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See the 8 tests

1. In the Box
2. Set Up & Take Down
3. Spaciousness
4. Comfort & Features
5. Ventilation
6. Rain Protection
7. Quality
8. Portability
9. Pros, Cons, Recommendation
10. Bonus – MUST Read!

In the Box

I bought my Gazelle T4 from REI Co-op, though it’s also on Amazon and direct from Gazelle. Here’s everything that came out of the box:

• Tent body, with the poles and hubs pre-attached
• Rain fly
• Carry bag
• Stakes × 12
• Guylines × 4
• Instructions

Set Up & Take Down

• Pop open 1 min 45 secout of the bag, unfolded, then pull on the hubs
• Full set-up 5 minadding the rain fly, stakes and guylines
• Pack away 6 minincluding un-staking and pulling the fly off

That pop-open time is why I bought a hub tent in the first place. There are no poles to thread and nothing to assemble, you just unfold it on the ground and pull on the hubs.

Spaciousness

• Peak height 77.5inI’m 5’3″, so I stand upright with room to spare
• Lowest height 67inin the corners, still taller than I am

The walls are almost vertical, which is what gives this tent its cabin shape and lets me walk around the whole floor rather than just the middle.

• Hub-to-hub length 102inagainst a 94in base, so the hubs pull the fabric outwards, which is where the extra space comes from
• Hubs 5one in the middle of each wall, plus one on the roof

In my other cabin tents my arm hits the wall when I raise it lying at the side, and so does my head when I sit up. In the T4 my arm clears the wall by at least 5 inches.

• Length 94in
• Width 93.5in
• Base area 61.03 sq ft
• Sleeps 2-3 comfortably4 fits, but it’s tight

Comfort & Features

• Windows 8
• Small windows 19 × 21in6 of them, unbranded zippers
• Door windows 28 × 53in2 of them, on YKK zippers

Both types zip smoothly with no snags at all.

• Doors 2 D-shapedone in each of two opposite corners
• Longest width 26inat the center, but they taper down hard at the top and the bottom
• Longest length 50in
• Ground to top of door 56in

I did have to get used to not tripping over the door when I first started using this tent. And because these D-doors aren’t big at all, you have to inflate your mattresses inside the tent, you can’t carry one in already inflated.

The zipping experience of both doors was really good though, with zero snags, and the storm flaps never got in the way of the zipper track. Those zippers are YKK too.

The one thing I’d change is the tie-downs. Toggles, like most other tents use, would be far quicker.

• Pockets 6
• Bottom pockets 18 × 15in
• Top pockets 59 × 26in
• Gear loft 20 × 20inremovable, toggles into the 4 roof loops

There’s no dedicated lantern loop, but a strap hangs from the roof hub and takes a light fine. Do keep it light though, because a heavy lantern pulls the hub down onto someone’s head. I’ve made that mistake.

Ventilation

• Ceiling mesh Full roof paneltake the fly off on hot days
• Rain fly vents None
• Season rating 3-seasonall that roof mesh rules out cold-weather camping

With the windows and doors open too, hot-day airflow is good. Rainy-day airflow is the opposite. There are no vents, and the fly covers so little of the windows that I can’t crack one without letting water in.

Rain Protection

• Hose test 1 hr heavy rain
• Result 3 damp spotstop mesh panels, pocket seams, wall hubs
• Estimated time to real leaking 5 to 10 hours

After the hour, the top mesh panels were damp and a few drops had dripped onto the floor. The fly is short, so it barely overlaps those panels, and rain at the right angle blows straight under it.

Problem two is the pockets. Every seam not covered by the fly is taped perfectly, but the taping only runs across the top of each pocket, so water flowing down the wall works its way into the seam and soaks the pocket from the inside.

Problem three is the hubs. The seams around each one are taped, but the hub itself can’t be, and it sits exposed with a loop on the outside.

So this tent is by no means waterproof. On my figures I’d give it 5 to 10 hours of heavy rain before any of those three spots turns into real leaking. The only proper fix is a longer rain fly.

Pro Tip Do guy this tent out in anything past a light breeze, and use the hub loops in the middle of each wall rather than the fly. That braces the hubs, and it works with the fly off too. The 4 guylines aren’t reflective either, so I’d mark them if you’re walking around at night.

Quality

• Tent body 210-denier oxford weave polyester2,000mm, and UPF 50+
• Rain fly Polyestersame 2,000mm rating and UPF 50+
• Mesh Regularsold as tight-weave, but it feels like the mosquito netting on my budget tents

• Flooring 300-denier oxford weave polyester5,000mm, the thickest floor of any tent I own
• Poles Fiberglassthey felt so solid I assumed aluminum or steel
• Stakes Thin aluminum

The floor is what sold me. It comes out completely (toggles at each corner, and a Velcro strip running the whole way around), and it lifts off with almost no force. Re-attaching is just lining up the 4 orange tabs, one on each wall.

The instant mechanism is the other standout. Most instant tents run one central hub and four elbow joints; the T4 has 5 hubs and poles running hub to hub all the way around, and it holds up far better in light to moderate wind.

Stitching is double-stitched throughout, with no loose threads or inconsistent runs anywhere on the tent.

Portability

• Packed size 68 × 13 × 10inlonger than I am tall
• Weight 34.0 lbs
• Carry handles 3one at each end of the bag, one in the middle

The packed size is huge, so do check the dimensions of your car before buying this one. You also need to be able to drive right up to your site, because this isn’t a tent you can carry any distance.

Pros, Cons, Recommendation

Now, what are the pros and cons, and would I recommend the Gazelle T4 Hub Tent?

Well-built instant mechanism

More hubs and more poles than any other instant tent I’ve tested, and you can feel it in how little the tent moves in wind.

Pops open in 2 minutes

1 min 45 sec to standing, 5 min for the full pitch with fly, stakes and guylines.

Super easy pack away

6 min, and the removable floor means the air actually comes out instead of fighting you.

Removable floor

Easy to clean, easy to deflate around, and a 300-denier floor at 5,000mm into the bargain.

Loads of livable space

77.5in at the peak and 67in in the corners, so I’m upright everywhere in the tent.

Lots of features

6 pockets, a gear loft, 8 windows, 2 doors and a UPF 50+ rating.

High quality and thick materials

210-denier body, 300-denier floor, double stitching throughout.

Not exactly waterproof

Not for inclement weather or extreme conditions (no high winds, no crazy rain, no winter, and not for a base camp you leave standing).

Humongous packed size

68 × 13 × 10in. The packed tent is taller than I am.

Pricier than your average instant tent

It costs more than every other instant tent I’ve bought.

Short warranty of 1 year

One year, which is short for a tent at this price.

Take Note I test car camping and ground tents, not rooftop ones. I don’t own the overland edition of the T4, so I can’t tell you anything about getting it onto a roof rack.

Bonus – MUST Read!

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