The Eurmax Standard 10×10 offers 100 square feet of sun protection and a peak height of 11 feet. Very high-quality materials were used to produce this shelter, making it our hands-down choice for the best recreational canopy tent on the market. Despite its size and weight, the Eurmax is quite easy to set up and take down. One of our testers easily solo-deployed it on several occasions.
If we had to spend a day in the tent during a storm, would it be comfortable? After first removing the models that failed the structural tests, we slept, watched the stars, and ate our meals in all of the tents, as well as planned hikes from them. 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. Great for backyard overnights, this simple dome-style tent is for anyone who doesn’t want to spend more than $150 on a tent but also doesn’t want to buy another one next year. It has a partial rain fly, but only one door and no vestibule. Another potential drawback is that the mesh material is not entirely opaque, which may not be ideal for those seeking complete privacy.
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. 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 the tent’s body. The North Face’s color-coded poles make this process easy to navigate.
It provided plenty of shade and protection from bugs, making it a worthwhile investment for any avid camper or nature enthusiast. However, as much as I appreciate the design and functionality of this tent, I’ve encountered a few drawbacks. Firstly, the mesh room lacks a floor, making it less useful for keeping insects at bay. Additionally, the clips that hold the tent pieces together are dangerously stretched, leading me to worry about their longevity. While the other issues may not be as concerning, it’s the clips that have me on the fence about using this tent again. I’ve enjoyed its versatility and airy feel, but I’ll wait and see if these problems can be fixed before deciding whether to purchase it again.
To uncover the best canopy tent, we use comprehensive test metrics and cover all manner of use cases and essential details. We also looked closely at the quality of each canopy tent for our craftsmanship metric and measured each tent when packed up to provide details on portability. We weighted each metric according to its importance before grading and ranking each shelter, side by side, on a scale of 1-10. Below, we discuss the metrics we used to score each model and highlight impressive models in each performance area.
Temperatures ranged from the 50s at night to the 80s during the day. 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.
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 ozark trail screen house gear. Two large vestibules add nearly 40 square feet combined—that is, 18.75 square feet on either side. However, I did experience some challenges with the tent setup.
Another two hanging pockets plus loops for a ceiling hammock provide simple yet effective interior storage. After our longtime top-pick tent for two people ran into some stock issues in 2021, we researched new models and redesigns, and we assembled a batch of small tents for testing in March 2022, on Oahu. During this period, winds rose up to 35 to 40 knots, and we experienced passing showers as well as direct sunlight and 80-degree temperatures.
A classic polyester dome tent, the Mineral King 3 uses two high-quality pre-bent aluminum poles, which maximize head and shoulder space, making this tent feel less cramped than other dome tents we tested. Two large doors provide easy entry and exit, and a vestibule—that’s camping speak for “mudroom”—outside each door adds significant sheltered storage. 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) to protect the tent floor. 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.