Poll:Best Family Tents for 4-6 People

“I'm a reformed RV camper who is looking for my first family tent. Won't probably backpack for a few years, kids too young. Looking for ease of setup, durable, waterproof and ventilated. Might go frequently with scout troop. Thankyou for suggestions.”

“I have two options for you.

1) Go to Sears and get a big heavy tent for the family. Coleman or something. Spend about $200 on a tent that will last about 2 trips.

2) Ditch those !$%& noise making children, get on www.mountainhardware.com, and buy a fat ass 1 person superlight tent for $200. While your at it, buy a MH down bag and full Gtex rain gear.

C'Ya in the backcountry, or C'ya on my way to the backcountry while you're setting up your crap tent at the camp site on the way in.

PS. I am just being an Ahole for no reason, sorry!”

“Quest and Eurika make good family sized tents. Check www.campmor.com and www.rei.com and compare.”

“CX reminded me of something. Stay away from those big single wall tents w/o a rainfly. All they are good for is keeping the bugs off of you when the skies are clear and there is no wind.”

“A coupla of years back I bought a Coleman 10 x 10 Dome which came with a little 7 x 7 dome. Spent less than $100. The 10 x 10 is still usable though we got another (larger) one last season. Probably used the Coleman over 50 times. The zipper got tired. A really good value IMHO.”

“my family also has a coleman 10x10 and a coleman 7x7 dome tent....we are into our third year of useage with no problems at all....i carry the 7x7 while backpacking with the kids....since they are so inexpensive, i am actually thinking about buying another 7x7 and making (requesting) my oldest daughter carry it when we go backpacking as a family....great value for the money....”

“L.L.Bean has some good family tents. Check them out. You can't beat their guarantee either. If you are ever not satisfied with your purchase, no matter the reason, you can return it.”

“Eureka Sunlight Series are good and available cheap at Campmor.”

“Do an Ebay search for "tents"...you may spend an hour looking at them all, but I'll bet you'll find what you're looking for.

Good luck in your quest!”

“good point, buddur....you can really find almost anything you would want in the way of backpacking paraphenalia by religiously checking the listings on ebay....plus, it's fun looking!!”

“My suggestion buy a tent for 3-5 people, then buy yourself a one man, its more peaceful that way.”

“Sorry, Can't help ya. I don't own any car camping stuff.”

“8D”

“Kids are too young to backpack? No such thing, unless they are maybe still breastfeading. And if that's the case, less food to carry anyway.

Instead of getting a 6 man tent, I'd get two smaller tents (Eureka! Tetragon, maybe). You can still bp with those down the road, and anyway, will make for more pleasant car camping.”

“Coleman flys don't cover the whole tent. Doesn't the rain come in the sides when you have a downpour? Salespeople claim not, but what have you guys experienced? I really want two backpacking tents but I'm afraid then I'll just be in a small tent invaded by two whiners asking about spiders, bears, werewolfs and anything else their friends told them about. As far as kids too young to backpack, the 6 yr old has painfully flat feet and we are working up to longer hikes. Being creaky, I can't carry their stuff. They have to get stronger or I have to get stronger.
Was thinking the LLBean #4Vector Dome might be tight for four but a good start. I could add a second tent when the kids cool their imaginations. Eureka Nightscape looks great but expensive. Other Eureka family tents have fiberglass poles. I thought those were not supposed to be good, but maybe I'm getting carried away, for a first tent. Will check out EBAY also, see what's what. Thanks for all your ideas!”

“Nigel, every thread I look at, I see your name and "8D". What is this?”

“idiotic.”

“y&c-

I understand you're reasoning behind getting one tent large enough for the whole family.
I don't think you'd want to take those Tetragons backpacking - they're too heavy. You probably should shop for dedicated car camping tent(s) and think about backpacking gear later. Fiberglass poles work OK and if they don't, well, the car is right there. They are not suited to cold weather because they get brittle. Aluminum is better.

I have an older Eureka tent that has held up great. It has aluminum poles. They don't make that model anymore. I bought it at the factory outlet in Binghamton NY as a factory second. It was about a third of the retail price and I still haven't determined why it was a second. They also sold 'thirds' which had visible defects like stains or patched areas. If you're ever near there, check it out.

Eureka makes the 'Condo' which at 10' x 20' is like a huge magnet when I take the kids to the camping store. It is kind of overkill but one can dream.

Eureka Website”

“Thank you DARK CONTINETENT!”

“I bought an awesome 6 person dome tent from EMS last year. I was very impressed. I don't remember the name but I'll look if you want the specs. It was not expensive, and it was RAINPROOF as tested thouroghly in the smokies last July.”

“Just go to k-mart. Thats what you're gonna end up doing anyway.”

“Your littleones are going to destroy it no matter what. Plan on useful life of 2 years, tops.”

“creaky....
we have never gotten wet in our coleman tents....i have always sealed the seams and never had a problem....we did have a kelty ridgeway tent that couldn't withstand my son kicking my daughter through the tent with his baseball cleats on (inferior quality, obviously), but the colemans have held up to comparable abuse....even though we are into backpacking now, we still use the big 10x10 2 room sundome for yard camping....again, i would wholeheartedly recommend them for family useage....”

“He doesn't care. He just wanted to see his words posted to the WWW.”

“Fiberglass poles aren't as good as aluminum, but they're fine for most use. I did have one shatter on me when a tornado hit the state park I was camping in; I'm not sure aluminum would have held up either, but I would have been able to splint the al.

My old Tetragon 3 person weighed 6lbs and cost $105; I think that's a reasonable price to buy two of them, and not so heavy you can't bp with them.”

“They made a Tetragon that light? The only one's I saw listed on their site were between 12 and like 18 pounds. Sure, 6 lbs is fine for backpacking.”

“The tent I mentioned in the earlier post was an EMS Scout 6 for $159.99.”

“Violin--as far as I know, they're still that light. Gear guide starts them at 5,10, and that's what I found on the website as well. I think I clicked on "Product" "Tents" "Backpacking..." and it showed them. I tried to cut out the addy, but it's framed.

For the price ($70, Gear Guide) it's a great little tent. Bathtub floor is solid, and it's great to sit with the door open and watch the rain. Fly should be sealed, though.

Still, 6lbs is too much for solo use after a few years. Went with the Kelty Clark.”