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Good, inexpensive family tent suggestion?


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Define relatively inexpensive?

 

Costco has a decent Coleman for $89 right now. Also alway seam seal a new tent unless the manufacturer says otherwise, and take even that with a grain of salt.

 

Steve(This message has been edited by magic823)

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Coleman makes fairly decent family tents that can be quite reasonable when on sale.

 

If possible look for "bathtub" floors, and full, to the ground, rainflys.

 

Before you take the tent out camping, re-seal all inside seams with a liquid seam sealer.

 

Make sure the tent is set up correctly.

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I concur with the Coleman recommendations... the waterproof "bathtub" is especially nice is wet conditions. I have several Coleman tents at home and the Troop uses Coleman dome tents almost exclusively. They aren't perfect, and are no way as good as my Mountain Hardware tent, but are fast & easy to put up, keep the wind, water, & bugs out, and are surprisingly durable.

 

Campmor has a good selection and always a few on sale.

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The Coleman family tents, in my opinion, are OK in decent weather, but the biggest drawback is the fly, which typically only covers the vent areas. That means, on many areas of the side, the nylon wall is directly exposed to rain. Anything inside the tent touching the side causes water to wick through. Also, the sides present too high a profile to the wind and cannot effectively be staked against a very strong wind.

 

If you buy them through the Scout Direct discount program, Alps Mountaineering's Merramac 6, Merramac 2-room, or Merramac 3-room designs would be much better choices. I know you asked for inexpensive, but in my opinion, Cabela's Alaskan guide 6 is about the best tent you can get, short of specialized mountaineering gear. They market it as a 3 season tent, but it can take several inches of snow and 30+ mph winds without a problem. Not for traveling light, though, at about 30 pounds.

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It really depends on the tent... some Coleman tents really have very minimal fly's which do need tarp augmentation for windy rain, but the Trailblazer fly goes all most all the way to the ground... not bad for only $69!!

http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___28402

 

And yes, Cabela's tents are amazing... but only if you have the $500+ to pay for it! My Mountain Hardware Trango 2 is the best tent I've ever owned, but it was $300 on sale!

 

For inexpensive, I'd still go with Coleman.

 

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Cabela's tents are amazing... but only if you have the $500+ to pay for it!

I paid about $350 for mine on sale (with the fiberglass poles, but these are significantly better than the Coleman-type poles. Aluminum is more). I went through 3 Coleman tents in about 6 years, at about $100 a pop. I have no doubt that this Cabela's tent will last 10+ years.

I hate to sound like I am bashing Coleman. The make a lot of quality products at a decent price, especially the Exponent line. But, IMO, their family tents sold in the big box stores are just not a good buy for a family or organization who is going to use them more than a handful of times a year, and only in the best weather.

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I got a 6 man Coleman Villa del Mar as a Valentine's Day Gift from the wife. I've had no problems with it so far. It is a pain to put up by myself or with 2-6 yo "helpers," but it can be done.

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As noted if you are talking about a tent that is only going to used 3-4 times a year in nice weather then about anything will work for awhile, if you want something that will last and hold up in 3 seasons all weather then I would check some of the Eureka Family tents. Here is a link to CAMPMOR's family tents.

 

http://www.campmor.com/gear/tents/family-tents.shtml

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@SMT224 thanks for the suggestion. I ordered this tent last night. hopefully I will get it before my camping trip next weekend. I have a feeling it will be rainy.

 

This should work perfectly for me, as I don't go on many of the trips. and family camping (not scouts) I have a tent trailer. so this will be used by me the very few times I go with scouts as a driver or something. It can also be used by scout son when he doesn't have anybody to tent with on trips.

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