Quick and simple to set up, the canopy is light but sturdy enough to hold up in most kinds of weather. If you camp near a lake, river, or ocean, you could even carry the canopy between the beach and campsite as needed. No matter the time of year you’re camping, you need Walmart camping gear that will shield you from rain, snow, and sunlight. We typically see pyramid frames built with flimsy trusses and thin struts and reinforced (if you want to ozark trail canopy 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.
The main tent body has a giant front door that’s oriented to make entry and exit easy for all the tent’s occupants at night, and a smaller back window that doubles as a second door. The Mineral King 3’s fly attaches intuitively with plastic buckles and has well-placed guy tabs. You can secure the fly to the poles with Velcro ties underneath the fly, so that the extra lines anchored the whole tent, not just the thin protective fabric, but we only needed to do so in very windy conditions. When the fly is fully deployed, the tent has two vestibules, which provide additional gear storage and also help ventilate the tent in inclement weather. And in a stroke of design brilliance, a small loop sewn into the top of the fly makes it possible to roll up one half of the fly, exposing the full mesh canopy while still providing shade and privacy. This was the first tent I set up in my test of the best 8-person tents, when the winds were gusting the most, and I was impressed with how the Wagtontop 8 handled the less-than-ideal weather.
It’s worth highlighting that despite the advertised dimensions of the 10×10 Ozark Trail, because this is a slant leg shelter the top only measures 8×8. While it might not sound like much, that is a difference of 64 sq. You’ll be able to comfortably fit up to 4 chairs underneath the 64 sq.
Marmot uses color coding smartly to help you position the tent as well as set it up. Both of the doors zip open to the side that’s color-coded blue, as opposed to zipping open to opposite sides. This means the vestibules equally protect the doors, rather than providing opposite entries and exits—the latter creates a situation where, in stormy weather, one side of the tent is always more exposed to blustering wind or rain.
Check the dimensions of any tent you are considering to determine whether it will fit the family or group you will be camping with. Measuring 10 by 10 feet, the Sundome covers an area larger than that of our family-tent top pick though its lower roof leaves it with less headroom. The Wireless 6’s drawbacks have mainly to do with material quality. These can be as strong, or even more so, than aluminum ozark trail canopy poles (especially cheap ones), but they’re always bulkier, heavier, and not as nice to handle. However, the Wireless 6’s poles were the best fiberglass ones we tested—they left no splinters, unlike those on the Camp Creek 6 or the Copper Canyon LX 6. But it’s one of the least expensive tents we found that had no significant drawbacks and will truly cover your bases for three-season camping.
I conducted field tests of tents across a range of size and activities with the help of Outdoor Life staff, friends, and my family. The best 8-person tents were tested over three days ozark trail canopy in a river valley where heavy winds broke the poles of one tent (and sprung a leak in another). The best 6-person tents were tested in the heavy rain of a late summer thunderstorm.
Three fiberglass poles crisscross the ceiling and then connect to six steel poles at each end to form the walls (the tenth pole creates the awning over the doorway). The directions for this were reasonably easy to follow—it just took a while. The only downside to this tent is that the 8-person tent requires a second person to complete the setup. While I was able to put up the body of the tent by myself, putting up the rainfly requried a second (taller) person. Both Base Camp tents have two doors and lots of mesh in the main tent body.