It’s large enough to accommodate a wide range of body types, and its steel frame supports up to 325 pounds. If you’re planning a car-camping trip, you’ll probably want to bring camping chairs. They’re also ideal for sporting events, field trips, outdoor concerts and movies, and picnics in the park. Our experts teamed up to develop a rigorous test plan, which we applied to every canopy tent in this review.
GCI Outdoor makes several rocking chairs, and we plan to try more of them to see if they’re any better than the Freestyle Rocker, which we weren’t enthusiastic about. After eight years of consistent use by senior ozark trail instant cabin editor Kalee Thompson’s two young boys, the REI Co-op Camp Chair is, she reports, faded and worn but still holding up. At each support press the height release button to select desired shelter height.
The Eurmax and E-Z Up are counted among these heavier tents, but setting them up was surprisingly straightforward. Like the REI and L.L.Bean canopy shelters, this Clam tent has a generous fabric skirt at its base that is designed to keep determined insects—and pooling rainwater—out. If we were camping somewhere infested with mosquitoes ozark trail shower tent or no-see-ums and could fit the Clam in our vehicle, we’d prefer it over any of our other picks. With all that in mind, we found more than a dozen tents that met our criteria. If you love camping but hate eating your morning pancakes in the rain, a canopy tent can protect you from the trifecta of bugs, sun, and sudden showers.
These two shelters are the same size and shape (7-foot peak height, 17 pounds) with an almost identical design. The cap-like roofs on both models provided far less shade than we wanted, especially in the beating desert sun. The mesh walls do have a ribbon of polyester at the foot, but even carefully staked they can leave gaps at the ground; if bug protection is your main concern, these tents would likely fall short. Finally, these shelters feel noticeably smaller than any of our picks. We also tested and liked the Coleman Mountain View 12 x 12 Screendome Shelter; it was an also-great pick until Coleman discontinued the model. Our shade-loving experts poured over hundreds of the best canopy tents available before choosing 14 for side-by-side testing.
Make your tailgate, campout, or backyard party even more enjoyable with the Ozark Trail 10′ x 10′ Instant Straight Leg Canopy. Made of a durable polyester construction, this canopy tent provides 100 square feet of cooling shade anywhere and the easy push-button system offers safe setup and takedown. It features built-in vents on the top for added ventilation and offers you 50+ UV protection from the hot sun all day long.
Even with the drapes stowed, there is less ventilation than in larger, open canopies. And, despite effectively blocking the sun’s rays, this shader tends to remain quite warm, much like a backpacking tent would when it’s left in the sun all day. It also doesn’t perform well in the rain, primarily because of its open design. The roof and mesh windows allow water to enter, and once inside, the waterproof tarp flooring compounds the problem by allowing the rainwater to form puddles inside the tent. While perhaps not as versatile, this is a great structure to have available for a breezy day on the beach. In early March, we took our second trip to the oceanside Sycamore Canyon Campground (PDF) near Oxnard, California.
It’s made with reinforced polyester and heavyweight no-see-um mesh, and it comes with the strongest stakes we’ve seen on any tent. The Clam also sets up and folds down with remarkable speed—we timed ozark trail instant cabin the process at 60 seconds. However, this model is too big to fit in the trunks of most sedans, and the muted colors look good when it’s sunny but can feel a bit gloomy if it’s already rainy out.