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 coleman cooler effective awning over the tent door, so very little water gets in when someone comes or goes. This dome-style tent has nearly vertical walls, high ceilings, and a single vestibule the size of an actual mudroom. It’s also straightforward to set up, and it is made with sturdy, light materials.
There are also two poles that arch over each doorway and down the sides of the tent to add extra shape and support; these attach to the tent body with clips. The rain fly has an additional tent pole, too, to support the vestibule. Overall, these poles—all of them aluminum—contribute to a particularly sturdy structure, with or without the rain fly. During our testing, our Base Camp shrugged off both a rainstorm and a desert windstorm as if they were nothing.
Temperatures ranged from the 50s at night to the 80s during the day. Finding a small, light tent is the logical approach when you’re backpacking. But with car camping—the industry term for what most people consider just camping—you’ll likely be parking next to your campsite and unloading. If you won’t be carrying your tent more than a couple hundred feet, more space means more comfort (as well as more room for your stuff). An avid hiker, camper, and long-haul road-tripper, Claire Wilcox has slept in (and occasionally improvised) tents in 11 states.
When heavy trade winds buffeted our Oahu-coast testing site, we pitched each tent in full face of the blast. We then rotated the tents looking for structural weaknesses, and we tested their guy lines and tabs to see which tents had the best and most intuitive design for withstanding wind. Great for backyard overnights, this simple dome-style tent is for anyone who doesn’t want to spend more than $150 on a tent but also doesn’t want to buy another one next year. It has a partial rain fly, but only one door and no vestibule.
Easy to set up and pack away, the Mineral King 3 is a lightweight, two-door tent with a generous footprint and a sturdy dome shape. It’s the perfect choice for three-season multipurpose camping. The Caddis Rapid Tent features a rapid tent frame allowing this easy tent to be set up by one person in less than a minute! The design consists of four hinged and telescoping poles that connect at one central point above the tent. Simply unfold and extend the legs until they click into place.
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.
It can be used on the ground or on top of a compatible camp cot. The TETON Vista comes with a rainfly, although an elite rainfly that covers both the tent and cot is also available. So you’ve decided that you want a tent that is quick and easy to set up when you arrive at camp. There are many instant tents on the market ranging in size, weight, quality, and price. We’ve done the work of researching the best of the best so here they are, the best instant tents.
As a family of 4 (plus an 80 lb Golden Doodle), having an instant tent makes the most sense for us. There is often so much going on when we first arrive at a campsite. The kids need to use the restroom, everyone is hungry, the dog needs to be leashed coleman camping chair up, etc. Fumbling with an armful of unattached poles with all of that going on in the background fills me with anxiety just thinking about it. The Instant Tent 4 will no doubt find fans in car campers who hold setup convenience as a No. 1 trait.