Eureka Sunriver 2 – Tent Review

I recently bought a Eureka Sunriver 2 backcountry tent.  I’ve been using an old REI Trail Dome tent for many years.  It still works just fine, but I started backpacking.  I have been using the Trail Dome, but it weighs around seven pounds and that’s a bit heavy for a two-person backpacking tent. I checked around to see how much backpacking tents weigh these days. I found a range from around three to five pounds.  Prices vary much more widely than that.

Spending several hundred dollars on a state-of-the-art backpacking tent seemed a bit much.  The Sunriver 2 reviews seemed good.  Among other things, the tent is reported to stay dry over several days in a downpour. It is advertised as weighing 4 pounds 3 ounces.  When I saw it on sale for $90,  I got one.  Suggested retail is $160.  Well, suggested retail was $160, but since I can’t find the tent on Eureka’s website,  it appears to be out of production.  I did find some refurbished returns listed at Eureka’s outlet store for less than $60.  The current tent that looks closest to the Sunriver 2 seems to be the Midori 2.  It has a suggested retail price of $160 but can be purchased for less.

Eureka Sunriver 2 Tent Details

Here are the ‘official’ specs:

• Tent Size: 7 ft 4 in x 4 ft 7 in x 3 ft 9 in
• Tent Height: 3 ft 7 in
• Sleeps: 2
• Minimum Weight: 4 lb 3 oz
• Pack Size: 5 x 18 in
• Tent Area: 32.6 sq ft
• Vestibule Area: 9.7 sq ft
• 3 Seasons
• 1 Door
• 1 Vestibule
• 1 Vent in the Fly
• 1 Gear Loft
• 2 Storage Pockets
• Wall fabric: 40D polyester no-see-um mesh
• Fly fabric: 75D 190T polyester taffeta w/1800 mm coating
• Floor fabric: 75D 190T polyester taffeta w/1800 mm coating
• Pole type: Aluminum
• Frame: 9.5 aluminum, shock-corded post & grommet

As the specs suggest,  the tent itself is basically a waterproof bathtub with mesh up the sides and over the top.  The fly provides protection from rain and wind.  The following are the weights of the various components as I measured them:

• Rain Fly:  1 pound 8.5 ounces (1.53 pounds or o.69 kilograms)
• Tent: 1 pound 12 ounces (1.75 pounds or 0.79 kilograms”
• Poles (in bag): 1 pound 0 ounces (1 pound or 0.45 kilograms)
• Stakes and Cord (in bag): 0 pounds 9 ounces (0.56 pounds or 0.25 kilograms)

For a total carry weight of 4 pounds 13.5 ounces (4.84 pounds or 2.20 kilograms)

Review

I recently used this tent for three nights (including one in the rain) on a 30 mile trek around Oregon’s Wild Rogue Wilderness. It worked perfectly.  The tent stayed dry using only the fly tie-down cords at the base of the tent.  Other cords are attached midway up the fly to insure that the fly remains well separated from the tent even in high winds.  This keeps air circulating between the mesh of the tent and the fly.  It worked well for me with no condensation or leakage into the tent.

With just two poles,  the tent is very easy and quick to set up.  You can watch the demonstration in the video.  The REI Trail Dome has sleeves into which the poles are inserted.  The  Sunriver 2 has no sleeves.  Instead the tent is equipped with hooks that snap onto the frame.  The elimination of sleeves make the tent lighter and saves the hassle associated with getting the poles in and out of the sleeves.

It’s a free-standing tent, so that you can crawl in and test it out then move the whole tent if you happen to be on a tree root or a rock.  Once you have the tent positioned where you want it, you should stake it down.  The aluminum hook stakes work ok except in particularly hard ground.  If you happen to be hammering a stake into the ground and you hit a rock,  the stake will bend.  If you want to avoid that,  heavier stakes are available.

Helpful Hints

It also pays to read the instructions.  Here are some hints that will help setup go better:

• When setting up the tent,  install the poles, bring them together above the tent, then hook the very top of the tent to the crossover point on the poles with the loop and stick arrangement that is attached to the tent.  This makes it easier to clip the tent to the poles and have everything work properly.
• Always stake the tent to the ground.  Without those stakes an unanticipated gust of wind can blow your tent over, even with gear inside it.
• Match the orange strap on the fly to the orange strap on the tent to be sure it is oriented properly.
• Before attaching the fly to the tent,  find the little velcro fasteners under the fly along the seams that follow the tent poles and attach the fly to the poles.  This keeps the fly from slipping around while you buckle it into place and also during high winds.
• There are short and long cords that come with the tent.  The short cords are attached to loops in the fly near the ground.  The longer cords are attached to loops midway up the tent.  Be sure to use the short cords and stake out the bottom of the fly.  This separates the fly from the mesh of the tent and avoids leakage from condensation or rain.  I didn’t use the longer cords,  but they are recommended if you anticipate high winds or heavy rain.  Staking down the fly also helps hold the tent in position, so even if its stakes pull loose it won’t blow away.
• There is a single vent on top of the tarp.  Be sure to use the little velcro-tipped stick to open that vent.  That helps air circulate between the tent and the fly.

Conclusion

Overall,  I found the Sunriver 2 to be a reasonably priced tent that is perfect for my style of backpacking.

You can find a larger version of the video on YouTube.

5 Responses to “Eureka Sunriver 2 – Tent Review”

1. Kerry says:

   February 22, 2018 at 12:25 am

   Hello Jerry,
   Yes I see Campsaver gone up a bit to $107.71. However they are running a discount of 20% on all outlet items. They supply the code on the home page so that price will drop to about $85 with the discount.When I bought mine it listed for $101, but buy using the outlet code it droped to $80 and change. really a good deal if you ask me. The State campgrounds open April !st here in my area so am ready to test out my new Sunriver 2. I was deciding between two tents the Kelty Salida 2 and the Eureka Sunriver 2. As I motorcycle camp weight was not an issue and in compairing the specs the Eureka uses 75D fabric where as the Kelty uses 68D so between that and your video review of the Sunriver 2 that’s what moved me to get the Eureka, so thanks again and good camping to all.

2. Your Pathfinder says:

   February 19, 2018 at 9:57 pm

   Hi Kerry,

   The tent seems to show up for sale from time to time. I just saw it at Amazon ($97.91) and at CampSaver ($107.17). Prices and availability vary.

   Best wishes,
   -Jerry-

3. Kerry says:

   February 11, 2018 at 12:12 pm

   I just bought this tent 02/2018 brand new never been opened in box, not a display or refurbished for only $80. That’s a steal at half of the original msrp. Got it at Campsaver.com. In the box is 1 tent body, 1 full coverage rainfly, 1 mesh attic that will clip to the overhead of tent, 2 shock corded aluminum poles w/stuff sack, 13 Sheppard hook stakes w/stuff sack, 3 short guy lines, 4 long guy lines and a stuff sack to hold all. Now for you folks that want a fitted footprint for the Sunriver 2 your in luck. You can’t get one from Eureka but you can get one from Kelty. The Kelty Salida 2 and the Eureka Sunriver 2 have the exact same 88″x 55″/45″ trapezoidal footprint so the Kelty Salida 2 footprint fits the Eureka Sunriver 2 perfectly. I know because I got one. However the Kelty Salida 2 is being discontinued and most sites don’t have the Salida 2 footprint in stock but a few web sites still do. I found the best deal at Austin Kayak. The footprint has it’s own stuff sack but easily fits in the tents stuff sack as well. Just thought I would throw that out there for you Sunriver 2 owners. Good camping everyone.

4. leo says:

   January 21, 2018 at 5:18 am

   One more detail about the above story, the tent was labeled as being in ‘B’ condition when I purchased it. The Eureka outlet merchandise is rated as ‘A’ if it is ‘like new’ and ‘B’ if it is used but still functional. Even though it was rated ‘B’ I doubt they knew about the damage that caused it to leak when it was sold to me. When I got home with the damaged rain fly I noticed that it had been patched already, and those patches had held. The leaks I experienced were from other holes that were either not repaired or possibly new. Since Eureka sent me a new fly rather than repair my damaged one, it might have been the original owner that did the repairs before returning it. All in all it was valuable learning experience, now I do through checks of my equipment before I leave home.

5. leo says:

   January 21, 2018 at 4:57 am

   I also own this tent. I bought it from the Eureka Outlet (open box & refurbished stuff) Store, for my very first overnight backpacking trip. I made a few rookie mistakes. While the tent itself was in good condition, it was dirty (it was return after all.) I got distracted by that and didn’t thoroughly check the rain fly. On the first night out a fairly strong thunderstorm hit camp, and I discovered that the rain fly had some leaks. When I got back home I contacted eureka and they had me ship the fly back to them, once they received it they shipped me a new rain fly.
   Once I received the replacement I contacted them again (as they had instructed me to) and they refunded my costs for shipping them the damaged rain fly. Overall a good experience. Interestingly, while I was out on the trip, a more experienced backpacker who was a fan of Eureka had predicted exactly what they would do, so I presume this is pretty standard customer service for the company. I’m looking forward to purchasing a new Eureka tent in the near future for winter camping, but I’m quite satisfied with the Sunriver for all other purposes.