To compare tent fabrics, you also need to know their overall rip strength. For most fabrics, rip strength is expressed as a measurement of the diameter of the fibers in their thread, or a denier—the higher the denier, the stronger the fabric. We found 40 denier up to 150 denier to be typical for car-camping tents; you can read more about these measurements in gear manufacturer MSR’s blog post and in this Outside article. Finding a small, light tent is the logical approach when you’re backpacking.
The Ozark Trail 16′ x 16′ Instant Cabin Tent sleeps 12 and can be set up in under 2 minutes. It requires no assembly because the poles are pre-attached to the tent. This 12-person tent is ideal for an outdoor family gathering so you can enjoy nature no matter the weather. The Ozark Trail 8-Person Instant Cabin Tent sets up in under two minutes for easy and fun camping. This 8-Person tent requires no assembly because the poles are pre-attached to the tent.
Families who regularly pitch their tent in rainy locales need a wind-fighting tent with a good-size vestibule for storing wet shoes and gear, as well as a full rain fly for added weather protection. Car campers who plan to brave miserable weather will appreciate the extra strength and protection of the REI Co-op Base Camp 4 Tent. The main bodies of our other picks are structured with two main poles with added support from smaller brow poles. The Base Camp, by contrast, has four full-size aluminum struts woven throughout it, somewhat like a basket, plus an additional brow pole that frames the front entrance and supports the larger of the two vestibules. The Base Camp also offers more privacy compared with our other picks—with or without the rain fly.
This Ozark Trail 10-Person Tent has a packed size of 29 by 18 by 13 inches. For a size comparison, here’s what it looks like beside a Coleman 2-Person Sundome Tent, as well as a 32-ounce Nalgene bottle, and it weighs about 30 pounds for everything. The 14 steel stakes that came with the tent are just your standard tent stakes, nothing impressive. The 6 wall poles are made of steel, I think, but they’re probably not stainless steel, because I found some rust on one of these steel poles. So after washing your tent and I also do rinse off the poles, do let them dry first before storing it away.
I really liked how almost everything was pre-attached; this includes the pre-attached poles, pre-attached pole clips, and the 4 pre-attached guylines. I bought the Ozark Trail Dark Rest Instant Cabin 6-Person Camping Tent from a friend to make this review, and I managed to test its ease of use, dark rest technology, quality, and loads more. This makes for superior circulation, which is also customizable, as the windows and ceiling panels can be zipped up to regulate how much air passes through the tent. The Ozark trail needs to be tied down with the guy lines to remain durable. If anything goes wrong, you can replace the poles with replacement parts (around $20), and I recommend buying an extra pole just to be safe. The Gazelle is the biggest and heaviest out of the 4; you’ll need a big car to fit it, so make sure you measure the space you have in your car beforehand.
Ease of setup (how easy it is to pitch and take down a tent) is pretty much always a high mark for Ozark Trail tents. These tents are built for first-time and/or fairweather campers, so Ozark Trail puts a lot of effort into making them easy to use. As stated above, durability and materials are the main pain point of Ozark Trail tents.
It can also be used as a power source to fire up electrical heaters or stoves. While the secondary room stays wide open for enjoying the outdoor ozark trail instant cabin environment in a bug-protected enclosure. Families will also benefit from having the parents in one room, and the kids in another room.