Please recommend an 8 or 10 person family tent for us!

[Susan]

I am heartbroken. I was going to order the Columbia Cougar Flats 2 and now it has been discontinued.

Can anyone recommend a tent that would be big enough for me, my husband who is 6'4 tall, and 3 children? My youngest will be sleeping in a pack and play.

Would like a bathtub floor, good ventilation. A canopy over the front door would be a great bonus. I like the idea of divided rooms.

We are not camping anywhere very cold.. but would need something that will stand up to rain.

Thank you.

[Internetpilot]

Re: Please recommend an 8 or 10 person family tent for us!


Coleman 14x10 9-Person Tent

My current family tent would satisfy all of those preferences with the exception of the canopy over the door. However, the lacking canopy has proven to only be a problem when going in and out while it is actually raining, and...really...how much are you going to actually do that?

The straight vertical walls allow for more usable floorspace (especially for things like a pack-n-play), it has a hanging divider, and even two doors. The doors are excellent for camping with kids because they are a hard D-frame with a hinge and velcro, so the kids can easily go in and out without having to zip/unzip/zip/unzip. You can zip up the doors when you want/need to, but you don't have to do it every time.

Big windows on three sides and doors on the fourth side have rather large windows as well. The entire top is mesh. I've never had a problem in the wind and/or rain in this tent.

The tent is very tall (I'm 6'3" so that's a requirement for me as well), and hands-down the easiest tent to setup that I have ever owned. Not exaggering when I say that I can easily setup this tent in 15 minutes by myself, including all guylines. It's also just as easy to break down, and it's the only tent I've owned that actually folds up SMALLER than it came from the store, so you can actually fit additional accessories in the original storage bag in addition to the tent.

It's made by Coleman but only sold in Target stores. If there's not a store near you, they usually offer free shipping on something priced that high. I've seen it on sale as cheap as $150, but it's usually $185-200.

[Susan]

Re: Please recommend an 8 or 10 person family tent for us!

Oh, that's great! Thank you for this. I was actually looking at a few Coleman's and this was one of them.


I also saw this one:

http://www.basspro.com/Colemanreg;-P...SSSELL_PRODUCT

which looks similar.. a few additions like a light/small fan.. but it's also more expensive.

The door looks different.. not sure if it is a zip or the D frame.

Would you mind telling me what footprint you use with your tent?

[Internetpilot]

Re: Please recommend an 8 or 10 person family tent for us!

I've seen that one before -- that model does not have the double door, and it is not the D-framed hinge door that I've come to love so much. I've tried to find out if this is the new version of their cabin tent or the old version, because I'm wanting to find out if they're doing away with the hinged/framed doors. That will be a very sad day for me! Walmart has a similar Coleman cabin tent model as this one, too, but it does not have the integrated light/fan system, so it's also typically cheaper.

Again, the tent that I have is made by Coleman but only for distribution through Target. Coleman does not even list my tent model on their website (like in the parts section). When I contacted them about getting a spare rainfly and/or poles, they said they do have them but that I would need to call customer service to order them instead of ordering them through the website.

I bought a cheaper 12x14 poly tarp that I just fold the 12' side in about 2 feet and end up with a perfect footprint that's slightly smaller than 10x14. The bathtub floor of the tent is amply thick/durable, but a $10 is a small price to pay for a little extra protection, and it keeps the dirt/mud off the tent for easier breakdown and pack-up. If it rains I fold it in half (dirty side in) and use it to line my van for stowing all the wet stuff. Can never have enough poly tarps!

[TexasMan77]

Re: Please recommend an 8 or 10 person family tent for us!

The all-new Eureka Tetragon 8 person 12x10.
Good deals on them at campmor.com

[matee5]

Re: Please recommend an 8 or 10 person family tent for us!

Have a look at the Gigatent Carter Mt. Three rooms with a big awning out the front. I have used one of the other models and found it was good. This was what I was looking at buying until we decided on going with canvas because of durability, (we had torn the zip flap a couple of times on my friends because our three small kids are pretty tough on zips.) The D-Frame of the Colemans door I believe would also be a good way to avoid this, havent used it but from what I read it would avoid zippers.

Check our pics on "First Trip" to see how we managed three little ones in our new Kodiak Canvas tent. We dont use a pack and play anymore but you would be able to fit it in a pinch. The inflatable surf mats worked great for the kids and at 60" x 24" they are the best bed for kids I have found. Kids dont need a full size bed and it is just wasted space that is very valuable in a tent.