REI’s Iconic Half Dome Tent Celebrates 45 Years With Fresh Upgrades

REI Co-op’s bestselling Half Dome tent line hits a midlife milestone this year. For 45 years, Half Dome tents have evolved with technological advances and design input from Co-op members.

In celebration, REI released an anniversary-specific design for its signature tent, the Half Dome 2. The entire Half Dome collection received technical upgrades that REI claims add more headspace volume, better wind- and water-resistance, and a more intuitive tent pole setup.

REI also pledged to donate 20% of proceeds from Half Dome sales through April 30 to the National Parks Conservation Association to continue protecting public lands.

Upgrades Across the Half Dome Collection

The commemorative 45th anniversary-edition Half Dome 2 tent includes a throwback Blue Gorge color, a historic REI logo on the rainfly, and an emblazoned anniversary marker on the lower exterior of the tent body. The rest of the Half Dome line received technical upgrades, as well.

REI says that all three tents in this collection — the Half Dome 2, Half Dome 2 Plus, and Half Dome 3 — received additional room for your head and shoulders around the perimeter of the tent from a pole redesign. It says this redesign gives campers more room to sit comfortably, change clothes, or move around inside without impacting the footprint size.

The sidewall height of each tent rose, as well. REI claims that this not only gives those inside more privacy, but protects better against wind, debris, and grit entering the tent.

The tent pole connections also received upgrades. The HubCheck system, pictured above, allows campers to verify that the poles are fully secured with four small windows in the central connecting hubs. If you can see the light and dark green poles through those windows, you’ll know you’ve fastened them correctly.

The Half Dome’s last update is found in the rainfly. REI claims the latest versions of the Half Dome tents sport more durable rainfly materials (40-denier ripstop nylon with a polyethylene coating) than previous versions. It also updated the rainfly’s pattern to reach closer to the ground than previous models. REI states that this gives campers even greater protection from rain, dust, and wind storms.

Half Dome Proceeds Donated to National Parks’ Preservation

The Co-op announced that, in honor of the Half Dome’s 45th anniversary, 20% of proceeds resulting from these tent sales through April 30 will be donated to the National Parks Conservation Association to support the fight to protect public lands.

NPCA states its advocates work in the field, in the courtroom, and in the capitol to preserve and protect America’s National Parks. Their workload may have increased significantly in the wake of mass federal layoffs of both National Park Service and National Forest staff, resulting in reduced services and access to popular National Park locations.

Why the Upgrades?

REI claims its bestseller is the Half Dome tent, which consistently improves with input from Co-op members. In the midst of a milestone 45 years of producing the Half Dome tents, REI says it didn’t want to modify a solid overall design but simply tweak a few areas that members mentioned could use some attention.

The GearJunkie team has one of these updated models and plans to test it soon. In the coming weeks, we’ll report back with more details on how these upgrades compare to tests on previous Half Dome tent models and against other two- to three-person tents.