Bulk items will only be delivered within a 100km radius of the Store. The North Face Wawona 4, which we used to list in our Other Good Tents section, has been redesigned; it’s now made of polyester, not nylon. This is great for avoiding potential exposure to hazardous chemicals, but you should pitch the tent well away from any open flames. Unlike our top pick, the Tungsten 4 is coated with flame retardants.
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. Its fly extends into a huge front vestibule that can store large items like bikes, or even accommodate a table and chairs. Adults over 6 feet tall will be able to walk upright inside this tent—which has almost-vertical walls that can easily accommodate beds, cribs, and cots—as well as in the vestibule. If you are looking for a budget camping tent, the single best upgrade to your durability is swapping out the fiberglass poles and getting a set of aluminum ones.
The Mountain Hardwear Mineral King 3 not only went up fast but also was a snap to tear down and get back into the bag. Add to that the simple fly deploy, perfectly sized bag, and intuitive center clip, and you have a hassle-free tent. While not our ozark trail shower tent favorite, the hub also allows for easy solo pitching. It’s the only 3-person tent in our lineup and weighs in at only 7.1 pounds for the full package with a trail weight of 6.2 pounds — this tent is light enough to trek a few miles into the wild.
The Wawona 6 rainfly only covers the side mesh a little bit, allowing for moisture to sneak through in windy situations, but it remains a burly tent in every other way. One of the more surprising tents to score so well in this category is the very tall REI Co-op Wonderland 4. Thanks to a ridiculous amount of stakes and guylines, this tent holds strong in bad weather, and with the large mesh top and large side vents, the tent breaths quite well. We put the Marmot Limestone 4 up against the wicked hot days of the southern California desert and the windy nights of Reno, NV. Its shape held up perfectly to both, and the full-covered rainfly kept everything dry. Two extra poles on the tent’s roof add just enough extra height to feel open without turning it into a flat-walled sail.
As a four-person tent, it is as basic as you get with a similar design to the Decathlon Quechua 2 Second Pop-Up. It does have an integrated rainfly that can roll back, allowing ventilation and air circulation. To test the tents, we first opened them, splayed out their parts, and ozark trail shower tent tried to put them together without consulting the instructions. We assembled and disassembled the tents on all of our testing sites multiple times. We tried the rain fly for each tent as well, one time rushing to get several of them up during an unexpected rainstorm at night.
And this tent is easy to set up and pack down, especially considering its size. (It comes with a carrying bag equipped with duffle-style handles.) You’re unlikely to find a similar-sized tent that matches the Wawona’s quality and features for less money—most comparable tents we tested cost much more. As with most six-person tents, the Wawona 6’s footprint is sold separately. 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.
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.