The Reactive Outdoor 3 Secs tent is a quick setup tent that is ready for as many as three people to crawl into in less than one minute from the moment I unstrap it from the Ultimate Motorcycling Yamaha Ténéré 700 Project Bike. The hinged poles are integrated into the design of the waterproof 210D Oxford fabric tent, making the setup crazy quick. The 3 Secs tent has a rain fly, stakes, guy lines, waterproof ground cloth, and a carrying pouch. Integration of the poles into the tent structure differentiates the 3 Secs tent from other tents of similar size.
Setup of the Reactive Outdoor 3 Secs tent starts with unfolding and spreading out the legs of the tent onto the ground cloth. Next, lift up on the central structure to straighten the hinges. Finally, a downward motion on the center piece locks the top structure. It all happens faster than reading the last line.
If you have no wind and no rain in the forecast, you are done; otherwise, it takes another 30 seconds to attach the crown-cover rainfly.
Pushing or hammering in the thick wire stakes in the corners and attaching the guy lines provides some extra internal space by pulling the walls outward to their limits.
The Reactive Outdoor 3 Secs tent is 30.3 inches wide and weighs 9.2 pounds when packed up. It’s 43 inches across the Ténéré 700 Project’s pannier bags, so the tent pouch securely straps crosswise on top of the rear fender. The 3 Secs tent is about six inches square, so other carry items can be secured on either side. The carry pouch doesn’t flap in the freeway blast. However, it is not designed for carry in the elements. Because the tent is waterproof, you can get away without putting it into a dry bag if you make sure you zip up the front and rear doors.
There are two-way zippers on the two doors, situated on opposite sides of the tent. Each door has an outer bug mesh window that can be exposed for ventilation or light by unzipping the inner waterproof layer.
Inside, down low, is a sewn-in organizer pocket that will fit a smartphone, flashlight, and my bear spray can. There is a central ceiling hook for hanging a lantern. The doors unzip to hinge to one side. When fully staked and guy lines secured, the interior measures a roomy 83-by-70 inches.
The bent angle-top wire stakes are good for many soil types, though not soft sand. The holes you insert the thick wire stakes through will not take a full-size camping stake. If you need to use large tent stakes to keep the Reactive Outdoors 3 Secs tent from blowing away on the beach, you will have to be creative—a suitable paracord loop through the stake hole, for example.
When I first got the 3 Secs tent, it was in the middle of a two-week rain event. After watching the videos on the Reactive website, I set it up in my backyard. After being subjected to hard rain and whipping winds for a week, the tent did not allow a single drop of water to pass to the interior. If it had leaked, a zipper broke, or the mesh was torn—none of these happened—the 3 Secs tent has a one-year guarantee.
I take my time in beautiful countryside, so I always seem to find myself setting up camp either in a hurry or in the dark. Neither is a problem, as this tent can be set up in the dark once you have practiced the technique—the hinges are the key.
When setting up, make sure the hinges are fully extended, or you will look like you are churning butter or pumping it up and down while trying to get it to lock. That is not a good look when trying to impress your mates the first time you set it up after bragging all day that you will be the first to tap the beer keg. It’s no different when taking down the tent—pull each leg down and away from its hinge, and they will fold easily.
A car-carry tent that happens to be in a small enough package to not look out of place on a mid-size or larger adventure or touring motorcycles, the Reactive Outdoor 3 Secs tent has a $140 MSRP. It’s a light-duty tent whose primary benefit is a lightning setup. While setting up tents with poles isn’t difficult if you know what you’re doing, and a three-person pole tent packs much smaller and lighter, having a tent up in 59 seconds from unstrapping it off my bike is sensational.
