Light wind and rain should be fine, but you’ll want to take some steps to prepare for both (more on that below). This shelter may be the least expensive in our roundup, but it still packs some sweet features worth noting. It’s a great spot to stash your “middle of the night bathroom break” shoes and anything else you don’t want taking up space inside the tent. The Ozark Trail 4 Person Instant Dome Tent is an excellent choice for families and novice campers. It removes much of the hassle from pitching a tent so you can spend more time enjoying the great outdoors. The Ozark Trail 4 Person Instant Dome Tent can be found at Walmart, currently on Rollback from $79.97 to $59.97.
According to most reviews on the internet, you should take the all-weather claim with a large grain of salt. Bloggers and user reviews point to below-average insulation, which means that a night in cold weather will be, well, freezing. On top of that, all of their tents are affordable, come with an electrical cord port, and set up in minutes. After spending a lot of time with Ozark Trail tents, my final verdict is that they’re excellent budget-friendly tents. Ozark Trail tents are competitive with CORE and Coleman Tents, but in our opinion ultimately fall a little short of both brands in quality and consistency.
Some of the tents also feature a hook and loop cord organizer that helps you keep essential cords off the floor. It’s on the heavy side, and it’s also not the type of tent you carry in a backpack. Assembly can be tricky, especially if you’re a first-timer, so be patient.
Do NOT phone in the guyline portion of set-up (regardless of the weather) or you’ll risk damaging the tent. Finally, the material of this shelter is noticeably higher quality than many Ozark Trail tents, but the 68D polyester is still not as thick as we’d like. No Ozark Trail tent is perfect, but as far as full-size family camping tents go, this is the one to beat.
There’s no dark room technology though, and it’s quite bright throughout the day. Also, I’m not tall enough to attach it without some help, but if you’re slightly taller you should be able to attach it no problem. Every single time I open this door, the zipper will snag at least once, sometimes twice, which can be annoying.
The pole structure is very simple, there are only 8 guylines in total, and the stakes aren’t your super high-quality stakes. You can also leave the rainfly off, and stargaze at night when it’s not raining. On top of that, there’s also no zip down the middle of the divider for easy access into either room. To get into the other room, you’d have to remove the divider and then put it back up. There’s some space at the bottom that’s not covered, and also some space at the top that’s not covered by the divider.
Yes, Core is an excellent tent brand, especially for family camping tents. They are not as portable as some other tent brands, but they are weather-resistant, durable and excellent value for money. Coleman is another affordable camping gear brand that also produces a lot of the same style tents as Ozark Trail.
The three-room cabin is definitely one of Ozark Trail’s more expensive models though, so if you’re shopping on a budget, there are plenty of other models worth considering. The Clip & Camp dome is particularly affordable, and also happens to be one of the most dependable models the ozark trail canopy brand currently makes. As stated above, durability and materials are the main pain point of Ozark Trail tents. Take time to treat the entire tent with a DWR coating like Nikwax (not just the rainfly) and never leave the house without a tent repair kit in case disaster strikes.
Two people can get this cabin set up in about five minutes, but setting the 2 Room Cabin up solo isn’t out of the question either. Ozark Trail is all about big family camping tents on a budget, and few are as big and budget-friendly as the Ozark Trail 10 Person Two-Room Cabin. This roomy option (20′ L x 9′ W x84″ H) offers similar perks as the above 12-person option, but with a little more privacy.
The rainfly has to be in place, so the ceiling mesh will be covered. You might get a little bit of ventilation through the gap between the ceiling mesh and the rainfly, but I think it’s pretty minimal. All the windows and doors also have to be closed, because otherwise, the rain would drip right into the tent. Even in light rain, the rain does get on to the window and door mesh, so it’s best to keep them full closed.