Zempire Evo TM V2 Inflatable Air Tent Review

There's just no kidding around when it comes to the appeal and quality of the Air Tent — this thing's the real deal. What makes it different is its pole-less/inflatable design and massive interior.

Space and Comfort

A spacious 130-square-foot interior with head room that even an NBA player would appreciate, as well as tons of space, options for natural light, room dividers, and a wide-open vestibule, earned the Air Tent nearly perfect scores for this metric.

The center height of the Air Tent is just one inch shy of 7 feet. The roof of this tent does slant, but great effort was made to maintain this spacious head room as much as possible. In fact, based on our measurements, the lowest ceiling point is still in height 5 feet 4 inches — very impressive. One of our taller testers has a large wingspan and stands 6 feet 5 inches tall. He felt right at home.

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Shaped kind of like a massive cannoli, the Air Tent has a distinct, continuous tunnel design that maximizes space. We loved its wide-open, airy feel, and especially enjoyed its integrated skylights and the ability to zip down the window coverings to allow in fresh air and tons of natural light. Another key feature that we enjoyed was the option to install an internal living space, which provided two separate, private sleeping quarters. We did notice that this option decreased nighttime airflow, but it wasn't severe, especially in cooler mountain air.

Weather Resistance

Our water tests found the Air Tent to be tight as a drum. It also has the capability to withstand decent amounts of wind, hail, and snow (this is aided by its tunnel design). These key features earned the Air Tent top scores for this metric.

This tent isn't built to handle a 100-year storm, but when it comes to withstanding many of Mother Nature's hissy fits, it can stand up to above-average inclement weather, leaving you warm and dry inside. We dosed it with backyard hose water without any problems, and we spent a night or two hunkered down in moderately sustained winds. It won't withstand a hurricane, but the Air Tent will get you through some pretty tough situations. This beast has sealed seams throughout; in fact, its tunnel-shaped roof has no seams at all. It also has more anchor points, straps, stakes, and guylines than we cared to count. When fully employed, these top-notch features do a phenomenal job of keeping this tent in place. Additionally, it's basically single-walled construction (the rain fly isn't a separate piece), so the overall structure is more sturdy.

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Ease of Use

Pumping up the air tubes is easy and fun, but carrying, positioning, anchoring, straightening, and storing the Air Tent is somewhat of a pain in the rear. It didn't score as well in this metric, but we still love this tent anyway.

There's just no getting around it, this tent is heavy and can be very difficult for some campers to carry and move and set up. It's not an impossible feat, but it could feel that way for some. Measuring about 2.5 feet long and 1.5 feet wide, its packed size is larger than any tents we've ever tested — large enough to nearly fill up the entire tailgate of a mid-sized truck. This tent is also quite heavy; we measured its total packed weight at 53.6 pounds. The bundle of 37 metal stakes alone, weigh 3.7 pounds.

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Normally, we conduct timed tests for the setup and tear down of each tent. We didn't bother when it came to the Air Tent. Online tutorials make it seem like a breeze to deploy, but we never had smooth takeoff. That said, setting this thing up isn't super difficult, but it rarely just pops into place. It certainly has its nuances and it can be tedious — mostly because it's so large. We often found ourselves staking and re-staking it several times, just to get it even and secure. Depending on the available testing crew, it generally took us between 10 and 20 minutes (solo) to complete the entire setup. The easiest part of the entire process was pumping air into the support tubes — it was actually quite fun.

The ease of use metric accounts for this tent's two overall biggest negatives. First, it is completely stake-and-strap dependent. This tent is not self-standing, so it must be anchored. This is a problem in sand or rocky terrain or dense soil, where stakes don't hold or can't be driven into the ground. Secondly, it's an absolute bear to pack up. Even our strongest testers were annoyed with the process of folding and rolling this tent into a tight enough ball to fit in the stuff sack — something that often didn't happen very well. Indeed, the positive trade off for this tent's size and weight are significant, and far outweigh the negatives, but these are key factors that need to be mentioned so that would-be buyers can make an informed choice before purchase.

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Family Friendliness

Rugged, easy-to-clean floors, two entrances, electrical portals, tons of space, and a massive vestibule for relaxing or storing gear all contributed to top scores for this metric. We also loved the option of creating separated living quarters.

One of our favorite features is this tent's cabin insert that instantly creates two private bedrooms. This feature is superb when mixed company requires some privacy. We also liked its blackout design, which cuts down on natural light. Each of the two rooms is roughly 7-feet long by 4.5 -feet wide, and will comfortably accommodate one person; however, two children could also sleep side by side reasonably well. If not desired, the insert can be unclipped and easily removed, exposing 130 square feet (13'x10') of open living space.

The Air Tent boasts 12 very effective ventilation points, which keep the tent cool and do a great job of airing it out (a nice feature if you're camping with kids and pets). We also loved all of the natural light that is available through skylights and mesh windows, both of which can be battened down with dense coverings in just a few zips. The only thing we didn't notice was plentiful pockets. There are five connected to the living-space insert, but if it's not in use, we didn't find very many other storage spaces.

Lastly, there is a webbing strap that sits on the ground at the opening of the vestibule. The strap connects both sides of the vestibule and is a necessary design feature that provides greater stability to the structure. We absolutely loved the extra outdoor space the vestibule provides (so we gladly accepted its structural requirements); however, we occasionally snagged our gear, chairs, and even our feet on this strap. There were no serious injuries, but it's a necessary evil that does get in the way sometimes, so you're just going to have to deal with it.

Quality

Rugged fabrics, double stitching, reinforced connection points, and more, all pointed to a well-built product that is built for many seasons of use. We were very impressed with this tent's construction and gave it top scores for this metric.

The one thing that concerned us the most were the air tubes — not anymore. This tent uses air-filled tubes (four total) for its frame, instead of traditional metal poles, so logically we feared that springing a leak could ruin a fun camping trip. However, after several trips into the woods, we are confident in this unique design. However, they can bend or kink a little if the tent's footprint shifts from not being properly staked to the ground. The tubes are well-protected behind dense fabrics, and even if one of them gave up the ghost, the tent would continue to stand reasonably well. Even better, the tubes can be removed and replaced or repaired — although the likelihood for this is rare.

Other things we noticed were this tent's connection points. From seams to stake loops, any area of the Air Tent subject to greater stress was properly reinforced. We also have a thing for double stitching, and were pleased to notice it throughout the entire structure. These features are small and often go unnoticed, but sometimes the smaller things are the most important for long-term durability.

Our notepad was blank when it came to negatives. This beast is rock solid, as it should be when considering its price tag. However, we can't say as much for the air pump used to inflate it. It feels lightweight and cheap. In fact, when we considered what we paid for this amazing tent, we were a little annoyed by the pump's lower quality. Sure, it does the job and does it well, but we are still a bit skeptical in forecasting how long it will last. In addition to its overall quality, the piece that bothered us the most was the corrugated plastic hose. It's super thin and easily kinks and bends — we were constantly unwinding it in order to get better air flow.

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Should You Buy the Zempire Evo TM V2 Inflatable Air Tent?

If you have a go-big-or-go-home mindset, this tent is for you. It's impressive and extremely unique. If you like the basecamp idea for your adventure, be it hunting or other long-term camping, you'll love the roominess and security this tent provides. However, at 53.6 pounds, we're certain some would-be buyers will consider the Air Tent a hard pass. This tent requires more work than your average structure, so if there are factors in your life that would prevent you from the basic physical demands necessary to use it, you may want to consider other options.

What Other Camping Tent Should You Consider?

The inflatable nature of the Air Tent makes it very unique, and quite expensive. So if you're drawn to its out-of-the-box design, but don't like its price tag, we have other uniquely designed tents for you to consider. One of our favorites is the Gazelle T4 Hub. It is completely self-contained and pops into place. We also love the cool features of the REI Co-op Base Camp 6.