Family Camping Tent

"That is really the crux of my question. Do I need to spend $500 or will something in the ~$200 range be good enough for the 3 trips a year for the next few years that it is used?" Brian, You are certainly not alone in your situation. Personally, I never thought much about the "big" tents, because before I knew it, my kids would be out on their own and my wife and I wouldn't care much for having one of those things around. I also had terrible experiences in them them when I was a kid camping with my parents back in the 70's. Therefore, here are my thoughts (clearly my opinion): 1) Get a nice, good quality tarp to fit over the campsite provided picnic table. My family uses an MSR Zing (similar to the old Moss Outfitterwing). It's light, reasonably simple to set up, and very storm worthy. That way, you don't have to "retreat" when it rains. 2) Consider a tent that fits your needs off of Ebay (or Outlets, as others have mentioned). There are MANY 4/5 person tents in that world to choose from. Perhaps look for a high quality, lightly used tent which has the appearance that it was well taken care of. If it's from a name brand, you will like be able to get parts for it, and have descent customer service, should the need arise. 3) If you kids are like most of them out there, they will probably tear the tent apart faster than the weather will, especially if it's big and full of mosquito netting. If the tent is smaller in size, they will spend more time under the tarp instead of the tent. Regardless, my "4-season bombproof" family tent still has about ten distinct holes poked in the mosquito netting. But at least that's it. 4) My wife loves the outdoors, loves to backpack, and doesn't care about "feeling at home" when camping. Therefore it was not difficult to fit our three kids and a big fluffy dot into a smaller tent, compared to what was around us at the campground. In particular, my two younger girls have been camping since they were zero, and they have yet to complain about our "small" tent, compared to the gargantuan palaces around them. But if you and your spouse will wish to feel "at home" when you camp, then your kids will probably too. That is neither a good or bad thing, but I judge it's something you and your spouse can certainly influence. But no matter what: make it FUN! Always ask yourself if you are you trying to "teach" them how to camp, or are you going for a vacation, or both. good luck! Matt

Thanks for all the excellent suggestions everyone. This thread made me realize that there is no one tent perfect for everything. Its very likely that in a few years I'll be buying another tent of some sort. The other nice thing is I've not heard one person say they bought a tent that they were unhappy with. I like the suggestion to buy a large tarp to cover the camp site. I'm also not against buying used at all, but my searches of ebay and craigslist haven't turned up any real bargains yet.

Large tents are great if you need the space but also keep in mind that the larger footprint is going to be a factor in selecting a campsite. Not all campsites have enough flat ground to accommodate an 8-person 17-foot long tent. When you can find one, though, it's nice to have everyone in the same tent until they get older. Now, if we go car camping (it's harder to get the older ones to go), we split between a 2-person tent (for my older daughters) and a 6-person tent (for my wife and 4 younger kids). It's easier to find space for two smaller tents than one large one. Another thing to consider is that in colder weather, it is cold inside a large tent with fewer people. I don't mind taking a large tent while car camping but everything else we take is still backpacking gear so I can save weight and space. So, buy a reasonably priced large tent, and over time buy gear that your kids your you can continue to use as they get older (down bags, pads, etc).

I have an Alps Mountaineering 'Lynx 4' that my wife and I use for car camping. Got it for about $100. You can fit a queen size air mattress in it with about 3 feet extra room on one side for other stuff. You can't stand up in it but thats not a huge problem for us. They make larger models that you could stand up in. Picked ours because the size and price was right and it has a full coverage rain fly.

Just because I'm a big nerd I made to scale drawings of the various tents and layouts.

I am only now joining this discussion and I am new to Backpackinglight. I have been traveling and camping in a big tent from Cabelas. It is an Outback Lodge 12×12. It is a really big pyramid. We are very happy with it for car camping. It is very quick for 2 people to set up: four stakes, pop in the center pole, pop in the short corner poles, guy out the corners then go around and add more stakes for vents and extra security. It is very nice when it is rainy to have all that space. We carry a plastic table and folding chairs so we can eat and have lots of room for gear storage and beds all inside. We also have the floor liner which makes it easy to clean up when it is time to pack up and go. Only gripe is that it gets very silly trying to put it back into its trim little duffle bag. I think it cost around $600.

When our daughters were younger we did a lot of car camping and after a lot of research we bought a Kirkham Springbar tent. It was an 8×10 x7, canvas and heavy, but bombproof. We set up a pair of army cots L fashion in the corner and put all the gear underneath them. That left plenty of room on the floor for two people. I say bombproof because one night when I was out with our two daughters we had one heck of a windstorm. The next morning out of aprx 20 tents in the campground we had the only standing tent. They are expensive and heavy but probably the best car camping tent available. http://www.springbar.com

I just sold an REI Taj 3 tent for $40, because it sat in my garage and I haven't used it in 10 years. It weighs 7 lbs. It sleeps 3 adults, so would work for your family when they are small. When my kids were big enough to backpack we used 2 two man tents. The girls tent and the boys tent. Before they could backpack we used a pickup camper. That is hard to beat when its raining. I'm saying big tents are around for cheap and they might be in pretty good shape. I'd also suggest going to REI yard sales, where I picked up a super nice, and huge, North Face family tent for around $100. It was probably a $500 tent. It had a bent pole, which North Face sent me a replacement for free.

My wife and I use the Eureka "Headquarters" tent. Good family tent and Ideal for my wife and I with all our "stuff" :-)

I have had many of these tents cheap and expensive. If you purchase a cheap tent it will be fine for three times a year if weather is good. I have a giant tent I purchased from Costco and have used 5 or six times. The problem with the inexpensive tent is it is usually fiberglass poles and the fly is not full coverage. Attacking clips and stays are not made well. I have been in high wind situations where the tent laid down. The combination of fiberglass and partial coverage the fly gives means it works only in ideal weather. I also noticed that a couple of the plastic clips have broke over the years. Initial cost was nice but they are not great in a storm and in my opinion cost per use is high. So if you double the cost of the tent and get say a Kingdom 6 what you are getting is aluminum poles a much better fly. Better clips and attaching hardware and much better ventilation. The design is also much better. The REI tent will last much longer and so cost per use is lower if it is used for 10 years. The Costco tent I purchased for $200 I wouldn't take out again after 5 uses. It cost me $40 a use. The REI Kingdom/basecamp at $439 three times a year for ten years is $15 a use not to mention can weather most weather. I have owned the Marmot Limestone 4/6, Big Agnes Big House 4/6 and Flying Diamond 6/8, REI Basecamp 4/6 Kingdom 6/8, Hobitat 4/6 and Campdome6, and some various other discontinued products from many more manufacturers. The best of the REI tents are the Basecamp and Kingdom. The REI tents weaknesses are the poles are soft so be careful with them as they can deform under force. After purchasing the tents make sure you inspect the stitching as the quality control in REI branded products varies a bit. The corners of these two tents are where I have seen problems. If you inspect and treat these tents well they will last for a decade. Buy the Kingdom for space and the Basecamp for storm protection both are fantastic tents. REI does not sell individual pieces for most tents and with their "new" return policy changes everything for me. The Marmot Limestones are a step up with better materials better quality control. Set is easier you get clips that marry the fly to the tent body. Poles are better and will not deform as easy as the REI tents. The only weak point of this tent is the floor it is not quite as thick as the REI and the stuff sack sucks buy a duffel to put it in. Marmot while slow stands behind their products. The Big Agnes Flying Dimond 6/8 are my favorites. The easiest to set up use the best materials are 4 season rated. They check of all the boxes for me. Big Agnes is the best at standing behind their gear and they are fast to repair or replace. Great people and no runaround. There are a couple of others I would love to try before I say the Flying Diamond is the best tent out there. The Kirkhams Colossus Spring bar tent at $1700 and the Hilleberg Saitaris $$$$$. But my guess is the Flying diamond will still be it for me.

"I have had many of these tents cheap and expensive. If you purchase a cheap tent it will be fine for three times a year if weather is good." Thank you for that excellent write up of your experiences. Given all the options my first choices would be either the REI basecamp 6 or the Big Agnes Tensleep 6. I also recently found the Mountainsmith Conifer 5+ which looks pretty promising for the price. However, after talking it over with the wife, her big concern is bug protection. She wants to be able to give our youngest one a place to play/crawl around without fear of getting eaten alive, and you're not supposed to put deet based products on little ones. Therefore, I think we are likely going to go with the Coleman Evanston 6/Steal Creak 6. Not my first choice, but at under $150 I won't be overly disappointed regardless of the outcome.

Has anyone seen or tried any of the (pricey) SnowPeak car camping tents?

We started with a 2 person Eureka when it was two of us, then the 4 person Eureka dome when we started camping with our daughter. That finally fell apart from overuse and we got a really nice 6-person dome tent, aluminum poles, full coverage fly, I think it may have been a house brand at our regional outfitter chain ("Iron Mountain"). That lasted ten years and cost about $350, so $35/year which compares pretty well to $150/night at a lodge or motel. We saw a lot of the country living out of that tent. +1 on the really big tarp. We had two giant blue tarps from Home Depot, along with several tall poles and many meters of guy lines and tighteners. Plus big tent stakes and a hammer. We would put one giant tarp over the picnic table, and in bad weather or hot sun, the other one over the tent. Being able to leave the tent door and all the windows open in heavy rain in the summer is great. (We are not talking lightweight camping here, folks.) For many trips we also brought a large screen house, I do think it was a Coleman brand, big metal poles, six sides, big doors. This is a lifesaver in bad weather or in buggy areas — erect it over the picnic table. If the place you are camping has electric hookups, bring an extension cord and some lights for inside the screen house – those long tube lights work well wrappred around the frame where the roof joins the walls. These are not expensive at Wal Mart or wherever. Now that we're back to just the two of use, we're spending a lot more time either backpacking or staying in the lodge. Haven't been car camping in a while, but we did spend a night at Hurricane Campground in the Mt Rogers area when we hiked through on the AT this summer. It was great – the place was empty, and our SMD Lunar Duo was just fine as a "car" camping tent.

Howdy, my posting on a similar thread about 3 months ago. Howdy, For car camping, we take a 20 lb, 4 season bombproof shelter. Our current unit is the Snow Peak Amenity dome. We've come back after a days outings in places like Death Valley, where 60 MPH gusts are common, and found our tent secure and stable. Other tents are flat or blown away with all the folding chairs, easy ups and coolers, ect. A 4 season tent allows you to seal out the dust/ blowing rain. Big steel stakes hold it down and the huge vestibule provides me a stormproof place to sit in a chair with the cooler and a cook set on a milk crate. My family is cozy inside. It was $350, but it has been on a dozen or more trips to the East Side, Death Valley, Yosemite, Big Sur and a 2 month trip to Baja Sur. And with proper care will last until UV kills the fly. If I lost it, I'd get the same one. 2 cents, stephan I like the Snow peak tent better than the Eureka tent we had before it. The 4 season Eureka was well built with thick aluminum poles and #8 zippers. A three pole dome, same as the SP. The SP has a 4th pole and runs it askew to create an excellent vestibule layout. The vestibule sold me on this tent. It's huge and very user friendly. The #5 zippers are my only complaint about this tent. Chinese manufacture, with great materials. The tent itself is about 12 lbs, with some steel stakes and a hatchet, about 20 lbs.

I have this tent for 'car/family camping'. Takes 2 folks to set it up efficiently and has withstood some pretty significant T-Storms over the years. My brother purchased one as well and took it out, leaked around window seam, he called them – they said they had identified a QC issue and had addressed it and promptly sent him a replacement tent, no questions asked. http://www.pahaque.com/pq/product.asp?pid=62094&ret_id=1455119

I am not sure if you can get it in the states, but we have a Nomad Touareg with added porch. The nice thing is that it's a tunnel but you sleep sideways, so parents and any young child that gets scared during the night can sleep on one side, and if you want the other kids can have little private 'rooms' opposite. the porch gives a ton of space. big tent! different from my zpacks duplex 600 grammes, but great with family!!!

Brian, I would choose the weathermaster over the Evanston if you are going to go with the Coleman. Coleman fiberglass poles are horribly cheap. The weathermaster has metal locking poles. The only fiberglass poles are for the door and then to hold the rain fly out over the door/window. It has a solid rain fly and a ton of guy lines. It went through some seriously strong winds and downpours this summer and came out without a scratch when many other cheap tents in the campgrounds were completely destroyed. As I said earlier though it needs to be seam sealed and you definitely want a big tarp to put underneath it. During the day I stacked all the sleeping pads and sleeping bags up on one side and laid out a big mexican blanket for my kids to play on when it rained. I was worried it was going to be a terrible tent for the price but I was not disappointed. Here is a pic from it set up in June.

Glad to see someone talk about the flying diamond. Yes they are expensive but they are bombproof once set up. Just did two nights over the weekend did one night with 8 hours straight with thunder and lightning and the next night with another 3 hours. It was funny listening to people bolt for there cars when they started getting soaked in there cheap Colman and walmart tents while me and my family where nice and dry. My only regret is not spending the extra and picking up the 8 man version for the extra head room

Brian, Lots of good food for thought on this thread. I've been in a similar boat with tent decisions. However, because my wife and I backpack with the kids and have a limited budget, we decided that any money would be invested in gear that would work for backpacking, not just car camping. So far, that has worked well. We have a couple of options: Depending on where we will be car camping, we either take two 3 person tents or 1 four person tent along with tarps. The part of the tent that seems to get the most abuse by kids is the zippers and floor. Having tarps for weather protected play areas works really well to avoid that abuse. However, like you mentioned, there is the issue of bug protection. Depending on your locale, it can be a big problem. If space and weight really are no problem, than we have been very happy with the multiple tent solution. A couple of options that can be used for car camping and also backpacking, while also not being extremely expensive: Tarptent Cloudburst 3 Tarptent Rainshadow 2 Tarptent Hogback Big Agnes Copper Spur 3 or 4 Big Agnes Yahmonite 5 There are lots of cheap tents you could get, but at least for our family, the investment in gear that can be used for backpacking is money better spent. Good luck on your decision

This weekend we did a little car camping with 6 kids, and 3 dads. I still haven’t pulled the trigger yet on a big family car camping tent, luckily it was just one of my sons and I going this time. My most recent tent purchases is a Big Agnes Scout 2, but I was afraid of my son wearing a hole in the floor, plus the condensation is annoying, so I broke out my 10+ year old Eureka Apex 2 which worked well for just the 2 of us. However, a larger tent with room to stand would have been useful on this trip and even more so in the future when Mommy and the little brother will be joining.