Our previous REI tent, the REI Quarter Dome T-3 Plus, announced its retirement at the end of camping year 2021. My canoeing partner (my wife) and I always have a fairly lengthy vetting process when we purchase a new tent. This year was no exception. We set up in our basement: a Eureka Mountain Pass; a Mountainsmith Celestial; a Marmot Fortress 3; and a REI Half Dome. But noooo, that wasn't enough. We just had to take one trip to Midwest Mountaineering to see what they had on hand. There we set up a Nemo Aurora and a Big Agnes Salt Creek 3. The ordeal was entirely self-inflicted.

We had very specific wants for our tent and nothing perfectly fit the bill. I did not want an asymmetrical tent but... We ended up getting one. We settled on the Big Agnes Salt Creek 3. As you probably know, it's a rather unique tent. It has three doors, one of which can be propped up as an awning. That was not the most appealing aspect of the tent, though it will provide us wonderful opportunities for ventilation when it gets really hot. It's a little smaller than we wanted, though we will likely be able to adjust. It has two ways zippers (or rather, each door has two independent zippers) so we don't have to open the entire door as we did with the Nemo. Sufficient pockets, fairly easy set up, more mesh than nylon... I'm excited to try it out.

Pictures are below, set up in our small basement TV room. The checkered clothing belongs to my wife. The rain fly was only loosely laid over the top of the tent.

Mike

The 'self-inflicted ordeal' is the only way to see if a tent (or many other pieces of gear) will work for YOU. Yeah, listen to the comments of others, but check out each prospective gear purchase against your specific needs. Comparing six tents does not sound unreasonable to me. I'm sure your time was well spent and that the Big Agnes will serve you well.

TZ

Looks like a great deal with some cool features. The awning could be awesome for evenings/mornings when bugs are particularly bad but you still want to enjoy the view. Lots of mesh is also beneficial to take advantage of breezes. Nice pick up!
Enjoy your trips in it!

If you go to that much trouble for a tent, I assume you do for other things as well, and yet, she still chose those pants?

Looks like a nice tent with good features. I have been very happy with my BA tents and other products.

Unas10: "If you go to that much trouble for a tent, I assume you do for other things as well, and yet, she still chose those pants?"

Gotta be comfy if you're going to lay in tents.

And to the OP, why the original hate on asymmetrical tents?

cyclones30: "

Unas10: "If you go to that much trouble for a tent, I assume you do for other things as well, and yet, she still chose those pants?"

Gotta be comfy if you're going to lay in tents.


And to the OP, why the original hate on asymmetrical tents?"

It's not that I hate asymmetrical tents, they just didn't seem to work for me. I am tall, but much of my height is from the waist up, so I need sufficient headroom. The asymmetrical tents we looked at (in the size that we wanted) really left me with only half a tent in which to sit up. The Salt Creek is fairly tall all the way through front to back so it gives me more options when sitting inside the tent.

Mike

Unas10: "If you go to that much trouble for a tent, I assume you do for other things as well, and yet, she still chose those pants?"

They are flannel lounge pants and I'm sure they were on sale. They never go out in public and, to be honest, they actually are kind of cute. The cuteness is obviously enhanced by the person wearing them!

Mike

Flannel lounge pants rock...

MikeinMpls: "

Unas10: "If you go to that much trouble for a tent, I assume you do for other things as well, and yet, she still chose those pants?"

They are flannel lounge pants and I'm sure they were on sale. They never go out in public and, to be honest, they actually are kind of cute. The cuteness is obviously enhanced by the person wearing them!


Mike"

What Mike isn't telling you is that he has a matching pair, but only wears them on remote campsites in the BWCA.

Nice tent!

MikeinMpls: "

Unas10: "If you go to that much trouble for a tent, I assume you do for other things as well, and yet, she still chose those pants?"

They are flannel lounge pants and I'm sure they were on sale. They never go out in public and, to be honest, they actually are kind of cute. The cuteness is obviously enhanced by the person wearing them!


Mike"

In home lounge pants...anything goes. The only other place I have seen such a loud pair of pants is on a golf course in 1974.

looks like a great tent. Enjoy!

OldScout48: "

MikeinMpls: "

Unas10: "If you go to that much trouble for a tent, I assume you do for other things as well, and yet, she still chose those pants?"

They are flannel lounge pants and I'm sure they were on sale. They never go out in public and, to be honest, they actually are kind of cute. The cuteness is obviously enhanced by the person wearing them!



Mike"

What Mike isn't telling you is that he has a matching pair, but only wears them on remote campsites in the BWCA. "

If I wear anything at all!

Mike