With that being said, Ozark Trail does a good job of seam-sealing their tents from the factory in most cases, and with a little help, these budget-shelters can keep you dry when unexpected rain hits. Take time to treat the entire tent with a DWR coating like Nikwax (not just the rainfly) and never leave the house without a tent repair kit in case disaster strikes. Despite what you may have read, you can absolutely enjoy an outdoors experience in an Ozark Trail ozark trail canopy tent tent. 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. Every year, thousands of new campers get their first taste of the outdoors in an Ozark Trail tent.
Seasons-wise & climate-wise, I see it best suited for summer camping without much rain and winds. This is a tall and boxy structure so it is best to use it in a quiet area. But I have seen some users reporting of using it in the winds of 50 mph. Trailspace’s community of gear reviewers has field-tested and rated the top warm weather tents.
First off, dome tents are typically less expensive since they have fewer total parts and less sophisticated frames. Second, dome tents tend to fare better in bad weather because they’re rounded shapes are more aerodynamic. Ozark Trail tents are pretty much all “fair-weather” shelters, but dome tents get the advantage here.
Generally speaking, if you go into buying an Ozark Trail tent with reasonable expectations, you won’t be disappointed. None of these tents are designed to hold up in a serious thunderstorm. They’re not built for heavy winds, and they certainly aren’t made to stand up to heavy snow. The Ozark Trail Three Room Instant Cabin takes our top spot as the best Ozark Trail tent.
On top of that, there’s also no zip down the middle of the divider for easy access into either room. To get into the other room, you’d have to remove the divider and then put it back up. There’s some space at the bottom that’s not covered, and also some space at the top that’s not covered by the divider. The Ozark Trail 10-Person Tent has just 1 door, which is a D-shaped door, and it’s located somewhere along the length of the tent.
Our favorite is the “storage locker” which gives you a protected place to store items like muddy shoes outside the tent, but can also be accessed from inside using a second zipper. It’s a great spot to stash your “middle of the night bathroom break” shoes and anything else you don’t want taking up space inside the tent. Oddly enough, Ozark Trail’s most basic, base bones shelter takes the title of most durable. We chose the Ozark Trail Clip & Camp because unlike larger cabins with plastic hubs and countless poles, this traditional two-pole dome has the fewest number of parts that can potentially fail. Our favorite Ozark Trail tent currently is the Ozark Trail Three Room Instant Cabin. This tent’s combination of floor space, livability, and value make it a home run for large groups or families looking to spread out in style, but this 12-person behemoth won’t be everyone’s first choice.
This is why I have added it to my list of best instant camping tents. It was very difficult to roll the tent back into its original shape to return to store. I’ve read many people have had the same problems and went to army surplus to buy a bigger durable storage bag.These are the two QUEEN Mattress I received with my bundle order. I did not open these ozark trail instant cabin boxes because they too needed to be returned with the tent. As stated above, durability and materials are the main pain point of Ozark Trail tents. The fabrics are often thinner and less technical (regular polyester rather than ripstop, etc.), and the poles are pretty much always made from cost-saving materials like fiberglass and thin steel alloy.
I laid down a tarp before I took out the tent from its box and it took me about 15 minutes to put up (&and I don’t like reading instruction but it is on the inside of the duffle bag). The three-room cabin is definitely one of Ozark Trail’s more expensive models though, so if you’re shopping on a budget, there are plenty of other models worth considering. The Clip & Camp dome is particularly affordable, and also happens to be one of the most dependable models the brand currently makes.
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. Finally, attach all the pole clips, place the rainfly over the Ozark Trail tent, secure it, and stake out the entire tent. Next, attach the 6 steel wall poles to the elbow connectors (the top of each pole) and to the pin at the other end (the base of each pole).