Then the instructions start to get really funny. ‘Insert the leg poles into the hubs to raise the screenhouse frame’ got the first laugh. The “frame” barely stayed together on the ground. Any attempt to lift a corner and insert a leg pole resulted in pipes flying everywhere.
Dozens of two-foot sections of pipe spilled onto the floor with stickers labeling them ‘1B’, ‘4’, or ‘2B’. Childhood memories ozark trail sleeping bag of failures with Tinker Toys came flooding back. But, with determined hope, I began to wade through the instructions.
I loved the size of this screen house but after a few uses, the 4-way hub gable cracked and a couple of the curved roof poles bent a little. I can attribute these problems mostly to the constant use and age of the tent really. The zippers remained free throughout, but the main entry inside zipper pull failed, leaving it operable, if not a little awkward to start from the inside. The stakes provided are aluminum wire and bend easily in packed dirt, so you will end up buying sturdier replacements for most types of camping. The mesh on one window mildewed from wet storage, and several small holes resulted, making that window unusable midway through the second summer. The screen is great for nice weather.
A Pavlovian reaction to super-size doses of advertising? Greed, optimism, stinginess, and materialistic guilt thrashing together in a dance of futility that leads straight to the checkout counter? To make matters worse, sometimes I’m so ashamed of the purchase that I can’t even bring myself to return it. The Ozark Trail Screen House is 13 feet long and nine feet wide, with a standing space that tops out at seven feet high.
I highly recommend that anyone looking for a good screen house spend the additional money and get a Swiss Gear. Don’t try to save a few dollars and end up with a POS like this one. You either need six people or twelve arms to hold the thing together when assembling. Then the screening doesn’t fit right over the frame. I am sorry that I ever purchased it.
Then the hooks don’t even reach the holes at the bottom of the poles. Then if you can manage to get that far, you have to run like crazy to get it tied down before if falls over. Bottom of screen doesn’t even tough the ground. We bought this screen tent about 2 years ago and just took it out of the box to put it up. I hate to say it but this thing is a piece of JUNK.
I need one of part number GBLL-05 (three-way hub gable left) and one of part number GBLR-05 (three-way hub gable right). This tent is ok…I bought with the money that I had saved up and I really wanted a cool looking tent. I think that this 35 dollar tent could outlast the expensive ones. Mine is red and black and the rainfly covers everything except for a tiny place to get in. I had bought this tent thinking it was going to be dry, man was I wrong.