Tents

Family dome tents

Dome tents, the most popular style for family camping, have a rounded top that sheds rain and snow easily. This strong shape also withstands wind well, since there are no corners to get caught in breezes. Setup is usually easy, especially with shock-corded poles that just unfold to full length, plus color coding to show where the each pole goes. Usually dome tents are free-standing, so the only stakes required are for the rainfly -- a separate layer put on over the poles if rain or cold threatens. The best dome tents for family camping are high enough in the center to allow campers to stand up.

Field tests at Camping Life recommend the Kelty Lounge 4 (*est. $350) partly for its six-foot headroom, saying it rises above most dome tents. The review says the 64-square-foot Kelty Lounge 4 provides enough room for three adults -- or for two adults and two children. However, the six-person Kelty Lounge 6 (*est. $440) provides 112 square feet, nearly twice as much space.

For both sizes, color-coded poles and clips make setup easy, and a mesh panel in the ceiling permits stargazing on clear nights. Additional mesh in sidewalls makes for good ventilation – important for minimizing condensation. The tent fly extends beyond the front door to provide a 16-square-foot vestibule – important for stowing muddy boots or sheltering a dog. Aluminum poles make weight reasonable -- about 16 pounds for the four-person tent and 22 pounds for the six-person Kelty Lounge 6 camping tent.

Family tent reviews emphasize two factors that make a lot of difference in camping comfort: built-in storage and staying dry. The Camping Life review praises the Kelty Lounge 4 and Lounge 6 on both counts. For storage, the tents provide inner loops, a gear shelf, large storage pockets and an organizer wall. For waterproofing, the tent arrives fully seam-sealed and watertight. The rainfly has vents for air flow but comes all the way down the sides. This keeps it dry even in a driving rain. It also makes it a “3.5-season tent,” since the fly keeps the tent warmer in cold weather.

On similar grounds, Backpacker editors recommend the four-person L.L.Bean Vector XL 4 Dome tent (*est. $250), praising its full-coverage rainfly with a clear plastic window in the ceiling. Tests show the tent’s ventilation design performs well in preventing condensation, and setting up the camping tent takes less than five minutes. Two doors and two vestibules make the space especially usable, along with plenty of interior storage pockets.

At 69 inches high, this family dome tent is three inches shorter than the Kelty Lounge 4, but the 62.5-square-foot floor area is similar. The six-person L.L.Bean Vector XL 6 Dome tent (*est. $300) provides a 91.5-square-foot floor area that’s smaller than that of the Kelty Lounge 6, but provides 80 inches of headroom -- helpful for tall campers.

Backpacker editors say the L.L.Bean Vector XL 4 Dome tent is the “most affordable, user-friendly tent we’ve found for families that typically visit car campgrounds.” Owners reviewing this tent at OutdoorReview.com also like it, but note that it requires seam-sealing to be fully waterproof. We found a few other owner-written reviews scattered at various sites -- all positive, though several reviewers note that the rear door is more convenient than the front.

The older Eureka Sunrise series of tents also has just a partial rainfly, propped open over three windows and the door. However, this series gets good marks in some professional reviews, and owners reviewing Eureka Sunrise family tents at Amazon.com say they do stay dry. Owners like the ventilation provided by the three windows, but note that the big windows and lack of a full-coverage rainfly can make these tents chilly in cool weather. Another drawback is that the Sunrise tents lack any vestibule.

The Eureka Sunrise tents are basically square in shape, with a classic crossed two-pole design. The Sunrise 9 provides 81 square feet of space, with six feet of headroom – bigger than the Kelty Lounge 4 but lacking a vestibule. The Eureka Sunrise 11 (*est. $230) provides 122 square feet with a nice seven feet of headroom. Both Eureka Sunrise tents would make good budget choices for family camping.

Even less expensive family dome tents are available. The Columbia Bugaboo Four to Five-Person Family Dome Tent (*est. $130) gets mostly good ratings from over 70 owners reviewing it at Amazon.com. Clear windows in the fly permit stargazing, but it can be covered if you don’t want the morning sun to shine in. Owners say the main drawbacks are tricky setup and occasional leaks -- plus a chilly draft from the rear mesh window even when the rainfly is installed. This dome tent has a lot of nifty features, especially for the price -- such as footlockers that are accessible from outside or in -- but owners say they don’t prove that advantageous in actual use. There's also a remote-controlled battery-powered light, but several owner-written reviews say that it doesn’t work well.

Family cabin and wall tents

Family cabin-style and wall tents are heavier than dome tents but provide more space, often with more than one room. Two or three rooms can make a tent much more comfortable for a family, with separate sleeping quarters plus space for eating inside. True wall tents are shaped with straight, vertical walls and a classic A-frame roof, but many cabin tents are modified dome tents. These resist strong winds well, but the slanting walls make for less headroom at the sides.

There are so many family wall tents on the market that we found no consensus among reviews about the best tent. The main drawbacks to watch out for are the same problems found with family dome tents: leaks (especially in a hard driving rain), tricky setup and poor construction. Owner-written reviews at Amazon.com, REI.com and Cabelas.com identify the best tents sold at these retailers; together they cover most brands.

The North Face Trailhead 8 (*est. $500) is the cabin tent that gets the best ratings from users at REI.com, where owners praise its easy color-coded setup, sturdy build (even in high winds) and comfort. Owners note that it’s easy to pack and comes with a duffle bag. The North Face Trailhead 8 is a free-standing tent with three rooms totaling 132 square feet, with two doors plus two vestibules. The fly covers the big front vestibule completely, so it’s usable even in a hard rain.

Headroom for The North Face Trailhead 8 is 78 inches in the center, but this tent is really a cabin tent built on a modified dome shape, so the two side rooms have walls that slant a lot. There are inner pockets and loops, but a full gear shelf is an extra option (*est. $15). At 32 pounds, the total weight is moderate for a three-room tent.

The less expensive Columbia Cougar Flats (*est. $300) is also a combination dome and cabin tent. It has two rooms and, at 54 pounds, it’s a lot heavier than The North Face Trailhead 8. However, it’s actually bigger than the Trailhead 8, with a 150-square-foot floor and more headroom at 86 inches. You can take down the room divider to make one big space. Interior storage includes two pockets plus a hanging shelf.

Out of over a hundred owners reviewing the Columbia Cougar Flats tent at Amazon.com, most give it high praise for its spaciousness, construction and excellent ventilation. However, we also found strong criticisms of the rainfly design. It’s only a partial rainfly -- exactly the design that Camping Life's editors warn about -- and it seems impossible to open the door in the rain without letting water inside the tent. The design of The North Face Trailhead 8, with its fully covered vestibule, is much better. However, most owners are satisfied with the Cougar Flats nonetheless.

Cabela’s Deluxe Alaknak II series is pricey but provides a tall, well-covered entrance porch that sheds rain off to the sides; you don’t have to stoop to enter. This is the tent that gets top rating from owners reviewing tents at Cabelas.com. Combining a wall tent with an A-frame tent to save weight, the 12-foot square Alaknak II (*est. $650) has vertical side walls 48 inches high, plus an A-frame roof that peaks at 116 inches. It’s still heavy at 67 pounds, and setup is a bit more complicated than with the tents above.

The finished tent has a center pole -- though a D-ring also lets you hang the center of the tent from a tree branch. The design even allows for a stove and chimney, and shelves run along both sides and the back for gear storage. This tent series comes in two other sizes. The smaller 9.5-square-foot Alaknak II (*est. $550) has vertical side walls three feet high. The huge 12 x 20-foot Alaknak II (*est. $900) has side walls five feet high, and not surprisingly, weighs a whopping 106 pounds.

If you want to leave a tent set up for more than a few weeks at a time, tent experts recommend choosing a durable canvas tent. Canvas, unlike nylon and polyester, doesn’t fade from exposure to sunlight and it’s even relatively waterproof. Canvas wall tents are heavy but spacious, and most are designed to accommodate a small woodstove. Several companies make canvas wall tents, but we found reviews only at Cabelas.com, where owners give top ratings to Cabela’s Outfitter’s Canvas Wall Tents (*est. $650 for a 10 x 12 square-foot tent, to $870 for a 14 x 17 square-foot tent). These tents are especially suitable for pitching on a wooden tent platform, while the same tents with sewn-in floors cost at least $100 more. Owners also give perfect ratings to Cabela’s Custom Wall Tents (*est. $570 to $1,300). On both tent models, the rainfly is an extra cost add-on.

Backpacking tents

An A-frame tent with a door in one end is the classic backpacking tent. These differ from family tents in that they trade features and spacious size for light weight so you can carry your tent in or on your backpack. Some backpackers still use and praise the A-frame Eureka Timberline series of tents. For example, the Eureka Timberline 2 (*est. $110) is a simple free-standing A-frame tent with 37.6 square feet of floor space plus a 12.5-square-foot vestibule. It’s sturdy but at six pounds, it's on the heavy side for backpacking, and the slant of the walls decreases the interior space compared with newer tent styles that use curved poles.

In recent years, the trend in backpacking tents is toward tents with a large door on each side of the tent. This makes larger vestibules possible too – so there’s more room for a dog or wet gear. The new standard is to have two doors plus two vestibules – so two people can share the tent without one person having to crawl over the other to get in or out. Newer backpacking tents are also lighter and better ventilated -- with lots of mesh on top, vents in the rainflies and variable-diameter poles that put strength where it’s most needed.

The Big Sky Evolution 2P (*est. $300), for example, weighs more than two pounds less than the Eureka Timberline 2 mentioned above but provides two doors and two vestibules. Comparison tests at Backpacking Light give this backpacking tent the top ranking based on its excellent space and very good ventilation, wind protection and durability. Backpacker Magazine gives this tent its 2007 Editors’ Choice award, and it is also the 2007 budget pick at Outside Magazine – where tests show it performed well even in a surprise snowstorm.

The lightest version of the Big Sky Evolution 2P (2.9 pounds) uses carbon-fiber poles, which deflect more in the wind than aluminum poles, but weigh a pound less. The pole deflection can let the rainfly hit the mesh tent, letting some condensation form. Owners reviewing this tent at BackpackGearTest.org note that it’s sturdy in gusts up to 80 mph, but the zippers can snag.

Owners say the zippers can also snag on the Big Agnes Emerald Mountain SL2 (*est. $300) , and though it comes with just one vestibule, at nearly five pounds it’s heavier than the Big Sky Evolution 2P. The tradeoff is in lack of condensation: tests at Outside Magazine show zero condensation even under rugged conditions. This backpacking tent earns the 2007 Gear of the Year Award from editors at Outside Magazine, with praise for quick, easy setup plus the best ergonomic design.

This tent also shares the 2007 Editors’ Choice award at Backpacker Magazine. Owners reviewing the Big Agnes Emerald Mountain SL2 at REI.com also praise its light weight and easy setup. The main drawback is the single vestibule. A big 27-square-foot pole-supported vestibule is available as an extra option (*est. $130) , but it is expensive and heavier, adding another 14 ounces to the total weight.

The newer Big Agnes Copper Spur UL3 (*est. $500) is a bigger three-person backpacking tent with 44 square feet of floor space plus two 11-square-foot vestibules. Yet partly because of its silicon-treated nylon fly, it weighs less (4 pounds 3 ounces). Comparison tests at Backpacker Magazine, where it earns the 2008 Editors’ Choice Award, find it’s the fastest to pitch, and creates no condensation. The only drawbacks are that the fly chatters in a high wind and the doorways are relatively low -- especially for tall campers.

With huge doorways, the less expensive three-person Black Diamond Vista (*est. $350) actually rates higher in comparison tests in the Feb. 2008 issue of Backpacker Magazine, but it is heavier, weighing in at just under six pounds. Tests show that the Vista is excellent in high winds and has great ventilation, with awnings that can be slightly unzipped in a rainstorm. It provides even more space (51 square feet) than the more expensive Big Agnes Copper Spur UL3, and comes with two vestibules -- though both are small at only nine square feet each.

Important Features: Tents

Most tents now come with bathtub floors (that keep seams several inches above the ground), and "no-see-um" mesh to keep out the tiniest insects. Double-track door zippers let you unzip the fabric door and still have screening for insect protection. Color-coding makes setup easier, though experts still recommend practicing with a new tent at home before taking it on a trip. Reviews say to look for the following additional features when buying a tent:

• Full-coverage rainflies are best. Quite a few tents increase ventilation by providing only partial-coverage rainflies that include little awnings over the windows and doors. Reviews say these are adequate in a light rain, but can let in driving rain. It’s better to have a rainproof tent that increases ventilation with cleverly placed vents.

• Factory-taped seams are important for rain protection. However, tent experts recommend using seam sealer on a tent periodically anyway. Some inexpensive tents need seam sealing before the first use.

• Look for plenty of storage pockets and loops. Both owners and tent-review editors say that built-in storage makes a big difference in tent livability. Note that some tents come with plenty of interior storage, while others make gear lofts available only as an option at extra cost.

• Ventilation is crucial to minimize condensation. Look for mesh placed both low on a tent wall and high in the roof, for good airflow. Ideally, you can open and close vent covers from inside the tent even with the rainfly on. Tents with a rainfly, known as double-wall tents, usually provide the best combination of ventilation and storm protection. Single-wall waterproof fabric is usually used only on tents designed for ultralight backpacking, where a little condensation isn’t as important as light weight. Some hybrid backpacking tents are partly double-wall, partly single-wall, to balance these factors.

• Double doors are a big convenience. They add ventilation and minimize having to climb over someone else to enter or exit the tent. They also make it easier to decide how to pitch the tent to get good views, privacy and resistance to wind and rain.

• Two vestibules are better than one. You can store gear on one side and cook on the other if it's raining outside. Large vestibules also let a dog sleep in protected space, yet outside the tent. Experts recommend a vestibule of at least six square feet, so you can store a pack in it as well as boots.

• Shock-corded poles, color-coding and quick clips make for fast setup. Shock-corded poles fold into sections for compact storage, but unfold quickly to full length. Clipping the tent to the poles is faster than having to thread the poles through sleeves. Color coding means that the pole tips are color coded to match colored tabs around the grommets where they're supposed to go. Some tents have the setup instructions printed right on the carry sack, especially useful for large family tents with lots of pole parts.

• Even lifetime tent warranties don't cover sun degradation of the fabric. To prevent sun degradation, canvas is the best tent material, polyester next. Plain nylon has the least resistance to UV rays. If a tent is used only a week or two a year, pitched mostly in the shade, this is less important.

• Aluminum poles are stronger but heavier than carbon-fiber poles. Some family tents use steel poles, which are heavy and eventually rust. Reviews don't recommend tents that use fiberglass poles, since they're prone to splintering. Variable-diameter poles are designed to minimize tent weight, putting the largest diameter where the most strength is needed.

• Single-wall backpacking tents are lightest. These eliminate the rainfly, making the tent body either from breathable rainproof fabric or from silicon. Most breathable fabric tents can't be treated with fire retardant, so they can't be shipped to some states or to Canada. Silicon fabrics have an electrostatic attraction to pollen, sand and dust.

• Square footage doesn't tell the whole story. This measurement is a starting point to help you decide if a tent is big enough, but also check length -- to be sure your sleeping bag or cot will fit. Total interior space (measured in cubic feet) depends on the tent’s shape. A-frame tents have the least interior space, while hoop, dome and umbrella tents have more. Within types there's still variation in available space, so look for a design that maximizes it.

• Headroom is important. For a family tent, make sure the headroom allows the tallest person in the group to stand up inside. For a backpacking tent, make sure there's space for everyone to sit up. It's possible to get dressed without sitting up, but it's less comfortable. Being able to sit up comfortably also makes rainy days inside the tent much more tolerable.

• Stakes and guy lines that are brightly colored are easier to see. Some tent stakes even have a reflective coating so you can move around the tent site with a flashlight without tripping over guy lines. Colored stakes also make it easier to avoid leaving some behind when you pack up to leave.

• A footprint or groundcloth protects the tent floor. Most tents have an optional footprint you can buy, that's already shaped to fit under the tent with a margin of a few inches all around. (Counter-intuitively, the tent footprint must be a little smaller than the tent, not larger.) To save money, you can make your own out of Tyvek or 4-mil plastic.

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

# of Picks	Model (With Retailer Links)	Details from Amazon.com
2	Big Agnes Emerald SL2 / SL3 (*est. $300 to $400)	details
2	MSR Mutha Hubba (*est. $400)	details
2	Big Sky Evolution 2P (*est. $300)	-
2	MSR Hubba Hubba (*est. $300)	details
2	REI Quarterdome (*est. $290)	-
2	Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight 2 (*est. $180)	details
2	Eureka Sunrise 9 / 11 (*est. $170 to $230)	details
2	Eureka Timberline A-frame series (*est. $110 to $250)	details
1 each	Big Agnes Big House , Big Agnes Copper Spur UL3 , Black Diamond Mesa , Black Diamond Skylight , Cabela’s Deluxe Alaknak II, Cabela’s Outfitter’s Canvas Wall Tent, Cabela’s Outfitter Series XWT-Xtreme Weather Tent, Columbia Bugaboo Four to Five-Person Family Dome , Columbia Cougar Flats Six to Eight-Person Two-Room , Eureka Alpenlite XT , Eureka Titan umbrella tent , Kelty Lounge 4 , L.L.Bean Vector XL 4 Dome tent , Marmot Aeolos 2 , Mountain Hardwear Hammerhead 2 , Mountain Hardwear Light Wedge 3 , Nemo Moki , REI Base Camp 6 , Sierra Designs Bedouin 6 , Sierra Designs Asp , Sierra Designs Hyperlight , Sierra Designs Lightning 2 , The North Face Mountain 25 , The North Face Trailhead 8 , Wenger Logano 16x10’ Two-Room Eight-Person Family Tent

Though we found some consensus among reviews of backpacking tents, most family tents are only covered in one or two reviews at most. Because of that, the ConsumerSearch Fast Answers selections are heavily influenced by the recommendations of reviewers we rate highly or by the combined feedback from lots of owners who have used the tents in the field or on the trail. That's why we included the Big Agnes Copper Spur UL3 and the Eureka Timberline 2 in Fast Answers some older tents that appear as picks in less recent reviews. We found little consensus for family camping tents, so in choosing L.L.Bean and The North Face family tents in our Fast Answers, we again relied on the most thorough and recently written reviews as tie breakers. Additional options are covered in our Full Story.

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