After all, if you’re camping in the backyard, the worst-case scenario is you end up back in the house in your own bed. This is a very reasonably priced tent, so expect to get what you pay for in some regards. There are “rain gutters” that give rain a fast, efficient channel to flow off the top of the roof. Read our guides on how to waterproof a tent and the best tent waterproofing spray. One downside to it being so lightweight is that it’ll blow around in the wind if you don’t stake it down.
The NEMO Victory Screenhouse is one of the best screen houses for wind due to its rounded shape and extra tie-downs. Oh, and this is a screen house with rain panels, meaning if it really starts pouring, you can let down waterproof sidewalls for maximum protection. Tightly ozark trail screen house woven mesh on this screen house keeps the bugs at bay. And UPF 50+ UV protection is perfect for the summer heat. Keep in mind though, that it won’t protect you from rain. One thing I don’t love about this model is that the rain fly and guylines are sold separately.
Any $75 canopy tent from a big-box store—we’re talking about the common square canopy with four spindly metal legs—can provide shade during midday. But when you’re camping or eating outdoors, you’ll likely want protection from insects, as well. That’s why we focused on collapsible camping shelters with mesh walls to keep bugs at bay. We tested the Coleman 10 × 10 Instant Screened Canopy and Walmart’s Ozark Trail 10′ × 10′ Instant Screen House during our first round of testing in the winter and spring of 2016. 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.
I was told to try and return it to the place I purchased it or wait the 4-6 weeks. Well I’m a camper and I intend to use this weekly. A gust of wind probably around 50 MPH took it down.
We eliminated canopies that were not big enough to comfortably shelter a picnic table, concluding that a table is probably the number-one spot where campers would place such a structure. We also eliminated bulky, heavy shelters that are intended to be used as semipermanent backyard fixtures. Queen Bee has been one of my favorite pages to follow! A friend kept sharing her deals so I had to start following and I’m so glad I did. I have been able to purchase so many items at great prices because of her posts. She is great about commenting back to questions or even just saying thanks to people who let her know they picked up an item she posted!
The walls are made of fine no-see-um nylon mesh edged with polyester taffeta. This polyester material is less susceptible to UV damage than the nylon that previous versions of this tent incorporated, but it generally has a feel that is not quite as soft. Despite the change in fabric, this REI shelter still weighs just 13 pounds, several pounds less than many others of this type. 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.
The mesh doesn’t seem particularly durable, and given the cap-like roof, the shade provided is much more limited than with our top-pick tents. In early March, we took our second trip to the oceanside Sycamore Canyon Campground (PDF) near Oxnard, California. There we encountered mild temperatures in the 50s and 60s. A later check of the weather at nearby Point Mugu Naval Air Station confirmed top recorded wind gusts of 40 miles per hour. A lower roof makes this shelter feel notably smaller than our top pick, but it’s also durably made and ready to pair with a superior rain fly (sold separately). However, don’t expect much privacy if you’re sleeping in a screen tent due to the mesh walls.
L.L.Bean’s Woodlands Screen House is remarkably similar to our top pick, REI’s Screen House Shelter; the two canopies have an identical footprint and pole structure. But the L.L.Bean tent’s peak ceiling height of 6 feet 6 inches is half a foot lower than that of the REI tent, making it feel notably darker and less spacious. It typically costs more (in fact, the price has risen substantially—more than $150—since we first tested it) and lacks the convenient strap-equipped carrying bag we like. The Screen House Shelter packs into a reasonably roomy drawstring bag with a strap that makes the canopy tent much easier to transport than tents, like the L.L.Bean, that lack a strap. With all that in mind, we found more than a dozen tents that met our criteria.
Their solution was for me to pay for replacements out of pocket. The product is garbage and the customer service is worse. Now and then I walk into a store, it tends to be named ___Mart, and buy something I know is going to bring nothing but grief and heartbreak.
Please see how I rate this Ozark Trail 12 tent, I use my standard set of criteria so you can easily compare with the other tents presented here in the site. The poles attach to the tent through a combination of sleeves on the roof and clips, plus the usual pin-and-ring system at the base of the tent, see the picture below. You have a combination of steel used for its 6+2 legs, and fiberglass used for the 4 roof poles. The elbow elements which connect the roof poles and the legs are pre-attached to the tent so you cannot lose them, see one in the picture below.