Lexie Sachs is the Executive Director of Strategy & Operations at the Good Housekeeping Institute. She has more than 15 years of experience in the textiles industry, including merchandising and product development for home products, and holds a B.S. Lexie joined GH in 2013 and has extensively tested all types of bedding. Air mattresses are some of the first products Lexie tested in the Textiles Lab, and she swears by them for overnight guests or sleepovers at her home. Still, taller beds are more of a hassle to fold down and store and take longer to set up when compared to a lower-profile or “single-height” bed (typically under 12 inches). It all comes down to personal preference and whether you’re using it at home or on the go.
The Base Camp also offers more privacy compared with our other picks—with or without the rain fly. At the Good Housekeeping Institute Textiles Lab, we’ve tested hundreds of products for more than a century, including the best mattresses and best pillows. To find the best air mattresses, we evaluated everything from overnight leakage and indentation over time to puncture resistance and bursting strength.
The Wawona 6 is more complex to set up than a classic dome-style tent like the Wireless 6, but not by much. We recommend doing it with two people, but one person can manage in about 15 minutes. As with any free-standing tent, with this one you stake out the four corners, and then you feed the two main tent poles through the Wawona’s fabric sleeves, which go halfway down ozark trail canopy tent the tent’s body. The North Face’s color-coded poles make this process easy to navigate. (We were stubborn and didn’t look at the instructions.) Once you identify the front and back, the process is straightforward. The fly goes up and over the tent body, covering only the upper half of the mesh dome, and then forms the glorious vestibule with the aid of a third pole.
Air mattresses have a bad reputation for sagging over time, but this two-pump system is designed to prevent just that. The first pump inflates and deflates the bed and has an automatic shut-off once fully inflated. The second pump stays on all night and automatically adjusts the air pressure to keep it fully inflated. You can pick between three pre-set firmness levels and adjust the firmness from there. It stands at an 18-inch height and features circular coils for support and a flocked finish on top for softness.
The Switch Pro backpack is larger and fits more gear, with a more rigid design and wheels on the bottom (not the lightest or best for portages). About an hour later, I was just chilling in the river at the same exit when an elderly fisherman lost his footing and suddenly found himself swept away by the current. In the space of probably 10 seconds, I told him to throw me his rod, then I hopped off my 11-foot board and pushed it out to him, which he managed to grab just in time for me to pull him back to shore. But when I decided to go river camping with a friend, I didn’t have camping gear for two people (I do most things solo). So I bought a $90, 6-pound Kelty Tanglewood 2, an $18 Ozark Trail sleeping bag from Walmart, and some cheap sleeping pads. The Switch Pro’s advantages over comparable options quickly became clear when I capped off my testing with a camping trip down the Etowah River.
Unfortunately, you have to buy a separate groundsheet for the Wawona 6 and for most other tents its size as well. Both Base Camp tents have two doors and lots of mesh in the main tent body. But unlike the Mineral King 3 and the Tungsten ozark trail canopy tent 4, the mesh on each Base Camp tent starts high on the walls—more than 4 feet from the ground. This design is a big plus for people who regularly camp in crowded campgrounds and don’t like to get naked in front of strangers.
In many cases, small repairs or continued careful use is the right course of action. But when safety is compromised and functionality is greatly reduced, tent replacement is the clear choice. If you are wondering whether to replace your event tent, you’ll find that many of today’s top tent manufacturers offer high-quality event tents engineered to last a lifetime. Though replacing an event tent may be a big investment in the moment, it’s one that will pay for itself over time when a top-notch tent is purchased. With this in mind, tent replacement is often the right choice for event hosts, businesses, sports teams and other organizations.
An avid hiker, camper, and long-haul road-tripper, Claire Wilcox has slept in (and occasionally improvised) tents in 11 states. She covers outdoor gear for Wirecutter and worked on the most recent update of this guide, testing couples’ tents and family tents. You can also set up the tent without the fly while retaining some privacy, since the tent body has a high polyester wall on one side. Even with an understanding of the various types of tent issues, it can be difficult to tell when to call it quits with a damaged or faulty tent. After all, some issues are purely aesthetic, while others may hinder a tent’s performance only slightly.
Coupled with a health-conscious PP plastic lid that ensures a 100% airtight seal with its quarter-turn technology, spills and leaks are things of the past. Whether it’s for Grandpa, Grandma, Mom, Dad, your sister, or your bestie, this tumbler encapsulates joy, love, and sweet affection, making every sip a reminder of your gratitude and warm wishes. 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. The most popular product in their line is the 10×10 Instant Slant Leg Tent with a blue canopy top. It is made with a steel construction frame and polyester material for the canopy, which is in line with just about every shade tent on the market today.
The main tent body has a giant front door that’s oriented to make entry and exit easy for all the tent’s occupants at night, and a smaller back window that doubles as a second door. After researching 30 six-person tents and testing 15 side by side on a total of five trips, we chose the Kelty Wireless 6 as the best entry-level camping tent for most families. It’s spacious, easy to set up, has weather protection, and is durable, all at an affordable price. The Wireless 6 lacks some of the premium materials found in pricier tents, but it features solid workmanship and should provide dependable, comfortable shelter in most three-season camping situations.