8-10 Person Waterproof Family Camping Hiking Travel Instant House Party Tent

The research

• Why you should trust u.s.
• Who this is for
• How we picked
• How (and where) nosotros tested
• Our option for two people: Kelty Grand Mesa 4
• Our pick for families: Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6
• Upgrade picks: REI Co-op Base Campsite four Tent and Base Camp 6 Tent
• Also great for families: Coleman vi-Person Instant Cabin
• Budget pick for families: Coleman Sundome half dozen-Person Tent
• Care, use, and maintenance
• The competition
• Sources

Why you should trust u.s.a.

Kit Dillon has worked for Wirecutter for eight years in various capacities, writing about everything from backpacks and cooking gear to luggage and road-tripping. He has also written for Popular Science, The Awl, Metro, The Observer, and Fortune. When he was younger, he worked for five years on oil rigs as an NDT (non-destructive testing) inspector, testing metal and welds for signs of corrosion, rust, and whatever other breakdowns and anarchy might happen to the steel in the ocean. It is oddly relevant work for testing aluminum tent poles.

For seven months, 1 co-author of this guide, Kit Dillon, lived in the 2013 model of the REI Base Camp half dozen. Photo: Kit Dillon

More relevant to this guide, peradventure, is the seven-month stint Kit spent living in a tent in Hawaii. During that fourth dimension, he sat in his tent through windstorms, rainstorms, and Pacific hurricanes. He swept out centipedes and cleaned up patches of mold with an alcohol solution. He patched that tent with duct tape and trash numberless. He lived in it until both poles snapped and his rain fly tore through. Living in that tent was sometimes fantastic and sometimes awful. Either way, he knows what a tent needs in order to be a comfy place you lot can telephone call home.

Kalee Thompson has evaluated gear for magazines including Wired, Popular Science, and National Geographic Chance, where she was a senior editor. She'south a longtime hiker and camper who embraced the transition from backpacking to car camping after her first son was built-in. She's at present the mom of ii little boys and a former resident of Southern California, where weekend car camping is a year-round activity. She has also camped in a range of locales, such every bit New Hampshire's White Mountains and New York's Adirondacks, besides as in West Virginia, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, and Utah. She's originally from New Hampshire, and while she was testing these tents, she futilely attempted to convince other SoCal parents—including her own married man—that 35 °F nights are "not that cold."

In addition to drawing on their personal experiences, both Kit and Kalee scoured online reviews; collected informal opinions from a range of campers and camping parents, from Maine to Alaska; and (in Kalee'due south case) recruited 11 other California families to exam gear on weekend camping trips. Kalee also talked with experts such every bit Helen Olsson, whose guide provides a fun and applied intro for parents looking to get into regular car camping, and Bob Howe, a prolific tent designer who has created tents for companies including Easton, Marmot, and The North Face.

Who this is for

Equally y'all tin can tell from strolling through whatever busy campground, there are dozens of diverse tent designs, ranging from snug, unmarried-torso cocoons to multiroom, polyester palaces that sleep x or 12. If yous already ain a tent y'all dearest, y'all don't need this guide. A shelter bought for backpacking, scouting, or festival-going can also double as a car-camping ground tent. But if you're looking to get into auto camping for the commencement fourth dimension, or if you lot're a backpacker who at present has kids, embracing your new reality and investing in a shelter made for machine camping ground can brand sense.

Finding the smallest, lightest tent that meets your needs is the logical approach when you're backpacking. But if you lot won't be carrying your tent more a couple hundred feet, more than space ways more comfort (likewise equally more than room for your stuff). Tent makers measure tent chapters past how many people can fit in them sardine-style, lying inside mummy bags. That ways yous tin fit six adults in a half dozen-person tent, but you lot probably wouldn't want to, because those adults would be sleeping hip to hip, with little spare room for gear. (If you have v or fewer people, however, a six-person tent can be very comfy, particularly if a few of those people are children.)

A diagram of usual sleeping arrangements for tents. Image: REI

With that in heed, we concluded that the all-time choice for two people is a smaller, four-person, dome-style tent. Dome-style tents, which are alpine in the heart and sloped at the sides, are more than flexible than their boxier, cabin-style cousins—some four-person domes are even calorie-free enough to double as backpacking tents for shorter hikes. Usually designed around two- or three-pole arches, dome designs also tend to be stronger than cabin-fashion designs. Whereas cabin-fashion tents maximize ceiling superlative past sacrificing some structural integrity, dome tents are better for inclement weather. The dome shape does reduce overall livable space, merely it'due south amend at deflecting winds and shedding rain, something you lot're probable to appreciate if an unexpected storm hits.

If you all the same want a smaller setup afterwards reading this guide, exist advised that our top pick for couples, the Kelty Thousand Mesa 4, also comes in a smaller version: the Grand Mesa 2. Although we haven't tested that version, we've heard good things. (Subsequently beingness out of stock for months, information technology's predicted to exist available again in September 2021; we'll keep an center out for it.)

As for bigger groups, we concluded that the best choice for families with three to 5 members is a cabin-style tent rated for six people that's also tall enough for an adult to stand in. Some experienced camper-parents we talked with wanted a much smaller tent—these were by and large people who had transferred their pre-parenthood, minimalist backpacking ethic (and aesthetic) to car camping. Others wanted to get large, with multiple rooms for kids of different ages, and maybe a separate room for the dog and the gear. (We think that past the time the kids are old enough to demand their own room, everyone volition exist happier if they just have their own tent.) A couple of our favorite tents come in larger sizes to satisfy go-big campers.

"When yous camp with kids, you camp with a lot of gear," Olsson, author of The Downwardly and Muddied Guide to Camping ground With Kids, said in an interview. Olsson has iii kids, a dog, and a 6-foot-two-inch husband. Bigger is better when it comes to car camping ground, she told united states. "Await for a base-campsite-style tent that is meant for when y'all pull up in your car and pitch your tent right there." All of the tents we considered fall into that category.

How we picked

An array of "four-person" car-camping ground tents. Photo: Caleigh Waldman

The showtime step in finding the best car-camping ground tents was for u.s.a. to narrow downwards the field. After about 20 hours of studying online reviews and company websites, as well as time spent consulting with frequent campers (both with and without kids) and considering our ain diverse car-camping experiences, nosotros found that the best machine-camping tents pulled in high marks on the following criteria:

Size: A four-person dome-style tent takes upwardly, on average, roughly sixty square feet, which is enough room for a full-size air mattress and 2 people, plus their gear, or for iii occupants sleeping on more-common camping pads, along with their gear. Nosotros concluded that for a family tent, the footprint should mensurate between 80 and 100 square feet: plenty space for a double-bed-size air mattress and ii smaller Thermarest-blazon sleeping pads; or for five sleeping pads and a line of duffle bags; or for a queen-size air mattress, a pack-and-play crib, and a huge domestic dog. We too found that the minimum peak interior height should be 6 feet, allowing about adults to comfortably stand up upright within (and to lull a cranky baby to sleep by rocking dorsum and along while continuing). These dimensions give you a tent that'southward a good size for most families, with room to grow.

Size matters less when you lot're car camping, simply bulk is still something to consider. The Coleman Instant Motel (left) takes up a lot of space. Photograph: Dan Koeppel

Weatherproofing and durability: Any tent should be able to stay dry in a calorie-free shower, and a skillful dome-style tent should too be able to withstand high winds and driving rain without pitching or collapsing. We assumed that nearly car campers would likely not exist camping in snow, so nosotros focused on three-flavour models instead. Near of the tents we looked at could handle an unexpected flurry or a coating of frost, only nosotros wouldn't intentionally take them on a winter-camping ground trip.

It's natural to focus on the quality of a tent'due south rain fly—y'all need that piece to work when the skies open up. Just according to our experts, the durability of the floor of your tent is actually more important. "Generally, I would rather take a high-quality floor cloth than a high-quality fly fabric," tent designer Bob Howe told us. If a tent has a coated fly and steep walls, fifty-fifty if that fabric isn't of the all-time quality, "it's going to shed most of the rainfall; y'all'll seldom accept problems with leaking." (Most of today's tents take seams that are sealed with heat tape at the factory.) A difference in flooring quality, however, will likely go obvious fairly quickly as you lot use and abuse the tent. No tent is impervious to floor punctures, though. Howe, who has developed models for nearly every major tent maker, including Easton, Marmot, REI, Sierra Designs, and The North Face, said that when it comes to a tent flooring, 2 lightweight layers are oftentimes stronger than one heavy layer; he suggested using a groundsheet or footprint, even with a high-quality tent floor. For any tent you buy, nosotros recommend also purchasing a companion footprint, if one is bachelor. A footprint doesn't take up much space, is relatively inexpensive, and is much easier to repair or supercede than a tent bottom if it tears.

Materials: A tent's materials are, of course, important. Howe explained to us the pros and cons of dissimilar types of poles: Aluminum poles are far lighter and slide together more easily, while fiberglass and steel are often trickier to fit together but are stronger in high winds.

Howe besides told us near tent walls and flies. On almost tents, these components are fabricated of either nylon or polyester. "A nylon tent is much stretchier," he said, "and can absorb a lot more stupor," which can be an reward in the backcountry, where your but option in a windstorm is to ride it out inside your tent. Only in sudden, violent storms, car campers always accept the easy (if peradventure pathetic) option of collapsing their tents and retreating to their cars.

Nylon is besides more susceptible to UV harm, which, equally Howe pointed out, is a peak tent killer. In the backcountry, campers are generally making army camp each evening and then packing upwards again in the morning, whereas motorcar campers generally go out their tents upward for much longer periods of time, increasing the textile's UV exposure. (Howe suggested setting a tent upwardly in the shade to prolong its life.) Polyester is stiffer and heavier but not every bit susceptible to UV impairment, and information technology doesn't absorb water like nylon does, Howe told united states. It'southward also less expensive. The takeaway here is that polyester is arguably the better cloth for auto campers, who frequently want to pitch their tents in a sunny spot.

To compare tent fabrics, you as well need to know their overall rip strength. For nearly fabrics, rip forcefulness is expressed as a measurement of the diameter of the fibers in their thread, or a denier—the higher the denier, the stronger the material. We establish 40 denier upwardly to 150 denier to be typical for car-camping tents; you tin can read more about these measurements in gear manufacturer MSR'due south weblog mail service and in this Outside article. As for waterproof coatings, tent makers generally care for the fabrics with a water-repellent coating described in millimeters; 1,200 mm to 3,000 mm is the typical range plant on family tents. That number does not refer to the thickness of the coating or the textile; instead, it measures a specific test of water pressure, namely, how many millimeters of h2o can sit down on pinnacle of the material before water starts leaking through. (As a Coleman product managing director told us, "Nothing's waterproof, non even submarines. Given the correct conditions anything will leak.") A higher number means ameliorate h2o resistance, but such stronger coatings aren't always necessary: As this MSR blog mail service explains, "the more than coating yous add, the heavier and more rigid the fabric becomes, and—later a signal—the more than susceptible to tearing." A typical umbrella has a rating of just 420 mm, the company's experts signal out, and information technology does just fine at keeping yous dry.

Although nosotros wanted to understand the pros and cons of various tent materials, we didn't want to become blinded by a "best is always better" philosophy, especially with regard to our picks for family tents. Both Olsson and Howe emphasized that a great family tent is one that gets more kids outside—which means 1 that's affordable to most families.

Ease of setup: We looked for dummy-proof tents that were intuitive to set upwards, that a lone person could erect fairly speedily. If you've e'er arrived at a campsite later on night with two small kids who take been stewing in the backseat for hours, you know that dealing with a tent is ofttimes a 1-person task. We've besides found that a car-camping ground tent is the kind of particular your friends may want to borrow from fourth dimension to time. Those friends may well be novice campers, so we wanted something that the uninitiated merely reasonably intelligent could cock, fifty-fifty if the original instructions had disappeared long agone. (You're going to lose the instructions. Everyone loses the instructions.)

Spread the tent out. Cock your poles. Cross them 1 over the other above the tent. Connect 1 pole to the canopy at the corners. Attach the canopy to the pole with the provided clips, making sure to arrange the fabric if necessary. Repeat on the other side. Tent tented. Photograph: Caleigh Waldman

We also wanted cocky-continuing tents, which stay up on their own before you lot stake them downwards. Even with a self-standing tent, ideally you should stake down each corner securely; in some crowded campgrounds, nonetheless, finding a flat spot with soil soft plenty to exercise that can be difficult. A tent that requires staking to stand up upwardly is unwieldy—particularly a larger, six-person tent—and it's impossible to gear up on a difficult surface, such as blacktop or on the raised wooden tent decks necessary in some sensitive or rocky environments.

It is too of import to consider the way in which the tent poles attach to the tent. Many of our picks use grommet attachments, which are more than secure and simple to repair if annihilation should happen.

Grommet (left) and fundamental attachments are the 2 most mutual ways of securing tent poles to the base of a tent. A grommet zipper is more secure and simple to repair if you need to, which you probably won't. The pole itself is more likely to intermission earlier a grommet does. Photo: Caleigh Waldman

Some of our tent picks besides have guy-line systems that secure their outer pelting fly—although most people probably won't need to use those oft. Guy-line systems are somewhat unique to each tent, with every model boasting its own specific rope bites and necktie-downs. (Kit scoured YouTube tutorials and found this video to be the nigh informative tutorial on guy lines. With this video and a little do, y'all'll soon exist pitching tents like a pro.)

Cost: Machine-camping tents should be relatively inexpensive. They don't need to be the tiptop of the line or made of the lightest possible materials or the most advanced fabrics (something you'd probable look for in a pure backpacking tent). In fact, one could contend that in some cases, such as at a festival or another public event, these covetable $.25 of equipment could exist a liability when you lot're abandoning your tent in a field for most of the day. We decided that the tents for this guide should non be precious items—but they shouldn't be disposable, either.

When it came to price, our informal surveys institute that most couples considered between $150 and $300 to exist a reasonable corporeality to pay for a four-person tent. So we didn't expect at anything with a list toll to a higher place $350 at the fourth dimension of testing (some models have since crossed that barrier). For six-person tents meeting our size criteria, prices ranged from almost $100 to nearly $600. Those same breezy surveys found that virtually families considered between $200 and $400 to be a reasonable corporeality to pay for a tent for family motorcar camping, so nosotros didn't test any tents with a list price of more than than $450 at that time (again, some take since gotten more expensive). In general, tents in that upper price range are made for harsher conditions than the typical car-camping family is probable to encounter or are focused every bit much on hip, retro aesthetics every bit on kid-friendly utility. (We tin can't deny loving the wait of classic canvas on tents from Kodiak and Springbar, though.)

Extra features: Pole strength and arrangements, rain-fly tie-downs, door construction, zipper forcefulness, and gear-loft placements all play a office in the overall condolement and enjoyment of your tent. We likewise considered privacy, vestibules, extra headroom, and any other bonuses.

One time nosotros had our criteria nailed downwards, we scoured Amazon reviews of four- and half-dozen-person tents, as well every bit owner and professional reviews on sites such every bit Backcountry, Cabela'south, Campmor, Dick'due south Sporting Goods, Eastern Mountain Sports, GearJunkie, GearLab, 50.L.Bean, and REI. We perused the lines of top outdoor companies like Big Agnes, Marmot, and The North Face. And we studied the offerings of big-box stores including Costco, Sears, Target, and Walmart. We so requested test samples of the models that met our established criteria and besides had a consistent tape of positive reviews.

We knew that we wouldn't exist comparison apples to apples. Across their general size, the tents in our test group were very unlike from i some other, with a wide array of pole configurations and window, door, and roof designs. And several accept features that are far from essential, such as protruding storage "garages" for keeping gear out of sight, gear hammocks that permit you lot hang stuff from the ceiling, cogitating roof panels to increase lantern low-cal, hanging iPad sleeves, and born doormats. In our evaluations, nosotros focused on basic part and blueprint, looking for large mesh windows to provide a cross breeze in squeamish weather; convenient, built-in pockets for stashing motorcar keys, headlamps, and spectacles; zippers that pull smoothly; and a fly that's quick and easy to get on and off as the conditions shifts.

How (and where) nosotros tested

Nosotros took some tents to Greggs Hideout, on the Arizona side of Lake Mead. Photo: Caleigh Waldman

Nosotros tested the smaller tents and the larger, family unit-size tents in two separate groups. To evaluate the small tents in real-world situations, we took them showtime to Greggs Hideout, on the Arizona side of Lake Mead. During our tests in this expanse, temperatures reached upwards of 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and at night, equally the sands cooled, whipping windstorms kicked up around us. It got so hot one afternoon that we spent the day taking shifts in the car, cooling our photography equipment while monitoring ourselves for signs of heatstroke and dehydration. If tents tin can withstand those conditions, they'll withstand just nigh anything.

We besides tested at the Mount Oak Campground, located an hour or so east of Los Angeles, where at night the temperatures stay much cooler than in the surrounding valleys. Here, we also faced an onslaught of no-encounter-ums (or biting gnats). Our testing as well included sitting through thunderstorms on the public country just south of the Hualapai Indian Reservation, near the Thou Coulee. Finally, Kit somewhat cheekily borrowed many of these tents and thrust them into the hands of guests at his own wedding. Several couples with various levels of camping feel slept in these tents at the nuptials, giving united states of america their impressions and helping us whittle the grouping down to the finalists.

A quartet of family tents in Southern California'southward Angeles National Woods. From left to right: Coleman's 6-Person Instant Cabin, Eureka'due south Jade Canyon 6, REI'south Base Camp six Tent, and Eureka's Copper Canyon 6 Sixty. Photo: Dan Koeppel

To test the family-size tents, we planned a series of weekend camping trips with a full of 12 California families, all with kids between the ages of 9 months and nine years. The first was an early February trip to Indian Cove Campground, in Joshua Tree National Park, where daytime temperatures in the high 70s (Fahrenheit) plunged to the mid-30s at night. Our second trip, in early March, was to the oceanside Sycamore Canyon Campground (PDF), in Oxnard, California, where we experienced balmy temperatures in the 50s and 60s, likewise as a rain, early morn downpour and tearing gusts that sent camp chairs and picnic shelters hurtling into nearby woods—the best testing conditions we could have hoped for. (A afterward check of the conditions at nearby Point Mugu Naval Air Station confirmed that the recorded winds had topped 40 miles per hour.) A third trip brought us to Wheeler Gorge Campground, outside Ojai, California, in Apr 2016. A year later, in early Apr 2017, nosotros took another group trip to Point Mugu, in an attempt to evaluate iii boosted family tents. Before and after these weekend trips, nosotros turned a neighbor's large, apartment 1000 into a tent testing ground. We erected nigh of the original tents just in advance of a 24-hour rain, checked for leaking midstorm, and watched for puddles and dampness in the aftermath.

After days of assembling and disassembling tents, you get very grateful for anything that snaps together in a few easy steps. Photo: Caleigh Waldman

To test the smaller tents, we first opened them, splayed out their parts, and tried to put them together without consulting the instructions. We assembled and disassembled the tents on all of our testing sites multiple times. Basic dome tent structures remain largely the same, so setting upwards all of our picks was relatively straightforward. Nosotros tried the pelting wing for each tent also, one time rushing to get several of them upwards during an unexpected rainstorm at night. Again, our tiptop picks stood out for their simplicity in a tense state of affairs. (We did need to refer once to the REI Base of operations Military camp instructions, conveniently sewn into the carrying example, to ostend our pole arrangements.)

So we used the tents. We wanted to know how it felt to be inside them for long periods of time. Did we feel claustrophobic or rejuvenated? If we had to spend a mean solar day in the tent during a storm, would it be comfortable? After first removing the models that failed the structural tests, we slept, watched the stars, and ate our meals in all of the tents, as well as planned hikes from them.

Most of the tents nosotros tested were roughly as comfy to slumber in. However, those that provided the best dark'due south slumber all seemed to have some features in mutual: accessible gear pouches and enough of carabiner loops in the ceiling. And we found ourselves feeling rather affectionate toward models with zippers that didn't snag when we tried to open them, probably because and then many of the cheaper tents failed this simple test.

Fiberglass poles are a trivial more bad-mannered than aluminum ones. It's unavoidable. They do not cooperate in the same way. Photo: Caleigh Waldman

For the family tents, we observed the difficulty and duration of the setup process for each one, and we asked each family, during and after each trip, for feedback on the experience of sleeping in their tent and on specific qualities they liked and disliked. We constitute some mutual themes. Merely about every family appreciated a tent that was quick and intuitive to set upwards. And the families universally praised tents that had mesh roofs with little obstruction, and that had built-in pockets within easy reach of a sleeping position.

We timed the i-person setup for each tent, and we afterward clocked the time it took for one person to break downwards the tent and get information technology back in its handbag. We also repeatedly zipped and unzipped doors and windows, looking for annoying snags. In spring 2017, we put up our three new contenders in the aforementioned neighbor's yard and left them at that place for a couple of weeks, during which fourth dimension we had the risk to encounter how they responded to two smaller rainstorms. None of them leaked. In 2020, we tested the updated version of the Eureka Copper Canyon 6—renamed the Copper Canyon LX 6—to make sure we notwithstanding idea it was the best. We did.

Our selection for two people: Kelty Grand Mesa iv

Shown here: the original model of the M Mesa 4 that nosotros tested. Photo: Caleigh Waldman

Our pick

Kelty Grand Mesa 4

The best motorcar-camping tent for two

Piece of cake both to gear up up and to pack away, the Grand Mesa four is reasonably priced. The mostly mesh design excels in warm weather, when you want to do zippo but await at the stars. Information technology too has a full fly for rainy nights or when you're at crowded campgrounds.

A pelting fly can be something of a hindrance if you live in a dry climate. In Southern California, for instance, the cloudless sky most e'er leads to starry nights if you're far enough away from the metropolis. Rain is rare. So if y'all love to take in the grandeur of those celestial nights through a barely there canopy, the Kelty Grand Mesa 4 was made for you. (And should you live in a non-so-dry climate, this tent comes with a full rain wing. In addition, Kelty sells a companion footprint for the Thou Mesa 4, which we recommend that yous become.)

On one dark in the desert, our testers tried to stuff the tent with a total-size air mattress. It simply just fit, and it had the strange benefit of raising them up above the skirt wall of the tent for a full view of the desert sky and valley. Photo: Caleigh Waldman

With four sides of no-run into-um mesh and a depression, 1-foot skirt wall, the Kelty Grand Mesa 4 was the favorite tent at our Arizona-desert test location. Non only could we lookout man the night sky for miles, but the Kelty'south low walls also allowed the desert winds to blow right through the tent. Instead of trying to fight those breezes, this tent seemed to absorb them, sheltering and keeping us cool without collapsing like a sail. When nosotros tested during 100-caste Fahrenheit nights, costless airflow was a definite benefit—merely you'd probably want to put up the rain fly if temperatures began to drib.

Supported by a pair of tensioned aluminum poles, the Grand Mesa's polyester canopy is fastened to its frame by a series of plastic clips. Most of our picks have this design (except for the REI Base Military camp four and Base Army camp 6, which also thread their poles through sleeves sewn into the dome itself). The clips on the G Mesa are unique, though, among those of the tents nosotros tested, both for their force and design: The double-locking machinery offers a tighter bite forth the tent pole and an audible snap when information technology's secured. (Note that Kelty has released an updated version of the M Mesa four that incorporates sleeves at the base of each corner of the tent, in improver to the clips higher upwardly; we'll be testing that version when we can get 1.)

We especially liked the clips on the Grand Mesa, which emitted a comfortingly audible snap when they were put in place. Photo: Caleigh Waldman

The Thousand Mesa'south pelting fly is easy to attach to the tent with plastic buckles and guy lines, and it adds a vestibule to the front of the tent that gives you 14 square anxiety of infinite, in addition to the tent'south 55-foursquare-foot area. Information technology'south not much, but it's enough to store any extra gear you don't want to elevate inside. Ane more word in favor of using a rain fly: condensation. Moisture volition inevitably build up inside your tent. Condensation (video) is worse in wet and boiling conditions, and also when you have a big temperature difference between the inside and the exterior of a tent. Condensation is not leakage, but should you accept a breathable inner layer, the condensation will gather on the fly instead of on the interior of the tent itself.

The M Mesa's full rain wing lends a pocket-size corporeality of vestibule infinite for storing extra gear. Photo: Caleigh Waldman

Weighing just vi pounds 13 ounces, the Grand Mesa 4 is light plenty to use as a backpacking tent in its ain right, too.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Our just quibble with this tent is that it has only i door, which sometimes means waking your partner if you're trying to find a snack or you need to exit the tent in the centre of the dark. The tent also has just a single ventilation port, but the fully exposed sides allow for enough of air motility beneath the rain fly.

Our pick for families: Eureka Copper Canyon 60 6

Shown hither: the original model of Eureka'south Copper Canyon 6 that we tested. Photo: Dan Koeppel

Our choice

After examining more than 20 six-person tents online and comparing 10 of them side by side on family car-camping trips, nosotros concluded that the Eureka Copper Canyon 6 (the electric current version is the Eureka Copper Canyon 60 6) is our favorite tent for nearly motorcar-camping families. Of all the models we tested, it offers the best balance of generous interior space, ease of setup, expert durability, and reasonable cost. For an boosted $150 to $200, you can become a tent from a more-elite brand that volition weigh five to 10 pounds less, pack slightly smaller, and use arguably superior materials, such as lightweight aluminum poles and coated nylon, instead of steel, fiberglass, and coated polyester. But those higher-end tents—sometimes super-size versions of tents the same companies make for backpacking—are also less spacious, harder to fix, and arguably no more than durable than the Eureka Copper Canyon 60 6, a tent that was conspicuously purpose-congenital for family unit car-camping ground.

If you regularly army camp in pelting and need a vestibule—that's the camping give-and-take for "mudroom"—you should consider a more than serious tent, like our upgrade pick, the REI Base of operations Camp 6. Simply if yous're a off-white-conditions camper, save your money: The Eureka tent will come across your family'due south needs.

The boxlike Copper Canyon LX half dozen is easy to prepare, and one person tin can cock it in xv minutes or less. Working together, ii people familiar with the tent can set it upwardly in most five minutes. Our testers plant this tent to be amidst the near intuitive to set upwards and take down of all the tents we slept in. The seven-human foot eye meridian, virtually-vertical walls, and 10-past-10-foot footprint put the Copper Coulee amid the roomiest of the tents we tested. The all-mesh roof provides aplenty ventilation and is ideal for stargazing: One dad accepted to solid tent roofs said the view from his bag during the start dark in Joshua Tree brought tears to his eyes.

Five-million-star view: peering through the Copper Canyon 6'south stargazer-friendly mesh roof. Photo: Dan Koeppel

The Copper Coulee besides has large mesh windows on all four sides. When all the windows are open, being inside the tent is almost similar existence outdoors. When they're closed, the solid walls provide wind protection, even if the wing remains off. Nosotros also liked the versatile windows for privacy reasons: Nigh of the other tents we tested—including the more than-expensive Marmot Limestone 6P, Mountain Hardwear Optic half-dozen, and The N Confront Kaiju half-dozen—have mesh walls. Mesh walls are appealing when you have a private camping spot and want to gaze out at a lovely view, but not and so much when you lot want privacy in a crowded campground.

The Copper Canyon Sixty 6 is the least-expensive option in a line that as well includes Eureka'due south similar Jade Canyon X6. Although we liked the pricier variants well plenty, we generally don't think that they're worth the markup for the actress features.

Room with a view: the Copper Canyon half-dozen's picture-window screen door. Photo: Dan Koeppel

Unlike the forerunner to the Jade Canyon X6, the Eureka Jade Canyon half-dozen, which nosotros also tested, the Copper Canyon has heavy poles made of fiberglass and steel. We establish out firsthand during our camping trip to California'due south Point Mugu that the added weight besides ways added strength. Although the Copper Canyon twisted in on itself in high winds—specially after its inhabitants, who were previously weighing it downward, emerged for breakfast—its poles suffered no impairment. Meanwhile, the aluminum poles on the Jade Canyon 6 and on the more than-expensive North Face tent were aptitude and permanently damaged by the same winds. (The Jade Canyon X6 still has the same aluminum poles.)

We talked through the Copper Coulee's specs with Ryan Flynn, sales director for Johnson Outdoors, Eureka'due south parent visitor. Flynn told us that the advantage of the lighter aluminum poles found in the company's Jade Coulee tent is purely about weight. The Copper Canyon'south rugged steel-and-fiberglass poles are actually preferable for what he chosen "gratis-country" camping (motorcar camping on Bureau of Country Management land, for instance) and for anywhere else where weight wouldn't exist an issue.

Playing favorites: the less-expensive Copper Canyon 6 (center) and its sibling Jade Canyon 6 (left). We preferred the Copper Coulee. Photo: Dan Koeppel

The Copper Coulee'southward lower price is partly related to the blanket materials, according to Flynn. Whereas the Copper Canyon LX has a 1,200 mm waterproof blanket, the Jade Coulee X6 has an 2,000 mm coating (more on what those coatings are all about hither). Flynn explained: "Do the actress coatings mean a whole lot? It's like going from buying Patagonia'south H2No jacket to Patagonia's Gore-Tex jacket. Both proceed yous dry and warm. They do the same matter."

Kalee bought the Copper Coulee tent for her own utilise in 2010 or 2011, around the time her first son was born. Her decision at the time was based entirely on Amazon reviews and cost—the tent is consistently cheaper than models of a similar size from higher-terminate brands, and information technology gets swell reviews from Amazon customers. Since so, she and her family have used the tent between 5 and ten nights a year and experienced no problems in terms of ripped fabric, broken zippers, or aptitude poles. Those lower-level coatings have stood up just fine to multiple rainstorms. In 2020, Kalee tested the Copper Canyon LX 6, a slightly redesigned version (the first fourth dimension in ten years that the tent had been modified) of the Copper Canyon 6 that we tested originally. She came to the conclusion that the (few) changes were for the improve. The pelting wing at present extends up and out over the forepart door; it's still not a true vestibule, but the footling canopy is an improvement over the old fly, which provided no protection for the doorway. The carrying bag is likewise sturdier and—thanks to an additional zipper and a shoulder strap—much easier to use. The tent is, she believes, nevertheless the best selection for families who want something spacious and affordable that's easy to put up and take downwardly.

The Copper Coulee'due south windows provide great views and ventilation, but you tin can close them for campground privacy. Photograph: Dan Koeppel

Y'all know who else slept in a Eureka? Sir Edmund Hillary. He used the innovative (at the time) Eureka Draw-Tite in a return Everest expedition in 1960. Eureka went on to make the shelters for the first entirely American trek to Everest, sponsored by National Geographic in 1963. The company still makes tents for use in the harshest places on earth, but information technology besides understands that a tent for your summer route trip looks not at all the same.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The boxy shape is not swell in high winds, and the tent's stakes are the opposite of heavy-duty. Nosotros surmised, perchance accurately, that simply the weight of our bodies inside the tent prevented it from ripping out of the ground and blowing away with the biggest gusts of our Pacific Declension windstorm.

The 1,200 mm coating on the Copper Coulee's flooring is less h2o-resistant than the 2,000 mm coating used on the floor of the pricier Jade Canyon, also as on many of the other tents nosotros tested, though we have non had a problem with a leaky flooring. As did nearly all of the tent companies we asked, Eureka recommends that campers use a tarp or ground cloth for added protection. We've noticed that people who use difficult-toed furniture, such as rigid cots or a Pack 'n Play, inside the tent besides often use a Mexican coating or thin rug over the floor for added protection and warmth; nosotros retrieve this is a cracking idea.

The Copper Canyon isn't the best tent for adverse conditions, similar the freak windstorm that hit during one of our testing trips. Withal, this Eureka tent's heavy steel-and-fiberglass poles took no damage during the storm, while lightweight aluminum poles on other tents did. Photo: Alberto Brian Vega

Upgrade picks: REI Co-op Base Camp four Tent and Base Military camp 6 Tent

Shown here: the original REI Co-op Base Camp iv that we tested. Photograph: Caleigh Waldman

Upgrade pick

If you're heading into an area with unpredictable conditions, yous'll need a tent that has extra reinforcements and a full pelting wing, to create a large and protected foyer. Your tent should also be large enough to protect you and your gear. After many hours of testing, the REI Co-op Base of operations Military camp 4 Tent (for two people) and REI Co-op Base Camp 6 Tent (for families) rose to the top of the pile as the tents that best deliver on those requirements—if yous can afford to spend a bit more. (REI makes dedicated footprints for both the Base of operations Camp 4 and the Base Camp 6, and we recommend that you purchase one to protect your tent'southward floor.)

On the original model we tested, shown here, the front end antechamber added roughly 23 foursquare feet of covered space; on the 2018 model, it adds 27 square feet. Photograph: Caleigh Waldman

Superior anteroom infinite helped both the Base Camp 4 and the Base Camp six rising to the elevation of their corresponding test groups. On the Base Camp 4's original model, which nosotros tested, the two vestibules (front and rear) added up to xl.5 foursquare feet (the area of the tent itself was 60 square feet); on the updated version, released in 2018, the two vestibules take grown slightly, totaling 44 square feet. (The area of the tent itself remains the aforementioned, at sixty foursquare feet.) As for the Base of operations Military camp 6, the vestibule area covered by its front fly and rear fly decreased from near 65 square feet on the original model we tested to 44 square anxiety in the 2018 model. Nonetheless, that'southward more than vestibule space than nosotros saw in any other tent nosotros considered, except for The North Face's Kaiju 6, which has since been discontinued. (The Large Agnes Big Firm 6 as well has a large antechamber, but you must purchase that separately, for an actress $140.)

It takes ii people about 4 minutes to fix the Base of operations Camp 4. Photos: Caleigh Waldman

The other changes made in the 2018 models of both Base Campsite models include the addition of a low side vent and more stuff pockets on the walls and ceiling. As well, those walls are now made of polyester instead of nylon—we'll monitor them in long-term testing to see how they clothing. These tents are strictly meant for automobile camping; the Base of operations Camp 4 and the Base Campsite six counterbalance 16 and 21 pounds, respectively, and so yous won't want to carry either ane very far. This is peculiarly true with the 2018 redesigns because you lot can no longer clothing either tent's storage sack like a backpack—yous now take to sling it over one shoulder.

Panoramic overhead views plus convenient pockets for stowing unzipped doors—skilful thinking. Photo: Dan Koeppel

Both Base Military camp models take ii doors and lots of mesh in the primary tent body. The mesh on each starts loftier on the walls—more than than 4 anxiety from the footing—which makes the Base of operations Camp 6 the rare high-end family shelter that offers privacy without the fly attached. (The mesh on most of the family tents we tested started much closer to the basis.) We call back this blueprint is a big plus for people who regularly camp in crowded campgrounds and don't like to become naked in front of strangers. And you can unzip the front door, remove it, and neatly stash information technology into ane of the tent'due south internal pockets—a useful characteristic if yous're feeling sociable.

The Base of operations Camp half dozen is uncomplicated but comfortable, with a forepart door that zips off and solid walls that enhance privacy. Photo: Dan Koeppel

If anything happens to your Base Camp, REI's warranty and replacement program has an impressive reputation. Kit lived in the 2013 version of the larger Base Camp six for seven months, and it stayed up the entire time—with the tent poles under constant tension—that is, until two of the poles snapped within a week of each other. After a brusque phone call, REI offered him a total replacement. (This was before Kit started reviewing tents for Wirecutter, so REI didn't know who he was.)

You can adjust the Base of operations Camp 4'southward rain-fly vents from inside the tent through a simple zipper opening. Photo: Caleigh Waldman

The geodesic structure used in the Base Camp tents is built to withstand wind and pelting. It has ii primary cantankerous supports that thread through sleeves, stretching between the four corners of the tent. Generally, we like the prune-on blueprint better, since it's easier to put together. But in the case of the Base of operations Camp models, the sleeves add together extra tension and stability throughout the tent fabric. There are besides ii poles that cantankerous over each doorway and down the sides of the tent, to add extra shape and support. The rain fly has an additional tent pole, too, to support the antechamber. Overall, these poles contribute to a particularly sturdy structure, with or without the rain fly. During our testing, our Base Camp shrugged off both a rainstorm and a desert windstorm as if they were nothing.

The original REI Base of operations Military camp half dozen, shown hither, uses a simple, stiff pole structure; the slightly redesigned 2018 version of the tent has a square base of operations, for increased stability. Photograph: Dan Koeppel

In the 2018 update, the Base Camp 6's base changed from a rectangular shape to a well-nigh foursquare design, which adds even more stability. The tent covers an area similar to that of the seemingly more popular REI Kingdom 6 (84 square feet for the Base Camp 6, versus 83.3 square feet for the Kingdom vi), but the Base Camp half dozen has a very unlike appearance. The Kingdom 6, which typically costs most $xxx more than than the Base Military camp 6, has a distinctive half-barrel design and a smaller entrance hall than the Base Army camp 6. Judging from conversations with owners of both the Base Campsite half dozen and the Kingdom 6—besides as discussions with our local REI salespeople and a careful review of tent specs—we think the Base of operations Camp 6 is the amend option for people who desire a tent that can stand up to harsh, 3-season conditions. Rodney Hsueh, a longtime employee at the REI shop in Arcadia, California, told the states he always recommended the Base Campsite 6 over the Kingdom 6 for campers who were headed for windy locales. If you're willing to spend elevation dollar for a tent that volition stand to the elements and go on you comfortable in rain and mud—likewise as offering privacy at a crowded campground—the REI Co-op Base Army camp 4 and 6 are the clear choices.

As well keen for families: Coleman 6-Person Instant Motel

Photo: Dan Koeppel

Too great

Coleman is the "lowest brand" when it comes to tents, and the Coleman half-dozen-Person Instant Cabin ranks amid the company's most popular family tents for skillful reason: With a simple but comfy design, it remains easier and faster to set up than any other similarly sized tent we could find. The tent'south telescoping poles are pre-attached to the fabric; to cock the tent, you just extend them. (Coleman claims setup takes 60 seconds. It took us 2 minutes and 29 seconds on the first try, and betwixt 1 and 2 minutes in one case nosotros were familiar with the tent, which we notwithstanding consider to be quite impressive.)

The Coleman tent's poles telescope with the button of a button. Photo: Dan Koeppel

The boxy tent is similar in style to our superlative pick, the Eureka Copper Coulee LX 6, but information technology falls short of that tent in several ways. The Coleman tent is noticeably smaller, with a footprint of ninety square feet, versus the Eureka'southward 100 foursquare feet. With a half-dozen-foot-2-inch heart height, this tent's roof is near 10 inches lower than the Eureka'south. The bathtub-shaped floor (the floor curves up a couple of inches into the walls at the edges) is made of polyethylene. Tent makers use this heavy, crunchy, tarp-like textile in cheaper models, and it'south unlikely to be as durable as the softer, stronger polyester in the Copper Canyon LX 6 and most of the other tents we looked at.

The characteristic we missed near with the Instant Cabin, though, was the Copper Canyon 6's mesh roof. The Coleman Instant Cabin doesn't have a fly at all (though y'all can purchase a "rain fly accessory"). So to protect against rain, the tent employs a solid, coated-polyester roof—though some reviewers have complained that it doesn't ever protect well.

The Coleman's floor is made of a crunchy, tarp-like textile. Photo: Dan Koeppel

Nevertheless, we think the Instant Motel is a solid selection for casual campers who don't desire any hassle with setup and who would be likely to cancel their plans—or retreat to a nearby motel—if prolonged downpours were in the forecast. Most Amazon reviewers agree.

The Coleman Instant Cabin comes in a couple of other sizes, including a two-room, eight-person model that feels almost twice as big every bit the six-person tent.

Budget option for families: Coleman Sundome 6-Person Tent

Photo: Coleman

Budget pick

The square footprint, ample windows, and functional wing of the Coleman Sundome vi-Person Tent make it a good choice for occasional or backyard campers who want an inexpensive tent that's easy to put up and that looks and feels reasonably nice to camp in.

Different a couple of other cheap tents nosotros've tested over the past two years, the Coleman Sundome has a simple shape and pole design that should be like shooting fish in a barrel for fifty-fifty inexperienced campers to figure out. The base is a square: Ii identical fiberglass poles feed through sleeves on the tent roof to form an 10. Pegs at the corners of the tent sideslip into the ends of the poles, and then the dome-shaped tent pops up (video). The divide wing uses a third, shorter pole to form protective peaks over the single door and back window. In our tests, an experienced camper took just near six minutes on the first try to ready the tent body lone and stake it out. Getting the wing placed and staked properly took about five more minutes. That'due south pretty fast.

And although the Sundome isn't about as quick to gear up as the same Coleman Instant Motel, experienced campers who don't care as much about setup time may find several other reasons to similar the Sundome ameliorate. Measuring 10 by 10 feet, the Sundome covers a slightly larger surface area (100 square feet) than the Instant Cabin, though its dome roof leaves it with significantly less headroom. (The Sundome's center height is exactly half-dozen feet, while the Coleman Instant Cabin and the REI Base Camp both have a center summit of 6 feet 2 inches.)

Like the Base of operations Military camp, but unlike the Instant Cabin, the Sundome has mesh high up, to facilitate stargazing when you utilize the tent without the wing on warm nights (2 of the iv walls take mesh from about thigh top upwardly to the roof). That mesh besides keeps the tent feeling more airy and cool in hot climates than the more closed-in (and dark) Instant Motel. Overall, nosotros thought that the Sundome looked and felt more cheery both inside and out than the Instant Cabin.

Similar to the Instant Cabin, the Sundome has a crunchy, tarp-similar polyethylene floor; Coleman makes no dedicated footprints for its tents, so we propose that you buy a groundsheet. The tent has 2 small, internal pockets—fewer than any of our other family picks—and a loop at the ceiling center to hang a small, lightweight lantern or other low-cal. It as well comes with a petty doormat. The tent weighs just 16 pounds, less than any other family tent nosotros tested for this guide.

The Sundome is highly rated on Amazon; owners call it "no-nonsense" and "roomy without being huge." Although our test tent lasted through two moderate showers with no leaking, exist enlightened that a couple of Amazon buyers take experienced leaking in rainstorms and poles breaking in high winds. When it comes to tents, yous tend to get pretty shut to what y'all pay for. If you're likely to be camping in downpours or high winds, don't rely on a sub-$100 tent.

Care, use, and maintenance

We plant that company representatives are reluctant to estimate the lifespan of their tents. When pushed, most of those we talked to estimated 5 to x years, though the actual lifespan will vary widely depending on intendance and frequency of utilize (for more advice, read REI'south first-class tips). In researching this guide, we heard multiple tales of careful campers who'd been using the same tent for 15 years or more.

There are several straightforward ways to make any tent last longer:

• Utilise a groundsheet. A footprint made by the aforementioned company that made your tent and that is sized to match is ideal for preventing pooling water—and avoiding the wrinkles and crumply sound of a cheap, $10 tarp. That said, a cheap tarp will do the job just fine as long every bit you buy it or cutting it to fit. A tarp that's likewise big will collect rainwater off the fly and funnel it right under the tent.
• Make clean your campsite. Before you lot lay out your footprint and tent, make a reasonable effort to remove from the site any small stones, sticks, and briars that could puncture your tent floor.
• Set some ground rules. "Your tent is your sanctuary," said camping good Helen Olsson, who would always bring a "play tent"—an old, two-person backpacking tent—for her petty kids to utilize every bit a daytime play space. When they were in the "real" tent, everyone followed Olsson's "No shoes in the tent" rule.
• Zip it up. Similarly, proceed your tent zipped to keep bugs and critters out, and become a pro zipper user: A thumb placed in the area forward of the direction you're pulling the zipper will clear the fabric path and help forbid snags.
• Sweep out before packing. Tiny pebbles or sticks packed inside the tent can rub and erode the fabric over fourth dimension. Some other nice matter virtually tents that retain their structure without being staked is that a couple of people should exist able to team up to lift the tent and shake out detritus before removing the poles and putting the tent away. Yous could as well follow the lead of blazon-A campers and carry a minor whisk broom and dustpan to keep the tent floor tidy during your trip.
• Dry before storing. "Nothing will destroy a tent faster than mildew," tent designer Bob Howe told us. "And if it doesn't destroy it, it just makes it unlivable." To avoid mildew (and the accompanying stink), never, e'er pack away a tent that'due south yet damp. Line-dry it or hang it upwardly in your basement—or set it upwardly in your garage—until any hint of dampness is gone.

The competition

Inexpensive poles = cheap tents = unhappy campers. Photograph: Caleigh Waldman

Tents for two people

AmazonBasics iv-Person Dome Tent: Similar to every other tent nosotros tested under $150, the AmazonBasics tent but couldn't stand upwardly to the elements. Its fiberglass tent poles were too narrow and flimsy to offering real support against anything but the lightest of winds.

Large Agnes Big House four Tent: This is a cabin-style tent that we tested as a command. We wanted to know whether a dome-style tent was actually meliorate than a motel-manner tent for two people. Though this tent had a trivial more livable space, the broad, flat walls had some problem during high winds.

Large Agnes Rabbit Ears iv Tent: The Rabbit Ears tent, which is now discontinued, would have been decent if it were $seventy cheaper. Our testing just revealed ameliorate options; y'all'll get more for your coin with our other picks.

Coleman Sundome four-Person Dome Tent: Nosotros recommend this tent in its six-person design for families, just the four-person model we tested was too weak to support itself when subjected to even mild wind or pelting.

Coleman 4-Person Pop-Upward Tent: The Pop-Up is packed into a three-human foot-wide carrying instance that, when opened, shoots the tent along like a ophidian-in-a-can gag gift. Presto—at that place's your tent. The only problem is that it'southward non a very good tent, and we charge per unit it simply for backyard duty at best. (And another thing: This tent may exist like shooting fish in a barrel to unpack, only packing it back upwards is a nightmare.)

Eureka Tetragon Hard disk drive 4: The Tetragon wwe tested wasn't as bad equally the Coleman Sundome 4-Person or the AmazonBasics tent, but its fiberglass poles were still weak. (Information technology'southward since been replaced by the Tetragon NX, which has like fiberglass poles.)

Tents for families

Eureka Jade Canyon 6: The Jade Canyon'southward poles are steel and lightweight aluminum instead of the Copper Canyon's fiberglass and steel, and the Jade Canyon is slightly easier to set up. However, in the astringent gusts of our Bespeak Mugu windstorm, 1 of the Jade Canyon's poles bent badly; a couple of other poles aptitude slightly but remained functional. (Eureka will replace poles for effectually $x each.) We also had an issue with two of the Jade Canyon's poles sticking together at takedown, making information technology impossible to get the whole tent back in the already-mode-besides-snug carrying bag. (The Jade Coulee has since been replaced by the Jade Canyon X6, which has similar poles.)

Eureka Desert Canyon vi: This model, which is at present discontinued, came with a larger pelting fly that you lot could detach and use as a standalone shade structure for your military camp. Though you likely wouldn't need the extra rain cover and the extra shade at the aforementioned time, switching the rain wing back and forth during a sudden alter in conditions was frustrating. The tent also didn't have a back window.

Cabela's Westward Wind 6-Person Dome Tent: We didn't include this tent in our original spring 2016 testing because it has a slightly smaller footprint, a lower peak top (half dozen feet iii inches), and a more than complicated blueprint than many other six-person models. But after several readers raved most the tent, nosotros decided to compare it against our existing picks; we did this on a kindergarten camping ground trip to California's Point Mugu, in Apr 2017. The couple who volunteered to try out the tent—along with their 6-year-old twins—struggled for well over half an hour to get information technology up, eventually attracting the attention of other campers, who came to their rescue.

Marmot Limestone 6P: The Limestone 6P was the high-end tent we liked second all-time, afterward the REI Base Camp 6. Like the Base Camp half dozen, it has ample vestibule space (though not well-nigh as much every bit the REI tent) and an intuitive, quick-to-cock design. But the Limestone is slightly smaller than the Base Camp. And information technology's missing some of the other features we liked, such as the privacy that comes with a design that keeps the mesh up high. Also, the Limestone has a list price of near $545, making information technology the most expensive tent we tested.

Big Agnes Big Firm half dozen: Although we liked the wait and experience of this brightly colored tent, the vestibule is a separate, $140 purchase, making the full package significantly more than expensive than our family tent picks.

REI Co-op Kingdom 6 Tent: We quickly identified the REI Kingdom 6, which is typically most $500, equally ane of the most popular tents in this category. (Wirecutter deputy editor Christine Cyr-Clisset, a mom of 2, owns an before version and loves it.) The spacious, barrel-shaped tent has a congenital-in wall that tin split up the sleeping space into ii, a feature that could be a draw for families with older kids. The Kingdom tents are known for having bug in high winds, though. A friend who was using the tent for only the 5th time had a pole snap and tear through the fly in what she described as 35 mph winds well-nigh June Lake, in the southern Sierra Nevada; a second pole aptitude. However, a 2020 update, which REI says is more stable, is at present bachelor; we plan to exam information technology when nosotros can.

Coleman Tenaya Lake Fast Pitch 6-Person Cabin Tent: Often bachelor for close to $200, the Coleman Tenaya Lake tent looked similar a practiced bargain at offset. With a ceiling peak of 6 anxiety 8 inches and a shoebox-like shape, it felt roomier than its 91 square feet. A couple of our reviewers praised the rigid, hinged door, which allows little kids (and lazy adults) to run in and out without bothering with a zipper. Alas, the Tenaya Lake fared poorly in its first rainstorm. After a steady—but far from torrential—daylong rain, there were inch-deep puddles inside the tent's ii storage "garages," besides as a smaller puddle in one corner of the main tent. Beyond that, we found the setup process to be far trickier than for most of the other tents nosotros tested: An experienced, lifelong camper needed more half an hour to fix it up on the showtime try.

Northwest Territory Eagle River 8 Person Tent: Northwest Territory is the shop brand of Kmart. Though the Hawkeye River didn't strictly meet our criteria—it's an eight-person tent with 144 square feet of space, and it is not self-standing—we noticed that large-box stores such as Costco, Kmart, and others sold tents that were both bigger and cheaper than the ones our original research pointed united states toward, and then we wanted to compare what yous'd get with these bigger tents. The especially cheap Eagle River viii Person Tent became our guinea pig. It didn't fare well. The tent was frustrating to set up, especially for i person, since information technology took 33 minutes to wrestle the main tent body into standing up and another 14 minutes or then to get the fly on correct. Disruptive the poles was all too easy, and the battle to erect this behemoth confirmed our original assumption that tents of this size must be self-standing to exist manageable. Fifty-fifty in a friend's flat, grassy lawn, getting this tent to stand taut was difficult. The tent too leaked severely in its kickoff rainstorm; multiple puddles formed in the lowest corners.

Sources

1. Bob Howe, tent designer, phone interview , March 10, 2016

2. Helen Olsson, author of The Down and Dingy Guide to Camping ground With Kids, telephone interview , March 10, 2016

3. Ryan Flynn, salesperson for Johnson Outdoors, parent company of Eureka, phone interview , March 7, 2016

4. Tent FAQs, Campmor

5. MSR Tent FAQ, Mountain Prophylactic Research (MSR)

6. Tent Fabrics Office 1: Fabric Specs, Mountain Safety Inquiry (MSR) , November xvi, 2015

7. Tent Fabrics Office two: Waterproof Ratings, Mountain Rubber Inquiry (MSR) , November 22, 2015

8. Compare Camping ground Tents, GearLab

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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-tent-for-family-and-car-camping/