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. Despite losing some headroom in comparison with the Kelty Wireless 6 and The North Face Wawona 6, both of which measure six-foot-four in height, the Base Camp 6 offers a substantial six-foot-two.
The North Face offers a limited lifetime warranty on the tent, and will repair most flaws and damage at its discretion. Our Also great picks, the REI Co-op Base ozark trail canopy Camp 4 and Base Camp 6 tents, are now back in stock. Any items not picked up by Monday, October 9th will be considered abandoned and no refunds will be given.
She covers outdoor gear for Wirecutter and worked on the most recent update of this guide, testing couples’ tents and family tents. A full rain cover, two vestibules, and an extra-sturdy pole structure make this the best choice for families who want to get outside in any weather. My family and I have used it a total of 3 times and the seams have ripped. There is no way we can camp with this tent, if it would rain it would ruin everything.
And we have unwavering standards for how we keep that integrity intact, from our research and data to our policies on content and your personal data. The North Face Wawona 4, which we used to list in our Other Good Tents section, has been redesigned; it’s now made of polyester, not nylon. Like our top pick, the Tungsten 4 comes with a footprint. Unlike our top pick, the Tungsten 4 is coated with flame retardants. We were surprised at first to see the Mineral King 3 come out on top because it was the smallest tent in our test group.
Now a few years later I erected it in the backyard just for fun. This piece of crap promises the buyer a lot for a lot of money, but what you get is something of lesser quality than if you bought a tent from the local Dollar store. The design change I want to comment on concerns the little “laundry room” that protrudes out the back of the tent.
And you can unzip the front door, remove it, and neatly stash it into one of the tent’s internal pockets—a useful feature if you’re feeling sociable. Like most dome-style tents, the Wireless 6 withstands wind like a champ—it fared noticeably better than the Camp Creek 6 in 15-mph gusts. The continuous curve of the dome shape allows for wind to pass over and around it.
We have never been able to sleep in it and makes a poor storage room. I am 67 yrs old and have used Ozark Trail tents for years, but this covered screen dome turned out NOT TO BE A TENT. I would not even think of unloading it on my worst enemy. I have tried to use it at our local beach and when ever the wind gets to 7-10 mph off we go chasing the tarp and that leaves the screen dome uncovered and in blew the sand. Once we tried it at the lake wind came up, off comes the tarp that with a light rain everything got wet.
At $500, this modified dome-style tent isn’t cheap, but it represents substantial value. Many tents with similar profiles—such as the Big Agnes Dog House 6—either cost more or require you buy the tent body and attachable vestibule separately. The Wawona doesn’t come with a footprint—few tents this size do—but it’s otherwise all-inclusive, and it is ozark trail canopy compact considering how much livable space you get. The price also reflects the high quality of the materials, such as the four reinforced aluminum poles, which weigh little yet result in a remarkably strong tent. Car campers who plan to brave miserable weather will appreciate the extra strength and protection of the REI Co-op Base Camp 4 Tent.
(Our runner-up pick comes with eight.) Six is enough to secure the tent and fly but not to fully secure the tent’s extra lines in very windy conditions. This shouldn’t be an issue in most situations, but if you’re headed into a particularly windy place or simply want some backup, we suggest picking up four extra tent stakes at your local outdoor shop or online. These inexpensive stakes are comparable to the ones that accompany the Mineral King 3; these slightly more expensive stakes will serve you well in any car-camping terrain. Despite having the smallest capacity of the tents we tested—42.5 square feet—the Mineral King 3 easily fits two people with a full-size mattress, or two sleeping pads, and gear. Two large vestibules add nearly 40 square feet combined—that is, 18.75 square feet on either side.
Thank you OZARK for making camping nights with small children just a little more difficult!!!! Good thing we are all troopers and we didn’t let your HORRIBLE product ruin our trip. When you buy anything from Walmart it is made cheap so it can sell for cheap. I received my Ozark tent from my grandparents, which I used 9 years ago when we went camping with them. There was a breeze so I put bricks around the edge, and the rain tarp didn’t cover the whole of the window like it was supposed to, but that was it was a little hard to set up so it was understandable. It worked well that night and I got some rain in but nothing serious.