Quechua 3-person Blackout Pop-up 2 Seconds XL Tent | Tested and reviewed

There's a lot to be said here and, surprisingly, quite a lot of it is positive! That's because the Quechua 3-person Blackout Pop-up Fresh & Black Tent succeeds where many other pop-up tents fail.

Of course, it's not all positive (it never is), and this tent comes with both a lofty price tag and weight. But this is certainly the best of the bunch in my recent test of six pop-up tents.

As with all of the others we've reviewed, this tent went through real-world testing throughout late 2024. Below, I share my findings and explain how it performs.

Before I do, though, it's worth noting that while this has scored highly against other pop-up tents, I'd still recommend one of our top-rated backpacking tents for more reliable protection and portability.

Pop-up pitching and packing away

The two seconds referenced in this product’s name is a little misleading. Pitching this tent takes more like two or three minutes. But I've stopped short of complaining to the Advertising Standards Authority – it’s a still a rapid, efficient pitching process.

It works like this. Simply open up the storage bag and slip off the large, stretchy, elasticated band holding everything in place. Unlike other pop-up tents, there’s one more stage, which slows things down a little.

Next you have to unclip four buckles – two red, two yellow – and only then will the tent spring into life. It doesn’t do so with as much vigour and immediacy as some others, so it needs a little gentle coaxing into shape, but it works fine.

The structure created is freestanding and, thus, can be moved around until you find the perfect spot. All that’s left to do is peg out all of the pegging points and guylines. Twelve metal pegs are included for this purpose. They feel pretty strong and durable, but are very heavy (31g each).

Packing the tent away is, alas, not quite so easy. I got better at it over time and found it manageable overall, but it can be a little bit of a struggle. This is partly because the tent is a three-person berth, so there is more tent (longer poles and bigger sheets) to contort into shape.

The process works as follows. Go inside the tent and grab a strap on the left-hand wall of the inner bedroom. Pull this strap outwards through the door, thus half-collapsing the tent in on itself.

The strap has two red buckles which need to be clipped into the corresponding red buckles on the outer. This begins to create a large disc-like shape out of the tent.

Roll the tent around and find another two yellow buckles to clip together. You now have a huge disc, about double the size of the storage bag. Hold the disc upright and locate a red strap. Pull this upwards while pushing the top of the disc downwards. This is the trickiest part and requires a bit of force.

The move collapses the tent into a figure of eight. Fold one circle of the eight into the other, and hey presto, you’re done. Slide the stretchy band over the now-smaller disc and place the tent back inside its carry bag.

Internal space and tent shape

The integrated, sewn-in pole structure of the Quechua 3-person Blackout Pop-up 2 Seconds XL Tent creates a spacious, dome-like shape with great internal liveability.

The floorspace is rectangular with good width and the walls are steep enough to provide decent head and elbow room. For three it works pretty well, but for two campers this feels palatial and luxurious. The latter is an excellent way to go.

Spaciousness is certainly a strong point of this tent. The official internal dimensions are as follows: 210cm long, 210cm wide and 115 cm high. You also get a large porch sized 230cm x 70cm, which delivers ample space for backpacks and hiking boots.

Many other pop-up tents, including the Eurohike Pop 200 and the Mountain Warehouse Pop Up 3 Man Tent, do not have a porch at all. So the addition of a good-sized porch with this Quechua tent is a huge boost in functionality.

Waterproofing, wind resistance and breathability

This is a two-skin tent, combining a flysheet outer and an inner bedroom. This is relatively unique for the pop-up tent genre, which more commonly utilises a single-skin approach. Consequently, this Quechua tent offers enhanced weather protection with two layers of protection rather than just one.

The inner bedroom is suspended from the outer, but it's always connected and still pops up automatically, so you don’t ever have to mess around with poles or clips to set it up.

The polyester flysheet outer feels quite strong and durable. It has a hydrostatic head waterproof rating of 2,000mm, which is a pretty decent rating, and it has a Schmerber PU coating for added waterproofing.

Decathlon says the tent has been “validated in the laboratory and in the field to guarantee the waterproofing”, with the tent tested in a rain room under a 200-litre-per-hour shower. On top of this, all of the seams are sealed with thermo-bonded tape.

In our limited field tests in the Lake District, the tent coped fine with drizzle and light rain, and seemed to shed water droplets well. But, of course, far more time is needed to truly test the long-term waterproofing of this tent in prolonged downpours.

As with all pop-up tents, it’s probably better suited to calmer weather in spring and summer, but it feels reasonably hardy overall.

In a commendable statement of honesty, Decathlon states “this camping tent was designed for occasional outdoor use (four weeks per year) during your camping trips or in the countryside”, which shows it’s still an entry-level tent for irregular outings, not one for hardcore, long-term expeditions.

In terms of wind protection, the tent has a slightly tall, dome-style shape, with walls that can catch the wind in strong gusts. But it has pretty decent stability overall.

You get lots of pegging out points and guylines to ensure the tent is secured safely and strongly. Decathlon states: “We test all our tents in a wind tunnel on a turn-table to expose each side to the wind.

"A properly pitched tent with all the guy-ropes properly positioned around the tent should remain habitable in wind speeds of up to 50 km/h measured near ground level (Force 6).”

I wouldn’t fancy pushing things to this extreme, but it shows that you should be able to cope fine with medium level winds.

You also get a few options with this tent to aid ventilation and breathability, and help you stave off the annoying effects of condensation, which is a near-constant issue when camping in Britain’s humid environment.

The inner has a few mesh sections: at the top of the internal door, two semi-circular mesh windows on each side and another mesh window at the rear.

On top of this, you get decent clearance between the flysheet and inner, and you can encourage airflow between the two by pulling open two side panels and fastening them open with guylines to create larger vents. This is a nice design touch.

Weight and pack size

On my scales the Quechua 3-person Blackout Pop-up 2 Seconds XL Tent weighs a whopping 5,494g, which is broken down as follows: tent including guylines (4,870g), tent carry bag (252g) and 12 pegs (372g).

Compared to many others, this is on the heaviest end of the spectrum, so this is definitely not one for carrying a long distance. But for campsite camping close to where your car is parked, it works absolutely fine.

It’s not the best for carrying on a train or coach, if you’re travelling to a festival by public transport, but it can be done.

When packed away, the Quechua 3-person Blackout Pop-up 2 Seconds XL Tent is shaped like a giant circular disc, sized about 90cm by 8cm. This is pretty large, but not dissimilar to other pop-up tents.

Features

The main feature to note is the interior bedroom’s use of Decathlon’s so-called ‘Fresh & Black’ technology. This creates a black-out, dark interior, which will help you to get a better night’s sleep.

I certainly found this a positive experience, particularly when you don’t want to be woken up at 3.30am by the light of an early summer dawn.

The technology also keeps the tent cooler, which perhaps isn’t ideal in cold conditions, but might be beneficial for hotter summer days. This all works through the use of special materials that reflect the sun’s rays and insulate from the light.

The inner also features four mesh pockets – two on each side wall – for storing gear such as head torches and clothes.

The entrance to the inner is via a large, D-shaped door, which is predominantly made from the blackout material, but with a small section of mesh at the top for ventilation.

Verdict

Bringing the pop-up tent genre into the 21st century, this modern tent is spacious, fully-featured and weatherproof with clever design innovations – but it’s pricey and heavy.

About the author

James Forrest writes regular features and route guides for Trail and has been one of our main gear testers for the last few years. James is based on the edge of the Lake District so when he isn’t off on his latest crazy adventure or challenge, he’s walking in his local fells.

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