SE Emergency Tube Tent: Definitive Review (2025)
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It’s called the SE for short and this is the Ultimate TopNotch SE Emergency Tube Tent Review 2025.
Do you want more from a tube tent than just a cover over your head? Perhaps your concern is heat loss. Or perhaps you prefer a survival shelter with doors.
Well, we’ve good news for you.
After testing out our top selection of emergency outdoor tube tent shelters, we narrowed our search to bring our readers our Top 10 picks.
During our search, we found this emergency outdoor tube tent – and it’ll give you maximum heat retention AND it even comes with doors.
What did we do with this?
Well, first we crowned the emergency outdoor survival shelter our TopNotch Best Tube Tent With Doors.
Then we wrote this extensive review so you‘ll have all the info you need to decide which is best for you.
In this comprehensive review we’ll cover:
- The weather conditions you might encounter in a survival situation and how the SE Emergency Tube Tent performed in those conditions.
- How you can reinforce the functionality of this camping gear if something goes wrong
- The intriguing relationship between the SE and a steel tent – that’s right, a steel tent!
- Lots more…
So if you want to know all about the SE Emergency Tube Tent or if you’re looking for a great survival shelter with doors, you’ll love this guide.
Let’s get started.
- Manufacturer: SE
- Capacity: 1
- Dimensions: 82″ x 36″
- Material: Aluminum
- Weight: 1.6 lbs
Bottom Line : Simple and reliable shelter perfect as part of a first response kit in an emergency
Pros
- Good heat retention
- Well built
- Strong enough to be used more than once
Cons
- Short door laces
- A lot of condensation build-up
Our Verdict: SE Emergency Tube Tent
This outdoor tube came close to taking out all the titles in our survival shelter review.
For one thing, it stood up well in heavy rain.
However, the ALPS Mountaineering took out the title of “Best Winter Survival Tent”, because come on, it’s really hard work competing with a 4 season tent, right?
For another thing, when it comes to pack size, the SE Emergency Tube Tent sits comfortably right between “large and obtrusive” and “small and hardly there” – both of which we like to avoid when it comes to the perfect survival shelter.
We like the SE Emergency Tube Tent because it packs flat and in doing so, provides versatile ways of packing and storing; lay it flat, make it stand on its edge or slip it in tight spaces.
But hold on there’s more….
Heat retention is amazing and further enhanced by the two flapped doors.
We all know that doors aren’t always ‘a thing’ on an emergency outdoor tube tent, so coming across an outdoor tube that has two – was an added bonus.
Did you know that because the SE Emergency Tube Tent is waterproof, not just as a sales gimmick, but tried and tested, it’s a great piece of kit for boating and fishing adventures?
Want to know more? Keep reading…
Related: 10 Best Tube Tents
Value For Money
We all know you can’t put monetary value on a life.
In terms of the SE survival shelter tent, if you need to use it, it’ll cost very little to save a life – from hypothermia brought on by an extreme drop in temperature, for example.
Value For Money Rating
This simple emergency outdoor tube tent works wonders in extreme cold and even in the snow. Granted there’ll be condensation build up, but it’s a small price to pay.
Thankfully, here’s an emergency survival shelter tent that won’t break the bank.
Ease Of Use
If you know anything about emergency outdoor tube tents, you’ll probably know the basic setup -running a rope across the ridgeline and securing it on opposite ends.
Well the same is true for the SE.
But I wouldn’t be a good product reviewer if I didn’t tell you the quirky ways we put up this emergency outdoor tube.
Ease Of Use Rating
Remember the steel tent I told you about?
Well, I had my friend join me when I was testing this survival shelter tent – she couldn’t believe how small it packed and how weatherproof it was.
She asked if she could borrow it.
She took it to a 3 day music carnival where she sold hot-dogs. While other vendors packed their stalls or food trucks up for the night, she put up her SE under the steel canopy and saved a ton of time setting up the next day.
Weather Resistance
This is the metric that measures the tent’s performance in our toughest tests.
We put them through heavy rainfall (water), windy conditions, and extreme heat.
The SE was a worthy contender against the other 9 in our lineup.
Weather Resistance Rating
Here’s why….
We loved how – unlike some tube tent’s that slipped off their paracords and ended up sagging – the SE performed better than average in windy weather.
Because of its structure and form, and tough material, the ridgeline stayed firmly over the paracord and hardly needed any adjusting.
That’s not all…
The tent material is waterproof and we found that after tying the doors tightly, the inside of the tent stayed dry. (You can also spray the outer material with a silicone spray for extra reassurance).
And even after all the exposure to the elements we put our SE Tube Tent through, we still took her outdoors a few more nights at home. Winner!
Durability
The SE emergency survival tube tent is made up of non-woven material with an aluminum coated interior. As an emergency cover, it’s strong and durable and good for more than a single use.
However the steel tent pegs and rope that comes with the SE are a bit disappointing.
Durability Rating
But that’s easily fixed by investing in an extra set of paracords like the Tough-Grid Paracord and SE Heavy Duty steel tent pegs.
Pack Size
This shelter tent is made for heavy duty work – it’s not too light or malleable enough that you can squash it to the bottom of your backpack.
It’s not the lightest emergency survival gear in our lineup, but neither is it our heaviest. So we gave it an 8 in this metric.
Pack Size Rating
The set-back we discovered was that, unlike the more cylindrical packed UST and Texsport Survival Shelter Tent, we couldn’t attach it to the outer clips of a bug out bag for instance.
However, you can always roll the shelter and stuff it in an extra stuff sack for a convenient way to store and carry the SE.
Our Final Verdict: SE Emergency Tube Tent
After our raving reviews about the SE, you probably won’t believe that it scored a total of 81 points on our overall metric; seven points away from our top contender the UST Tube Tarp and nearer the bottom of the pecking order.
This goes to show that all our picks are tough competitors.
However, our category award always goes to products that excel in a particular area, even if they don’t perform so well in others.
In this case, we gave the SE our award for TopNotch Best Tube Tent With Doors.
Conclusion: SE Emergency Tube Tent
There you have it!
We’ve come to the end of our review.
We’ve covered the different weather conditions you might encounter in an emergency situation and how the SE performed under those conditions.
We didn’t hide the fact that you might not be too happy about the paracord and stakes that come with the gear so we’ve given you options for reinforcement.
You also know how the SE matched up to the others in our TopNotch Top 10.
For example, while the SE works fine in the rain, for comfort and a greater sense of security, we recommend our award winner for Best Winter Survival Tent, the Alps Mountaineering.
Additionally, if you’re a little on the claustrophobic side, you might want to go with the Willowbend Trail Tent, TopNotch award winner for Best Heavy Duty Tube Tent. It has doors with mesh and a rain fly, and a mesh window on the opposite end for great cross-ventilation.
So there you go….
We’ve done the work, now it’s over to you to choose the very best shelter for your needs.
Other Versions
SE Survivor Series Emergency Camping Tube Tent – ET8256
The only other tube tent for emergencies in the SE inventory is the ET8256.
It stands at 8.25’ x 6’ inches, is orange in color, for high visibility and made of thick polyethylene.
We don’t recommend it for heavy duty use, but it’s worth keeping in your car – or emergency kit at home.
You’ll notice it doesn’t come with stakes, so how you secure it at the corners will be up to your imagination and what’s at hand.
The tent fits two people, so that might be useful when it comes to sharing body heat.
For added comfort and warmth, we recommend the use of a ground tarp or the SE Reflective Waterproof blanket.
