The massive screened walls keep insects where they belong — away from you. This shelter is also fully surrounded by a 10-inch-wide ground skirt, which goes the extra mile to keep creepy crawlers and flying annoyances at bay. Over the years, we have utilized an impressive team of experienced canopy tent users, from market vendors to beach lovers. Jason is a native of Utah and seeks time in the outdoors every week.
Four included walls have mesh panels with curtains and one of the two end walls rolls up for easy access under the canopy. The canopy folds down to 48.75″ in length and easily fits into the sleeve bag with a pocket for the walls, stakes and guy ropes. The Eureka Tagalong scored a little lower but still holds its own in terms of craftsmanship. It is a lighter-weight product, which inherently involves thinner, less durable materials.
It springs into place with just the pull of a single chord, similar to opening an umbrella but in reverse. The simplicity of this design makes it easy for one person to produce an instant sunshade in seconds. Simply fill the four attached anchor bags with sand or smooth rocks, stretch the canopy into an X-shape, and prop it up with the provided tent poles. We found this setup process easy because it didn’t rely on many moving parts or analytical thinking. The legs are locked into place with old school metal push button locks, something you won’t see on many modern pop up tents now-a-days. These push locks get very difficult to use over time, especially if the tent is used on the beach and exposed to sand and saltwater, causing rust build up.
The Eurmax Standard 10×10 offers 100 square feet of sun protection and a peak height of 11 feet. Very high-quality materials were used to produce this shelter, making it our hands-down choice for the best recreational canopy tent on the market. Despite its size and weight, the Eurmax is quite easy to set up and take down. Great canopy textiles, quick-release tabs, reinforced trusses, and a beefy steel frame allow the Eurmax to tower over other models we tested.
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. Overall, this is a fun ozark trail chair beach accessory that is great for guarding gear and valuables and offering periodic shelter from the sun. The Caravan V-Series scores a bit lower and isn’t as beefy as more expensive models, but it feels roomy and is easy to move around thanks to a lower weight.
The Eureka Tagalong Shelter is also a decent option but is not fully enclosed. Likewise, the Pacific Breeze Easy Up is very portable but limited in size. Adventure ozark trail backpack is where memories are made, whether it s campouts in the back yard with the kids, Saturdays at the river with friends, or a week in the wilderness alone.
Center height means even tall members of your crew can stand up in your tent. The Ozark Trail 6-person Connect Ent comes with a sewn-in floor to help keep bugs out. If you can spend a bit more and want a more traditional cathedral ozark trail chair shape, the Caravan V-Series is a good choice. We are also very impressed with the overall value the Coleman 10×10 Sun Shelter brings to the table. It’s slightly more expensive than the cheapest options on our list.
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. Fully enclosed and ready to protect you from sun, wind, rain, AND bugs, the Clam Outdoors Quick-Set Escape is a perfect shelter for the campground. 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 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.
After weeks of testing, we have thrown a few penalty flags on the field. This product’s excellent wheel system is mostly plastic; we wish it were constructed primarily of metal. Additionally, it packs up large and is heavy, making it difficult to find room for it in the trunk of just any car. It’s also more challenging to lift into and out of a vehicle alone, and although quite solid, the E-Z Up can be a little wobbly at full height. These caveats aside, this is still our number one when heading out to the playing field. If you want a lighter, more portable camp-style shelter, we highly recommend checking out the REI Co-op Screen House Shelter.