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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

Here’s everything that came in the bag with my REI Trail Hut 2.

• Tent body, footprint already attached
• Rainfly, with 4 pre-attached guylines
• Poles × 3 (2 long, 1 short ridge pole)
• Stakes × 6
• Pole repair splint
• Carry bag

Set Up & Take Down

• Set-up time (1 person) 6.75 min
• Take-down + pack-up 6.75 min

Six steps, and I did all of them on my own:

1. Lay the tent body (footprint attached) down.
2. Slot the 2 long poles into the 4 corner grommets.
3. Clip on all 13 pole clips.
4. Secure the short ridge pole into the 2 top grommets.
5. Buckle the rainfly on at the 4 corners.
6. Stake it down — 4 corners, 2 vestibules, 4 guylines.

• Poles 3 aluminum (2 long, 1 short ridge pole)
• Pole clips 13 pole clips
• Stakes / guylines 6 / 410 stakes are needed to peg everything out

Pro Tip Only 6 stakes were provided, but 10 were needed, so buy extras.

• Footprint Pre-attachedadds no set-up time; a separate one costs 30–60 seconds each way
• Footprint-only pitch Nothere are no grommets on it

Spaciousness

• Peak height 38in
• Height at the far walls 38inthe peak carries across the full width

The short pole sitting on top of the two long ones is what does that — it carries the peak right across the tent instead of leaving it dead center.

• Floor 86 × 49in
• Base area 29.3 sq ft

• Regular 20in pads fit best.
• Wide 25in pads are a very snug fit.
• Extra-wide 30in pads won’t fit.

• Vestibules 2 (29in wide, 8.7 sq ft each)
• Vestibule area 17.3 sq ftboth together

Each vestibule has five configurations — fully closed, right open, left open, fully open, or rolled over the top.

Comfort & Features

• Doors 2one under each vestibule
• Door size 40 × 31in
• Zippers 2 per door, 2 per vestibuleunbranded, but never snagged on me

• Pockets 2 (16 × 6.5in)at opposite ends, so one is in reach of each door
• Loops 7 loopsno gear loft provided to clip onto them

Ventilation

• Vents 2one per side
• Opened by The extended vestibule zipperpropped up on a kickstand

• Mesh ~40% of the tent body
• Fabric ~60%low for a summer tent

Rain Protection

• 2 hours moderate rain No leaks
• 1 hour heavy rain No leaks
• Vents May leakdepending on the angle of the rain — they shut from inside

This is the Trail Hut’s best score, and it earned it — the full-coverage rainfly reaches almost to the ground, and nothing got in.

My one complaint: the rainfly can only be pulled away at the lengths, where the vestibules are.

• Seam taping All flooring and rainfly seamsonly the seams above the floor line are bare
• Tub floor 7in at the widths, 6in at the lengths

Quality

• Flooring 66D polyester taffeta
• Footprint 66D polyester taffeta
• Tent body 66D polyester taffeta
• Rainfly 68D polyester taffeta

This is the weakest part of the tent. The flooring is only 66D polyester taffeta, where most tents run at least 75D for durability.

• Poles Aluminum (8.5mm)
• Mesh Nylon micro mesh
• Guylines Shockcordwith a reflective strip
• Stakes Shepherd-hook steel

Portability

• Packed size 21 × 8.5 × 7in
• Pole length 17in

• Total weight 5.72 lbs (91.5oz, footprint included)
  • Tent body 28.2oz
  • Rainfly 27.5oz
  • Poles 21.6oz
  • Footprint 7.1oz
  • Stakes (6) 5.5oz
  • Carry bag 1.6oz

That 5.72 lbs already includes the footprint most tents make you buy separately, and it splits comfortably between two packs.

Pros, Cons, Recommendation

Now, what are the pros and cons, and would I recommend the REI Trail Hut 2?

Inexpensive

Really good value for money, especially since I bought mine at 30% off during one of REI’s sales.

Comes with a footprint

Pre-attached, which most tents don’t give you, making it better value still.

Great vestibules

More configurations than most, and they roll back further than any other tent I’ve tested at this price.

Great waterproofing

Hours of light, moderate and heavy rain, and not one leak.

Rainfly can’t be pulled away at the widths

My biggest con. It’s a very simple feature to include, and this tent doesn’t have it.

Low peak height

38in is one of the shortest I’ve measured. Here’s how it sits against the other budget 2-person tents I’ve tested:

Budget Tent	Peak Height (in)
Alps Mountaineering Lynx 2	47
Teton Mountain Ultra 2	44
Marmot Crane Creek 2	43
The North Face Stormbreak 2	43
Nemo Aurora 2	42
Kelty Late Start 2	41.5
Coleman PEAK1 2	40.5
REI Trail Hut 2	38

Materials could be better

66D flooring against the 75D most tents use, and unbranded zippers from a brand that puts YKK on everything else.

Bonus – MUST Read!

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