REASONS TO BUY
Tall
Extra large vestibule
Shelter only capability
Attached welcome mat
REASONS TO AVOID
Awkward doors
Boxy shape
Strange corner pockets/shelves
Expensive
Big Agnes Bunk House 6 Review
A family friendly tent with a large vestibule and a sweet shelter only option
Credit: Rob Gaedtke
RELATED: Best Camping Tents of 2024
Our Verdict
The Big Agnes Bunk House 6 is an extremely tall and spacious tent that scores well in nearly every category. Probably the biggest draw is the enormous vestibule and fast-fly capability that lets you pitch the fly without the tent, like a portable easy-up for extra shade options. Other notable features include an attached awning, dual doors, and sliding guylines with easy-to-use tensioners that are pre-attached. The backpack-style carry bag is a nice idea, but it makes packing up a bit more cumbersome. This tent has 83 square feet of floor space, a max height of 6' 9", and two vestibules totaling 56 square feet of covered space — all in all, a great top contender in our lineup.
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 This Product
Big Agnes Bunk House 6 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  Best Overall Camping Tent |  Best Tent For Bad Weather | Best 4-Person Tent |  Best Bang for the Buck | |
| Price | $503.96 at Amazon Compare at 2 sellers | $500 List $550.00 at REI | $549 List $549.00 at REI | $600 List $599.95 at Amazon | $290 List $199.67 at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | If you're looking for a tall, unique tent with a massive vestibule, this has your name on it | It's hard to imagine a better use of space at this price point | A well-engineered, thoughtfully designed tent that offers of convenient features, including the ability to attach you vehicle to your shelter | A unique tent both in looks and features, built with quality material from a well-known brand | You may have to sacrifice a little on quality, but this tent is fairly solid, cleans easily, and can sleep a platoon of kids and pets |
| Rating Categories | Big Agnes Bunk House 6 | The North Face Wawo... | REI Co-op Base Camp 6 | MSR Habitude 4 | Coleman Skydome XL 8 |
| Space and Comfort (35%) | |||||
| Weather Resistance (25%) | |||||
| Ease of Use (15%) | |||||
| Family Friendliness (15%) | |||||
| Quality (10%) | |||||
| Specs | Big Agnes Bunk House 6 | The North Face Wawo... | REI Co-op Base Camp 6 | MSR Habitude 4 | Coleman Skydome XL 8 |
| Measured Weight | 19.75 lbs | 21.9 lbs | 20.8 lbs | 12.0 lbs | 20.3 lbs |
| Max Inside Height | 6' 9" | 6' 4" | 6' 2" | 6' 1" | 6' 1" |
| Floor Dimensions | 8' 4" x 9' 10" | 10' x 8' | 9' 2" x 9'2" | 7' 11" x 7' 11" | 16' 2" x 7' 1" |
| Floor Area | 83 sq ft | 86.1 sq ft | 84.3 sq ft | 62.4 sq ft | 114.5 sq ft |
| Seasons | 3-season | 3-season | 3-season | 3-season | 3-season |
| Windows | Mesh top | Mesh top | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Pockets | 8 | 9 | 14 | 7 | 6 |
| Number of Doors | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Room Divider | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Vestibules | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Vestibule Area (total) | 56 sq ft | 44.7 sq ft | 44.5 sq ft | 23.5 sq ft | N/A |
| Packed Size | 27.5" x 17" x 10" | 10" x 32" | 24" x 10" x 10" | 23" x 9" x 9" | 28" x 11" x 11" |
| Floor Materials | 1500mm polyester | 150D polyester | 150D polyester | DWR 68D polyester taffeta | Polyester |
| Main Tent Materials | Coated polyester and nylon mesh | 75D polyester | 75D polyester | 68D polyester ripstop, DWR, PU | Polyester |
| Rainfly Materials | 1500mm polyester | 75D polyester | 75D polyester 1500mm PU | 68D polyester ripstop, DWR, PU | Polyester |
| Number of Poles | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 hubbed | 4 |
| Pole Material | DAC DA17 Aluminum | DAC MX aluminum | Aluminum | 7000-series aluminum | Fibergblass |
| Extras | Fast-fly capability for covered shelter without the tent body | Dual exits in vestibule, 3 pockets on back door | Vehicle attachment | Porch light | Integrated string lighting system |
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Our Analysis and Test Results
The Bunk House 6 is a large, well-built tent that scores high against some solid competition. The centerpiece of the Bunk House is the massive, pole-supported vestibule that creates a built-in awning. A close second is the fast-fly option. This lets you pitch the fly in “shelter mode” without the tent at all, giving you the option for covered shade at the beach or open camping in the woods. A nice option, but quite awkward to set up with only two people. While these features are pretty great, they are tainted by doors and windows that only open halfway, old-school tiebacks, and a clunky bag.
Performance Comparison
Both doors open and the full mesh top make for cool summer days.
Credit: Rob Gaedtke
Space and Comfort
At 83 square feet of main tent space, 56 square feet of vestibule space, and a max height of 6' 9", the Bunk House is one of the larger tents we tested. It sports a huge, pole supported front vestibule that makes for a great covered porch. The attached “welcome” mat is a nice extra and helps keep the tent clean and free from dirty and wet shoes.
The view from inside with the door open.
Credit: Rob Gaedtke
Storage in the Bunk House is a little limited, with only eight total pockets found throughout. Two of which are called “removable corner bin pockets” — a bizarre and fairly useless addition. Not to mention they are secured with more old-school tiebacks.
The strange and fairly useless corner pocket that has to be manually installed.
Credit: Rob Gaedtke
On the flip side, the optional fast-fly feature is a real bonus. This allows the fly to be erected without the tent, giving you a very nice covered dining or hang-out area. While it may cause some serious frustration getting set up, trust us, it is well worth it.
The shelter mode is an amazing feature, but get the entire family to help set it up as doing it with only two people is quite difficult.
Credit: Rob Gaedtke
Weather Resistance
The Bunk House lands in the upper middle of the pack regarding weather resistance. Due to the dark color, the tent got fairly warm in the mornings, and while the rainfly is a lighter, less light-absorbing color, it lacks any real ventilation and gets extra stuffy when fully closed. Finally, the tall, straight sides of the tent catch the wind; luckily, though, the included sliding guylines are super bomber and held the tent firmly to the ground.
The purple mesh top has a tinted summer glow in the sunlight.
Credit: Rob Gaedtke
Ease of Use
The tent pitched in just over 11 minutes. The biggest frustration was clipping the extra top pole into the plastic holders, as it requires some real effort. Not to mention that because it sticks out so sharply, the rain fly snags on it when pulling it over. Another annoyance is the tiebacks used to hold the doors and windows open; hopefully, Big Agnes will upgrade these to something easier to use in the future.
The front vestibule has a small built in awning thanks to the included pole.
Credit: Rob Gaedtke
Family Friendliness
This tent is super family-friendly, fitting a twin and two singles with more than two feet of extra space on both sides. The large vestibule and welcome mat are great for messy kids and pets. We only wish there were a few more pockets for storage, and we could do without the gimmicky corner shelves.
The shelter mode feature with the Bunk House 6 makes for an awesome covered eating area.
Credit: Rob Gaedtke
Quality
The poles of the Bunk House are all high-end DAC DA17 aluminum, and the main tent is made from smooth-coated polyester and nylon mesh. The stakes and guylines are also very well made and hold up well to rock pounding and kid pulling. The only area of concern is with the plastic pole clip at the top of the tent — time will tell if that holds up to consistent use.
Should You Buy the Big Agnes Bunk House 6?
There is something uniquely cool about this tent. If you are looking for something with a shelter mode option and dig a big covered vestibule, you might give this one a chance. We definitely enjoyed the added versatility.
What Other Camping Tents Should You Consider?
The Big Agnes Bunk House 6 is a good choice if the features are what you need. But if you are looking for a large tent with a great vestibule, you should consider the higher-rated and lower cost North Face Wawona 6. Or you could save some cash and get an even larger tent with the 115-square-foot Coleman Skydome XL 8.
—
Rob Gaedtke
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