Northwest Territory Front Porch 10-Person Tent

It's a mansion!

just bought this after careful consideration and reading most of the other reviews. I decided to set it up in the yard to see if it's a keeper or if I want to send it back. The best advice I can offer is to put the rain fly on BEFORE you raise the tent. We assembled the roof poles and clipped the tent in place (you'll see what I mean when you look at the instructions). I had already read the reviews about this point (thank you to the other reviewers!), and I think it's dumb that the instructions don't tell you to do it this way also. Anyway, on goes the rain fly. I had read some people had theirs tear because it was so tight. I agree it's tight, but we allowed it to sit loosely and then clipped three of the sides and the last one we couldn't budge. We left it for about a 1/2 hour and came back to it. The warm sun had heated the fabric some and it was enough to GENTLY pull and adjust. We also decided it didn't line up right the way we had it so we swapped sides (the point that had been over the porch roof we moved to over the back door). This seemed to line up and work better, so I marked the porch side of the rain fly where there is a reinforcement piece of fabric sewn into the underside at the point so you can't see the mark but I can find it during assembly. This should save us some time next time. Once we made that adjustment, it fit perfectly. We finished putting up the tent and it is great. There are a couple of things that I can already tell I don't like. First, there are little washer looking doodads that are sewn into the sides of the rain fly - about 3 or 4 inches from the edges...I don't get this at all and it seems dumb to me. If it rains, water will go through these holes, so I have no idea why they are there. I plan to tape them from the underside so you can't see them. The other thing is the porch is not secure on the bottom so my dog will probably figure that out quickly...as will the bugs. So, I'm contemplating ways to secure the bottom. Also, the netting material on the porch seems pretty thin and I had a small snag as we were putting it together that is now a hole. We were being very careful because initially I didn't know if I was keeping the tent. So, BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU PUT IT UP because the windows are also made of this material. I read that during storms, etc., that some people had poles break, etc. I can see that might happen if it is not properly staked down...be sure to give yourself enough room to stake it once the mansion is up. It is a big tent. Also, it all fit back in its wheeled carrying bag and I also put a 12x24 tarp in with it, so that's cool. Overall, I really like the tent and plan to keep it. The fact that it is so big is great, but it's also a drawback if camping space is limited.

I like this tent

Just bought this tent and my best advice is: Put the rain fly on BEFORE you put the legs on. I think it's dumb that the instructions don't tell you this, because it's so tall that I don't see how you would do it otherwise. Anyway, it is a tight fit and we found that we had initially put the rain fly on in a way that didn't match up with the poles so we swapped sides (moved the point over the porch to over the back door) and let the sun warm the fabric a bit then we GENTLY pulled it into place and it fit perfectly. It's tall, lots of headroom, nice and big and the patio area is really cool. If you don't want the tent to break during wind, etc., make sure you have gently pulled the poles out all the way around so they are at the proper angle and stake down all sides with heavy duty stakes. Give your tent lots of room around it for this purpose...you will need it because it's so tall and big. Things we didn't like: there are these little washer looking brass doodads stamped into the edges of the rain fly. We could not figure out what these are for and it seems very dumb since rain will come through those holes. We plan to tape them on the underside so water can't come through. Also, the color coding tape is already coming off so we went around the tent and made extra markings with tape and numbers to help us the next time we put it together. It took two of us about an hour, but I think we can easily cut that in half next time since now we know what we are doing and we made additional markings. The porch can't be completely secured because there is a removable floor (I doubt I will use the floor it came with - seems weird to me because it moves and will probably be more of a pain). I have a small dog, so I have to figure out how to fix this. We set it up on a 12x24 foot tarp which was a great idea. Also, it all fit back into the wheeled carry bag - including the new tarp, so that was a cool thing. Overall, we like the tent. Really tall which seems great to us. :) Hope this review helps.

decent tent if you only camp in warm weather seasons

my only problems with this tent is it can be hard to put up some of the little plastic connectors were not marked as the directions showed at first thought I had been shorted some parts but I had enough to put it up.

Problem number (2) is if you want to use this tent in cooler weather it is impossible to build up any warmth inside because the vents on top have no way of being closed off since heat rises and cold air sinks you can guess what happens.

Problem (3) every time I have put this tent up at least one of the places where you hook the rain fly onto the end of the poles will not go on its so tight you can not pull it up and over the end of the pole as you are supposed to butit is just one of them and the fly stays on just fine with the tie down lines staked to the ground. 

The only leak we had was strangely enough since our cots were facing different diections were on mine and my firends faces but it wasnt much of a leak just a few drops that got blown in under the fly it was just kind of funny where they were because his cot was to the side of the front door an mine was to one side of the back door. 

I am going to figure out some thing to close off the top vents when I dont want them open and I bet this tent will be great and see many years of use. I was thinking some self sticking velcro in long strips all the way around the vent and a small cheap tarp I can cut into the right sizes might work just fine lol.

Tent w/screened front porch...eay to put up

Was amazed how quickly and easily it went up... sometime during the summer two of the plastic brackets broke... after calling the warrenty dept they said because of the weather they weren't going to cover the brackets ... they said i left it up for to long... really ...

Where does it say in the ad you can't leave it up for an expended period of time???? It doesn't... just replace the brackets ... there is no place that says how i can use the tent..

Northwest Territory Front Porch Tent

My husband and I purchased this tent from Super KMart in June of 2011.  When we made our purchase we also bought a Desert Camo. tarp.    The tent states it is waterproof in light rain.  (this is why we purchased the tarp)  Our first camping trip with the new tent was July 4th weekend, it rained VERY hard.....we stayed DRY.  It rained twice that weekend, stayed in read and waited for it to blow over.  We went again 2 weeks later, same story..rained 2 times DRY both times. The tarp fit perfect and looked great.  Just an extra tidbit for staying dry in almost any tent!  By the way, the screened in porch holds our air-conditioner very well and out of the rain, and us cool! (my husband is constructing a fold down shelf for the A.C.) O Love the tent, check out the blow up couch and chair/ottoman, that makes my camping trip as comfortable as being at home.  Enjoy this tent it is well worth the price.  LOVE IT...LOVE IT....LOVE IT!!!!

Wonderful tent...until it rained.

We decided on this tent for several reasons.  It was big enough to house us and our 1 year old son with all the extras.  We had our queen double-tall air mattress, two tables (about 3ft square each), a pack-and-play, and all our luggage for a week inside and still had PLENTY of space in the tent to move around and for our son to play.

The front porch was another reason we wanted this one. We wanted  to have a place to keep our cooler, camp chairs, stroller and things like that inside without being in the living space of the tent.  It was perfect!

We had a great week of camping until the last night, when it decided to rain......hard!  The tent had spots in the top fly that were seeping drops into the inside and when the rain would hit it from the outside the drops would fall and splatter through the top screen.  Also the top fly has tie-down holes about a foot from the edge that dripped on to the side windows and leaked in through two of the seams. (not sure what they thought they were going to do during a rainstorm) Poor design on their part, But I guess I should have had some duct tape to patch the holes!

There was also a hole in a seam at the top that leaked and let some rain in to the middle of the tent.  Also one of the seams for the top-fly ripped while securing it to the tent.

If the tent had not leaked, it would have gotten 5 stars for sure.  Since it it a pretty critical issue I gave it 3.  Sears is going to give me a replacement, so we'll see if the new one has the same problems.  Hopefully I'll be getting the 5 star tent I was expecting!

Don't get your hopes up!!!!

The tent is not as good as it looks! The measurements are off,the interior is normal tent,but however it makes a great playhouse!BUT......Don't get your hopes up!!!!

Huge, comfy tent with lots of windows

We used this tent for a long weekend camping trip, in hot weather with just a little light rain. No leaks from the rain, and all the windows made it easy to open up to catch the breeze at night. The nice high ceiling made it easy to use for those of us that find it difficult to stoop or crawl into regular tents.

The instructions for putting the tent together are confusing. For instance they call things "right" and "left", but don't show you from which direction. However, once you get the center pole for the roof put together, it becomes much more obvious how the side pole connector pieces should be placed. I highly recommend doing the center roof pole and it's cross pieces first. It then becomes obvious how the side pole connectors should be put on and in which directions. The tent is very well constructed, and all the pieces are color coded, which make putting it together pretty simple once you "get" what you are doing.

The rain fly only goes on one way. If it looks like the poles are a few inches away from the rainfly slots they go in, turn it around, and everything fits nicely. The reviewers that said they ripped the rainfly trying to put it on apparently didn't see that the slots have velcro, and can be opened up to make sliding the rain fly on quite easy.

Over all, I am very pleased with this purchase. Sears shipped it immediately, and I had it 3 days after I ordered it. The tent is very well constructed and everything fits back into the sturdy rolling bag. I look forward to using this tent many times in the coming years.

Northwest Territory Front Porch Tent

We just took this tent camping for the first time... We did a trial-run set up at home. (Glad we did) Once you initially figure out how to set it up the next time is pretty easy (20 - 30 min).

It was windy where we were and the tent held up really well. It flexed with the wind & did not let a lot of dirt or dust in. It is really well ventilated with lots of windows & a back door. We did not experience any rain, so I'm not sure how it would do.

It is really big inside! I was impressed with the amount of room we had. You can stand up and walk around without having to bend down. The walls are pretty vertical - you really do have the entire 18 x 12 space(including the porch). The screened front porch (12 x 5) has a detachable floor - which means it is not a completely enclosed room. The floor attaches in a few places with loops, not zippers. If you are trying to keep ants, bugs, etc. out of this area this floor doesn't stop them. The rest of the tent is pretty bug safe. The one complaint I do have about this tent is that the zipper around the front door ripped in 2 places on our very first trip. It didn't seem to be constructed very well around the seams of the door.

FRONT PORCH TENT IS AWESOME!!

When I saw this tent online while persusing the internet for a new one to replace our dilapidated one, I immediately fell in love with the look and style of it. The price seemed reasonable for the size and quality, so I ordered it with my fingers crossed. I have been disappointed by tents before, so I was hoping this was a good choice. I ordered it on a Wednesday and requested expedated service--and I got it the very next day!! That, in and of itself, was a huge thumbs up to Sears! It is a large tent and the carrying case is rather heavy, but that is to be expected. The handle and wheels make transport easy, though.

Upon reading the instructions, my husband and I were immediately impressed with the color coded poles and joints, but were unsure how easy it would actualy be to put up....the instructions advised to allow for half an hour for setup and to try it at home first. Well, we didnt do the latter part, but found that setup was actually quite simple and easy, altough it is definitely not a one person task. It did take approximately half an hour, but it went quite well. My husband and I have argued over every single tent we have ever put up, but this one was pretty cut and dry, so there was nary a heated moment! THAT was awesome too!!

Once the tent was set up, it looked great and was spacious and comfortable. I love the headroom....My 4 year old told me it looks like a house. HAHA. It sort of does, which I absolutely love!! We had 2 thunderstorms the weekend that we chose to go camping and there were wind gusts up to 70 mph and heavy rain. The tent held up like a champ!! It moved with the wind a little, but nothing snapped, nothing ripped and no one got wet. I was honestly quite amazed. When it came time to tear town, it was quick and easy. The tent and all it's parts even fit back in the carrying case! THAT never happens! :)

I would recommend this tent to anyone that is looking for a comfortable, high quality tent that the whole family can enjoy. It is easy on the eyes, easy on the brain and I now know that I can relax even in bad weather because it will still be there when the sun comes out again!!