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Discontinued The REI Co-op Skyward 4 has been discontinued and is no longer sold. I’m keeping this review up as a record of my testing — every measurement below is still exactly what I found. If you’re shopping now, start with Best Cabin Tents — my top pick there is the Big Agnes Bunk House 6.

See the 8 tests

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

In the Box

Here’s everything I got out of the box.

• Poles 7, aluminum
• Stakes 10
• Guylines 6not pre-attached, so you attach them on the first setup
• Extras Pole repair splint

Plus the tent body, the rainfly, the stuff sack and the instructions.

Set Up & Take Down

The roof takes 2 of the aluminum poles, the walls take another 4, and the last one is for the awning. After that it’s the rainfly, and guying out the whole tent.

• Set-up time (1 person) 12 min
• Pack away 12 min

Set-up is fuss-free and the instructions are good, apart from the awning pole. The first time, it took me a good 15 minutes to get that one pole into place, and one of my viewers told me she ripped hers trying. So do be careful with it.

Packing away took just as long, which is kind of long. It would have been much faster with a top-loading stuff sack instead of this side-loading one.

Spaciousness

• Peak height 78in
• Lowest height 61inat the 4 corners

I’m only 5’3, so I can stand completely upright under the peak.

The walls are near-vertical too, which gives the Skyward its cabin shape. I really liked that I could stand up and walk around everywhere inside.

• Length 98.5in
• Width 85.5in
• Base area 58.5 sq ft
• Best for 2 people, up to 4 squeezed

That fits 2 double pads, the same as 4 single ones, with not much floor area left over.

One queen bed instead leaves plenty of room for gear.

Comfort & Features

The vestibule is the headline feature. It’s the only cabin tent I have that comes with one, and it sits at the front.

• Longest length 99in
• Shortest length 59in
• Width 43in
• Vestibule area 23.6 sq ft

My Helinox Chair One fits, but when I sit on it my knees almost touch the vestibule door. It’s mainly for gear storage rather than chairs and tables.

Here’s the best thing though: you can get rid of the vestibule entirely and turn it into a huge extended awning. The door has 1 grommet in each corner for the awning poles. REI doesn’t supply those, so I bought my own from Decathlon, and the shade is perfect for summer camping.

Left as a vestibule, 2 toggles at the top tie the door fabric up into an overhang of about 15 inches. That’s the Skyward’s own tiny awning, and it doesn’t throw much shade.

• Doors 1, D-shaped
• Door length 59in
• Door width 50in
• Ground to top of door 60in
• Door zippers YKK

The tent door zips really well, open and shut without a single snag, and a toggle by the side holds the fabric up. The vestibule door is the opposite: its storm flap snags the zipper 2 to 3 times every time I close it.

• Windows 2one front, one back
• Front window 58 x 21.5in
• Back window 48.5 x 21.5in

Two windows isn’t many, and I do wish there were one on every wall. The front one can’t be shut at all, which is definitely a privacy issue with the vestibule open.

• Pockets 4all on the front wall
  • Top pockets 11 x 10in each
  • Bottom pockets 17 x 9in each
• Loops 51 at the top center for a lantern, 4 in the corners

Ventilation

• Vents None
• Ceiling mesh Yes, micro-meshthe whole roof, once the rainfly is off

There are no vents at all, so rainy-day ventilation comes down to those 2 windows. And because the rainfly is so tiny, the window got completely drenched, with no way to open it for airflow.

On hot days I take the rainfly off instead, which opens up the whole ceiling mesh. It’s also great for stargazing.

Rain & Wind Protection

For the heavy rain test I used a water hose for one full hour.

After the hour was up the tent was still dry, not a single drop inside. Two reasons: the Skyward is very thoroughly seam taped, and there was no wind at all that day.

Wind is where it falls apart. In my second rain and wind test the mesh under the rainfly was completely soaked, and it dripped down and formed puddles on the tent floor.

• Rain test, no wind 1 hr, bone dry
• Rain test with wind Leaks through the top mesh
• Seam taping Every seam taped
• Guylines 6, on the tent bodyso you can guy the tent out with the rainfly off

That’s because the rainfly is ridiculously tiny. It covers only the very top of the tent and barely extends over the mesh, and it’s honestly one of the smallest rainflies I’ve ever seen. REI made it a ‘cap-style fly’ to encourage ventilation, but that costs rain protection, and I’d much prefer a longer fly. So the Skyward isn’t great in weather, and I wouldn’t use it in extreme conditions.

The guylines are another thing I liked. All 6 attach to the tent body rather than the rainfly, so I can guy the tent out with the fly off, and each has a small reflective strip for the dark.

Quality

• Flooring 150-denier polyester
• Rainfly 75-denier polyesterhalf as thick as the floor
• Tent body Nylon
• Poles Aluminum
• Mesh Micro-meshsolution dyed

The seams are good quality, mostly double-stitched and consistent throughout, and I didn’t find any loose threads. Every single seam is perfectly taped too, which is a big reason this tent holds up to rain.

I never had any breaking or bending issues with the aluminum poles. The door zippers are YKK; the window zippers are the weak spot, unbranded and not that smooth over the tracks.

Portability

• Packed size 25 x 10 x 9.5in
• Weight 14.2 lbs
• Straps 1 shoulder, 1 hand

Because of the weight, this is a car camping tent. It isn’t for backpacking at all.

Pros, Cons, Recommendation

Here are all the pros (basically, what I loved) on this REI Co-op Skyward 4 camping tent:

1. The only cabin tent I have that comes with vestibule space.
2. Vestibule is useful in the rain.
3. Vestibule can be used as an awning instead. Very feature-rich!
4. Cabin shape gave me lots of livability and interior space.
5. Dimensions are accurate.
6. High quality materials.
7. Not too expensive.
8. Door is big and user-friendly.
9. Decent storage.

On the other hand, here’s what I didn’t like about the REI Co-op Skyward 4:

1. The rainfly is tiny! So, weather protection isn’t the best (especially in wind).
2. Ventilation can be better.
3. The first-time setup is super tight.

And here are some pro-tips I have to help you deal with the cons of this camping tent:

1. Use the vestibule for rainy days, and use the awning on hot days.
2. Set up a tarp over the tent for better protection.
3. Break in this tent before using it for real. This deals with the tight first-time setup.

Bonus – MUST read!

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