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Discontinued The Caddis Rapid 6 has been discontinued, but it’s still in stock at the retailers below as I write this. Everything I measured still applies. Just expect it to sell out for good at some point.

See the 12 tests

1. In the Box
2. Set Up & Take Down
3. Peak Height
4. Livable Space
5. Base Area
6. Windows
7. Doors
8. Storage
9. Ventilation
10. Rain Protection
11. Quality
12. Portability
13. Pros, Cons, Recommendation
14. Bonus: Must Read!

In the Box

I bought mine from REI Co-op. Inside the box: a black carry bag, the tent body with its poles already attached, the rainfly, a gear loft, the rainfly pole and the stakes in their own cases, and two compression straps.

• Poles Steel, pre-attached4 telescoping wall poles on a center hub
• Stakes 158 for the tent body, 7 for the guylines
• Guylines 7, pre-attached
• Extras Gear loft + 2 compression straps

Set Up & Take Down

Unfold the tent flat, unfold the four corner poles, then pull each elbow joint up until a silver button clicks out. That’s how you know the pole is fully extended. The very first time, those poles were stiff enough that I had to use all my strength; after that they were easy.

The rainfly buckles at the four corners and Velcros to the poles, and a separate rainfly pole holds it off the door at the front.

• Set-up time (1 person) 9.5 minincluding staking and guying out
• Take-down + pack-up (1 person) 7.5 min

Take-down is the hub design paying off: press the four buttons, push the poles down, and the tent drops flat. Unzip the bottom of the carry bag to expand it and everything goes back in easily: stakes, rainfly pole and gear loft included.

Peak Height

• Peak height 77inI couldn’t touch the roof even jumping
• Lowest height 68inat the four corners, still over my head

Livable Space

The side walls are near-vertical, which gives it a cabin shape and a lot of usable space. I can stretch my arms right out and walk around freely.

Base Area

• Base area 95.1 sq ft
• Floor dimensions 9ft 9in x 9ft 9ina few inches under the marketed 10 x 10ft

• Single sleeping pads 6shoulder to shoulder, with a little gear space left
• Queen-sized mattresses 2one of mine is 4in narrower than a true queen

Four people on two queen mattresses is the more comfortable way to use it, and there’s still room for gear at the foot of each bed. The floor is a few inches short of fitting two actual queens, though.

Windows

• Windows 4including the door’s mesh panel
• Front window 52 x 33.5in
• Other 3 windows 63 x 22.5in

• Openable with the rainfly on 2

That last row is the catch. The back of the rainfly has a zip down the center, so you can clip it open; the two long sides don’t, so those windows become vents rather than windows once the rainfly is on.

Doors

• Doors 1
• Door size 58 x 55.5in58in from the ground to the top, so I duck a little
• Door tie-backs NoneI tuck the fabric into the pocket beside the door

Storage

• Pockets 617 x 6.5in per pair, 18 x 8in beside the door
• Lantern loops 1

• Gear loft Included, 23 x 25in
• Power port Yes, 1Velcro closure

Ventilation

The three sides with the long rainfly protect their windows completely, so I could leave those three big windows open in the rain. At the front, the rainfly pole diverts rain off to the sides, so I could crack the front window too.

• Rainy-day vent width 19inhow far I could guy the rainfly out
• Ceiling mesh Yesgood for stargazing with the rainfly off
• Mesh Micro-meshnot specified as no-see-um

Rain Protection

Light rain first: no leaks anywhere after 5 to 6 hours. Then my brother and I put a hose on it for an hour, spread as evenly as we could across the whole tent.

• Light rain No leaks after 5-6 hrs
• Heavy rain, 3 long sides No leaks after 1 hr
• Heavy rain, front Leaked at both corners
• Seam taping Thoroughevery seam not covered by the rainfly is taped

The three sides with the long rainfly were bone dry: the fly covers a good three-quarters of the tent body when guyed out. The front is the problem: the rainfly there is so short that both front corners leaked, taped seams and all.

It’s short enough that it doesn’t even shade the door. Open the door in the rain and water on the roof runs straight into the tent, which is a bit silly.

Quality

• Floor 210D polyester taffeta
• Bathtub floor ~7in

• Body & rainfly 190D polyester taffeta

• Zippers No-brandcatch-free on every window

The fabric under the center hub and under all four elbow joints is reinforced with extra material, which is exactly where an instant tent takes its stress.

The door is the one quality gripe. Unzipping is fine, but zipping it up snags badly, for two reasons: parts of the seam tape jut into the zipper’s path, and the rain flap gets in the way. From inside I push the door out; from outside I lift the flap away. You need two hands either way.

Portability

• Packed size 50 x 15 x 9.5inalmost twice as long as a regular Sundome 6
• Weight 25.0 lbs
• Carry Velcro shoulder handle

Pros, Cons, Recommendation

So what are the pros and cons, and would I recommend the Caddis Rapid 6?

A high-quality instant mechanism

The set-up is genuinely easy, and the hub is thoughtfully designed for take down too; you just bring all the poles together. I can also lay this one flat on the ground for cleaning, which is rare for an instant tent; on most of mine the center hub sticks out and makes them harder to wash.

Decent peak height

Taller than average for an instant tent, one of the taller ones I own. I can jump around, walk around, and stand on thick air mattresses.

Decent rain protection

The seam sealing is thorough all around, and the rainfly is much longer than most instant tents’ (the front excepted).

Good ventilation and storage

Ceiling mesh, four large windows, most of which stay open in heavy rain, six pockets and a gear loft included.

The door is snaggy

A lot snaggier than I expected, and it needs two hands. It also droops inward, which is bad in rain: everything on the door rolls into the tent.

The front rainfly is too short

Short enough that it doesn’t shade the door, so rain off the roof drips inside whenever the door is open. If Caddis had made it longer, the rain protection would have been phenomenal for an instant cabin tent.

Exposed mesh at the front

Bad news in strong wind, which would blow rain straight through it.

A big packed size

Almost twice as long as a regular Sundome 6 without the instant set-up.

Bonus: Must Read!

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