Columbia Bugaboo II Geo Dome Tent with Foot Lockers
Product By COLUMBIA
Technical Details
- Spacious dome tent with sleeping space for up to 5 people
- Cyclone venting system increases air circulation within the tent
- GoBe Dry rain protection system keeps rain from seeping inside
- 2 external storage lockers, gear loft, and cupholders
- Measures 12 x 6.16 x 9 feet (W x H x D) and weighs 21 pounds
Product Description
Bring the family to the campsite and still have room to spare with the Columbia Bugaboo II dome tent. The Bugaboo II--which sleeps up to five people--is equipped with both a Cyclone venting system and a GoBe Dry rain protection system. The Cyclone system greatly increases the air circulation within the tent, helping you stay cool on warmer days or dry out after a nasty rainstorm. The GoBe Dry system, meanwhile, includes taped seams and an elevated floor to keep the pounding rain outside. The Bugaboo II also includes plenty of room for storage, with two footlockers, four pocket organizers, a gear loft for packs or valuables, and even multiple cupholders for coffee, soft drinks, or beer bottles. Other details include color-coded fiberglass poles and sleeves for easy setup, a polyester taffeta body and rainfly, and reflective zipper pulls. The Bugaboo II measures 12 by 6.16 by 9 feet (W x H x D) and weighs 21 pounds.Key Features:
- Sleeps 5 campers
- GoBe Dry ultimate rain protection system
- Camp Port to allow easy passage of cables
- Cyclone venting to allow for better air circulation when rainfly is in use
- 2 external storage lockers, internal pockets, cupholders, and gear loft
- Color coded fiberglass poles and sleeves for easy setup
- Polyester taffeta body and rainfly
- Weighs 21 pounds
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 skiwear 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. The company 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.
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.
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Customer Reviews
2010-07-12
By Necia M. Snow (Colorado)
Tent bag had a tear in it when we first opened the box but the tent was fine. Easy to set up and we all fit in in with extra room (We have 3 small kids). It was very windy and rainy the first night we used it and we didn't have any problems with water. I like how the tent has a few inches on the bottom that is rain protected. The foot lockers are kind of pointless, just a zipper to the outside (I thought they were pockets to store dirty shoes) but overall satisfied.
2010-07-11
By NovaDriver (NOVA)
This tent was OK. I have another Columbia tent that we love and were expecting the same from this tent. I feel this tent does not live up to the Columbia name.
Pros- The tent has plenty of height for moving around and getting dressed. The accessories are very handy for storing "pocket litter" at the end of the day. There was lots of space in the tent and the rain fly is huge. The tent bag expands like a suitcase so getting the tent put in is very easy. The poles are color coded so it is easy to figure out which pole goes where.
Cons- beware of the size that is advertised. The tent width is measured from the footlocker to the back of the tent. The problem with this is that the footlockers, which are mostly unusable space, stick out about a foot and a half from the main part of the tent. So if you are looking at the dimensions to make sure you have room for air mattresses, take about two - three feet off the width. This tent is more of an octagon so you will have a tough time fitting two twin air mattresses in this tent. YOU MUST SEAL THIS TENT BEFORE USE. I didn't have time to do this before we used it and of course it rained that night. I was very surprised how much the tent leaked with such a large rain fly. Give yourself plenty of time to set this up. I have a much larger Columbia tent and this one took me more time to set up.
Bottom line - this tent is ok, however if I was doing it all over again I would buy a different tent with more rectangular dimensions. It comes with seam sealer, USE IT!
By C. T. Adams (VA)
I got this tent to take to Bonnaroo (big music festival in TN). We had four people with two full sized air mattress in there and still had to space to move around. The color coordinated poles and stake loops meant it was super easy to set up with even two people. The circulation on the tent is great too - when doing "high density urban camping" you'll want to keep the rainfly on for privacy, but your don't have to keep it all sealed up! It has zippers over every window/ screened area so you can be shaded and out of view without sacrificing a good breeze. It also seemed to hold up well in the rainstorms (very short) that we got - but we had also seam sealed the entire tent and rainfly before leaving, a recommendation I would make to every tent owner. The tent actually comes with a bottle of seam sealer to get started too! I also loved all the "gear loft" options, really good for stashing flashlights and whatever else you need (though keep it lightweight). The only reason I didn't give it five stars was that the front door zipper would catch sometimes, definitely don't go opening it too quickly! And also, definitely needed a ground cloth with the tent - ended up buying a roll of 4mm plastic sheeting and cutting it down to size for underneath the tent, helped things stay much drier! Overall though, pretty good and spacious tent for the money!
By Michael A. Carr (Lake George, New York)
First off, this is a great tent for the money. The directions call for a 2 person assembly but I was able to do it on my own. The foot lockers are somewhat misleading. I was expecting a seperate compartment that held the shoes while keeping the inside of the tent clean. Instead, the foot lockers are a mini doorway into the main tent compartment. It also rained during my trip which sent us all (7 people) into the tent for shelter. The cyclone venting system was AWESOME and nobody felt like it was too stuffy. The next morning it only took the tent 2 hours to completely dry off which isn't too bad considering the sheer size of it ( a.k.a "fabric mansion"). OVERALL, you will definately be happy with this tent!
