- 12-person dome camping tent with extra-large 19-by-19-feet base
- 2 large back rooms with removable hanging divider curtain for privacy
- Zip-down walls in front room turn space into large porch area
- Color-coded poles and pole sleeves for easy setup; rainfly hoop frames
- Full weather protection; center height of 6 feet 10 inches
Product Description
The SwissGear 3 room XL Family camping tent will make you the envy of the campground. Built to be extra roomy yet simple to set up. 2 large back rooms each come with a private door so you won’t disturb those sleeping around you. The front room can be used to sleep or as a large porch area for dining, gear storage or a family game play area. Each of the 3 rooms is large enough for a queen size airbed and room to store gear and walk around. Center height of 6′ 10″ all… More >>
Swiss Gear Elite Series 12 Person Huge Family Dome Camping Tent SG33151
This is a HUGE tent. Very spacious inside with what is really one large room and one smaller room. It comes with a cloth room divider which is a bit hard to figure out how to attach in the large room to separate it into two smaller (but still roomy) rooms and when it is attached it doesn’t do a good job of creating separate rooms. Much space is left under and around the divider so we don’t even use it. But, that’s not a negative towards this tent.
SetUp:
1.) Take your time and read the directions on the nylon sack and follow them carefully, step by step. The tent is not hard to set up and can be done by one person but is best if there are two people to set it up.
2.) Make sure the inside sewn-in door is unzipped so that when the tent is flat and ready to be raised a person can enter easily to the center of the tent to lift it while the other person secures the poles on the outside.
3.) Make sure that the rain fly is put on right-side up. If a big wind/rain comes then having it properly secured is essential.
4.) Don’t take any short cuts and do everything the directions say to do.
5.) When taking the tent down take your time and fold it up carefully. I lay the tent out flat with the 3 rooms extended. Then I take each room and fold it in towards the center. Then I fold the tent again. You want it narrow enough so that when you roll it up it will fit easily back into the sack. It’s easy to do but it takes a few times to get the hang of it. And the poles are very easy to extend and then fold up. I love how everything is so compact and goes back into the sack. The poles and tent sleeves are color-coded so it’s very easy to know where each pole goes including their clamps. When we first got this tent we set it up in our back yard several times just for practice. It gets much easier the more often you set it up but if you can practice in advance of a camping trip that’s good. And you would want to see if there is anything wrong with it prior to using it for real.
We went on a week-long camping trip last week and this tent was wonderful. The screen windows are great for air circulation and to be able to see outside. It has screens on all sides but you can zip them up at night for privacy. If you leave the rain fly off the roof of the tent is screen netting. We didn’t do that but it would be great to lie there and watch the stars at night. I am 5’10″ tall and could easily stand up and walk around inside the tent. It is so very spacious on the inside that four or more queen-sized air mattresses could easily be used with room to walk around. This tent really felt like home.
We did not get to test it in a rain storm. It did rain briefly but not long enough to see if the tent would leak. The directions say to use a “seam sealer” which we have not done yet, but will before our next camping trip.
**Note**
If you plan to use this tent in a campground be aware that most pre-made tent pads will not be large enough for this tent. We had to look for a tent pad that was very low to the ground so that the tent floor would be as flat as we could get it. Also, be sure to lay a tarp(s) underneath the tent floor. We had to use three 8′x10′ tarps, one for each room.
So far, we love this tent and and the only problems we have had is the velcro closure on the front door sometimes catches the screen netting and has messed it up a bit, and one of the metal ring pins broke but Swiss Gear immediately sent several more for free upon request. The tent fabric is lightweight but seems very durable.
Rating: 4 / 5
Short version of the story:
Bought this tent and whent home to set it up for seam-sealling. 70% set up and RRRIIIPPPP The tab in the back of the tent where three fiberglass poles meet rips and there is a gaping hole in the wall/flooor. Disasseble the tent, back to Sams Club. Get another tent, take it home, RIIIPPPP!!! Same tab, same stage of asssembly. Back to Sams Club. Get a third tent, this time I have a witness READ the directions while we assemble th tent. RRRIIIIIPPPP!!! At place in assembly, tab rips and I am done.
Three Wenger tents ripped in exactly the same place at precisely the same time in assembly. IN ONE DAY!!! Design is good. Construction is the worst I’ve seen in 40 years of camping. I could NEVER recommend a Wenger tent to anyone, nor will I.
Rating: 2 / 5
This is a really big tent and I put it up alone with a little help from a 10 year old boy. It took about one hour and a half, I kept stopping to read instructions and make sure all was right. The poles for the porch portion took the longest to figure out. You need to be careful because at this point you could tear the tent if you are not, I have a small rip where the floor and front wall meet I had it too tight. To make a long story short–TAKE YOUR TIME AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS CLOSELY — READ AND REREAD EVERYTHING UNTIL YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT IS NEEDED.
This is a tent that I could spent a considerable amount of time. It has not be tested in rain yet. I am planning to waterproof next weekend I have off.
Rating: 5 / 5
I’ve owned many backpacking tents, have borrowed and set up quite a few 4-6 man tents of various make and design, but this was the first large family tent I’ve ever purchased. A friend owns one and recommended it highly. The thing is huge, well ventilated, waterproof (he’s used his in the rain) and inexpensive. I got it, set it up and promptly returned it without ever using it. My reasons have already been noted here by other reviewers.
a) Poor construction – Like several reviewers, my tent ripped significantly where the back poles come together and are fastened. I had read some of these reviews, knew this was common but thought “Are these people idiots? Have they never been around a tent before?” (My apologies to you all.) A patch of stiff nylon reinforcement or even extending the receiving strap 2-3 inches would probably prevent this from happening. Also, one of the zipper sliders came right off from the front porch rain flaps when I unzipped it (very poor stitching, threads hanging loosely after). I tried for several minutes to get it back on, no luck.
b) Poor design – The porch’s plastic connectors are sized so that the poles grip and stay put, allowing for easier setup. The hub for the main three-pole frame, however, is almost 1/4 inch larger than the poles and allows them to easily come out during assembly (which they did, several times). This is the primary element of the tent’s framework!
c) Set up – It’s quite a job to get this monstrosity up: the process is not at all intuitive and you need two people to do it. My wife had to stand inside and hold it up while I connected and fastened the main three outer poles. It took almost 40 minutes to get the thing hoisted and the rain fly on. Granted, it was the initial setup with a learning curve but I wouldn’t want to have to raise it in bad weather. The rain fly could use some indicators for orientation as it took three tries before discovering the proper alignment.
d) Storage – Yeah, good luck trying to get this monster rolled up and stuffed back into the conservative storage bag. Took me three attempts, the final barely fitting in the over-sized shipping box it came in (that I used to return it).
Rating: 2 / 5
This tent is huge! We bought it for our family of 5 and had plenty of room. We didn’t use the extra room as a screened in patio but left it open as one big room for the kids and it worked out great. We also had a pack n play in our room and didnt feel like we where squished inside the tent, We had plenty of room.
My husband was able to set this tent up in the dark by himself.
We love it and had not problems with it.
Rating: 5 / 5