New DOD Outdoors tent!

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So stoked to share about our successful first trip with our new DOD Outdoors  Moto Dome Tent in the Sequoia National Forest. Before I met my partner, I'd gone camping maybe once or twice in my life as a teen. In the last 6 years we've been together, it's become quite obvious to us that road trips, car and tent camping are easily our favorite things to do together. Luckily for me she's had some gear that's holding up pretty well. A good old classic Coleman tent amongst other basics.

The Sunrise Point Dome tent, or the older version of THIS tent was great for our needs until we decided we wanted to upgrade our set-up. You can still find the older version on Amazon. During my inter-web expedition for a new tent, I came across DOD Outdoors, a Japanese camping and outdoor gear company founded in 1997. Quite instantly, I fell in love with their designs and attention to detail.

I was looking for a smaller footprint 2p tent versus the 4p tent like we had. While the Moto Dome Tent is definitely a 2p tent, it has roughly the same size foot print as the 4p Coleman when counting the outer vestibule or porch as we call it. The sleeping area is a separate inner mesh area with a screen window on the entrance as well as back wall for optimal air flow. There is a screened window on the porch as well.

There's a hook and a large mesh zippered pocket on the ceiling of the sleeping area for whatever your heart desires. The double chamber design also reduces condensation when camping in humid or coastal sites. There is a built-in tarp for underneath the sleeping area though we purchased a larger tarp for the whole footprint making a nice porch area to sit on covered ground and providing extra protection for under the sleeping area. It comfortably sleeps 2 and a small dog but it would be really, really awesome for one person in my opinion.

There are definitely a few notable differences between the two tents. Right off the bat is the difference in colorways. DOD Outdoors has a muted gray, tan, green and black theme over blues, gray and neon accents like our older Coleman. I went with the grey and red Moto Dome Tent over the tan. Its simplicity in design makes it a very visually appealing tent. It also matches our car and looks super cute together. I was surprised at the quality of the stakes it came with because usually the L-shaped stakes included with a tent bend at the first push if the ground is hard. The included stakes are chrome red, light and strong and their Y-shape reinforces their strength as well as ability to dig into the earth.

Compared to the Coleman tent, the hardware from DOD is well engineered and of quality. Another major selling point for me with the Moto Dome Tent was the ability to have a shaded outdoor sitting area with the built-in sun protection. The set-up was quite easy due to the pop-up capabilities. We struggled only slightly with the shade tarp set up as neither of us had ever set up a pole and tarp situation and the included paper manual is in Japanese. (There is a downloadable English version found here). The tent is very well made and the quality is evident. The seams come pre-taped for extra water protection and all seams are double reinforced where hooks are attached for hanging your accessories.

We took our new tent to a new spot out in the Sequoia National Forest. One of my hobbies is to find camping spots via Google Earth/Maps. I came across one that had a creek running through it with towering sequoias. Quite perfect if you ask me. About 2 ish hours away, my partner was reading a bit more about the grounds we were heading to and ultimately found out that the main access road was closed due to flood damage and it would be roughly a 2 mile trek in and out by foot. We decided to pivot and find a different site which led us to Coy Flat Campground.

I will admit, the photos on Google Maps had a creek and swimming hole and I was SOLD without further investigation. The CG was open and sparsely occupied. Only 2 sites were in use and if you counted us, it was 3. We did a couple rounds to find an open FCFS spot for 2 nights. We found a site with great trees for hammocking and a flatter area for the tent. The campground itself is on a hill and many sites are not very leveled. Bear boxes seem recently leveled which was great as we did read that some of sites had boxes that were tilted causing your stuff to potentially fall out when opened. Recreation.gov  does not, as of today - June 25th 2024,  list running water under amenities. Though there were spigots, they were dry. For $34 a night running water would have been much appreciated, or at least a price drop and official notice on the USFS website that there is no water.

 During our 2 night stay, we noticed many reservations for each day not show up. Quite unfortunate for those who want to camp on a FCFS basis and the whole CG is booked yet only 3 sites are actually occupied. You can always drive up and see vs going online to check availability but those who are new to camping may not be adventurous enough for FCFS and become discouraged to see a fully reserved CG online and ultimately avoid it. Though upon checking the Recreation.gov website today, it seems it is fairly open and has many spots available to reserve. 

Another caveat, there is no creek accessible directly from the Coy Flat Campground. Some people decided to take photos at what I believe is the Lower Coffee Camp day use area roughly 15 miles down the mountain where there is river access and post them to the Coy Flat Google Maps photos section. I fell victim to the photos thinking we had river access from camp only to find out the creek nearby was inaccessible yet sounded lovely at night when I wasn't thinking about bears chomping me up. We did not encounter any bears, we just usually don't camp in or near bear country. It takes a bit of adjusting and honestly, acceptance of death, lol. Once I'm past that part I can relax.

Overall, I would rate Coy Flat Campground 7/10 due to lack of running water and their quite full vault toilets which one morning smelled so strongly of ammonia that I felt like Dave Pelzer in A Child Called "It". Thankfully, the stench faded throughout the day but it still wasn't amazing. I can't fully justify spending nearly $70 for 2 nights with no running water or creek access or camp host. I can always just go to the Eastern Sierras for that and it might even be free! If the running water is fixed anytime soon, and even if it's not, I would stay at Coy Flat Campground again due to the fact that it was very quiet and not at all busy. It's close to the NP, yet far enough from town but not too remote for a FCFS visit. Also, there is ample downed wood to collect for fire which I find so fun. The picnic tables at each site also seem fairly new and the firepits with grills are quite nice compared to other campgrounds we've been to. We stayed Tues-Thurs during the week of June 17th. It was a great first trip with our new DOD Outdoors Moto Dome Tent in a new-to-us campground in the Sequoia National Forest of the Southern Sierras.

P.S. Don't forget bug spray.