Recommendations for a family ground tent.

[Walnutking]

We are a family of 4 (kids are 6 and 8) plus a 90# lab. We’ve decided to get more remote and leave the travel trailer at home more often this summer.

I’m looking for tents in the 6 to 10 person range(I have all girls and they need a lot of space besides their small size). 3 season tents are preferred but they need to keep the rain out since we’ll be spending time in the coastal redwoods.
Key features we’re looking for:
• rain proof
• plenty of space(6 person minimum)
• quicker pitching tents a plus
• under $600

I’ve been looking at the NTK Arizona 8/9 and the Gazelle 4+. Anyone have any experience with these. Thanks for info.

 

[F350joe]

I have a T4 and love it. It’s better quality than you expect for that price point. Removable floor makes it easy to sweep out. You can see stars when you sleep. Ton of headroom. The bowed out walls means you can put a cot right up against the side. Super easy to set up and take down but still sturdy and no flapping in the wind.

 

[Walnutking]

I have a T4 and love it. It’s better quality than you expect for that price point. Removable floor makes it easy to sweep out. You can see stars when you sleep. Ton of headroom. The bowed out walls means you can put a cot right up against the side. Super easy to set up and take down but still sturdy and no flapping in the wind.

How does it hold up in the wind/rain?

 

[F350joe]

How does it hold up in the wind/rain?

I have not had it in the rain but should be good ifits not blowing rain, with the full walls though should be fine even then though. The wind is not a problem, had it in some pretty gusty stuff and it held firm, just put a guy line on the windward side.

 

[tdferrero]

The T3/4 hold up great, with no issues in wind and rain. As with any tent, just get better stakes from a supplier of your choice. My T3 comes along with me on every trip that isn't a hike.

 

[vintageracer]

Look at a Shiftpod.

Shiftpod | Your Adventure Starts Here | Shiftpod

Shiftpod offers system solutions for festivals, outdoor camping and harsh environments. Check out our new products for 2020.

shiftpod.com

 

[TNExplorer]

Blackout tents are the way to go! You wont ever use a regular tent again.

 

[towee]

Love my gazelle but it’s the T3 not sure I’d want to haul around the T4 plus but I haven’t spent any time in one either. If we camp with 4 I take 2 T3’s. Construction is great and it’s been better in rain than I thought it’d be. Honestly the more time I spend in this tent the more I like it. It’s turned into my all time favorite tent.

 

[nwoods]

I've heard over and over again how awesome NEMO tents are, and I've owned other products of theirs and I am a fan, but I've never seen one of their tents in person. However, I'm also a fan of REI's "Base Camp" and / or the "Hobbitat" tents. The Base Camp survives hard weather very well, has decent ventilation, but in a very sandy environment, a small amount of sand can blow in around the bottom due to the vent mesh. However, I've used mine everywhere from deserts to mountains and loved it. I actually own two of them, the Base Camp 4 and the Base Camp 6. I have I've not used the Hobbitat personally, but they have height and space advantage over the Base Camp. I don't have much for photos of the interior, but here is one. My son in this photo is probably only 6' or so at that age (6'-10" now!)

Edit, I found another photo. For scale, my wife is 6'-2". LOL, I just noticed my dog is crashed out on my sleeping bag in this photo (in the foreground).

 

[geojag]

I recently purchased a Eureka Space Camp 6, very nice design. You get a high ceiling height, two doors, and two vestibules. Also comes with a very nice duffel type bag that is easy to pack the tent and footprint into. We set up either a queen size air mattress and a pack&play or three thermarest type mattresses and the pack &play and have plenty of room. Overall, after a few trips, it seems to be great quality.

 

[20DYNAMITE07]

We have a 12 Survivors Shire 6P tent, and for the money it's an absolute steal. It only costs about $200, and you can get it at Amazon, OpticsPlanet, Walmart, and a bunch of others.

It's a dome tent, so it only has two poles, which are all aluminum as opposed to fiberglass. The two poles are connected in the middle by a hub, so they form an X, which means a single person can set up the tent by themselves. I can set it up in a casual 4 minutes. By that I mean I can have 4 corners staked, and the rain fly clipped in place so everything is dry inside without rushing at all in about 4 or 5 minutes. I can also hoof it and have it staked at all 4 corners, rain fly clipped in, plus each vestibule staked out (4 more stakes total) and two side vents staked as well in just about the same amount of time (10 stakes total). It also has 4 more guylines for when it really gets hairy, but I've never needed to use them.

I've had it in east coast downpours, and sustained all night rain in Oregon and never had a leak. It has a bathtub floor, and all the seams are taped.

We sleep 4 people, two medium size dogs, and all our clothes easily (you could comfortably sleep 5). You can also store gear in the vestibules outside of the inner tent, but completely covered by the rain fly.

It packs down pretty small, and doesn't weigh a ton. I can fit it, another 2 person Kelty tent, a hammock and a tarp in a 68qt Plano case. For reference, I also have a REI CampDome 4, and the afore mentioned Kelty 2p tent, and the quality is on par with both of those.

 

[ZMagic97]

Instant Tent 6 | Coleman

When looking for a Coleman tent, try our Coleman instant tent selection for the greatest ease of assembly.

www.coleman.com

Fancy? No.

Good price and works well? Yes.

Easy to set up and take down? Yes.

I own an older version and love it. I haven't found any reason to upgrade from it.

 

[CrashTheDOG]

+1 on REI's Base Camp 6. With four kids my wife and I have invested in two of them over the years. This past weekend I busted them out of storage and set them up in the backyard to get them ready for the season. Patched a couple of holes in the floor and straightened a couple of slightly bent poles, but overall I was shocked at how well they've both held up after years of use and abuse. Definitely a worthy investment. As an added bonus REI is currently having their Memorial Day sale so if you're a member you can get 20% off one full price item.

If I didn't own two Base Camp 6's I'd be very tempted to get a Kodiak Canvas 10x14. However, they're more expensive, bulkier and much heavier than the Base Camp.

 

[mikeyb1976]

Always a struggle for the perfect tent.

I'd take a look at the REI tents, like the Kingdom tent.

We have one criteria (actually it's mine): I have to be able to stand up in it. Which really isn't that hard since I'm 5'6". Our collection:

Coleman Instant 6 - fits our full-size cot w/ mattress, a small table and that's about it.
Coleman 10-person cabin tent - Costco special, more work to put it up, but lots of room.
Coleman 4-person - Pretty roomy for the dome, but definitely not a 4 person when you get everyone and their stuff in there.
the RTT (Tepui), and 3 hiking tents.

 

[sn_85]

Take a look at the Oz tents. I have an RV3 for me, my gf and dog and it's a castle in there. For you you'd probably want the RV4 or RV5 with a few kids. Very durable construction, uses the same cotton canvas as you see in roof top tents and it sets up very quickly. Lots of windows for air flow as well. The few cons with it is that it's quite large and heavy so you will have to load it on the roof your truck and it can be a little difficult to stuff in the bag. Although Drifta does sell a replacement bag that is easier to stuff it in. I've had two roof top tents in the past and I'm liking my current oz tent setup much better.