Opinion on tent...

[anortheastlife]

We are considering buying a Eureka tent for car camping. It's a 6 person Copper canyon. Does anyone have any experience with the brand or the model?

Thanks

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Opinion on tent...

Hi Mike. Just read your first post on the howdy thread so welcome and enjoy yourself!

My first car camping tent is and remains a Copper Canyon. I've had it for several years now (somewhere between 5 and 7 years) and it's been serving me well. I think the unit you are considering is slightly smaller than mine but I'm pretty sure they are both made about the same way as far as construction is concerned.

Here are the pros in my eyes:

Spacious and tall enough for most anyone to stand upright

Reasonably priced and a nice entry level tent(truth be known as things stand now I could well buy the same line when it's time to get another)
nice amt of guylines (learned this 2-3 summers back during a freak wind storm. Won't lie; I rarely guy lined it before that summer)

Great ventilation for hot and humid locales. Also easy to heat up for cool fall nights in the NE. Nice amt of windows for ventilation no matter the season.

My unit has 2 entrances on opposite sides. I really appreciate this feature. No one walks thru another's sleeping area in the middle of the night and if one entrance zipper acts wonky I've another. More on the zippers later.

Door style is based on years of similar low tech design. No wired "D" doors with at least 2 areas that can break down...one of which would be a massive PIA to repair.

Despite the concerns of some I've rarely had a problem with this version of a half rain fly. Except for once when I forgot to close a window and water puddled in one corner of the interior; it dried readily. On the bright side I'd guy lined the tent and it dinna go rolling down the campground during te freak storm,LOL.

Entire tent fits readily in the storage bag with no over the top breakdown procedure needed.
CONS

My year's model has a thin floor; remedied that deficiency with a plastic rug. It's my understanding that newer models have a bathtub floor w/ a higher denier fabric.

Non colour coded poles. Don't know if that's being done at the factory now. I devised my own colour coding with nail polish.

Depending on the model/shape you have it can be diff to recall where the front of the rain fly is. The set up instructions aren't clear on this. I finally figured out that the guy line goes over the entrances. True "duhhhhhh" moment:D.

Should your model come with an awning.........never bother trying to put it up. Total waste of time.

I wish the Copper Canyon came with YKK zippers. I sew and know the worth of that name. So far I haven't had a zipper problem that required replacement but when and if I do, it'll be a better made zipper than provided.

HTH!

[ppine]

Re: Opinion on tent...

Eureka makes durable tents for the money. I have rented some of their tents on a trip to the Boundary Waters. Not the lightest or most modern, but good solid tents. I would buy one.

[tadpole]

Re: Opinion on tent...

I have used Eureka, Coleman, and REI tents all of my life. Eureka wins for the most durable tent at the best price. REI used to be the top of my list when they offered life time satisfaction guarantee. I currently own the REI Base Camp 4 and it's a durable beast. I owned a nice Coleman 4 person tent 8 years ago that I bought for about $70 at Target. It was large, lightweight, and easy to set up. It fell out of our cargo box on top of our roof when I forgot to close it. Burn some nice holes in the floor when it hit the pavement. I patched it with duct tape and it performed rather well. We gave it to some friends who needed a tent. When I buy another tent, it will be Eureka.

[anortheastlife]

Re: Opinion on tent...

Thanks all. That was a great help. I went with the Eureka, and test set it up in my yard. Very happy with it so far...

[anortheastlife]

Re: Opinion on tent...

Thanks NYCgrrl. I appreciate the detailed answer. Going with the Eureka.