The REI Flash 3 is a freestanding, double-wall 3-person tent that’s light-weight and compact sufficient for backpacking however spacious sufficient for automotive tenting. Whereas REI charges it for 3 individuals, I feel it’s on the small dimension for 3 full-grown adults until your third companion is a canine or a small youngster. The place it actually shines is as a 2-personal palace with an unlimited quantity of ceiling mesh for air flow and stargazing, with loads of additional room to unfold out. Along with its beneficiant size, good for tall individuals, the close to vertical facet and finish partitions on the Flash 3 present higher livability for occupants than the sloped partitions of many dome-shaped tents.
Specs at a Look
- Greatest Use: Backpacking and Tenting
- Sort: Double Wall
- Construction: Freestanding Tent
- Doorways: 2
- Variety of Poles: 3
- Inner pockets: 4
- Claimed Minimal Path Weight: 3 lbs 7.6 oz
- Precise Minimal Path Weight: 3 lbs 11.8 oz (Internal Tent and Rainfly: 41.5 oz) (Poles (3): 18.3 oz)
- Most pole section size: 18″
- Precise Internal Tent Dimensions: 85 x 68/61 (L x W head/foot) inches
- Peak Top: 42″
- Precise Packed dimensions (in stuff sack supplied): 19″ x 7″
- Seam-taped: Sure
- Footprint: Not included.
- Minimal variety of stakes to pitch: 6; Really useful: 8-9
- Cloth: 20D Ripstop nylon
The REI Flash 3 is a light-weight, freestanding double-wall tent with two doorways and two vestibules. It has an enormous expanse of mesh making it good for stargazing whereas offering wonderful air flow when used with or with out its rain fly. Totally seam-taped, the partial facet and end-walls present additional privateness, wind, and dirt safety whereas the big doorways allow quick access and exit.
Nevertheless, the Flash 3’s head and foot finish widths of 68″/61″ inches, make it decidedly slender for 3 full-grown adults. Whilst you may match three x twenty-inch broad sleeping pads facet by facet within the internal tent, it truly is a good squeeze. You’d in all probability be much more comfy utilizing the Flash 3 as an expensive two-person tent with a canine or small youngster as a 3rd companion.
The Flash 3 comes with three poles which slot into color-coordinated man out factors. To be able to save weight and make the tent extra packable, the REI selected to not join all of the poles along with a number of hubs, which is commonly the case with different tent producers. The draw back of that is that it makes the tent a bit extra difficult to arrange and may result in a misplaced pole until you’re cautious to maintain monitor of all of them when breaking down the tent.
Whereas not tough to pitch, it takes a observe session or two to determine tips on how to arrange the Flash 3 and is finest completed in your yard a number of occasions earlier than you try and determine it out with a companion within the area, significantly when you’re making an attempt to impress them along with your out of doors expertise. There are instructions included within the tent’s stuff sack, though you’ll be able to determine it out with sufficient persistence. 🙂
Whereas the internal tent is technically freestanding, it’s massive sufficient and underneath sufficient structural stress that you need to stake out the corners once you set it up. The rainfly snaps into the corners of the internal tent, so that you simply want one stake in every nook for each. Nonetheless, I’d encourage you so as to add a number of additional guylines alongside the fly perimeter for stability in wind and to maximise the inner quantity.
In contrast to a dome tent, there’s a distinct directionality to the Flash 3, with a head finish and a foot finish. Whereas the tent has an unlimited quantity of inside quantity, it doesn’t have a number of pockets inside, or the place you’d anticipate finding them. For instance, there are not any pockets on the within of the doorways and no gear loft pockets within the ceiling. There are 4 mesh pockets on the again wall of the tent on the junction between the strong cloth and the mesh wall, however they’re a bit excessive as much as comfortably attain when you’re mendacity in your sleeping bag.
There may be sufficient inside quantity, nevertheless, to retailer a number of gear contained in the tent, however the Flash 3 is decidedly mild in terms of the frills discovered on different tents of this quantity just like the Massive Agnes Copper Spur HV UL3 or the NEMO DragonFly OSMO 3P. The Flash 3 is inexpensive for that purpose, so that you’ll should resolve whether or not the added options in these tents are definitely worth the value distinction.
Whereas the rainfly covers the internal tent mesh, it doesn’t present full protection over the ends of the internal tent however is scooped to allow higher airflow inside. The uncovered partitions of the internal tent are as waterproof because the fly, so there’s no web loss in performance. NEMO was actually the primary tent producer to include this scoop design broadly throughout their product line and its been adopted by different producers since. It additionally helps scale back the burden of the rainfly as a result of there’s much less cloth required.
As talked about, the Flash 3 is a two-door tent with two vestibules which is a must have for consolation when tenting with two or extra individuals. The Flash’s vestibules are massive with loads of room to stow a backpack. The doorways have bi-directional zippers so you’ll be able to partially unzip one from the highest down or backside up, even in unhealthy climate, to extend air flow via the tent with a view to offset any condensation formation.
Comparable 3-Particular person Tents
Advice
Whereas the REI Flash 3 is offered as a three-person tent, it’s in all probability finest thought-about a excessive quantity 2+ particular person tent with house sufficient for 2 adults and a younger youngster or canine. One in all its important advantages is a comparatively small pack dimension on account of the truth that its poles are usually not packaged collectively in a single big multi-hubbed array, however damaged aside in order that they take up much less quantity. Whereas it doesn’t have a number of inside pockets and options discovered on costlier tents, its size, vertical facet partitions, and enormous mesh ceiling provide occupants a extra spacious feeling of inside quantity and star-gazing potential than most comparable dome-shaped three-person tents.
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Disclosure: The creator owns this tent.
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