A full rain cover, two vestibules, and an extra-sturdy pole structure make this the best choice for couples who want to get outside in any weather. It’s pricey, though, and unless the other couples’ tents we recommend, it doesn’t include a footprint. These tents can quickly become pricey, so focusing on quality versus cost is a great idea. Typically, the lower-priced options in this category will work for the short term.
Some campers might find the Wawona 6’s footprint unwieldy in smaller campsites, or they might simply prefer a tent with a more straightforward design. If you want a six-person tent made with high-quality materials but a traditional profile, we recommend the similarly priced Big Agnes Spicer Peak 6, or Nemo’s Aurora Highrise 6. Unfortunately, you have to buy a separate groundsheet coleman lantern for the Wawona 6 and for most other tents its size as well. In terms of how the two tents feel, the Marmot Tungsten 4 is more geared toward hunkering down and providing stalwart defense against wind, rain, and sun. In contrast to the Mineral King 3’s triangular vestibules, the Tungsten 4’s vestibules are trapezoidal, opening via a central door with protected areas on either side.
On hot days, the 13×13 Coleman pop-up canopy is an ideal sun shelter for maximum comfort. A close-to-the-ground chair is often the ideal choice for outdoor concerts, movies, theater performances, and other events where you will be concerned about blocking other people’s view. Because people use outdoor chairs for an array of purposes and have different preferences when it comes to comfort, it was almost impossible to choose just one best chair.
Fully enclosed and ready to protect you from sun, wind, rain, AND bugs, the Clam Outdoors Quick-Set Escape is a perfect shelter for the campground. No assembly is required; this shelter is ready to go right out of the box and can be fully deployed in less than a minute. We do admit there is a small learning curve to setting up the Escape, but once you’re locked in, popping this canopy into place coleman lantern is really fun and even somewhat addictive. The massive screened walls keep insects where they belong — away from you. This shelter is also fully surrounded by a 10-inch-wide ground skirt which goes the extra mile at keeping creepy crawlers and flying annoyances at bay. Our shade-loving experts poured over hundreds of the best canopy tents available before choosing 13 for side-by-side testing.
The shaded Renetto chairs were consistently the first seats snagged at a beautiful but harshly exposed Indian Grove group campsite. The separate fly, which covers the upper half of the tent, uses a third, shorter coleman canopy “brow” pole to form protective peaks over the door and the back window. In our tests, an experienced camper took only about six minutes on the first try to set up the tent body alone and stake it out.
Bulk items will only be delivered within a 100km radius of the Store. ◊Pricing, selection, and availability of store clearance items are determined by each store. 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. If you can afford to spend more on a family tent, we recommend The North Face Wawona 6.
The cupholders on the L.L.Bean Kids’ Base Camp Chair aren’t as roomy as those on our picks, and they are not as adept at holding stubby water bottles or mugs of hot chocolate. You can stow this featherlight, compressible chair in a backpack or even a work bag. Are you a car camper or do you plan on socializing in friends’ backyards? This is pretty ironic as the day before i saw this,i repaired mine from wind damage.
The tent also comes with its own footprint, a groundsheet that protects the tent from abrasion, which we recommend that you have. 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. We found 40 denier up to 150 denier to be typical for car-camping tents; you can read more about these measurements in gear manufacturer MSR’s blog post and in this Outside article. Finding a small, light tent is the logical approach when you’re backpacking. But with car camping—the industry term for what most people consider just camping—you’ll likely be parking next to your campsite and unloading.