Camping which tent

It has a denier polyester floor that is both abrasion and puncture-resistant. Thick aluminum poles, fabric, seams, and zippers all look and feel top-notch.

The Wawona 6 is made by The North Face, a well-known brand for quality, and this tent is no different. And, of course, all seams are seam-sealed with a tub-style floor. The Sequoia 4 is built nearly identical to the Wawona 6, with just a few differences in the poles and stakes.

Next is the MSR Habitude 4. This tent checks every box when it comes to quality materials. From the series aluminum poles to the DWR 68D polyester taffeta on the floor — everything down to the guyline tighteners is top-notch. The only complaint you will have in the quality department is the included porch light and bag, which are minor issues.

Of note: if you are looking to set up anything with feet in your tent and don't want to puncture the base, the Wagontop 6 has a D polyester floor and the Limestone 4 , the Grand Hut 4 and the Coleman Instant all sport D polyester material floors. If you are looking for a budget camping tent, the single best upgrade to your durability is swapping out the fiberglass poles and getting a set of aluminum ones.

Poles and mesh are where the budget tents fail. In the budget tents we reviewed — with the exception of the impressive Kelty Wireless 6 — the mesh areas are at least twice as large as the other tents and feel significantly cheaper in quality. Get better poles and be cautious around your mesh, and a budget tent can last you years.

The final category we considered was family friendliness. This doesn't just mean actual family — it means how useful is the tent if you want to camp with more than just yourself? Can you bring two dogs and a friend or three and still be comfortable? Among other things. Though some of these aspects do fall under other categories, we felt it was important to our readers to look at them again but with this viewpoint in mind. This thing is the largest 6-person tent we reviewed and boasts a mudroom, a small room, and a living room.

Oh yeah, and it has a good-sized vestibule too! The Wagontop is also the tallest tent, at a whopping 6' 8" of headroom. This tent fits two full mattresses with some room to spare, along with plenty of dog bed space. About the only thing not ideal about the Wagontop in the family-friendly category is the storm factor. This is a fair-weather tent and didn't hold up well in our wind and rain tests thanks to windows that don't zip and a 7-foot vertical wall a.

That aside, if you are a beach camper looking for some room to sprawl out, you found your soulmate here. For those looking for a different multi-room option, the REI Kingdom 6 is another good choice. Because of its longer and skinnier profile, sleeping four people is a breeze.

We were able to fit two twin mattresses on one side and a full-size one on the other with some room to spare between the twin beds. You can also tack on some points for a sweet backpack-style carrying case and 22 pockets. The only bummer is the lack of space in the newly downsized vestibule.

The Wawona 6 checks most of the family-friendly boxes, easily sleeping a family of four with great height, storage, and covered outside space. Because of the large, tall vestibule, we were able to set up a camp shower for a quick rinse after a sweaty day of climbing. Just remember not to ask your kids to take the fly off, as the locking mechanism requires some serious force to get out. Another notable performance for the family-friendly category is the Big Agnes Tensleep Station 6.

The setup time was very smooth at just over 7 min; however, the bag that this tent comes in isn't friendly to pack, so what you gain in setup time is easily lost in the teardown. The only 4-person tent to score among the top in family friendliness is the The North Face Sequoia 4.

With its tall and open interior, flexible and large vestibule, included footprint with a built-in doormat, and nine pockets, the Sequoia is a great, smaller option. And finally, the Kelty Wireless 6. Two adults, two kids, and two dogs fit comfortably inside this tent, and the dual vestibules allow for even more storage and organization.

Add in the ease of setup, a nice carry bag, and wonderful star-gazing capabilities, and you have a solid tent. And given the bargain price of the Wireless 6, it's hard to pass it up. When it comes to camping, a tent is the most important item you will buy, so picking the right one is key to a successful adventure.

Think about the type of camping you intend to do and what you find most important in a shelter. Innovations are happening all the time, so if there's a feature you want, you'll likely be able to find it.

Now, go get yourself a tent and get outside! GearLab is founded on the principle of honest, objective, reviews. Our experts test thousands of products each year using thoughtful test plans that bring out key performance differences between competing products. And, to assure complete independence, we buy all the products we test ourselves.

No cherry-picked units sent by manufacturers. No sponsored content. No ads. Just real, honest, side-by-side testing and comparison.

Photo: Rob Gaedtke. Share this article:. Our Editors independently research, test, and rate the best products. We only make money if you purchase a product through our links, and we never accept free products from manufacturers.

Learn more. Looking for the perfect camping tent? We've got you. See which ones stood up to our rigorous testing as we take you on a deep dive into the inner workings of the camping tent market. We put these tents to the test across some pretty rugged terrain and, most recently, the complicated environment of a family, teenagers, and two moderately trained dogs.

With the help of our years of experience, we've gathered all the information you'll need to pick the perfect tent for your next outdoor adventure. Top 14 Product Ratings. Displaying 1 - 5 of Marmot Halo 6. The North Face Wawona 6. MSR Habitude 4.

REI Kingdom 6. Show full specification details Hide full specification details. Space and Comfort 9. Very simple to pitch and tear down. Space and Comfort 7. See all prices 3 found. Space and Comfort 8. Built for stormy weather. See all prices 2 found. Score Product Price Our Take The North Face Sequoia 4. They are used for ventilation — especially in warmer climates — and also end the mess in the entrance area. Fans and separately closable mosquito windows should be standard. The only disadvantage of all this luxury is that it is easier to put up and take down the tent with two people instead of one.

Space : When planning a tent, the product developers assume a contact area of only 60cm. For those who prefer a bit more luxury in terms of space, it might be better to invest in a larger tent and choose a tunnel tent — it offers the best use of space of all tent shapes. To be able to find a place to sleep despite all your baggage, you can simply put your travel bag or backpack in the vestibule. A vestibule is the space created when the outer tent is secured at the end of the tent.

Many tents have a vestibule at both ends. Tip: Plan the ground sheet big enough so that the vestibules can also be laid out. Your equipment stays dry and there is less condensation. Material: The outer tent of a camping tent or family tent at Tatonka is made of a PU-coated fabric. It is slightly heavier than nylon, but the fabric does not absorb any water and does not expand when damp.

The smaller models of the Allround Line at Tatonka can also be packed for a trekking tour. That leaves the tent floor. It should be as light as possible, tear-resistant and above all, it must be waterproof. It took us 2 minutes and 29 seconds on the first try, and between 1 and 2 minutes once we were familiar with the tent, which we still consider to be quite impressive.

The boxy tent is similar in style to our top pick, the Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6 , but it falls short of that tent in several ways.

The bathtub-shaped floor the floor curves up a couple of inches into the walls at the edges is made of polyethylene. 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 as the six-person tent. The base is a square: Two identical fiberglass poles feed through sleeves on the tent roof to form an X. Pegs at the corners of the tent slip into the ends of the poles, and then the dome-shaped tent pops up video.

The separate fly uses a third, shorter pole to form protective peaks over the single door and back window. In our tests, an experienced camper took only about six minutes on the first try to set up the tent body alone and stake it out.

Getting the fly placed and staked properly took about five more minutes. Measuring 10 by 10 feet, the Sundome covers a slightly larger area square feet than the Instant Cabin, though its dome roof leaves it with significantly less headroom. Like the Base Camp, but unlike the Instant Cabin, the Sundome has mesh high up, to facilitate stargazing when you use the tent without the fly on warm nights two of the four walls have mesh from about thigh height up to the roof.

That mesh also keeps the tent feeling more airy and cool in hot climates than the more closed-in and dark Instant Cabin. Overall, we 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-like polyethylene floor; Coleman makes no dedicated footprints for its tents, so we suggest that you buy a groundsheet. The tent has two 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 light. It also comes with a little doormat. The tent weighs just 16 pounds, less than any other family tent we tested for this guide.

When it comes to tents, you tend to get pretty close to what you pay for. We found that company representatives are reluctant to estimate the lifespan of their tents. Its fiberglass tent poles were too narrow and flimsy to offer real support against anything but the lightest of winds. We wanted to know whether a dome-style tent was really better than a cabin-style tent for two people.

Though this tent had a little more livable space, the broad, flat walls had some trouble during high winds. Coleman Sundome 4-Person Dome Tent : We recommend this tent in its six-person design for families, but the four-person model we tested was too weak to support itself when subjected to even mild wind or rain. Coleman 4-Person Pop-Up Tent : The Pop-Up is packed into a 3-foot-wide carrying case that, when opened, shoots the tent forth like a snake-in-a-can gag gift. And another thing: This tent may be easy to unpack, but packing it back up is a nightmare.

Eureka Desert Canyon 6: This model, which is now discontinued, came with a larger rain fly that you could detach and use as a standalone shade structure for your campsite.

The tent also didn't have a back window. 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 it up, eventually attracting the attention of other campers, who came to their rescue. Like the Base Camp 6, it has ample vestibule space though not nearly as much as the REI tent and an intuitive, quick-to-erect design.

But the Limestone is slightly smaller than the Base Camp. Wirecutter deputy editor Christine Cyr-Clisset, a mom of two, owns an earlier version and loves it. The spacious, barrel-shaped tent has a built-in wall that can divide the sleeping space into two, a feature that could be a draw for families with older kids. The Kingdom tents are known for having problems in high winds, though.

A friend who was using the tent for only the fifth time had a pole snap and tear through the fly in what she described as 35 mph winds near June Lake, in the southern Sierra Nevada; a second pole bent. However, a update, which REI says is more stable, is now available; we plan to test it when we can. With a ceiling height of 6 feet 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. Beyond that, we found the setup process to be far trickier than for most of the other tents we tested: An experienced, lifelong camper needed more than half an hour to set it up on the first try. The especially cheap Eagle River 8 Person Tent became our guinea pig. The tent was frustrating to set up, especially for one person, since it took 33 minutes to wrestle the main tent body into standing up and another 14 minutes or so to get the fly on right.

Confusing 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 be manageable. The tent also leaked severely in its first rainstorm; multiple puddles formed in the lowest corners. Bob Howe, tent designer , phone interview, March 10, Ryan Flynn, salesperson for Johnson Outdoors, parent company of Eureka , phone interview, March 7, Tent FAQs , Campmor.

Compare Camping Tents , GearLab. Kit Dillon is a senior staff writer at Wirecutter. He was previously an app developer, oil derrick inspector, public-radio archivist, and sandwich shop owner.

When called on, he can still make a mean sandwich. She has been a writer on the emergency-prep and outdoor beats at Wirecutter and has also covered natural disasters for Popular Science and Popular Mechanics magazines. Our pick. Kelty Grand Mesa 4 The best car-camping tent for two Easy both to set up and to pack away, the Grand Mesa 4 is reasonably priced. Upgrade pick. REI Co-op Base Camp 4 Tent A pricier but hardier tent for couples A full rain cover, a spacious vestibule, and a reinforced pole structure make this the best choice for couples who are committed to getting outside no matter the weather.

REI Co-op Base Camp 6 Tent A pricier but hardier tent for families A large vestibule, a full rain fly, and a storm-ready pole structure make this the best choice for car-camping families who consider intense weather to be part of the fun. Also great. Coleman 6-Person Instant Cabin A family tent that goes up quickly Spacious and very affordable, this popular Coleman shelter has pre-attached poles and no standalone fly to fuss with.

Budget pick. Everything we recommend. Why you should trust us. Who this is for. How we picked. How and where we tested. Our pick for two people: Kelty Grand Mesa 4. Flaws but not dealbreakers. Photo: Dan Koeppel. On the original model we tested, shown here, the front vestibule added roughly 23 square feet of covered space; on the model, it adds 27 square feet.

Photo: Caleigh Waldman. Also great for families: Coleman 6-Person Instant Cabin. The tent has two doors and two vestibules to keep shoes and wet gear out of the tent and make it easy to get in and out. Gabi Rosenbrien, the product development manager for NEMO , also recommends using a standing-height shelter for extra comfort. Bradford also recommends tents with room dividers to give families and large groups more privacy if needed.

The Kingdom line has three different size options, for four, six, or eight people, but with families we recommend either the six or eight. Both the Kingdom 6 and Kingdom 8 have a removable room divider. Heather Landeros, a hiking guide for Outdoor Adventure Club , also recommends the Kingdom 6 for families or glamping. The tent has fully taped seams and can withstand mph-plus winds thanks to strong fiberglass poles and guylines.

The tent has enough room to fit three queen-size airbeds, or two with extra room for bags or hanging out. It also has plenty of ventilation with the mesh ceiling and angled mesh windows at both ends. This tent has two doors, with one hinged door making getting in and out super easy. Winter camping brings on a slew of extra challenges with colder temperatures, snow, and stronger winds. These tents are going to need to hold up to potential heavy snow build-up and all forms of extreme weather.

Rosenberg swears by her Hilleberg tents for extreme weather worthiness. The Saivo is also the most expensive tent on the list because it has so much extreme weather tech.