Cabela's Alaskan Guide 6-Man

This tent is a standard design, free standing, dome with six sides. The tent weighs twenty five pounds and has an interior height of six feet. The footprint is six sided and about ten and a half feet in diameter so a large site must be selected to hold the tent. This is not a backpacking tent where durability is sacrificed for weight. This is a rugged, heavy duty, heavy weight base camp tent.

Ventilation is very good without the fly and adequate with the fly on. There are three large zipper closing roof vents and three large windows, one in the door and two others. So with everything open there are six large screened areas for a breeze to enter. Interestingly the mosquito netting in the two non-door windows zips open. Thus there are three entrances into the tent. It is possible to reach out and close the window flaps from inside the tent if it starts to rain by opening up the mosquito netting.

Set Up

This tent is hard to set up even when you know what you are doing and is best accomplished with two people. Set up in wind or rain would be even more difficult. Instructions are permanently attached to the inside of the tent bag. The poles are shock corded flexible aluminum and are extremely long. The six main poles are interchangeable. A shorter seventh pole fits in the fly and forms a covered arch over the door. Three poles loop over the top of the tent, and three poles arc around the sides of the tent. One of the side poles arches over the door and each of the other two side poles arches over a window. Ring and pin fittings are used to hold the poles in place at each pole end. All six poles terminate at ground level opposite the point where they started.

There are three eighteen inch long fabric pole sleeves at the very top of the tent. It is the short length of the pole sleeves that complicates the tent set up. It is easy to start clipping fixtures to the wrong pole. The sleeves and fabric holders for the clips are color coded which helps once the initial clips are attached correctly. It is easiest to start with the two poles on each side of the door and to follow the seams up the tent to the pole sleeves. Getting the poles in the correct sleeves and correct ring and pin fittings is the hard part. Once those two poles are in place, putting the third pole over the top is easy. Perhaps Cabela's will lengthen the sleeves in future models. After the three poles that arch over the top through the pole sleeves are in place attach all the clips to these poles. Then place the three poles that arch to the side in place. Where the poles intersect there are velcro straps designed to wrap around both poles and hold them together. Be certain that all clips are attached to the poles

The part of the fly that goes over the door is recognizable by the gold "Cabela" label on the hood that covers the door. There is a pole that threads through a sleeve in the fly and forms a hoop over the door. Insert this pole before attaching the hooks on the fly to the pole ends. One of the roof vents is located under the hood covering the door and this vent is especially effective. Oddly there are two hooks at each of the six ground points of the fly. Both hooks need to be placed in the rings. Note that each hook provides tension on a fly seam that corresponds to a tent pole. These dozen hooks are a problem when erecting and striking the tent. They tend to catch in the poles and fabric preventing a smooth set up.

The tent is free standing. Once erected it can be picked up and moved a short distance. There are stake out loops at each point of the tent. A dozen large steel tent stakes are included. There are many pull out lines attached to the fly and if all were utilized the tent should survive a significant gale, though I have not yet put this to a test.

The interior includes a removable mesh drying loft, a dozen pockets sewn into and up the side of the walls, and can holders in the corners.

Take Down

Striking the tent is considerably easier and faster than erecting it since no effort is made to position poles correctly. Remove the fly disengaging hooks that snag. Remove all the clips from all the poles and then the poles themselves. Pack up in the generously sized container and you're done.

Old Model Tent

I purchased the same model tent three years ago. The door zippers where tiny coil types totally inadequate for the job and they failed completely this past summer. I took the tent back to Cabela's and they exchanged the tent with a fair adjustment ($90) for the three years use of the old tent. The tent model currently sold has several improvements over the old model. The zippers, while not huge, are more adequately sized for their job. There are three roof vents instead of one. The single vent in the old model was at the apex of the roof. The three vents in the new model are located lower where they will ventilate better. The tent poles are slightly stiffer and more substantial than the old poles, a real improvement. The can holders and redesigned pockets are a nice addition. The new design addresses all of my complaints about the old tent with the exception of the short pole sleeves.

In The Field

Like most six man tents this tent accommodates four adult men, or in my family's case two adults and three children. Six foot headroom in the middle of the tent is a real comfort for those accustomed to stooping in smaller tents.

Two adults can set up the tent, fly, and all guy-outs in fifteen to twenty minutes. Two adults and three children can accomplish the same task in about an hour.

Our last trip we prepared for a night of thirty-three degree rain and staked the fly out to maximize clearance between the sidewalls and the fly. The sound of rain on a tent can be quite enjoyable when you are confident in your equipment and the kids are asleep. No rain intruded that night but the water vapor given off by five people under those conditions produced the inevitable condensation on the fly around the top of the tent. Under those conditions I have had condensation sleeping under a tarp. Previous rain experience showed the door could be zipped half way open and still be covered by the fly that arches over the door.

The zipper cover on the door does a good job at covering the zipper and keeping out rain. It also tends to snag when zipping the door closed. Gripping the zipper pull with the thumb and middle finger and pointing into the tent with the index finger pushes the cover aside for smooth operation.

I initially thought all the pockets and tie points inside the tent were frivolous. They have turned out to be handy. The more people and clutter in the tent the harder it is to find things. Camping with four children I've found glasses, flashlights, paperback books and other small light paraphernalia are easily lost or damaged. The pockets help. Incidentally the cup holders hold flashlights nicely.

Having three entries/exits to the tent is handy when its wall to wall kids. The six points of the side walls are sturdy enough for little ones to lean against when playing cards or reading. I wish I could say that the kids treat the tent with loving respect. In reality the tent is taken for granted, treated badly, but none the less counted on. The tent is large, roomy, and rather dark which imparts the feeling that you are 'inside'. The kids feel secure in this tent.

The Cabela's catalog illustrates the tent in rugged big game hunting country. My tent will never see that. It does keep a bunch of kids warm, dry, and secure on canoe trips in all weather. I can certainly recommend the Cabela's six man Alaskan Guide tent for those circumstances.

This tent is great. Very little to no condensation.

We have used this tent for three years now.

We have used it down to -12°C or 10°F , only had minor bit of frost along the lower edge of one inside edge, about 5" up. at -12°C and we had used a Buddy Heater giving of some propane moisture. Ran it sparingly and have a carbon monoxide detector with us. We have used it down to -12°C or 10°F , only had minor bit of frost along the lower edge of one inside edge, about 5" up.

Being a four-season tent it has a great fly over top and three large vent panels that minimize interior condensation. The back of the fly does get frosty, but that disappears after a few hours in the daytime.

The vestibule portion of the fly is not my favourite though. Working the zipper all the way down gets your back a little wet or frosty because it comes down on a low angle.

However, the angle really really deflects the wind. Even without the extra tie downs in use you could barely see this tent move in 30 mph/50 kmh winds. Youtube has a crazy video showing this tent in very heavy winds. 

Being a four-season tent it has a great fly over top and three large vent panels that minimize interior condensation. The back of the fly does get frosty, but that disappears after a few hours in the daytime.

The vestibule portion of the fly is not my favourite though. Working the zipper all the way down gets your back a little wet or frosty because it comes down on a low angle.

However, the angle really really deflects the wind. Even without the extra tie downs in use you could barely see this tent move in 30 mph/50 kmh winds.

In the 6-man you can stand up to get dressed.

We have two xl cots and a dog bed, with storage room behind the cots. We have a heavy duty footprint and the floor liner. 

 The tent is a great piece of equipment. Car camping for sure but you will be very comfortable in all weather conditions. Rain sun snow freezing temps. It's all good.

I'm looking to replace the fibreglass poles with after-market aluminum.

Background

I have been camping in various forms for 50 years. 35 years using a canvas wall tent for hunting trips. Nylon tents for everyday camping, slide in camper, travel trailer. Use this to travel light.

The first time the tent was used was in the northeast it took some time to set-up, as the instructions included/attached to the tent were not clearly written. The tent contains 6 main poles and 1 small pole for the door arch, the instructions only describes the installation of 3 poles. The tent that I had was extremely tight, very difficult to attach the rain-fly. It rained overnight on the first outing, the tent did not leak, and had to take down in the rain.

The second time the tent was set-up was the next day at home in northern Illinois to dry-out the tent after the weekend rain, after fully dry the tent was packed for the next outing. The third time the tent was used was at the Grand Canyon South Rim campground in mid June, very hot, very dry. The tent seemed to have shrunk, the tent poles seemed to be too long for the tent, the rain-fly could not be fully attached, and the tent poles had an extreme amount of tension. After battling the set-up for an hour or two the tent had to be taken down and packed away as the doors were under so much tension that they could not be closed after opening. Tents had to be rented for the 3-night stay at the canyon.

Cabela's was notified of the problem and exchanged the tent. I set-up the second tent and it seems to have a better fit in material, not as tight as the first one. Other than the bad experience with the first tent, I am very happy with the features and quality of the tent.

We have camped all 50 states and 10 countries with this tent. We purchased it years ago when Cabela's offered it with a lifetime warranty. Now the poles are breaking and we are having zipper problems. So we called expecting Cabela's to replace the tent. Not so in their interpretation now of their warranty, this goes for only one year and covers only manufacturer defects.

We love this tent, but don't like Cabela's backtracking on their word with their lifetime warranty on this tent. We fully expected them to honor their warrantee as the tent is now having zipper problems and the poles are starting to break.

Who knows who owns Cabela's now and how the former owners and family fit into this operation. Reviews I read are not good now with Cabela's!

Great tent, love the look, durable, withstands windy storms easily while others are blowing away.

Great tent, love the look, durable, withstands windy storms easily while other are blowing away. The only thing I would do to make it better is make it a bit taller, other than that it is great.

I have used it for 2 years now and it is still like new. Very well made. I bought the floor liner because the floor is a bit thin, but with the liner it is much better protected against water running under the tent, have not been wet in it yet.

I very good tent for the money, flawless. It's not hard to set up once you have done it once, but the directions are poor. My wife and I could put it up and down in about in about 45 minutes after doing it twice. On a trip to and from Yellowstone Park we put it up and down about 5 times and it was great, no issues from temps in the low 30 to wind in at 40mph with thunder storms at Devils Tower worked flawless.

At first I thought it was too much money, but with a trip to Yellowstone and one elk hunting trip with it now well the money. Mine has the aluminum poles. I would say it is a 2 cot tent and 2 on the floor for 4 total people and gear.

Yes, this tent is a challenge to put up, however, it is worth it in the end. I've camped through nasty storms where all the other tents in our group blew over. Not only did the Cabela's Alaskan Guide tent stand tall, not a drop of rain came in! Rarely do you buy something that exceeds your expectations, but this tent did. Well worth every cent you pay for it.