Jeffh555
Observer
I took my 11 month old daughter tent camping for the first time this weekend and discovered we need a bigger tent. My 6 year old son was with us, but wife was out of town and the dog stayed with Grandpa. Turns out this was a good thing because our "6 person" tent was just enough room for the 3 of us.
I'm 6'7" on a 40" wide air mattress, wife would be on another one if she was on this trip.
6yo is on 26" wide kids cot
11mo is in a pack and play (40"x28")
dog is 25lb and sleeps in a crate.
The current tent is:
Coleman 6-Person Dark Room Skydome,10'x8.5'.
Some of the ones I've found are:
Coleman 8-Person Dark Room Skydome, 12x9
Coleman 10-Person Dark Room Instant Cabin, 14x10
Gazelle T8, discontinued, but still availaboe, 14x8
Core 9 Person Instant Cabin Blockout Tent, 14x9
It must be freestanding, as we sometimes camp on granite in the Sierra Nevada (mostly Rubicon or Fordyce). Quick setup is a plus (see 2 kids).
I'm not that concerned about pack size. It'll be strapped to the roof of my JKU for most trips.
We have a 4x4 extended E350 with Colorado Camper Vans top if it's really hot or cold, but tent camping builds character, and I don't want to drag a van through Rubicon.
We've enjoyed the blackout feature, especially for the middle of summer with little kids that should go to sleep before the sun goes down and sleep past sunrise. We went from a Big Agnes backpacking tent pre-kids to the Coleman blackout, so the contrast was significant. I wonder if the Gazelle provides more "darkness" than a backpacking or standard Coleman style tent.
I'm 6'7" on a 40" wide air mattress, wife would be on another one if she was on this trip.
6yo is on 26" wide kids cot
11mo is in a pack and play (40"x28")
dog is 25lb and sleeps in a crate.
The current tent is:
Coleman 6-Person Dark Room Skydome,10'x8.5'.
Some of the ones I've found are:
Coleman 8-Person Dark Room Skydome, 12x9
Coleman 10-Person Dark Room Instant Cabin, 14x10
Gazelle T8, discontinued, but still availaboe, 14x8
Core 9 Person Instant Cabin Blockout Tent, 14x9
It must be freestanding, as we sometimes camp on granite in the Sierra Nevada (mostly Rubicon or Fordyce). Quick setup is a plus (see 2 kids).
I'm not that concerned about pack size. It'll be strapped to the roof of my JKU for most trips.
We have a 4x4 extended E350 with Colorado Camper Vans top if it's really hot or cold, but tent camping builds character, and I don't want to drag a van through Rubicon.
We've enjoyed the blackout feature, especially for the middle of summer with little kids that should go to sleep before the sun goes down and sleep past sunrise. We went from a Big Agnes backpacking tent pre-kids to the Coleman blackout, so the contrast was significant. I wonder if the Gazelle provides more "darkness" than a backpacking or standard Coleman style tent.