04/08/2010 10:33AM
Love this tent! It has a small footprint so it's easy to find enough level rock-free ground for the Cirque. It would be tight for two big men, but it's perfect for my fiance and me. The two doors/vestibules work great -- we leave one vestibule zipped up and put our shoes, boots, and misc. gear on that side and use the other door for entry/exit. Getting in the door thru the fly is a little tricky, but doable. The venting on this tent is very well thought out. There are windows on the doors which can be zipped closed in cold weather, the vestibules are really versitle (you can leave it all the way open, half open, all the way closed or all the way closed except for a little triangle at the top to let the heat/vapor escape (this triangle is protected from the rain by the rest of the fly)). Oh, and the best part?? It has a sunroof! The sunroof also has a zippered panel so you can open or close it as needed and there's a little plastic window in fly to let in light thru the sunroof.
So far we've only used this tent in cooler weather (frost one night, probably 30s or 40s other nights). With the windows and sunroof mostly zipped up, the vestibule half open on one side and the top vent open on the other we were nice and toasty. There was plenty of condensation on the underside of the fly, but none inside the tent. Also, with the watertight bathtub floor, I never woke up with cold, wet spots on my down sleeping bag (others we were camping with did). We haven't been out in a heavy rain yet, but we did set the Cirque up in the backyard and pelt it with the garden hose -- no leaks at all!
There is one major downside to this tent: the door zippers. The tent fabric is pulled very tight and the zippers are fairly lightweight so there is the very real possibility of the zipped door pulling apart. In fact, we got a really great deal on this tent at an REI used gear sale because the zippers had failed. A quick pinch on the sides of the zippers with pliers got them working just fine tho. We were careful with the zippers when camping and had no problems.
Conclusions: If you’re looking for a good, reasonably priced, lightweight 4 season tent and you’re willing to be careful with the door zippers, this tent is great (especially if you can find it on sale).