Product Description : The Black Canyon (#5791011) has all the features you will need to enjoy your campout even when the conditions are extreme. It was designed and built to last and protect you from all the weather you encounter. Even if your weather conditions are mild, you'll still be able to enjoy the added features the Black Canyon provides. Included in the Black Canyon are extra tall center heights allow you to stand up. Wall dividers to create two rooms. The oxford floor, which is about twice the weight of normal nylon floor material, will greatly increase the durability of your tent. The tent is a free standing three pole design with fiberglass poles. The full coverage 75D 185T Polyester fly buckles on for extra strength and adjustability and will protect you from the elements, even under the nastiest conditions. The fly and floor seams are factory sealed to give you the best weather protection. With the name "Browning" on it, I expected very high quality, especially for this price tag. My experience so far has not lived up to my expectations. First, when setting up per instructions, one of the corner metal poles split where the fiberglass rod inserts. I used some wire tires to hold it together until I could finish the rest of the inspection. I've emailed them per their website for a replacement, I'll see what they say. At $2.25/sq ft I wonder how other tents compare.Rain was in the forecast for the weekend so it felt like a good chance to see how it would endure. Don't expect to stay completely dry with this tent the way it is out of the box. You WILL need to seal all seams. The seams where the floor joins to the sides leaked. Water makes it's way into the tent through the seam. The door at one end seemed to hold out the rain rather well but the other door actually drips along several locations and stays wet along the black zipper seams. Also along that same wall an intermediate seam leaks as well. Again, this is how it performed out of the box. I plan on applying a sealer as soon as it dries out and see how that affects the water-proofing.I do like the roominess and the color. Setup wasn't that difficult with easy-to-follow instructions. There's not much in the way of hooks and loops on the interior for hanging lights and such so don't get your hopes up about that. There's no port hole for external power lines. It is wide enough for two queen mattresses side-by-side width-wise, so I would expect to be able to fit 4 queen mattresses in all - plenty of room. There is a room divider. The rain fly goes on easy. It stakes down at 12 points around the perimeter and another 4 for the rain fly. There are loops for lines at the middle rain fly awning but for some reason no lines for it which I would imagine would be necessary in windy conditions. I purchased some line to replace the ones that came with it, staking it to two stakes on either side with a "W" pattern such that the middle awning is attached to two stakes on either side as well.The flooring isn't all that thick but held up to some foot traffic. I would encourage, and something I'm going to do as well, the use of a ground tarp to help with the longevity of the floor.Where the tent clasps to the side poles uses typical plastic C-clamps. They feel very taught and I wonder at how long before they fail. The awning fiberglass poles fit into grommets in the middle and over the doors. These have some significant pressure in the grommets and separate the sharp edges of the poles from the tent canvas by one layer of webbing. Again, makes me wonder how long before it rubs through and punctures the tent. This might be a good spot for reinforcement somehow. Perhaps some end caps on the poles themselves. The divider inside also has some strong tension around the sides which takes a little effort to close the zippers. The flap around the lower half of the doors gets snagged easily when zipping up.Feels like I've been on a negative side for a bit so let me reinforce some positives:- Room and simplicity in layout - it's square- Plenty of headroom- Plenty of ventilation (wish it had some at the roof)- Room divider- Zippers feel sturdy- Easy to set up (takes two people)- Instructions are easy- Clearly marked pieces- Not "loud" in colors- I like the awning though if it could have been just a little longer. Now that I'm looking at it, I wonder if there's a way to make a longer over-hang... hmm.- Wind, its pretty windy here today and looking at the tent, it looks sturdy enough and it staying putI've bought some seam sealer and will try that on ALL the seams along with some water repellent spray in hopes I can salvage the leak issues.If you don't mind some after-market MacGyver engineering then I'd suggest:- Stronger tent stakes than the cheap ones that come with it- Someone that can bend pipe to match the length and angles of the cheap ones that come with it for the corner supports (needs some thicker, stronger pipes)- Invest in some stronger lines (and more lines) than what comes with it- Invest time and money in seam sealer (but I still have to check if this solves the problem with leaks later)04/23/12 UpdateI got a friendly email from the manufacturer and they appear more than willing to help resolve the issue with the cracked pole by replacing it. Also, I've done a lot more research on seam sealing online and it appears that most tents don't come with everything sealed. Odd, I would expect a pack-and-go type of product and not a user-finishing required one.05/06/12 UpdateThe replacement pole came in. Josh, who was handling my customer service portion, was quick to respond and even asked me about the center fiberglass pole. Seems they had a new length and he wanted to be sure that was right as well. I thought that was great to try to solve the problem before it was a problem. I've spent quite a lot of time working on sealing the large amounts of seams in the tent to water proof it. Hours. I've used both Seam Grip and Seam Sure with Seam Grip being used on the lower, most rain-prone areas, doors, and windows, and Seam Sure in other places. Still, it's not 100% waterproof. Rain that gets under the door flap will come in through the zipper. As long as it's not a monsoon, it should be manageable with a towel. The seams around the floor are tricky. I tried just a couple of coats on the inside but it still seeps in through the threads in some places so I've put a coat on the outside as well. One zipper seems to snag easily on the door flap making it a little nuisance to open and close but I can live with it. There's a lot of tension on the webbings but it does keep the tent taught. I'm a little concerned about that but so far it's held up to a week in the yard and a weekend in the woods. I like the ventilation and the room. I've gotten compliments on the tent from others. I give an A++ to customer service but I think the product could use a little tweaking.
