A home away home, a search for a new car camping tent

Wow! You could put cots in there!

Yep, cots would definitley fit.

We have the same tent for family car camping (there's 4 of us). I love it! Man, its huge but with a low profile, well made and bomber, and I really like the light it produces. Its gorgeous in the morning.

It sure is a nice tent, I bought it in Uk so it cost about 350$ at the time and worth every penny.
We have often camped in strong winds when other car camping tents are getting hammered and the Halo is solid as a rock.

I like that he side ventilation slots can be zipped up if breezy, I think it has about 5 foot of head room which is not bad at all.

Neat! My home away from home is a lot smaller (my car is a bike).

I was all over hammocks, but having your own "room" is something I find to be quite comfortable and worth sleeping on the ground for. Most of the time.

I would like to try some bike camping trips at some stage, we would probaly use a Golite Sl3 or Tarp Tent Ss1 for that purpose but my wife sure does love the space in our Hilleberg Kaitum 3 and probaly would insist it comes with us.

:-)

Max, you just need a bigger tarp with end doors to go with your hammock. You can pole out one side for "porch mode" or tuck it all in for privacy.

We have a big Eureka 9×12 tent for car camping. A big tent is great when you can leave it up for a few days. We had a monster Coleman dome tent years ago that we had great road trips with. We had a huge mattress and used crates for stowing gear in my pickup. It was our dome way from home :)

We used an MSR Missing Link this summer and were very happy with that, but no standing room. Plenty of storage space and a spot for the dog too. The single skin design is quick to set up and takes up little room in the car.

I absolutely love our REI Basecamp 6 (they also have an 8 person). The vestibule isn't as robust as the Marmot, but has always been adequate for us (plus I add a tarp over the vestibule anyways). The walls appear slightly less vertical, so if your Marmot held up to the wind, this definitely will.

Its definitely good in the wind for its size and shape but if possible I try to pitch one of the ends in to the wind as the porches are far more aerodynamic.

I would look for a tent with a rainfly that reaches as close to the ground as possible and has extra guy line options about halfway up the sides. Those features will help in the wind. Doors in the fly that can be completely zipped up will help too.

For hot summer use, you want big doors and windows for good flow-through ventilation.

I like pole clips vs sleeves. Getting the tent erected is the challenge and the main event is getting the second pole in place and pulling the tent fabric up in place. Tents that have arched poles that hold the fly up over the doors are easier to set up than ones with one pole that runs across the top. The other main event is getting the fly up over the erected tent inner— they can slide off and be a slapstick comedy routine for one person to accomplish until a couple corners are secured.

I also have a Marmot Halo 4 for car camping. Picked it up on sale for $299 in the US. It's been awesome so far. Big, 8 foot by 8 foot square. Fully guy'd out, it's really stable for a 3-season car camping tent. The dome shape and the beefy 12mm DAC poles help.

Easy for one person to set up and take down. Great ventilation and, on cold nights, I appreciate being able to zip closed the ground level vents that run along two opposite sides. The roof vents in the fly are one of the big reasons I bought this tent.

I can confirm that there is room for cots. I have used a large Cabelas cot in mine. Although, if you were always camping with two cots, I'd probably get the bigger 6P version of the tent.

Here are couple of photos of mine. These were taken just as the sun was coming up, so the camera flash lit up the reflective logos:

Nice pics, I agree about the 6pm, if I was to do it again I would go for that one but no big deal.

The poles are very sturdy.

The downside of the 6 person version is that it probably isn't as wind resistant. Same poles, but a much larger profile. The 4 person version is really solid. Also, I think the 6P tent would be too large for some of the sites where I camp. Add it in the vestibules and it's a very large tent. I think it's big enough that it would be a struggle for one person to put up. Big advantage, I guess, is that you can fully stand up in the 6P.

All things considered, I think the Halo 4P is a perfect compromise for 2 person car camping, even in pretty bad weather. I've only seen one reference to the Halo 4 failing in wind: thunderstorm with hail and 60 mph wind. Tent held up OK until they unzipped the door and the wind got inside the vestibule and collapsed the tent. But, I'm not going car camping if the forecast includes storms with 60 mph wind. Or, if I did, I'd take my 4 season tent. :)

That's good points on the 6p, the 4p definitely is perfect for 2 people for car camping.

I agree with you, if the forecast was that bad I would be asking a Hilleberg :-)

Our car tent. A Maggiolina from Italy. I have no business affiliations with the company, but these tents are the bomb and last for decades.

http://Www.autohomeus.com

Nice FJ Cruiser and tent :-)

I wanted to get an FJ myself but ended up with a 4 runner instead.

Thank you. We have had this tent up in 60 mph winds, a tornado went over us on the North Rim of GC and it did fine. And numerous hard rain and snowstorms. It's warm and snug, there is a collapsing ladder inside that we install on the side entry. We no longer worry about bugs in bed, rattlesnakes or bears.:-) and it stays clean inside.

Stephen,

We love our Kaitum 3 as well, but now have switched to the TT cloudburst 3 for our summer tent. Same roominess as the Kaitum 3 at half the weight. I recently picked up a Nemo Pentalite 4 with the Wedge insert here from another BPL member for car camping with our dog. Rather a steal for $300. Haven't used it yet, but have set it up in the yard and think it will work smashingly for this use. Nice height (nearly 6 feet) and lots of room for 2 plus dog. Wouldn't want to have to carry it in a backpack very far, but for the car…

I think the tipi shape will work well with winds. It has plenty of guy outs for additional support.

I love those rooftop popups, but no way am I lifting our dog up there. I don't think she'll do well on a ladder :)

Our dog sleeps in his special bed in the car.

Great Photo Desert Dweller :-)

Hi Ber,

The Kaitum 3 is great tent, probably the best I have ever owned.
I looked at the Cloudburst 3 but the lack of a separate inner put me off.

As I was reading through the posts, it struck me that one of the big center pole UL tents could do double duty as hiking and car camping shelter. Something like a Shangrila 5 would be fun to have in a lot of places. If you wanted to go that direction, one of the big tipi style tents with a wood stove option would really be like having a portable cabin.

Hey Stephen,

Dont let the lack of inner put you off from the CB3. At least for warmer temperatures it worked out really well. Perhaps in colder temperatures if might not have the same level of insulation as the Katitum3. But the CB3 buttons down pretty tight when needed. Ventilation is excellent, but again when closed up, is not overtly drafty.

I agree with Dale's comment. The Nemo Pentalite 4 falls into this catagory.

Hi Dale,

I am not looking for a new tent at all, I was just telling folk about my search for one in the past and what I got :-)

Hi Ber,

Its not about insulation that put me off, its just I prefer that have a separate inner so I can use the outer by itself of no bugs around, its also easier to dry the tent.

The Sl5 would make a good car camping tent, we have an Sl3 for when we are out for just one night.