Review: Alpine Design Horizon 3 Tent - Part 1

Bought the three-season "Alpine Design Horizon 3" Tent from Sports Authority during the July 4th, 2014 weekend specials.


The tag at the store promoted this as a 8 lb tent which is a bit heavier than what you'd want for backpacking. Nonetheless, I did a quick check on the scales at home and it came up as 12.5 lb which would mean this yields an unfavorable value of 4.67. Your goal is to get below as close to 3 as possible and below 3 if you have backpacking needs. Most of the weight probably comes from the steel stakes which are more durable than plastic.

It's designed to sleep 3 people but with the individual mattresses and all, this could be a snug fit as in the case of other tents and their advertised space. When tried with 2 people, there was more than enough room for us and extra cargo.


This has a basic bathtub base design with under a foot of coverage in height which is lower than what you normally see but there's a reason which will be explained below. I used a medium-duty tarp (Reversible Camouflage Poly Tarp ~ durable 4 MIL 10x10 weave ~ dimensions 10'x12' and finish size 9.5 ft x 11.5 ft) purchased from the local Menards store to protect the base from unnecessary wear and tear and also for an extra layer of protection from the elements.
Will follow up with more details in another blog post.