REI Half Dome Tent w/ Footprint Review | Tested and Rated

The new REI Half Dome 2 ($299) is a freestanding and affordable two-person camping and backpacking tent with an extra-large interior perfect for couples wanting more room to spread out and relax. It has a dome shape with two doors and two vestibules for easy access and gear storage. Pockets in the walls and ceiling provide plenty of gear storage, while ceiling vents in the rain fly help improve ventilation and reduce internal condensation. But best of all, this tent is well-built and a solid value that should provide years of use.

Specs at a Glance

• People: 2
• Doors: 2
• Vestibules 2
• Type: Freestanding
• Minimum Trail Weight (minus bags, stakes, and footprint): 4 lbs 8.4 oz (actual)
  • Inner Tent: 30.6
  • Rainfly: 22.8 oz
  • Poles: 19 oz
  • Footprint: 8.6 oz
• Packed Weight: 5 lbs. 12.1 oz.
• Interior Floor dimensions: 85″ x 52″ (actual)
• Interior Peak Height: 42″ (actual)
• Floor: 75-denier taffeta nylon
• Canopy: 75-denier polyester taffeta with polyurethane coating;
• Rainfly: 40-denier ripstop nylon with polyethylene coating
• Minimum number of stakes to set up: 2,  6 recommended

Tent Setup

The REI Half Dome 2 is a freestanding double-wall two-person tent with two doors and two vestibules. The inner tent is freestanding with a dual-hubbed pole (with 19 sections) that slots into corner and ceiling grommets for setup. The inner tent hangs from the poles with hooks, making setup quick and easy once the poles are in place. The rainfly drapes over the inner tent and connects to the corners with quick-release buckles. The only part of the tent that has to be staked down are the two vestibules, which require a single stake each. I’d still recommend staking out the corners because you’ll get a more rigid structure, and the tent won’t blow away if you’ve stepped out and the wind starts to blow.

The upper part of the inner tent is mesh for enhanced breathability and ventilation, while the lower half is solid for better privacy. The interior is factory seam-taped and made with 75 denier nylon, which you should be able to use without a tent footprint unless you camp on highly abrasive sand or rock. A footprint is included and comes pre-attached to the inner tent using dowels threading through loops in the corners, so you get perfect placement.

The stakeout points on the doors have Lineloc-style guyline tensioners, making them easy to anchor and tighten without moving your stakes. The guylines are cord and best staked out with tent stakes that have a hook on top. REI includes a set of generic steel stakes with the tent, which are usable but comparatively heavy: do yourself a favor and don’t push them into the ground with your foot to avoid bending them.

Tent Livability

The Half Dome 2 is a spacious tent with an 85″ x 52″ interior that has enough room for wide sleeping pads and tall occupants. The floor is rectangular and not tapered so you can sleep with your heads together at either end. There are four mesh pockets in the corners of the tent and two gear lofts: the latter are made with an opaque fabric so you can put a headlamp in them to diffuse light throughout the tent. The peak height of the interior is 42″, which is high for a two-person tent, and sitting up or kneeling inside is easy.

The doors of the inner tents are D-shaped and similarly oversized, with dual zippers that make them easy to open and close. They open onto large vestibules that are big enough to store gear without compromising access to the inner tent. The vestibules also have two bi-directional zippers, so you can open them partway to create a top-down opening for ventilation.

There are two kickstand-style ventilation ports over each vestibule door that you can prop open for additional airflow. They work brilliantly to reduce internal condensation by minimizing the temperature gradient between the inside and exterior of the rainfly, which causes condensation.

The vestibule doors require one stake to anchor. These stakes provide additional support for the zippers, helping to reduce snags/ However, given their shape and design, it can be hard to tension the vestibules drumhead tight unless the ground you’re on is uniformly sloped. This is mostly cosmetic and doesn’t diminish their effectiveness in wind and rain.

Comparable Budget Backpacking Tents

Recommendation

The REI Half Dome 2 ($299) is a well-designed tent that provides a huge bang for your buck. While it probably won’t appeal to ultralight fast-packers, its spacious interior and abundant internal storage are a real eye-opener if you’ve struggled with a cramped 2-person tent in the past. The vertical sidewalls, numerous side and ceiling pockets, roof vents, and large vestibules give the tent a feeling of spaciousness that you seldom experience in other two-person tents. Plus, its interior dimensions give you enough room so you can use extra-large sleeping pads or chair kits inside for added comfort. My favorite aspects of the Half Dome is its ease of setup and spacious interior. It’s like sleeping in a palace, outdoors.

Disclosure: REI donated a tent for this review.