Product Description

Bugaboo Dome 12' X 9' X 74" 4-pole Family Dome Tent, 1,200mm coating on fly w/seams sealed. 2 storage lockers, gear loft, 2 pocket organizer, 2 hanging cup holders, carry bag with handles, reflective zipper pulls, Clean Sweep feature making cleaning a breeze, Sky panels, removable door mat, and quick release buckle system, No-See-Um Mesh, Cyclone Venting System, Remote Control Light.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43357 in Sports & Outdoors
• Color: Blue and Gold
• Brand: Columbia Sportswear
• Model: CB-5300

Features

• Family dome tent sleeps 4 to 5 people; includes polyethylene tub floor
• Features remote control light, skylights, and venting system to provide fresh air all night
• 74-inch center height
• Base size: 12 x 9 feet
• GoBe Dry rain protection system helps keep you dry in any terrain

Amazon.com Product Description
Take the family camping in style - and protection from the elements - with the Columbia CB-5300 Bugaboo dome-style tent, which fits four to five people. It provides a heady 74-inch center height and features a 1200 millimeter double-coated fly, sealed seams, and a polyethylene tub floor. The reflective zipper pulls make it easy to get in and out of the tent - even in the dark. It comes with a remote-controlled light (with a 65-foot reach) that attaches easily for exceptional nighttime security and visibility.

The Clean Sweep zippered floor flap makes it easy to sweep out debris. The two storage foot lockers are accessible from outside and inside the tent so you can easily store your gear out of the way. Other features include a quick-release buckle system, two hanging cup holders, and a removable door mat.

The Bugaboo's skylights offer large areas of mesh for maximum airflow and awe-inspiring views of the night sky. In addition, the rainfly has clear panels with zippered covers that offer you the option of having night views or no morning sun in your face. The Bugaboo's venting system creates a vortex that flushes hot air up through the roof, providing fresh air all night long. For maximum climate control, open or close the lower vents to feel the cool night breeze or keep warm air in.

The CB-5300 features the GoBe Dry Ultimate Rain Protection System, which combines patent pending fabric, component, and seam technology that culminates in exceptional protection from the elements, in particular rain, in any and all terrain. The DryTek Fabric repels moisture with a protective coating. The DryFloor Tub design elevates the floor seams to keep away water, while the DryGuard Skirt deflects rain from the floor seams and stake loops.

Specifications:

• Base Size: 12 x 9 feet
• Center Height: 74 inches
• Poles: 4 x 9.5 millimeter fiberglass poles
• Weight: 21 pounds
• Sleeps: 4 to 5

About Columbia Sportswear
Founded in 1938, Columbia Sportswear Company has grown from a small family-owned hat distributor to one of the world's largest outerwear brands and the leading seller of ski-wear in the United States. Columbia's extensive product line includes a wide variety of outerwear, sportswear, rugged footwear and accessories. Columbia specializes in developing innovative products that are functional yet stylish and offer great value. Eighty-year-old matriarch Gert Boyle, Chairman of the Board, and her son, Tim Boyle, President and CEO, lead the company.

Columbia's history starts with Gert's parents, Paul and Marie Lamfrom, when they fled Germany in 1937. They bought a small hat distributorship in Portland, Oregon, and named it Columbia Hat Company, after the river bordering the city. Soon frustrated by poor deliveries from suppliers, the Lamfroms decided to start manufacturing products themselves. In 1948, Gert married college sweetheart Neal Boyle, who joined the family business and later took the helm of the growing company. When Neal suddenly died of a heart attack in 1970, Gert enlisted help from Tim, then a college senior. After that, it wasn't long before business really started to take off. Columbia was one of the first companies to make jackets from waterproof/breathable fabric. They introduced the breakthrough technology called the Columbia Interchange System, in which a shell and liner combine for multiple wearing options. In the early 1980s, then 60-year-old Gert began her role as "Mother Boyle" in Columbia's successful and popular advertising campaign.

The company went public in 1998 and moved into a new era as a world leader in the active outdoor apparel industry. Today, Columbia Sportswear employs more than 1,800 people around the world and distributes and sells products in more than 50 countries and to more than 12,000 retailers internationally.

What's in the Box?
Bugaboo dome tent, fiberglass poles, remote-controlled light, door mat, carry bag with handle

Manufacturer's Warranty
Lifetime warranty

Amazon.com Tent Guide
Selecting a Tent
Fortunately, there are all kinds of tents for weekend car campers, Everest expeditions, and everything in-between. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Expect the Worst
In general, it's wise to choose a tent that's designed to withstand the worst possible conditions you think you'll face. For instance, if you're a summer car camper in a region where weather is predictable, an inexpensive family or all purpose tent will likely do the trick--especially if a vehicle is nearby and you can make a mad dash for safety when bad weather swoops in! If you're a backpacker, alpine climber or bike explorer, or if you like to car camp in all seasons, you'll want to take something designed to handle more adversity.

Three- and Four-Season Tents
For summer, early fall and late spring outings, choose a three-season tent. At minimum, a quality three season tent will have lightweight aluminum poles, a reinforced floor, durable stitching, and a quality rain-fly. Some three-season tents offer more open-air netting and are more specifically designed for summer backpacking and other activities. Many premium tents will feature pre-sealed, taped seams and a silicone-impregnated rain-fly for enhanced waterproofness.

For winter camping or alpine travel, go with a four season model. Because they typically feature more durable fabric coatings, as well as more poles, four-season tents are designed to handle heavy snowfall and high winds without collapsing. Of course, four-season tents exact a weight penalty of about 10 to 20 percent in trade for their strength and durability. They also tend to be more expensive.

Domes and Tunnels
Tents are broadly categorized into two types, freestanding, which can stand up on their own, and those that must be staked down in order to stand upright. Freestanding tents often incorporate a dome-shaped design, and most four-season tents are constructed this way because a dome leaves no flat spots on the outer surface where snow can collect. Domes are also inherently stronger than any other design. Meanwhile, many three-season models employ a modified dome configuration called a tunnel. These are still freestanding, but they require fewer poles than a dome, use less fabric, and typically have a rectangular floor-plan that offers less storage space than a dome configuration. Many one and two-person tents are not freestanding, but they make up for it by being more lightweight. Because they use fewer poles, they can also be quicker to set up than a dome.

Size Matters
Ask yourself how many people you'd like to fit in your fabric hotel now and in the future. For soloists and minimalists, check out one-person tents. If you're a mega-minimalist, or if you have your eye on doing some big wall climbs, a waterproof-breathable bivy sack is the ticket. Some bivy sacks feature poles and stake points to give you a little more breathing room. Also, if you don't need bug protection and you want to save weight, check out open-air shelters.

Families who plan on car camping in good weather can choose from a wide range of jumbo-sized tents that will accommodate all your little ones with room to spare. A wide range of capacities is also available for three- and four-season backpacking and expedition tents. Remember, though, the bigger the tent you buy, the heavier it will be, although it's easy to break up the tent components among several people in your group. It's also helpful to compare the volume and floor-space measurements of models you're considering.

Customer Reviews

Love this Tent!
I bought this tent mainly because of the height. My main criteria was that I be able to stand up inside the tent to be able to change clothes easily. I agree with another poster that it doesn't feel like a true 9x12 tent that it claims. I think the slanting walls of a dome-style tent take up a lot of the room you think you're going to have. I have an airbed that is a double bed size and sits 22 inches high. It fit nicely and I still had room to put a small table along with 2 suitcases and assorted junk.

The tent stakes are cheap and I actually had 2 bend while trying to put them in the ground. But its also fairly cheap to buy some sturdy tent stakes to use in the future. Don't let that keep you from buying the tent, but know that you should probably go ahead and buy some at the same time that you buy the tent.

The rainfly makes for a nice entryway overhang. Luckily it didn't rain on my trip, but I can see how the rainfly along with the vents at the bottom of the tent side walls would allow for nice venitilation without getting wet. I had nice ventilation at night by opening the vents at the bottom and opening each of the windows about 5 inches at the top. I had privacy to sleep and plenty of fresh air at the same time.

I also noticed that the zipper on the door caught on the yellow fabric zipper guard along the outside of the zipper. But that was easily avoidable once I started holding my finger against the yellow fabric as I unzipped the door.

I used the small foot lockers that are accessible from the outside to run my electric cord through for my light and fan. It worked very well so I wasn't tripping over the cords running in the doors. I just put them through the footlocker door and zipped it snug to the cord. Worked beautifuly.

The assembly of the tent is very easy and I did do it myself once. But it is much easier to have 2 people to put it up. Its much easier to have one person holding the end of the pole onto the peg while the other person puts the other end of the pole on the peg. Taking the tent down is easily a one person job. Just make sure you follow the directions for folding the tent back up and it will fit nicely into the provided bag.

This tent is definitely worth the cost. I know have friends who are thinking of buying the same tent!

Enjoy and happy camping!

Excellent Family Tent
We purchased this tent so we can introduce our family (my wife, 2 young children (4 and 3)) to the joys of camping. This tent easily hold all 4 of us with plenty of room for another kid and all of our gear.
The tent sets up quickly, but you need 2 people to properly pitch it - so one man setup is out. It becomes pretty tight and sturdy once properly setup and staked, and has very good ventilation.
The directions are not the best in the world, but they will do.

We Like the Bugaboo
We bought The Columbia Bugaboo tent based on the positive amazon reviews and the design, with the rainfly almost reaching the ground for extra wind and rain protection. So many tents have a wimpy rainfly that would let wind and rain blow into into the sides. We felt the rainfly on the Bugaboo would work well in adverse conditions, and we were not disappointed.

The tent performed well on our first outing to a remote high mesa in northern New Mexico in late September. Temperatures were mid-seventies during the days and around forty degrees at night.

This was my first-ever camping experience and my husband is an "Old Marine" whose idea of camping is sleeping on the ground in the open next to a humvee, not my cup of tea. We looked at a lot of tents and I studied web reviews for weeks before purchasing the Columbia Bugaboo. I'm somewhat claustrophobic, so wanted a larger tent with plenty of space for two people. We considered the Columbia Cougar Flats, but thought it would be too large, plus more difficult for the two of us to set up. It was quite windy when we arrived at our camping spot, so the decision to go with the smaller Bugaboo was a good one.

Before our trip we practiced setting up the tent at home. Too bad this tent doesn't have its own footprint, we bought a 10 x 12 tarp and folded it to fit under the Bugaboo. We found the tent fairly easy to set up by two adults. The instructions are provided on paper and a condensed version is on a tab sewn into the carry bag. We purchased several sets of sturdy metal and plastic stakes, which we used to fix the main loops of the tent to the ground. We used the lightweight stakes that come with the tent to secure the rainfly guylines.

We had great sunny weather during our trip, but it was breezy to downright windy at times. The tent held up well to the winds, but we had very carefully anchored everything to the ground. I doubt the tent would have performed as well if we had neglected to secure all the tabs and lines, using the stronger stakes at key points.

We didn't use the attic or shoe closet dividers, and I never could get the hooks for the cup holders to latch to the wall rings. Of course, the Old Marine thought cupholders in a tent the most ridiculous idea ever, but he did appreciate the quality of the tent and the several little accessories. The pocket flaps were very handy to hold eyeglasses, half-liter water bottles, and flashlights. We pretty well filled the tent with two Coleman cots, our sleeping bags with liners, and multiple duffle bags, totes, a plastic bin for odds and ends, etc. I cannot imagine how this tent could accommodate five people, but it was just right for two. Other reviewers are correct in commenting that the angled walls of the tent make it seem smaller than 9 x 12. But the angle at the base of the tent makes ample room for bags and "stuff."

The plastic loop at the apex of the tent was nice for hanging a battery lantern. Other loops were large enough to hold hangers to air clothes during the day. We placed beach towels on all the floor areas except under the cots, very cozy for walking around. The doormat and exterior shoe doors were nice. We removed our shoes outside and used a small brush and dustpan on the doormat constantly, which kept dirt out of the tent interior.

We were careful with the zippers, thanks to the reviews that warned about them. The shoe door zippers were the trickiest, requiring careful and patient slow motion to open and close. I was in charge of opening all the windows and zippers on the fly each day and appreciated the little pockets on the fly to store the guylines and the loops/toggles for securing the windows and flaps. The cyclone vents plus screened windows allowed good cross ventilation during the day. Like other reviewers, I wish the back window zipped closed, this is the one flaw in an otherwise great design and makes the tent unsuitable for truly cold weather.

I would not hesitate to recommend the Columbia Bugaboo tent for use at temperatures of forty degrees and above. Ours is, as yet, untested in rainy conditions. We plan a trip to the same 7,100 ft. site again in mid-October. I'm shopping for a tent heater prior to that jaunt!