But for a family camping, it is best to downgrade this number by half. It’s a cool tent all around, but our favorite feature has to be the 360-degree views delivered courtesy of this yurt’s giant mesh windows. There are three of these large floor-level windows along the walls of the tent, plus the giant mesh doorway that can be left open in good weather. Having room to spread out inside a tent is great, but unless it’s after dark or raining, chances are you won’t be spending any more time inside your shelter than you absolutely have to. Nobody wants to spend all day sitting in direct sunlight either though, and that’s where a tent with a screen room like this Ozark Trail 9 Person Cabin comes into play.
Weighing just 7 pounds, the tent is light enough to double for backpacking trips, especially if you divide the pieces among hikers. The REI Co-op Base Camp 4 and Base Camp 6 tents have been temporarily phased out ozark trail canopy tent for the season. He is a dedicated backcountry explorer and a trained Wilderness First Responder. Tyler has hiked every mountain range in the US and summited Highpoints in several US states as well as Germany.
No assembly is required; this shelter is ready to go right out of the box and can be fully deployed in less than a minute. We do admit there is a small learning curve to setting up the Escape, but once you’re locked in, popping this canopy into place is really fun and even somewhat addictive. We found that company representatives are reluctant to estimate the lifespan of their tents. When pushed, most of the reps we talked to estimated five to 10 years, though the actual lifespan will vary widely depending on care and frequency of use (for more advice, read REI’s excellent tips). In conducting research for this guide, we heard multiple tales of careful campers who had been using the same tent for 15 years or more. A senior staff writer at Wirecutter, Kit Dillon has written about everything from backpacks and cooking gear to luggage and road-tripping.
After, I looked at how easily I could take down and pack up this tent.
Keep cool with the oversized ground vent, which can also fit an air conditioner. The Ozark Trail 16′ x 16′ Instant Cabin Tent sleeps 12 and can be set up in under 2 minutes. 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. Although it’s designed to accommodate three people—hence the “3” in its name—we found that at 42.5 square feet, the tent is more comfortable for two, plus gear and maybe a medium-size dog. A classic polyester dome tent, the Mineral King 3 uses two high-quality pre-bent aluminum poles, which maximize head and shoulder space, making this tent feel less cramped than other dome tents we tested.
The Ozark Trail 10-Person Tent also comes with a room divider, so you can split the tent into 2 rooms, and each “room” can fit 2 queen-sized camping mattresses. There’s also 1 lantern loop at the very top of the tent for some lighting at night. I can’t reach this either, but you should be fine if you’re a little taller. The length of the Ozark Trail tent is about 13 feet and 9 inches, while the width is about 9 feet and 11 inches, so slightly smaller than the marketed dimensions of 14 by 10 feet. The lowest height in the tent, which is at the four corners, is about 65 inches. This is slightly taller than my height, so I could stand up everywhere inside the Ozark Trail Tent, even at the corners.
Generally, we like clip-on designs better, since those are easier to put together, but in the case of the Base Camp models, the sleeves add extra tension and stability throughout the tent fabric. 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.
However, we feel the tarp-style floor stays a little hot in the sun, and it tends to collect dirt, sand, and water. The Easy Up is a self-contained product with no assembly required, making it easy to set up, take down, and store in your garage, coat closet, or car trunk. Five large weight bags attach and can be filled with sand to keep everything in place.