Tent Insight/Advice Needed

[DenMom]

Hello all! I've been researching tents the past few weeks and am overwhelmed by all the options. This forum came up as I was searching online for reviews and I thought I'd see if there was anyone out there interested in offering any thoughts.

The impetus for the purchase now is my son having joined Cub Scouts. I need to be able to accommodate up to two adults and two kids. This will be used for car camping in state parks and Scouting reservations; never in snow. We'll probably be sleeping on mats. We are in Florida, so ability to handle heat, humidity, rain, and bugs are really important factors. I'm 5'5" and my husband is 5'10"; our kids are in first grade and preschool. They still nap, so it would be great if the rain fly could provide shade and also be rolled up/staked out in such a way that we can keep it cool. Zippers/doors should be tough enough to handle little hands who aren't always going to be as careful as mom would like.

So far I've identified the following prospects:

• Big Agnes Tensleep Station. Screened-in porch is really appealing. Like the flexibility of the rainfly.
• Marmot Halo. Spacious and with quality materials (if I'm interpreting correctly). I understand that with this one I'd likely have to go up to a 6 though because the floor space on the 4 is less than it officially measures.
• REI Kingdom. That screen room looks great.
• NEMO Bungalow.
• Kelty Granby.
• The Eureka Copper/Jade/Silver Canyon lines. I haven't researched these enough to know the differences.

I really appreciate any insight or advice you all might offer!

Megan (DenMom)

[Paul]

Re: Tent Insight/Advice Needed

We have the 6 person Coleman Evanston tent and love it: http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Evanst...&keywords=tent

The tent sleeps 3 people comfortably while leaving room for extra things that you might want to have inside your tent with you. It cost about a third of what the tents you listed cost. Is there a reason you want to spend a lot of money on a tent?

[05Kingquad700]

Re: Tent Insight/Advice Needed

I really like my Marmot Limelight, so I imagine the Marmot Halo would be a good one. Also, if I was going to buy a tent, I would look at the Kingdom. REI makes good stuff. You might want to figure out your sleeping arrangements first and make sure your new tent will accommodate the setup. Like I had to go with the Limelight, because it was the smallest tent that would still fit my 2 pads.

[Mike]

Re: Tent Insight/Advice Needed

You know, honestly any of the tents you mentioned will work fine - as will probably a hundred other models.

I will give you a couple important things for a family tent:

1. Buy a little bigger than you think you need.
2. Make sure that there is a rain fly separate from the tent. Ya, ya, I know. I lot of the quick set up tents and McMansion tents don't have flies, but you will thank me later....
3. Choose a tent with excellent ventilation.
4. Choose a tent with at least two doors - one front and one in back. No one door/zipper can withstand the abuse of an active family. Also, at night it is good to have two doors so that campers don't have to step on/over each other to go to the toilet at night.
5. Get a screen tent separate from the main tent. Two separate tents. A big screen tent is more important than a big sleeping tent because you will be active and spend a lot of time in the screen tent. It should be big enough to easily fit a campground picnic table inside.

[Denni2]

Re: Tent Insight/Advice Needed

We have the Mountainsmith Conifer 5+ and we love it. It has a full rain fly, 2 doors, a nice large vestibule, aluminum poles, and is 6'2" tall. It is fairly inexpensive on Amazon. I posted picture on the campsite gallery.

[DenMom]

Re: Tent Insight/Advice Needed

We have the 6 person Coleman Evanston tent and love it: http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Evanst...&keywords=tent

The tent sleeps 3 people comfortably while leaving room for extra things that you might want to have inside your tent with you. It cost about a third of what the tents you listed cost. Is there a reason you want to spend a lot of money on a tent?

To be honest, I was overwhelmed by the number of Coleman offerings! Based on some other feedback I was looking for aluminum poles, fully taped seams, and a full rainfly. I wasn't seeing those on many Colemans.

[DenMom]

Re: Tent Insight/Advice Needed

I really like my Marmot Limelight, so I imagine the Marmot Halo would be a good one. Also, if I was going to buy a tent, I would look at the Kingdom. REI makes good stuff. You might want to figure out your sleeping arrangements first and make sure your new tent will accommodate the setup. Like I had to go with the Limelight, because it was the smallest tent that would still fit my 2 pads.

That Kingdom really caught my eye, but I missed the Labor Day sale. I wonder when they'll have another big sale.

Do you have any advice about sleeping pads/cots? That's another thing that's changed since I used to camp regularly. Or maybe its not as much that they've evolved but that I wouldn't have been able to afford something like that in my younger days.

[DenMom]

Re: Tent Insight/Advice Needed

You know, honestly any of the tents you mentioned will work fine - as will probably a hundred other models.

I will give you a couple important things for a family tent:

1. Buy a little bigger than you think you need.
2. Make sure that there is a rain fly separate from the tent. Ya, ya, I know. I lot of the quick set up tents and McMansion tents don't have flies, but you will thank me later....
3. Choose a tent with excellent ventilation.
4. Choose a tent with at least two doors - one front and one in back. No one door/zipper can withstand the abuse of an active family. Also, at night it is good to have two doors so that campers don't have to step on/over each other to go to the toilet at night.
5. Get a screen tent separate from the main tent. Two separate tents. A big screen tent is more important than a big sleeping tent because you will be active and spend a lot of time in the screen tent. It should be big enough to easily fit a campground picnic table inside.

Thanks Mike, especially for the screened tent advice. Can you comment on ventilation and/or sturdiness of any of the tents I listed? I'm not able to see them set up where I live, unfortunately. Or do you have any favorite reviewers I could google?

[tplife]

Re: Tent Insight/Advice Needed

I must 2nd Mike's excellent suggestions, If I had the Internet when I was buying camping equpment in the '70s, I could have saved some grief and mistakes (cheap tents, fat air mattresses, freezing cots, been there done that). Also, companies like Mountain Hardwear, NorthFace, Sierra Designs, EMS, and A16 offer quality tents that will last decades rather than seasons (you get what you pay for). Use extreme caution with Kelty and Eureka! line of tents, as they mix in a lot of sub-par imports along with their expedition- and military-grade gear to catch your wallet.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Tent Insight/Advice Needed

For the last ...9(?) years I've camped with kiddos in a Eureka Copper Canyon tent supposedly rated for 10 or 12 people. This of course is a lie and when you look at the diagram for any tent you'll see why. Take any tents' people rating and divide it in half unless you want to step over mummified bodies to get to the bathroom. I'm pretty sure I don't wanna camp with more than 6 people in my current tent and that would mean 2 sets of bunk-bed cots and a queen bed for two. This summer I camped with 3 kids and 2 adults in a CC and to be honest I felt that was about fine for a 3 week stay with gear.

From what I've read the Eureka Jade is the newer version of the Copper Canyon. Similar layout w/ upgraded aluminum poles and LED lighting incorporated. I haven't done a cost comparison of the two models so can't say if I think the Jade line is worth it financially. Does make me think if I had no existing gear that the Jade models might be more storage space effective than the Copper Canyon though.

Mike nailed the features you should look for in a family tent. Oh and when looking for 2 door tents make sure the two doors don't line up. Makes it easier to lay your bedding out.

Regarding the screen house make sure the tent has floor flaps that are deep enough to stay put and have ample staking points. You don't want critters sneaking under to visit.

[isoc]

Re: Tent Insight/Advice Needed

Just took our new Evanston 6 Coleman for a test set up this afternoon. It has a screened entry, shaded also. It's just right for me and my wife, but if we had two kids, would be a bit cramped. In that case, I would have got the Evanston 8. It doesn't have two doors, but otherwise might meet your needs.

[CampersGadget]

Re: Tent Insight/Advice Needed

I'd like to agree with Mike good points, especially the separate screened tent especially in Florida, though a cabin tent with a screened porch area is nice to have so you can take off muddy shoes comfortably and stash other gear, alternatively a large tarp positioned over the tent and extending to a "porch" might be adequate

[DenMom]

Re: Tent Insight/Advice Needed

Thanks for the warning!

[gatordude]

Re: Tent Insight/Advice Needed

We've got the REI Kingdom 6 and it's fine for two. For 4 I'd almost suggest the K8, cause the tent will last for a long time and the kids will be getting bigger and needing more room. We absolutely love our tent, and it's been through 40 MPH winds and torrential rains without any problems. Also, I'd suggest dropping the extra hundred on the Garage. It's well worth it. Happy Camping.

[CampersGadget]

Re: Tent Insight/Advice Needed

I think the question of a long lasting tent might be kinda mute as those boys are going to want their own in a few years lol