Eureka! Suite V6 Tent
Holy mother of tent! That’s pretty much the reaction I had when Eureka! sent out the Suite V6 tent and it was delivered to my door. The box is huge and the tent is even bigger when set up. I’ll say it again, the tent is enormous (sleeps 6) and you can easily stand up in it (over 6 feet tall.) This tent is the perfect size for a large family… which we don’t have.
My wife and I don’t have any children, but we enjoyed the hell out of the Eureka! Suite V6 anyway. With the lack of kids sleeping inside it (besides the dog,) we turned the tent into a house in the outdoors. There’s a removable liner that can be hung to divide the tent into two rooms. So we put the mattress and sleeping bags on one side, and set up a table and chairs on the other for a makeshift living room. Our doubts about using such a large tent were put to rest as we played Scrabble and sipped beers in the tent while it rained outside.
The Eureka! Suite V6 is not only gigantic (9×14 feet), but it looks pretty cool too – like an alien spaceship that landed with an open door for entry. The large opening in the front is really nice for tall people because you can walk right in without stooping. Plus the vestibule is great for storage and can be converted into an awning for even more livable space outside.
Setup is easy and intuitive, so long as you have some help. It comes together with 3 fiberglass poles to make a V-shaped dome. But because of its size and weight, at least two people are needed to put it together.
There are also thoughtful features designed into the tent, such as large front doors with lots of ventilation, zippered windows, and even a hanging storage basket for dirty laundry or anything else you want to keep off the floor. There are also interior and exterior pockets for small items like shoes, water bottles and headlamps.
But not all is well with the Eureka! V6 tent. First of all, it’s really heavy. Weighing in at 26 pounds, 12 ounces, this is to be expected with a tent that sleep 6 people, but again, it takes more than one person to set it up because of the weight and size. Also, it’s a good idea to invest in a footprint or tarp to put on the ground to protect the tent floor from rocks and sticks. The tent has a tensioned perimeter seam bathtub floor that’s really nice, but the material isn’t very durable for a floor and we found small holes after use that could eventually get bigger over time.
So if you’re tall, have a large family, or just like to bring your house camping but can’t afford an RV, then the Eureka! Suite V6 tent is for you.
Purchase the Eureka! Suite V6 tent.
Eureka! Riner Sleeping Bag
Along with the tent, Eureka! also sent out the Riner sleeping bag. It’s a 40-degree rated mummy-style bag for summer backpacking, camping and traveling. Over the summer we used the Riner for all those things. Callista took it along while she ran in the Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back. The Riner was plenty warm for getting some rest between runs, whether on the grass or inside a high school wrestling gym.
I took the Riner on backpacking trips, and even tried it out inside the Brooks-Range Alpini bivy sack. Temperatures in the Wasatch Mountains dropped to around 40 degrees and I was always warm inside the Riner, which, I’ll admit, was surprising considering how thin the sleeping bag is. I also appreciated the roominess, despite it being a mummy bag. I could roll over inside the bag rather than the bag rolling over with me.
Overall, the Eureka! Riner is really roomy and comfortable, but also light weight and compacts down small. The stuff sack that comes with the bag is a compression sack, and when you get those straps tight, the bag shrinks down to a packable size. The bag also has really nice zippers that never caught (a problem with most sleeping bags), a roomy hood with a drawcord, an internal pocket for headlamp or MP3 player storage, and a soft liner inside that feels nice against bare skin.
Summer sleeping bags don’t have to be ultra technical since mother nature is keeping things warm on her own. But if you’re looking for a bag that is comfortable and well constructed, the Eureka! Riner is a good choice.
Purchase the Eureka! Riner sleeping bag.
You can find more information on these Eureka! products at www.eurekatents.com
Do you know if Eureka makes kid sleeping bags and two-person sleeping bags?
Hi Jared,
Concerning the Riner sleeping bag – does the zipper undo all the way around the bag? Could this potentially be alternatively used as a quilt?
Maris,
No, the zipper does not undo all the way around. It only unzips on one side.
Do you think that a queen air bed would fit in one end of the Suite V6? Yours looks like a double?
Oh yea, no doubt. The photo doesn’t show how much room there is on the one side of the double mattress. In fact, I think you could fit a king size bed in this thing.
Where can I purchase a footprint for this tent? Do you have any idea how much a footprint costs? Thanks
Try Eureka’s Floor Saver. Here’s a link: http://store.eurekatent.com/suite-v6-tent
Looks like it’s about $50… or you can just buy a square tarp from a home improvement store, probably for less than that.