With a 44-square-foot vestibule, and 86 square feet of interior living space, the tent has plenty of room to house beds, cribs, gear, pets, and camping furniture. Zippered doors can enclose the vestibule fully, so it serves as a separate room for the tent, or you can leave one or both open, so the vestibule can act like a porch or mudroom. 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. The geodesic structure of the Base Camp tents is built to withstand wind and rain. It has two main that thread through sleeves, stretching between the four corners of the tent. Generally, we like clip-on designs better, since those are easier to put together, but in the case of the Base Camp models, the sleeves add extra tension and stability throughout the tent fabric.
Like our top pick, the Tungsten 4 is a sturdy, two-door dome-style tent that can be deployed in about 5 minutes. It uses high-quality materials such as aluminum poles, breathable mesh, and water-resistant polyester fabric, and it comes with a full fly and a footprint. The Tungsten 4’s larger size accounts for the higher price tag (about $40 more), but campers who would like that extra room may find the expense worthwhile. A full rain fly with easy-attach color-coded clips covers the tent body and adds two large vestibules. Like the Mineral King 3, the Tungsten has aluminum poles that are connected at the top (for lightning-quick pitching) and pre-bent, which increases the dome tent’s headroom.
What’s more, the OT offers many things to see and experience for both seasoned and first-time backpackers. The Base Camp tents include a low side vent and multiple stuff pockets on the walls and ceiling, which are made of 75D polyester treated with 1500mm of polyurethane waterproofing. Note that these tents are strictly meant for car camping; the Base Camp 4 and the Base Camp 6 weigh 16 and 21 pounds, respectively, so you won’t want to carry either one very far.
The Wawona 6’s side-walls are high and straight, but the structure stays very stable in wind thanks to a final pole that wraps around the front and sides—and thanks to the absence of any acute angles in the poles. We were skeptical about the vestibule’s ability to handle wind, since it’s big and supported by a single pole, but it stood fast in 30 mph oceanside gusts and 15 mph hilltop winds. But it’s one of the least expensive tents we found that had no significant drawbacks and will truly cover your bases for three-season camping. The tent also comes with its own footprint, a groundsheet that protects the tent from abrasion, which we recommend that you have.
The Mineral King 3 has a full rain fly, which you can roll up halfway or completely remove for epic stargazing. It also comes with a groundsheet (aka footprint) ozark trail chair to protect the tent floor. Its fly extends into a huge front vestibule that can store large items like bikes, or even accommodate a table and chairs.
But according to our experts, the durability of the floor of your tent is actually more important. A footprint doesn’t take up much space, is relatively inexpensive, and is much easier to repair or replace than a tent bottom if it tears. For this guide, we focused on tents that suit the most common terrains you’re likely to encounter when car-camping—grassy lawns or clearings, beaches, dirt campsites, and basic platforms—in spring, summer, and fall. We’re not looking at tents designed for such specialized activities as mountaineering, backpacking, or winter camping, though some of our recommendations have cross-over potential. This headlamp is USB-rechargeable only, so you’ll want to make sure you plug it in after a few shorter runs or one longer one—you won’t be able to swap in fresh batteries while you’re out on a run.
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. 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. 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.
Keep your approach shot safe by aiming on the right side of the green to avoid the deep bunker on the left. Payne’s Valley is an homage to Ozarks-native and World Golf Hall of Fame member, Payne Stewart. It is the first public-access golf course designed by 82-time PGA TOUR winner, Tiger Woods and his golf course design firm, TGR Design. We recommend these products based on an intensive research process that’s designed to cut through the noise and find the top products in this space.
The Bindi does have a battery indicator system with red, yellow, and green lights, which makes it easy to see when you’re getting close to needing a charge. Also note that the headlamp needs to be charged out of the box; ours arrived completely dead. And it uses a Micro-USB cable, which is becoming less common (many of the rechargeable headlamps we tested use USB-C). ozark trail canopy Costing only $20, the Black Diamond Astro matched the brightness of our top pick in our tests, despite its lower lumen count. We got 10 hours out of the battery on high, the same as our top pick, and the settings are simpler. But the headband feels cheaper than the Spot’s, and there’s no battery light indicator (most of our other picks have them) or red light.
Claire Wilcox contributes outdoors coverage to Wirecutter. 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. Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions.