****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I feel like for the +/- $20 that I paid for it, I got a reasonably good value. When this one deteriorates beyond use, I will likely purchase another one because they are 1/2 the price of any competitor I could find and being an infrequent user it will probably last me for quite some time.What stops this from being 5 stars (for the price) is just how hilariously awkward this thing is to set up and take down.The very short version is that you treat it much the same as those nylon windshield sunshades that fold over themselves until they are 1/4" size and fit under your car seat. If you conceptually understand what those are, you can probably eventually figure out how to unpack and pack this tent up.If you are curious about how big the unit is, I am 5'7" and 300 pounds. I have VERY broad shoulders and a cartoonishly long torso with stubby legs but relatively normally proportioned arms. I picked this up for a changing room and I would be able to change my pants standing up in it, but to change my shirt I definitely have to stoop, or kneel, or use a button-up shirt, to do so. Getting in isn't really tough I just put the whole thing on like a T-shirt and I suppose I could have done it to get out if I didn't stake the structure down, but knowing that I would be staking it down I used the zipper to do so and it was quite the acrobatics to get through that opening. If you were thinner and shorter, you'd probably have little problem using it. If you're built like I am you would probably find it adequate at the price point and just a little inconvenient.From here on, I will be spending the rest of the review clarifying what I mean with how frustratingly difficult the set up and disassembly ended up being.The instructions for setting up are these four steps, and I am writing them precisely how they appear in the written instructions included, spelling/emphasis exactly as they appear on the sheet:STEP 1:Confirm product contents by emptying contents of bag(s) and confirming all parts are included and undamaged.STEP 2:Select a smooth level site prior to opening the structure.STEP 3:Pull frame apart to pop open structure.CAUTION: Structure has inner steel wire which may spring open suddenly while attempting to open.TIP: Frame may need minor adjustment when tent is set up. Gently bend frame into shape if sagging appears.STEP 4:Stake down structure on bottom four corners.It is strongly recommended to attach supplied guylines at the corners near the top of structure and stake down to the ground.Those are your instructions concerning set up... "Pull frame apart to pop open structure". As of the time of this review, there is no video in the description that I could find that demonstrated this like you see for disassembly.So, I cracked open the nice zippered bag, pulled out the unit, and with a very intuitive twist got the unit to unpack from its round bag shape into a flat version of the outline of the tent. From there I made another intuitive unfold to produce a double sided flat version of the outline of the tent. From there... I was pretty lost. I tried a couple of different things that didn't seem to do much other than reverse the side of the material that would form the top from one side to the other. Eventually what I ended up doing was lifting the flat version of the outline from the bottom, to over my head. From there I sort of forced my way into the bottom of the tent and that ended up causing it to spring out and form the tent. So basically, pull the tent from bag, twist until it pops into a flat version of the final product, and then put on that like it were a t-shirt. Tada!Disassembly was MUCH more complicated! I wasn't able to sort it out on my own, nor was I able to sort it out using the included instructions, nor did I end up being able to use the video instructions provided here! I couldn't even describe to you how I ended up making it work. The 9 step disassembly method provided on paper isn't even the same method that is described in the video attached to the description, and the instructions at one point refer to the tent as a playhouse and not a tent! The video essentially shows/tells you to fold the structure in half, fold the structure into a U, pull the bottom up, twist, twist again, yada yada yada. But what the instructions tell you to do (and this is EXACTLY how the instructions are written, spelling and emphasis EXACTLY how they appear on the printout) is;STEP 1:Pick up the structure and lay it on its side.STEP 2:Grasp the top of the frame and push one of the corners INTO the structure towards the OPPOSITE corner.STEP 3:The structure will now fold flat.STEP 4:Grasp 2 DIAGONALLY OPPOSITE corners and bring them together in one hand. (You now have a loop above and below your hande)STEP 5:Kneel down and place the bottom loop on the ground.STEP 6:Grasp the outer edge of the top loop furthest away from you and fold inward toward the lower loop and lay flat on the ground. (You now have 2 loops on top of a larger one)STEP 7:Slide one of the smaller loops over the one next to it and grasp the outside edges of the entire folded playhouse.STEP 8: Slowly move your hands around the outside edges to make all of the loops the same size.STEP 9:Place folded structure into carry case.
