Customer Reviews With Photos

After searching for sunshades that were different from the standard beach umbrella, I came across Red Suricata. After reading thru the reviews and questions, I decided to purchase. After using it on the beach for a week, I am happy to report that my purchase was well worth the money spent! I went with the 7’x7’ size. In The Bag: The sunshade comes in a nice sized carrying bag which is large enough that I was able to include a compact shovel with plenty of room to spare. It’s nice not to have to struggle putting the components of the sunshade back into the bag! I also threw in a beach umbrella anchor. So much room! The sunshade is very lightweight and compact. The Set Up: After reading reviews and watching setup videos, I felt prepared for my first effort at setup. With the help of my partner, we had the Red Suricata up within about 15 minutes. I could have easily set it up alone but with a 2nd person it made it a bit easier and faster, especially since the wind was blowing at about 12-15 mph. I did not need to use the pole anchors as the poles stuck into the soft sand easily and were secure. The cinch bags/sand bags were easy to fill. Tips: * Fill the sand bags to max capacity. Wet/moist sand will make them heavier if needed for windy conditions. Place the filled bags in dug out holes on at least the two bags on the up-wind side of the shade for increased stability. * Place the poles near each of the four corners and secure with the bungee loops. Readjust the sandbags as needed to make the shade taught on all four corners so that the edges of the shade fabric are stretched tight. Adjust poles (straight up/down or angled) to help counter windy conditions and wind direction. * Beach weather/wind conditions change and so might the need to make adjustments to the sunshade poles and or sandbags. My experience was that the sandbags never needed to be moved. I did adjust pole angles a time or two as winds shifted. Not a big deal. * As we gained experience with assembly, the time, ease and coordination to setup the sunshade got faster and more efficient after each day. By the 2nd or 3rd day we were seasoned veterans! Take Down: * Super simple. Sand emptied out of the sand bags easily albeit dry sand. The sunshade was easily folded and stowed in the carrying bag with all the other components. Take down time was under 7 minutes. The Takeaway: * The reviewers stating that the Red Suricata is a waste of money and that the design doesn’t work are from a different planet. This is a well designed product and will easily withstand 20-25 mph winds if put up correctly and adjustments made accordingly. * The sunshade does provide shade but UV rays do penetrate the fabric. Using sunscreen on sensitive skin is advisable. * The 7’x7’ size was perfect for the two of us plus our beach gear * The materials that come with this sunshade are of good quality. The pole anchors do seem a bit frail and cheap but I didn’t need to use them so not an issue. I can see needing them on compacted beach sand surfaces. * Be sure to check beach rules to insure this style sunshade is permitted and if so, where on the beach it can be staged. We were in SC and these type sunshades had to be in a certain line of site in relation to the dunes, beach patrol paths and high tide surf. This is a great beach shade product. If you have half a brain, can pay attention to written and video instruction, can figure out how to make adjustments to a situation that might require readjusting then don’t hesitate to buy this Red Suricata Sunshade. I’m so glad I did my due diligence and purchased this product. I loved my experience on the beach using this well designed product and I highly recommend it!

There was no opening for the tent itself. They didn’t even bother to check the material before sending it to the customer. Had a rough time due to the actual restroom being far away since I couldn’t use the tent.

I am very impressed with this tent, especially for this price point. The quality of the fabric, stiching and rain repellent is top notch. Even the seams are taped to prevent water intrusion, and not just the rain tarp but the main structure is seam taped. That is fantastic for a tent at this price! The zippers work well. And I like how the little access hole for an electric extension cord is well off the ground and has velcro to seal it shut. The last thing you want is a snake crawling in through that hole. I recently purchased an 8 person tent where the electric access portal was near the ground with no way to seal it, not good. I love the color. Not just that its blue, but the dark blue with the orange you really have to see it in person to appreciate it. It looks great. And I figure the dark blue should help dampen the bright morning sun somewhat compared to a lighter color choice. Setup is super easy. Two main poles that criss cross corner to corner, and one shorter pole for the rain tarp. Easy to do solo. I recommend staking the base to the ground first to make it easier, especially solo, but not necessary. The basic design and setup is exactly the same as the 4person Ozark Trail tent that I am replacing. The quality of this tent is much better than the Ozark Trail though. As expected, the stakes that it comes with are poor. Save yourself the frustration and toss them and buy a set of quality stakes. You want stakes with a pointy end, that won't bend when you hammer them in and they hit a rock, and a nice hammering surface. Tents eventually wear out, but quality stakes you can keep forever. Almost all tents come with these basic cheap stakes, so I'm not letting it effect my overall rating. Another plus, it easily fit back into the bag with room to spare. If you are questioning size: a 4person tent is great for a couple, or a couple and one very small child, or one adult and a child or two. I usually camp without the family but with friends, and I bring a 4person tent just for me. I put a full size air mattress in one half and a camp chair and my stuff in the other half so I have room to change clothes.

Was looking for a canopy for outdoor gatherings that could be set up by one person. This comes with a spike for easy set up in sand but you can also place into an umbrella stand (not included but we have one). Opens up easily. I really like the side panel which is one reason for choosing this model. If you've ever been at the beach you know the shade your umbrella or canopy provides is not always directly over you. It's also great for visual privacy if setting up in a yard or deck/patio if you want to not be looking directly into a neighbor's yard. You can put the shade from the side panel where you want it based on time of day. It has Velcro on each side of the square so you can move it around. Sides are easily held down from wind by sand or even just full cans/water bottles. To plant the center stake you will need some depth of sand. If you are going to a beach without much you might want to bring along an umbrella stand. I will mention though, that the central spike is wide and you really need a 2 inch slot umbrella stand because smaller ones will not fit. This is a nice size for several people and if using for outdoor gatherings folds up nicely for storage. I wouldn't trust the handle to last long, it seems a bit strained. I'm probably going to use a ski strap (these wrap around the skis and are really solid) to carry this any distance with a strap. If the company wanted to improve this feature they could make a wrap around strap sewn in rather than a single strap sewn into the carrying case seam. This is a great option for backyard gatherings or a day at the beach.

Great for separating ground from the inside of the shelter, horrible in wet climate because it holds water like a swimming pool.

Used this on a 10 day trip through New England. For the price you can't beat not beat the quality. We had zero issues with anything. It rained a lot and no leaks. We did spray it with scotch guard as well. Zippers were all good. A tin of room inside for two people. Super easy to put up and take down.

Please note: the first photo I took of the window when I did a quick setup in my livingroom to make sure the parts and everything was there before I took my trip. The other two photos are screenshots I took of the assembly video that shows the windows are supposed to completely open as the man unzips the screen placing his hand and arm through the window. Apparently, if you want the windows to completely open as shown in the video, you need to purchase the single room shower tent, not the double room. One reason I liked the design of this room was for the space. But the main selling point for me was that the product assembly video showed that the screen windows also unzipped and would open completely. This was important to me because I intended on using my Camplux Outdoor Waterheater and shower with this. I did not want to have to place the water heater and propane tank inside the shower tent for safety reasons, due to the heat and flame from the waterheater. I planned on running the shower hose through this window and into the shower room. To me, it makes no sense for this feature to be missing on the more expensive two room model. Why would the one room tent have this, and thr two room would not? I'm disappointed that Kingcamp would lead the consumer on by showing features that do not exist.

Great tent for the beach!! Zip up all the zippers before you try to put it up and then stake the four corners and fill the pockets with sand. I threw my beach bag in to help hold it down toi; then put the poles together and snap on. This was an absolute lifesaver. We’re on the beach in Fort Lauderdale., it’s kind of a breezy day, but not too bad and it stayed up. It’s nice that the breeze comes from the water to the street so you can point the tent at the water and the breeze goes right through. For the price it was very reasonable. I thought well some of the reviews weren’t that great but I’ll take a chance even if it only works one day that’ll be enough. We’ve only used it one day but it’s been a lifesaver! I would’ve only made it 10 minutes without the tent. I’m here with my son and grandson. My son said this would even work as a camping tent to have outside for a while. (Only if it doesn’t rain, of course.) it fit in my carry-on and wasn’t that heavy so that was nice as well. The small size is awesome and it has its own bag so it fit along the side of my carry-on and I just packed light and it worked.

Holds back rain water real well. I coupled it with ENO hammock system. Started raining, then pooling in areas where the tarp drooped. My first time using it.

Very happy with this purchase! I love that there are 8 “legs”, not just 4. I was afraid the legs would stick out too far and get in the way of people passing by, but once it was up I didn’t feel that way. The shovels that came with the canopy were great to fill up the weight sacks, love that it came with 2 shovels so we could work as a family to get the weights filled. The grass stakes it came with are good quality, they screw into the ground. We’ve used in sand & grass, the canopy held up great with both. Very quick set-up, even with 1 person..even faster to break down! I LOVE how easily it fits in the carry bag, there’s even enough room for us to put our mat in the same bag. Only issue so far is that there are already pulls in the fabric, strings are starting to hang off the sides of the “legs”. It hasn’t affected its functionality thus far.

I'm 6' 4" tall ( 76 in / 193 cm) and need some extra length in my tent. However, I wanted a tent that is very light weight, but could hold up to some "light-duty" 4-season use (mild winds). I already had a "bomber" 4-season tent designed to handle extreme winds, but it weighs 11 lbs ( 5 kg) and I did not want to carry that kind of weight for the back country ice climbing I had in mind. MSR designed the Access 3 for 4-season backcountry skiing where the tent would be in protected conditions near the tree line. This sounded like it was designed exactly for what I had in mind. The 84" length was perfect for my taller than average height, giving me an extra 8" of space so I would not compress the down in my long sized 0 F ( -18 C) sleeping bag against the tent walls. I liked having the 3-person space inside the tent for extra room, but still keeping the overall packed weight right at 5 lbs ( 2.25 kg). Having two doors and two vestibules makes it really easy to store gear out of the weather and allow occupants to get out of the tent without disturbing others. Further, the doors face opposite directions so if you need to get out in higher winds, you can pick the door that is down wind. Because this tent is so light, I think going with the 3-person version, for just two occupants is perfect. However, you could fit 3 people if you slept head to toe and were willing to be in much tighter space. With two occupants, there is a lot of space inside the tent and in the vestibules. I had read concerns about condensation and lack of air flow in the tent. I have slept in many different 4-season tents, and when temperatures are below freezing, your going to have some condensation in any tent. I found the condensation in the Access 3 was mild, and just on the tent wall above where I was breathing all night. The condensation froze on the wall, and I just wiped off the ice crystals in the morning above my head before moving around. The temperatures were as low as 15 F (-9.5 C) during the night and I felt the tent did a great job keeping me warm in concert with my properly selected 0 F ( -18 C) down sleeping bag. We had a bit of snow and some light 15-20 mph winds (24 - 32 kph) and the tent pole structure held up well. I just shook the tent by one of the poles in the morning, and the snow slid right off as expected. I read some reviews saying the carbon fiber poles had issues producing carbon slivers at the pole ends. My poles did NOT have this issue at all. The poles were smooth at the ends and there was no carbon material breaking off or causing any slivers. Because the tent is designed with very light weight fabrics to keep the tent light, I also purchased the separate foot print to protect the tent floor which adds 11 oz ( 311 g). I was also careful with the tent when setting it up and when going in and out of the tent. It seems very durable as you would expect from MSR and should hold up to some abuse. However, because it's designed as an ultra light 4-season tent, I think special care is warranted and a fair trade off for this tents ultra light weight. I did need to add a few additional MSR ground hog stakes, as it does not come with enough stakes to stake every single guy out line. This is very common with tents, so I did not down rate them for this. I always bring enough stakes to guy out every single line just in case winds pick up unexpectedly. Overall I think this tent is designed very well for it's intended purpose and performed flawlessly for my 3-days in the backcountry of Cody, WY. I'm glad after careful review of many tents, that I selected the Access 3.

I recently purchased this 3 season tent because I really liked the design. I decided to try and stretch it to a 4 season tent by running my stove right in the doorway... it was a 12 degree night and I'd recommend keeping this a 3 season tent as it's intended - zero fault to the bivy. As for this tents intended use - a 3 season bivy tent id say it performed flawlessly. I was very impressed with the value of this tent. Setup was very easy - out of the bag to fully setup in under 5 minutes. This bivy is very roomy for 1 person and at 4.4 lbs. easy to carry. The small vestibule was a very nice feature on this bivy when most bivy's have no vestibule at all. The only con I could come up with is that if you were a tall person appx 6'3" or taller the inner bug net might be slightly in your face. This was not a problem for me at 5'8" I had room to scoot down and still have gear stored at my feet.. I cannot speak to this tents waterproof qualities as ive yet to have it out in the rain. Great value, awesome 1 person bivy! I'd buy it again!

It was an easy set up and tons of space. At first it was perfect. We had a little rain go through (drizzling most of the night) and we had at least 4 different spots leaking. It also does not do great at holding the heat in. I think it’ll be great for dry warm summer nights. But I definitely wouldn’t consider it great for spring or fall weather (we purchased the 20ft one) needless to say I’m pretty disappointed. Looking into waterproofing it but it could take days to get to us.

Since I live in California, we go a lot of camping, so there is always mosquitoes all around and decided to get this canopy which is really helpful. As you see in my picture, it's super compact and will fit anywhere. Set up takes less than 3 minutes and breaking down is super easy. Side walls all are covered with heavy duty net which prevents all kind of insects. In addition, the size I got is 10x10 which easily could have room for 4 people.

I am typing this review as I sit beneath the shade provided by our new sunshade and I am VERY pleased with this product. It's probably the best purchase I've made from whatcampingtent.com in a while. In getting ready for our beach trip this week, I began looking last month for an alternative to the heavy and cumbersome metal-framed canopy we've used for years. I ran across this and others like it from competitive companies, read the reviews and decided to make the purchase. I could not be more pleased and I have driven my family nuts reminding them daily how happy I am with this purchase. For those who are concerned about setting this up (even by yourself), watch setup videos a couple of times and you'll have no issues. Here are the pros & cons as I see them: PROS: - VERY lightweight and easily packable solution to having a large sunshade for the beach. - Included accessories are great and much better than the competition. Four poles = a HUGE plus for providing plenty of shade for my family of four. And their height is just right for us (I'm 6'00" tall, BTW). The cinch cords help the shade stay in place and the pole anchors are nice to have (though we've had zero issues not using them so far). - Easily handles strong winds. We set this up the day after Tropical Storm Cristobal made landfall and had high residual winds still coming in. This sunshade performed flawlessly and we were about the only beach goers with a shade or umbrella that could hold up to the wind that day. - Easily sets up with just one person. It may take a couple of extra minutes solo, but I've had NO problems with it the last three mornings. - GREAT customer service and support!! I experienced this on a separate but related purchase directly from Red Suricata and I couldn't be happier with the level of support I received. Very helpful and quick to respond! CONS (sort of): - This is not a shelter from rain and it isn't promoted as such so it really isn't a negative aspect about the product. But as an FYI, don't think you won't get wet from the occasional shower that can hit at the beach while sitting beneath it. No biggie if you're prepared, though. A final recommendation after using it this week...I would suggest purchasing a small, folding shovel to carry in the sunshade bag. We have found it helpful to bury the sandbag anchors (at least those on the side facing the wind) for added stability. With a shovel, that takes only seconds to do and has probably made the difference in using this product in high winds.