Hey all, SO and I have been looking at going camping more and are looking for a good tent. Right now I am looking at these two, but am open for suggestions. Mostly want to stay dry and have a queen size mattress are the only two requirements, ease of setup as a bonus
99.9% sure it is this tent here. Fiancée (gf @ the time) and I purchased it from amazon. It’s a 2 person tent that I can comfortably fit in (just barely) as I’m 6’3”. But she’s 4’11” so there’s plenty of room for us to make it work. It’s very durable, still looks brand new, plenty of slick little features, 5 minutes to set up. Only negative I could say about it is the stakes are kinda cheap. But it packs down very small and can fit inside a day pack with ease or clipped/strapped to one. Water proof bottom and rain cover, mesh is not obviously, but for a rainless clear night it’s really nice to be able to sleep under the stars and not get slaughtered by mosquitoes. Paid $229 in 2015 so it’s a steal at its current price.
Way better than that canopy you posted is this.
I used one for a few seasons. Absolutely phenomenal. MASSIVE tent and if you have the canopy there anyways you just clip it in there. Everyone was jealous.
Yeah a few other comments have signaled my need for an axe, can't believe I haven't got one already lol
Here's my tent, I also have a sleeping bag.
tbh I've never put up a tent before. So lots of research & practice will be needed before I try sleeping in it lol Right now I'm focusing on making fires reliably, and not just fires that last 5 mins xD
I know a tarp is super useful for shelter?
I bought this one from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Instant-Canopy-Lighting-System/dp/B004E4CUBK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474699178&sr=8-1&keywords=coleman+canopy+with+lighting
Was on sale when I bought it, about $120, but I'd pay twice that for what it has done for us. I made my own side walls for it from a bolt of cotton fabric I bought at Joann's, but any side walls will do. It lowers halfway, so when we leave the campground for the festival each afternoon, we just lower it instead of taking the top off. It has never blown away (though we do sneak in metal stakes and have sandbags to weigh down the legs as backup). We also double it as a tent and it comfortably sleeps 6 people. The lights on the inside are battery powered and are perfect for chilling inside the tent in the wee hours of the morning.
I own this tent: Coleman Evanston 8 person
The tent is great, but if it rains, water can pool up on the floor of the screened porch area. Buy one without a floor, but you can always tarp over in any case.
Just got this one, can't wait to try it out this year! 6 person (so assume 4), total footprint: 10x14 incl screened area, 10x10 in main tent, has 5'8" max height. http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Steel-Creek-Person-Screenroom/dp/B00S57UU7S?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00
I use this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Instant-Canopy-Lighting-System/dp/B004E4CUBK
I love the LED lights on the inside. Battery powered. When I got it, it was 140, not the 190 listed there...
But also, what devlindigital said, get at least one sidewall (I put mine facing east so the sun doesn't kill me.)
Yup, my tent is expensive. The reason it was expensive is because it can withstand all sorts of weather. I've rode through an inland hurricane in it and been bone dry.
For the love of all things holy, get some of these stakes for your canopy/EZup or something similar. In '14 there was a fairly big storm that rolled in Sunday night and I saw EZups literally flying across GA.
On that note, in the 3 years I've been to EF it's always rained at least once. None of the times ruined anything. One year it was small sprinkles on and off during the day and the other 2 times there where storms on the last night after almost all the acts where over. Mobby had to cut out like 5 minutes early and that's the only time I saw anything get cut short.
Also on this note, we're right by the lake. Therefore weather can be all sorts of crazy or unpredictable. It's really hard forecasting for the area and any forecast more than a few days out is liable to change.
So just plan for rain no matter what. Bring a nice rain shell jacket or a couple cheap walmart panchos. Also bring a few extra pairs of socks and undies as well as an extra shirt or two with another pants options. I even bring a second pair of shoes just in case mine get soaked. I also always set aside a package for the ride home on Monday. Usually has new shirt, shorts, socks, undies, sandals, and a Monster. Sucks driving 7 hours home in dirty grungy/wet clothes especially after 4 days of pushing your body to the limit.
I love this one It's roomy comfortable in most weather, cheap, so far durable, easy to set up and very dry. I had a two person version with a nicer floor, but it was slightly shorter than I am which is the worst.
It is monstrously heavy though and has a terrible pole for the rain fly (the actual tent poles are nice, the fly one just seams like an afterthought) but for car-camping? Its perfect!
This is cracking backpacking tent for the money. A friend of mine just bought one and it's more than enough to get your started and is about 1.1kg...
Alternatively you can get an alpkit bivvy and a tarp for under £100 which is a much more versatile and light weight setup.
Sleeping bag will be a tougher one to get lightweight and cheap.
This is sitting in my cart right now waiting for me to have US dollars again.
I'm super excited about it.
Also 60 lawn flamingos to add to the 70 we brought last year.
any of the EZ-Up's are awesome. They come in a little heavy but I used to take one to the beach pretty often-you will need something heavy duty for the wind and occasional rain storm.
You can also add a tent that hangs underneath for a few more bucks.
I can't recommend this highly enough. Obviously its not for hiking or backpacking but other than that its awesome. Those insta-tents from coleman are ok but you can only use them for camping.
Besides having more options, there is nothing better with rain. I've been flooded out several times and my family was the only one who stayed dry.
The biggest downside is the wind: you have to make sure you stake the thing down if their is ANY kind of breeze. Protip: for the beach you can take empty walmart plastic bags, fill them with sand and hang them from the top with zip ties and your canopy wont go anywhere.
Get yourself one of these. 8X10. http://www.amazon.com/Equinox-145776-P-Egret-Tarps/dp/B008YW6APA
And one of these. http://www.rei.com/product/754773/eno-doublenest-hammock
And a good ultralight sleeping bag. Add whoopie slings and a 100' roll of 550 paracord and that's half of one carry-on bag. All set. When you get to a town, go to the local wal-mart or hardware store and pick up a cheap pocket knife, or mail yourself a good knife to your next location if possible, and you're all set. Grab a little mess kit...what more does one need? Have fun. I used to do this same thing, for years, and this is all you really need to pull it off.
I would recommend against the tent you have in mind because the rainfly doesn't cover the entire tent. It only covers the top half. You're almost certainly to get wet if there are heavy rains. I would look for a tent with a rainfly that covers the entire tent, something like this. Just as an example - not necessarily recommending this particular model.
Whatever you choose, if going the bargain route, I would suggest sealing the seams on the rainfly and on the floor, as well as getting some sort of footprint. Doesn't have to be specialty made footprint. Any sort of plastic sheeting or tarp cut to fit so that none is showing when the tent is set up.
You can also check the REI outlet website for deals on last year's models or factory closeout specials. I got a Kelty Gunnison 4 a couple years ago that way for only $100.
I have this Coleman tent and absolutely love it when I need the space and want to have a cushy/cozy camping weekend with friends. It's very roomy and have decent standing room. You can easily put a queen sized air mattress in there and still have half the tent for other stuff.