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 ozark trail canopy 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.
In early March, we took our second trip to the oceanside Sycamore Canyon Campground (PDF) near Oxnard, California. A later check of the weather at nearby Point Mugu Naval Air Station confirmed top recorded wind gusts of 40 miles per hour. We later used the shelters on group trips at Wheeler Gorge Campground near Ojai, California, and at the La Jolla group campsite at Point Mugu, as well as on a trip to the El Mirage Dry Lake in the Mojave Desert. Since 2015, I’ve tested camping shelters and large car-camping tents on weekend trips involving more than a dozen families, and I have talked to dozens more about their tent travails. Over the years, I have evaluated gear for magazines including Wired, Popular Science, and National Geographic Adventure, where I was a senior editor.
During the winter and early spring of 2017, we added four more canopy tents to our testing lineup. In addition to the models from REI and L.L.Bean, which became our new top picks, we tested the Coleman 15 × 13 Instant Screenhouse and the Wenzel Sun Valley Screen House. A canopy tent is a purchase most regular car campers consider after stocking up on the basics. After all, you can find plenty of smaller and less-expensive items to help you fight bugs, guard against the sun, and shrug off rain. Our favorite canopy tent is a simply designed, comfortable shelter that offers protection from bugs, sun, and rain. The Ozark Trail canopy very well might be one of the best selling 10×10 tent brands of all time.
The innovative frame is powder coated steel with central hub locks for the frame and push button locking height adjustments. The 300D polyester top provides UV protection and is water and fire resistant. Four included walls have mesh panels with curtains and one of the two end walls rolls up for easy access under the canopy.
This Ozark Trail tent sets up quickly and easily without the use of straps, tools, cables, or other loose parts. The frame is constructed with a rust-resistant steel and it comes with a water-resistant fabric ozark trail canopy top, making it durable, as well as able to withstand the outdoor elements. Four attached guy lines keep it upright while telescoping legs and a trigger mechanism enable height adjustment for easy setup.
The canopy folds down to 48.75″ in length and easily fits into the sleeve bag with a pocket for the walls, stakes and guy ropes. Fellow campers and sun-baked spectators consistently gravitated toward the REI shelter over the L.L.Bean. Though the two tents have the same footprint, the REI’s roof is 6 inches taller; we found that the higher ceiling made the REI shelter feel significantly roomier inside. The most popular product in their line is the 10×10 Instant Slant Leg Tent with a blue canopy top.
Perhaps our two favorites are camping tent additions that connect to the frame of the shelter and leverage the stability of the 10×10 frame to support a camping tent structure. The canopy tent has mesh walls on all four sides and an edge of polyester fabric (also DWR treated) at the ground that deters mosquitos and other critters from invading from below. Like many tents of this type, the REI Screen House Shelter has a fabric hook in the center of the ceiling that accommodates a small lantern or other light. The first trip was an early-February expedition to Indian Cove Campground in California’s Joshua Tree National Park, where our highly exposed group campsite made daytime temperatures in the high 70s feel like the 90s.
We typically see pyramid frames built with flimsy trusses and thin struts and reinforced (if you want to call it that) with cheaply made plastic joint connectors, and unfortunately this 10×10 Ozark canopy is no different. The biggest issue in all of this is the inability to withstand any rotational pressure during medium and high impact weather conditions as the joints become unstable and collapse at the mid points. In windy conditions high stress is applied to each side and the frame begins to break down at the unreinforced joint connectors. That is why we always recommend tents with a full truss structure as they are able to withstand rotational pressure since the cross section of the main support runs through the tent’s center as opposed to outer perimeter. The shelter has a 10-by-10-foot footprint—the most common size for tents of this type—and a peak height of 7 feet. It will shelter a standard-size picnic table, but with little room to spare.
Leader Accessories is one of the highest-rated pop-up shelters on the market, but is it the right one for you? Enter your email address to follow my blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
The canopy fabric is made with a heavy-duty 150D polyester for reliable shade and water protection. This ozark trail wagon also comes with a wheeled bag for convenient storage and transport between uses. Place Ozark Trail 20′ x 10′ Straight Leg Instant Canopy in your backyard or another outdoor venue and make the most out of your time outdoors.