REI Flash Air 1 tent review

We tried out the REI Flash Air 1 tent, while on a fall backpack to an Idaho hot spring. The tent is really made for one person, not one person and a dog, and certainly not 2 persons under any circumstance. My 5’8” son slept in it for two nights that got down to close to freezing. Floor dimensions are 88” x 35 / 27 (L x W at shoulder and feet), and 42” at peak height. Its easy to set up with 5 stakes needed, one more for extra stability if preferred. It comes with an L shaped pole, or you can use a hiking pole with the head of the pole. The floor area is about the same as other 1 man tents, It is a single wall tent, so it doesn’t have a separate fly. Using a hiking pole (and not counting the pole in the weighing), it weighs 1 lb 7 oz with a stuff sack, stakes, and the top part of the pole socket. That is light, lighter than the tarp I presently use. .

We wondered about condensation, since so much of the tent is coated fly material. However, it can be set so its half open. Contributing factor: we were also camping 50’ from a river, and ‘50 from a steaming hot springs that surrounded us on 2 sides. The first night, Jim had half the fly opened up, and got a lot of condensation between his sleeping bag and the tent wall. The second night, he had as much as possible of the fly rolled up, and he still got a lot of condensation. I think the tent deserves a test at a lake instead of a hot spring, but its ability to avoid condensation seems questionable. If it was raining and the fly was closed up, seems like the condensation would be severe.