As far as fairweather shelters go, however, this one may be the best value in terms of livability for your money. No one wants to be in an outdoor shelter that is structurally compromised when exposed to the elements. Like most instant tents, they use a combination of steel and polyester for the majority of its construction. Steel legs give it a strong frame which excel in protecting you against high winds during inclement weather. Which one you’ll choose will come down to personal preferences & personal needs; you can’t really go wrong with any of these, they are all the best rated & best selling tents in the 8 person instant tents category. Its walls are 75-denier polyester fabric (tougher than the Wireless 6’s 68-denier polyester and the same as the REI Co-op Base Camp’s) that extends about two-thirds up the tent’s sides, and then is topped with mesh.
The tent itself is nice and roomy, and boasts a 6-foot peak height to make changing clothes a drama-free endeavor. After a full review of the best 8 person instant tents available on the market, our overall best choice is the Core 9 Instant Cabin Tent. When looking for the best 8 person instant tents, there are a few things you should check to see if it fits your needs. I’ve listed the different criteria below, to give you more info on how I selected these tents to be featured as the best of their category. Note also that the packed size is not so impressive, but again, this is normal for instant camping tents that come with telescopic poles.
One of our favorite features of this tent is the blackout interior Ozark has designed it with. Great for light sleepers, or those days when you feel like shutting out the world around you, all the windows zip shut to eliminate any light from entering the tent. All of the 8 person tents included in this guide are solid choices, and which one will be the best for you depends on your specific needs. This means sleeping in a camping bag, with almost no space between people, and it might mean sleeping with heads next to feet. The most durable tents out of the 4, but you’ll need to buy better stakes if you camp in windy/rainy areas. Not ideal if you’re planning to go on a backpacking trip where you carry your tent in your bag.
However, the windows and the door are also double-layer with mesh and waterproof panels. During my research on this tent I watched several YouTube videos on how to set up tent by yourself or with two people. This tent is a little heavy because of the steel poles pre-attached to the tent, so I recommend having a partner to help pop up and lock in the poles.
In contrast to the Mineral King 3’s triangular vestibules, the Tungsten 4’s vestibules are trapezoidal, opening via a central door with protected areas on either side. This design does a better job shielding the tent from incoming—and sideways—wind and rain. The Tungsten’s two brow poles create an especially effective awning over the tent door, so very little water gets in when someone comes or goes. Like the Mineral King 3, the Tungsten 4 has a mesh canopy, though the opaque polyester part of its walls go higher, and provide more privacy, than the Mineral King’s. The Tungsten’s fly is not adaptable in the same way the Mineral King 3’s is, but it is treated for extra UV protection, which should help lengthen the tent’s lifespan.
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Overall, because a lot of water leaked through the un-taped seams and even the tent fabric after just 15 minutes of mostly light rain, I would say that this Ozark Trail 10-Person Tent is not waterproof at all. 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. Seasons-wise and climate-wise, this is a summer camping tent ozark trail instant cabin or perhaps maximum for 1.5 – 2 seasons. They do not provide any info about the waterproof rating, also the fly is minimal and there are many openings on its three sides. So I would not put it to very serious tests in harsh weather conditions. The bigger part of the tent is a single-layer structure, only the ceiling is with the mesh and here you have the minimal fly added as the second layer.
But of course, you’re sleeping like sardines, and there’s hardly any floor space leftover for gear. However, there was one thing I really didn’t like about this Dark Rest tent, and that’s the degrading of the blackout fabric. After just 1.5 years in storage, the dark rest tech started peeling off. That’s because the rainfly is so tiny, it doesn’t cover any of the windows at all. I put this ozark trail instant cabin Ozark Trail tent through only a very light rain test, and after just 15 minutes of this, I noticed that some of the rain had actually seeped into the fabric of the tent from the outside. It would have been a little quicker, if one, compression straps were provided to help get the tent down into a smaller size, and two, if the carry bag provided could have been a little bit bigger.
There’s just a single door at the front of the tent, and to be honest, I didn’t really like it very much for a few reasons. So, if you’re taller than me, you literally won’t be able to stand up in this tent. There is some leftover space for gear at the foot of each mattress though. Every time I touched the wall of the ozark trail shower tent tent, it started leaving a sticky residue on my fingers. I initially wanted to use and test this Dark Rest tent out for longer, but I decided to junk it after a few days cos it was really gross. Luckily, there is 1 single floor vent at the back of the tent, which measures almost a foot in width from the outside.
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