We rarely find a quality 6-person tent at a price point this low. To prepare for this review, we scoured the internet, read personal accounts, and dug into bloggers’ and YouTubers’ thoughts on the best tents on the market. After selecting the most promising options, we purchased 16 of the best camping tents on the market and got to work. We measured, weighed, and inspected each before carting them to the woods and desert for proper testing.
This tent is a little heavy because of the steel poles pre-attached to the tent, so I recommend having a partner to help pop up and lock in the poles. I’ve always wanted an instant tent and heard how easy it is to pop up. After I ordered the product at Walmart.com, I went to the store to pay cash. I received two queen air mattress on time but did not receive the tent till well over time estimated delivery. I almost went to refund the tent, but it did not qualify @ the time. We would be remiss if we didn’t share two features of the Kelty Wireless 6 that speak directly to ease of use.
The Skyward has a 6′ 6″ height profile and a larger-than-normal, built-in vestibule. Since 2012, our team has reviewed close to 300 tents, including the top 16 car camping options in this review. See which ones stood up to our rigorous testing as we take you on a deep dive into the inner workings of the tent market. We put these tents to the test across some pretty rugged terrain and the complicated environment of a family, teenagers, and two moderately trained dogs. With the help of our years of experience, we’ve gathered all the information you’ll need to pick the perfect tent for your next outdoor adventure. This one-room, square tent stood out from all the rest of the tents, and will now be my go-to car camping tent.
When you combine the spacious and tall interior (6′ 6″ max height and 85 square feet of floor space) with the large double-doored vestibule (and additional 44.7 square feet), you have a comfortable masterpiece. The new design also allows the Wawona to be used without the vestibule, adding a great option for warm-weather camping. We also love the tall, full-sized door feature that allows you to enter without ducking. We put these camping tents against the elements, battling kids, wind, dogs, dirt, heat, and a very opinionated husband and wife team. From setup and breakdown to weather resistance and durability to the quality of the space for both hanging out and sleeping, we put these products through a lot to help you find your best match. This tent is so easy to pop into place that the average camper could bypass reading the instructions and still have it fully operational in less than two minutes.
Except for the impressive Kelty Wireless 6, the mesh areas on the budget tents we reviewed are at least twice as large as the other tents and feel significantly cheaper in quality. Get better poles and be cautious around your mesh, and a budget tent can last you for years. The drawbacks of this type of structure are weight and size.
For this testing process, I focused on three four-person tents in my backyard. I live in a remote part of Alaska where the weather changes fast, so these tents went through 40-mph wind gusts, heavy rain, blazing sun, wet snow, ice, and even moose brushing up against them. OL contributor Theo Harris also tested instant tents, only his were set up in central Wisconsin. We both assessed the ease of setup and breakdown, durability, how they stood up to the elements, and any special features. The included footprint adds additional value to this well-constructed tent. The mesh is 40D polyester, the tub floor is 68D ripstop polyester, and the poles are DAC Pressfit aluminum.
The Tungsten’s two brow poles create an especially effective awning over the tent door, so very little water gets in when someone comes or goes. Though the Wireless’s fly kept water out of the tent’s interior, it took longer to fully dry once the rain stopped than some others we tested. If you don’t have time to let the fly dry before you pack the Wireless in its duffle, we recommend laying it out when you get home so it doesn’t mildew in storage. To compare tent fabrics, you also need to know their overall rip strength. For most fabrics, rip strength is expressed as a measurement of the diameter of the fibers in their thread, or a denier—the higher the denier, the stronger the fabric. We found 40 denier up to 150 denier to be typical for car-camping tents; you can read more about these measurements in gear manufacturer MSR’s blog post and in this Outside article.
Clearance items may be display models or not exactly as shown. There is no administration fee charged for entering into a special payments plan. Each month during an equal payments plan you are required to pay in full ozark trail canopy tent by the due date that month’s equal payments plan instalment. An avid swimmer, surfer, hiker, and camper, she currently lives on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, where she can be found, as much as possible, in water.
You can also get a nice cross breeze going by leaving the vestibules open. On sunny days and clear nights, take off the fly and enjoy the sky through the tent’s clear mesh canopy. Some testers, though, thought the tent was stuffy when the fly was fully closed and the sun was out. It’s natural to focus on the quality of a tent’s rain fly—you need that piece to work when the skies open up. But according to our experts, the durability of the floor of your tent is actually more important. If the tent you buy doesn’t come with a footprint (two of our recommended tents, the Mountain Hardwear Mineral King 3 and the Marmot Tungsten 4, do), we recommend purchasing a companion footprint, if one is available.
You should also expect tent poles and stakes to perform just as well as regular a tent. They shouldn’t break or bend easily and should stand their ground in windy conditions. This instant tent’s key traits are its simplicity, ease of setup, and affordability.