For this guide, we focused on tents that suit the most common terrains you’re likely to encounter when car-camping—grassy lawns or clearings, beaches, dirt campsites, and basic platforms—in spring, summer, and fall. We’re not looking at tents designed for such specialized activities as mountaineering, backpacking, or winter camping, though some of our recommendations have cross-over potential. One thing we love about Ozark Trail canopy tents are the accessories that can be added to the shelters.
Like most dome-style tents, the Wireless 6 withstands wind like a champ—it fared noticeably better than the Camp Creek 6 in 15-mph gusts. The continuous curve of the dome shape allows for wind to pass over and around it. You can also get a nice cross breeze going by leaving the vestibules open. On sunny days and clear nights, take off the fly and enjoy the sky through the tent’s clear mesh canopy. Some testers, though, thought the tent was stuffy when the fly was fully closed and the sun was out. The Mineral King 3’s fly attaches intuitively with plastic buckles and has well-placed guy tabs.
It’s pricey, though, and unless the other couples’ tents we recommend, it doesn’t include a footprint. Though the Wireless’s fly kept water out of the tent’s interior, it took longer to fully dry once the rain stopped than some others we tested. If you don’t have time to let the fly dry before you pack the Wireless in its duffle, we recommend laying it out when you get home so it doesn’t mildew in storage. Temperatures ranged from the 50s at night to the 80s during the day.
A tent that requires staking to stand up—especially a larger, six-person tent—is unwieldy, and it’ll be impossible to set up on a hard surface such as blacktop or on raised wooden tent decks. Whether you’re thinking of hitting the road or staying close to ozark trail canopy tent home for your next car-camping adventure, you and your loved ones will need a comfortable place to sleep. As only certain components of a tent can be repaired at costs lower than an entire replacement, repairs are best left avoided whenever possible.
Most of the tents we tested came with basic L-shaped stakes, which tended to spin around in the soil and slip a line. Throughout all our testing, we wanted to know how it felt to be inside the tents for long periods of time. If we had to spend a day in the tent during a storm, would it be comfortable? After first removing the models that failed the structural tests, we slept, watched the stars, and ate our meals in all of the tents, as well as planned hikes from them. It is also important to consider the way in which the tent poles attach to the tent.
The Wawona 6’s side-walls are high and straight, but the structure stays very stable in wind thanks to a final pole that wraps around the front and sides—and thanks to the absence of any acute angles in the poles. We were skeptical about the vestibule’s ability to handle wind, since it’s big and supported by a single pole, but it stood fast in 30 mph oceanside gusts and 15 mph hilltop winds. That mesh also keeps the tent feeling airy and cool in hot climates. Measuring 10 by 10 feet, the Sundome covers an area larger than that of our family-tent top pick though its lower roof leaves it with less headroom. These can be as strong, or even more so, than aluminum poles (especially cheap ones), but they’re always bulkier, heavier, and not as nice to handle.
ISLE’s powerful and portable board reminded me that the best gear allows us to inhabit outdoor spaces more deeply. Get the most from your Outdoor Adventures with our Family Camping Tent. It is incredibly spacious and created to offer you a stress-free, enjoyable camping experience. An ideal tent for a family—plenty of set-up room and one ozark trail instant cabin tough tent. An avid swimmer, surfer, hiker, and camper, she currently lives on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, where she can be found, as much as possible, in water. Even so, you should, ideally, stake down each corner securely; in some crowded campgrounds, however, finding a flat spot with soil soft enough to do that can be difficult.
Some air mattresses we’ve tested, like Coleman’s 4-N-1, can stack to serve as a taller Twin or lay out as a low-profile King. Over the years, we’ve seen taller air mattresses become the norm, especially those with built-in pumps. This past year, we put seven new air mattress contenders through a series ozark trail canopy tent of rigorous Lab tests and consumer tests to find the best of the best, using standardized testing methods and other industry standards. Quality sleep is essential, even if it’s “only for a few days.” Beyond feeling comfortable, a good air mattress needs to last, without leaking air overnight.
You can secure the fly to the poles with Velcro ties underneath the fly, so that the extra lines anchored the whole tent, not just the thin protective fabric, but we only needed to do so in very windy conditions. When the fly is fully deployed, the tent has two vestibules, which provide additional gear storage and also help ventilate the tent in inclement weather. And in a stroke of design brilliance, a small loop sewn into the top of the fly makes it possible to roll up one half of the fly, exposing the full mesh canopy while still providing shade and privacy. It’s natural to focus on the quality of a tent’s rain fly—you need that piece to work when the skies open up.