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See the 14 tests

1. In the Box
2. Set Up & Pack Away
3. Peak Height
4. Livable Space
5. Base Area
6. Front Vestibule
7. Back Vestibule
8. Doors
9. Windows
10. Storage
11. Ventilation
12. Rain Protection
13. Quality
14. Portability
15. Pros, Cons, Recommendations
16. Bonus – MUST Read!

In the Box

• Tent body
• Rainfly, with the 8 guylines pre-attached
• 2 tent poles
• Pole repair splint
• 10 stakes
• Setup instructions
• Carry bag

• Poles 2The hubbed main pole, plus the vestibule pole
• Stakes 10
• Guylines 8

Set Up & Pack Away

Setting this tent up on my own was relatively fuss-free, apart from the hubbed pole popping out of its grommets now and then. I really liked the oversized carry bag too, which made packing everything back in easy.

• Set-up time 18.0 minsOn my own
• Pack-away time 13.0 minsOn my own

Pro tip The 10 stakes that come in the box aren’t enough. I was 6 stakes short once I’d staked down the tent body, both vestibules and guyed out all 8 guylines, so do buy some extras before your first trip.

Peak Height

• Peak height 77.25inAt the center

I’m only 5’3, so that’s more than enough for me to stand upright.

Livable Space

This tent is marketed as having high-volume architecture, so is that really true? I measured the standing height at three more points.

• 3ft from the peak 70.5inAlong the length
• 4.5ft from the peak 63.5inRight up against the door
• 2ft from the peak 61.5inAcross the width

So the peak height is extended across the length of the tent, and you get vertical walls at the front and the back.

That’s thanks to the pole structure. The hubbed main pole is what gives you the vertical walls, and the ridge pole running along its top is what extends the peak height down the length.

Base Area

• Floor area 80.5 sq ft
• Floor size 116.5 x 99.5inLength, then width

You can fit six pads, though it’s shoulder to shoulder.

• Single pads 6
  • Exped Duo 74 x 43in
  • Klymit Double V 74 x 47in
  • Sea to Summit 74 x 20in

It’s a tight fit at six. But at least this tent has lots of livable space, and I didn’t feel too cramped even sleeping at the sides.

Two queens and four people is the more comfortable way to use it.

• Queen beds 2
  • Etekcity 80 x 59in
  • ALPS 80 x 56in
• Leftover space 22.0inAcross the width

Do check your bed’s width before you buy. Both of mine are narrower than a true 80 x 60in queen, and a real pair would bulge out of the tent a little.

Front Vestibule

Outside the inner tent you get two vestibules, a big one at the front and a smaller one at the back.

• Front vestibule 36.5 sq ft
• Size 66 x 99.5 x 63.5inShort length, long length, then width
• Standing height at the door 67.5in
• Standing height at the front 57.75in

Even with the vestibule fully closed I could sit inside with room left over, and my legs never touched the fabric. You can’t do that with many tents.

The front vestibule has three configurations, and each depends on which pair of loops you stake down.

• Configuration #1 Sides openStake the inner loops, then tie both sides back with the toggles
• Configuration #2 Middle openStake the outer loops, then bunch the middle up at the top
• Configuration #3 AwningUn-stake the whole vestibule and tie it away

The awning is only possible because of the vestibule pole you sleeve in at the front, and it leaves you some shade and walkable space underneath.

• Zipper tracks 22 zippers on each
• Brand YKK

None of them snagged, as long as I used two hands, one holding the fabric and the other zipping.

Back Vestibule

The back vestibule is quite a bit smaller, and it’s really only about half the front one.

• Back vestibule 19.5 sq ft54% of the front one
• Size 66 x 99.5 x 34.0inOuter length, inner length, then width
• Zipper tracks 12 zippers on it, also YKK

It has three configurations too – left open, right open, or both, but with no room for camp furniture. There’s no vestibule pole back here either, so you get almost no shade.

Doors

• Doors 2One under each vestibule
• Door size 57.0 x 64.5inWidest width, then ground to the top
• Door zipper tracks 21 zipper on each, also YKK
• Toggles 1 per door

These aren’t the biggest doors I’ve come across, and the top is narrow enough that I had to duck to get in and out. Then I had to duck a second time to clear the vestibule pole.

There’s a door keeper by the side you can tuck the fabric into instead of using the toggle, which I thought was handy.

• Tucking it into the door keeper ~3 seconds
• Using the toggle near the bottom ~10 seconds

Windows

• Windows 2One on each door
• Window size 63 x 22inLongest length, then widest width
• Window zipper tracks 21 zipper on each, also YKK
• Toggles 1 per window
• Mesh No-see-umThe holes are tiny

Storage

• Pockets 168 on each side wall
• Gear loops 178 per wall, plus 1 at the top center

The rectangle pockets hold a lot. The triangular ones take less, and the smaller half of each double pocket really only fits a bottle.

• Rectangle pockets 15 x 11in
• Triangle double pockets 17 x 18inThe bigger half of each pair
• Top pockets 15 x 12inAlso triangular

Ventilation

On a hot day you can take the rainfly right off.

• Mesh ~25-30%Across the whole inner tent
• Vents 0

Beyond the roof there isn’t a whole lot of mesh, but you can open both doors for decent cross-ventilation.

Rain Protection

• Tub floor None
• Floor seams TapedFloor edges, corners, and the two seams across the flooring
• Rainfly seams Taped

The rainfly is full-coverage, and I liked that I could guy out the rainfly on all four sides.

To test all of those waterproofing features, I put this tent through 1.5 hours of heavy rain.

Nothing leaked. No water pooled on top, the flooring stayed dry, the seams didn’t let any rain through, the inside of the rainfly was dry too, and it protected the tent body underneath perfectly.

• My heavy rain test 1.5 hoursNo leaks anywhere

Quality

• Flooring 75D polyester taffeta1,500mm waterproof coating
• Rainfly 75D polyester taffeta1,500mm waterproof coating
• Tent body 75D polyesterNo coating
• Mesh 40D nylon

The flooring is half as thick as the average 6-person tent I’ve tested, so I’d buy a cheap tarp to put underneath it.

• Poles DAC aluminum
• Pole diameter 14mm

• Guylines 86 main tent guylines (four of which are forked), and 2 short guylines
• Guy-out points Slightly reflective
• Stakes Big Agnes’s ownAlmost Y-shaped

The stitching is good all around the tent.

• Zippers YKK
• Warranty Lifetime
• Made in ChinaSewn in Vietnam
• PFAS-free Yes

Portability

• Weight 18.6 lbsEverything in the bag
• Packed size 27 x 16.25 x 9in
• Ease of carry Backpack strapsPlus a side handle and a top handle

The straps adjust with a buckle on each side, so I can carry the whole tent on my back.

Pros, Cons, Recommendations

How does the Big Agnes Bunk House 6 stack up against other 6-person tents? I averaged the figures from four popular ones I’ve tested: the NEMO Aurora Highrise 6, the REI Base Camp 6, the REI Wonderland 6 and The North Face Wawona 6.

Test	Bunk House 6	Average 6P tent
Setup	✗ 18.0 mins	17.5 mins
Pack away	✓ 13.0 mins	14.0 mins
Peak height	77.25in	77.2in
Extended peak	✓ Yes	No
Vertical walls	✓ 2	0-2
Inner area	80.5 sq. ft.	80.0 sq. ft.
Vestibule area	✓ 36.5 + 19.5 = 56.0 sq. ft.	51.0 sq. ft.
Standing in vestibule	✓ Yes (67.5in)	No
Total base area	✓ 136.5 sq. ft.	131.0 sq. ft.
Doors	2	2
Tall doors	✗ 0	0-2
Vents	✗ 0	2-4
Pockets	✓ 16	9.5
Loops	✓ 17	11.0
Zippers	✓ YKK	YKK/SBS/No-brand
Flooring	✗ 75D Polyester Taffeta	150D Polyester
Canopy	75D Polyester	75D Polyester
Rainfly	75D Polyester Taffeta	75D Polyester
Poles	✓ DAC	Aluminum/DAC
Rainfly length	✓ Full	Partial
Guylines	✓ 8 (4 forked)	8.7

Great livable space inside

• Bunk House 6: Extended peak height, 2 vertical walls
• Average 6P tent: No extended peak, 0-2 vertical walls

Big vestibule space too

• Bunk House 6: 56.0 sq. ft., and 67.5in of standing height
• Average 6P tent: 51.0 sq. ft., no standing height

Great in rain

• Bunk House 6: Full rainfly, 8 guylines with 4 forked
• Average 6P tent: Partial rainfly, 8.7 guylines

Didn’t like the hubbed pole

The setup could have been 1 to 2 minutes quicker if the hubbed pole set didn’t keep popping out of the grommets while I was putting it up. It was a bit annoying, but overall not a dealbreaker.

Doors can be bigger, with more vents too

• Bunk House 6: 0 tall doors, 0 vents
• Average 6P tent: 0-2 tall doors, 2-4 vents

Bonus – MUST Read!

Every figure above is from my own testing — measured by hand, bought with my own money.