz) than 6 Shepherd's crook titanium stakes.
I bought the Hubba 4 yrs ago because it was the only solo tent in Campmor's store that I could sit up in and not hit my head. I can do the same in the Eden 1. It is a little wider inside than the Hubba and about the same length. The vestibule seems larger.
For the slight additional weight of the Hubba you get the versatility of sleeping sans fly in the desert (you're not going to get any cross-breeze in the Eden) or going fly only, which I did last year in the Bighorns.
Unfortunately the base Hubba now goes for $80 more than the $200 I paid 5 yrs ago.
Because the tent is unsymmetric in plan and there's a built-in stiffener in the eyebrow, folding up the Eden is not as neat and orderly as the Hubba. I can see me just crumpling it up and throwing it in my (Golite) pack.

Edited by markdask on 07/12/2010 12:06:32 MDT.

Rating: 4 / 5

Perhaps a short review from an "old" owner of the tent might offer some additional insight to the great review listed above:

The tent is actually quite easy to set-up. Drive 1 stake into the ground where you plan on setting up the tent. Then take 4.5 large steps towards where the other end of the tent would be located. Then drive another stake into the ground. Take one end of the tent tie-down and attach it to the stake. Go back and hook the other end of the tent tie-down to the other stake. Then "voila" the tent is up and ready. Straighten the tent out and decide or not if you want to add additional stakes (windy, etc.) I have probably spent 10+ nights in the tent with just using 2 tent pegs.

The vestibules are self-erecting, so no issues there. Big enough to hold my boots and pack. Huge inside pockets for a light, book or whatever. I have never had a leak or water issues and I live in Washington State (yes, it does rain quite a bit here...) and since the tent is a single walled with the bug netting built in - neither water or bugs find their way in while setting up. So, I have nothing but accolades for the tent.

Cheers.

Edited by PapaSherpa on 10/29/2011 14:29:12 MDT.