Our only quibble with the Mineral King 3 is that it comes with only six stakes. (Our runner-up pick comes with eight.) Six is enough to secure the tent and fly but not to fully secure the tent’s extra lines in very windy conditions. This shouldn’t be an issue in most situations, but if you’re headed into a particularly windy place or simply want some backup, we suggest picking up four extra tent stakes at your local outdoor shop or online. These inexpensive stakes are comparable to the ones that accompany the Mineral King 3; these slightly more expensive stakes will serve you well in any car-camping terrain. The Mountain Hardwear Mineral King 3 Tent is the best car-camping tent choice for couples. It has everything you need for three-season camping, with the bonus of being light enough to double as an occasional backpacking tent.
Its 10-person version has an impressive peak height of 90 inches, and I couldn’t even reach the top of the tent! (I’m 5’3″, ,by the way.) Another great thing about the Core Cabin Tent is that there are no obvious flaws…. It also has a nice high peak height of 88 inches, ozark trail canopy tent plus its side walls are vertical, so it offers a lot of livable space. The carry bag seems to be of okay quality, and it can be made bigger for easier packing up. It wasn’t too difficult to get the tent, poles and all other accessories back into the carry bag.
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. The mattresses that I used in the picture above are slightly smaller than queen size, but almost queen-sized, give or take a couple of inches. These 4 mattresses take up the entire tent, and there’s hardly any space leftover for camping gear. The instant set up with previously attached poles is one of the best features. Setting up a huge tent is already difficult, so having this streamlined experience makes things so much easier.
This is useful for those that require some privacy, or want to separate the tent into 2 spaces that can be used in different ways. A lot of people will use the secondary room for storage, eating, gaming, or just lounging in. It has a large square footage at 140, can sleep up to 10 people, and goes up in a few minutes due to its pre-assembled design. The tent can be split in two with an optional divider, which is a great feature when parents want their kids in a separate room, or friends need a break from each other.
On top of that, the zippers for the windows are small and feel flimsy, even though they’re SBS zippers. Does the Ozark Trail Dark Rest Cabin tent truly have “innovative dark rest technology”? 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 brand currently makes. The main thing to know going into an Ozark Trail purchase is that you need to do your due diligence not to overstress the materials because a heavy hand can absolutely damage them.
But the area is 140 ft² (13 m²) so this is far too small for such a number of users although indeed it should be possible to put 10 sleeping pads on the floor. Note again that the tent is fully floored, so this can work for a group of friends at a summer festival and for other similar activities. ozark trail instant cabin But for a family camping, it is best to downgrade this number by half. I think it works totally fine in fair weather, so you can take the rainfly off and open all the windows for a decent amount of ventilation. It definitely won’t be great in strong winds, heavy rain, or even light rain though.
It was very difficult to roll the tent back into its original shape to return to store. I’ve read many people have had the same problems and went to army surplus to buy a bigger durable storage bag.These are the two QUEEN Mattress I received with my ozark trail instant cabin bundle order. I did not open these boxes because they too needed to be returned with the tent. The separate fly, which covers the upper half of the tent, uses a third, shorter “brow” pole to form protective peaks over the door and the back window.
The Ozark 8 Person Instant Tent is the best value for money out of the 4 tents we’re reviewing today. While we share insights and celebrate the adventures that outdoor gear like Ozark Trail can offer, our site is independently run by enthusiasts for enthusiasts. Products are rigorously tested to withstand diverse and challenging outdoor conditions. The mesh doesn’t exactly feel soft and silky, and I’m pretty sure it’s not no-see-um mesh, though it’ll keep the bigger bugs out.
There’s also electrical cord access on this tent, at the middle of the tent. From the inside, you can seal it shut completely with Velcro, it’s quite tight and shouldn’t let in any bugs. But one thing I did like is that I could still fit a small lantern up on the lantern loop, even with the gear loft in place. There’s also 1 lantern loop right at the very top center of this tent, and another four more loops around it for the provided gear loft (which also has s-hooks in each corner for hanging up). And as for the quality of the mesh, here’s a close-up of what it looks like, it’s just regular mosquito netting.