Snow Peak Alpha Breeze Review

You will be well prepared for almost any weather with the Snow Peak Alpha Breeze. This tent performed well in all situations. Warm days are a breeze with the four doors, two vents, and the awning feature that comes with the needed poles. Cold and windy days are also well-covered thanks to the A-frame shape, stout guylines, and ample stakes to button her down. But all of these features do come at a price: in the wallet, in the overall weight, as well as in the setup time. And at 24.2 pounds, this is one of the heaviest tents in our lineup. Most of the weight can be found in the poles and extra thick floor, an acceptable tradeoff if durability is what you value most in a tent. 

Performance Comparison

Space and Comfort

This category is a mixed bag for the Alpha Breeze. We love the openness of the vestibule area and the included awning poles that provide great shade options. The four doors are a cool addition, as are the abundance of windows and vents. These options are quickly overshadowed, though. The shape of the tent with the steep slant makes the large floorplan and 6' 5.5" max height seem much smaller in real life, and having only three pockets and three hangers seems like a miss. That said, at 76.5 square feet of interior floor, four beds fit pretty easily, with plenty of extra space for gear and pets.

Weather Resistance

The Alpha Breeze really shines in this area, especially for a tent with a 6" 5.5" height and thick canvas. Typically that would mean poor wind resistance and hot, sweaty nights, but not here. The four doors with window capabilities and two top-corner vents do the Alpha BREEZE name justice. And the A-frame design lets the wind cruise over the tent when properly positioned. Toss in the thickest poles in our lineup, metal guylines, and 20 (yes, 20) stakes, and you have a tent built for bad weather.

We had the awning up in 20+ MPH winds, and while it flapped and whipped, it held strong. The elastic tie-downs for the vestibule allow for nice give while still holding strong, though, in the brutal Nevada sun that made up our testing ground, longevity might be an issue.

Finally, this tent has truckloads of super nice guylines with metal tighteners, and these attach to sliding rings on the tent. This, paired with the elastic vestibule, give the tent a perfect amount of flex and rigidity. And while 20 stakes seems ridiculous, they are on the smaller side, so be sure to use them all.

Ease of Use

And now for the rub. All of the wonderful weather resistance options come to a head in the ease of use category. This tent took an astounding 12:45 minutes to erect, and that was with easy soil for all of the stakes. Do yourself a favor and practice pitching this tent prior to doing it in front of an audience — you will not regret it. The poles have dots on one side, but without reading the 30-page manual, you wouldn't know what they mean.

A few other dings here are thanks to an extremely tight fit back into the bag. We had to re-roll the tent just a bit smaller in order to get it all back in nicely. The pole clips are also a bit strange and have the potential to pinch some skin if you are not paying attention.

Family Friendliness

Overall the Alpha Breeze has adequate family-friendly features. It has enough room for a twin and two singles, a large vestibule for managing your crew in bad weather, and the material is super beefy and will handle kids, dogs, and probably even a barefoot bobcat if that's your thing. The shape of the tent does take away valuable sitting areas and pushes everyone forward. And having only three pockets could leave a family of four mixing up their unmentionables and grabbing the wrong headlamp.

On the flip side, having the included awning poles allows for multiple areas of hangout space, and with the back vestibule, putting a pile of gear out of reach is a great option.

Quality

The Alpha Breeze has a 300D fire-resistant PU-coated Oxford polyester floor. That is double all other tents in our lineup. And yet the tent rolls back up without trapping any air. The poles are also amazingly thick and strong. Just these two features would be enough to check off the quality box, but Snow Peak didn't stop there. Also included are metal guylines, smooth zippers, soft pole sleeves, and even a little bottle of seam seal with an applicator brush.

But nobody is perfect. This beefy tent comes with undersized stakes and an oddly thin and cheap carry bag. As mentioned, the elastic rainfly clips could be troublesome over time, and we can't help but feel a little nervous about the seams being they already included a repair kit.

Should You Buy the Snow Peak Alpha Breeze?

If you are an all-weather camper looking for a beefy tent that can handle some extremes, the Alpha Breeze is a solid choice. You will be hard-pressed to find a stronger tent with this many features. Just remember that the tent's strength comes at the cost of weight, setup time, and overall use of space. If those three are not a priority, then you will be very happy with the Alpha Breeze.

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