This GEERTOP Lightweight waterproof screen house arrived quickly. It took 2 people to set it up. I attached 2 guy lines to each center pole for added stability and to tighten up the ridgeline. The bottom corners and center points stake out. Guy lines in each corner of the roof tighten the roof and stabilize the structure. The roof seams are taped and sealed. The side walls can be tightened up slightly with tensioning straps in the bottom corners. The doors zip open and closed easily and can be secured in place using the attached elastic stake loops. The mesh screen has very small pores to keep insects of varying sizes from enterig the enclosure. The addition of short tarp poles in the corners could help tighten up the roof panels a little bit more, but are not necessary or included. The bottom edges of the walls have a skirt to further seal out insects. The roof and screen cut down the light intensity that eneters the screen house. Instead of using the included center poles, the ridgeline of this screen house could be secured to trees to raiee the ridgeline height or when backpacking. This screen house seems to be well made and with proper care and storage I anticipate it will last many years. Read more
This pop up tent from GeerTop includes a rain shelter along with all around bug screen protection. Being avid hammock campers we were curious to see how this would compare to our other rainflies. This particular version doesn't include poles and so requires either a tight ridgeline or straps that can tension the top of the canopy to prevent sagging. The kit includes 8 guy lines and a bag of tent stakes for the lines and base corners of the netting. Our tent did not include any instructions and this is also not the easiest of tents to put up on your own. For the most part you can figure out how to hang it but there are options. The ridge line straps on either end have eyelets that can either be used with a stable ridgeline or with the tent lines for attaching to a tree or other structure on either end. The biggest challenge is getting those hanging points high enough that the bug net is not dragging on the ground. Ideally, the ridge should be at least 7 feet off the ground to get the ideal set up so in most cases, you may need to use a step ladder or something similar to help make your attachments. The screens do a great job of keeping out the bugs and there are 3 zippers on each end which is ideal for pitching a hammock under the shelter, allowing for your hammock lines to pass through the tent. We have a larger sized hammock so this shelter would be better if it were about 2 ft longer, but for most hammocks, this should still work just fine. There are also clasps all around the shelter that can be used if you want to roll up the bug nets for a more open setup. Without the poles, it can be challenging to tension all the corners so that it sits high enough off the ground but as long as you have a good ridgeline height, you just have to stake the four upper corner lines far enough away that you keep a good height on those side walls. Overall, the stitching is good and it functions as intended but with some trial and error. At just under $90, I'll give this 4 stars. Read more
For a lightweight bug and shade tarp this will do the job and is fairly well constructed. For the price I have zero complaints. However! At a minimum you will need at least a rope ridgeline to span the top. A rope ridgeline and poles would be the most ideal, but "as is" it's nearly impossible to prevent sagging. Alone, under tension and with the heat of the day there is enough stretch in the fabric to cause quite a bit of sagging and would require constant adjustment of the upper and side tiedowns. I do wish there were ridge ties in order to secure the top ridge to a ridgeline. That would be a big help to prevent flapping under windy conditions, but I didn't anticipate it would have any when I bought it and can't hold that against the Manufacturer. Using an over and under rope ridgeline will serve the same purpose. I'm giving it a 5 star because it works exactly as advertised, it's fairly durable and it's certainly quite budget friendly. I haven't been able to test how waterproof it is, but the ripstop type material looks decent and I would anticipate it serving it's purpose under a mild rain. There is no mention of the top being treated so, from experience, I would anticipate the material to eventually saturate, drip and require an additional waterproofing treatment to be truly waterproof. YMMV Read more
Needed some form of shelter to protect us from bugs while camping. thought this would be nice. It is a bit of a pain to setup. You need some type of line or extra rope as trees are typically not spaced perfectly apart for the install. Setting up some type of tram/slack line would be preferable. If there are no trees or not enough you'll certainly need poles or very large sticks to support the center/ridge. It does keep the bugs out and works well. It will protect you from the sun as well as shed SOME rain. It's certainly not waterproof. It seems to be durable enough for a camping or sporatic use but I wouldn't set this up as a permanent shelter. It's big enough for a standard size picnic table with some room around it. Nice to have if bugs are an issue. Read more
First, if you get this replace the stakes. Any wind has a large area to push against and the stakes will loosen up. Second OMG is this a perfect shelter for a couple of cots or a hammock. I slept in it with my camping buddy and two cots. We used poles for the high points and the center tie outs. We also threw down a tarp for a floor. We decided that going forward, this was our new castle. Read more
