The Mountain Hardwear Mineral King 3 Tent is the best car-camping tent choice for couples. It has everything you need for three-season camping, with the bonus of being light enough to double as an occasional coleman camping chair backpacking tent. Although it’s designed to accommodate three people—hence the “3” in its name—we found that at 42.5 square feet, the tent is more comfortable for two, plus gear and maybe a medium-size dog.
It’s unlikely to be as durable, though, as the softer, stronger polyester found in our other picks. Great for backyard overnights, this simple dome-style tent is for anyone who doesn’t want to spend more than $150 on a tent but also doesn’t want to buy another one next year. With nearly 60 square feet of floor space plus two large vestibules, the Tungsten 4 is roomier than our top-pick tent for couples.
Everyone who tested this tent loved it, and it’s not hard to understand why. With plenty of interior space, near-vertical walls, and a gigantic vestibule that could accommodate a golf cart, the Wawona feels more like a tiny home than a tent. Like the Mineral King 3, the Tungsten 4 has a mesh canopy, though the opaque polyester part of its walls go higher, and provide more privacy, than coleman pop up canopy the Mineral King’s. The Tungsten’s fly is not adaptable in the same way the Mineral King 3’s is, but it is treated for extra UV protection, which should help lengthen the tent’s lifespan. One night during testing, for example, clouds loomed in the distance with clear skies overhead. After we pitched the tent, the Mineral King 3’s adaptable fly let us leave half the mesh dome uncovered.
If you want a six-person tent made with high-quality materials but a traditional profile, we recommend the similarly priced Big Agnes Spicer Peak 6, or Nemo’s Aurora Highrise 6. Unfortunately, you have to buy a separate groundsheet for the Wawona 6 and for most other tents its size as well. Underneath the fly, the Mineral King 3 has a full mesh dome with a waterproof, tape-seamed bathtub-style polyester floor.
The tent also comes with its own footprint, a groundsheet that protects the tent from abrasion, which we recommend that you have. We also appreciated the shepherd’s hook stakes that come with the tent. Most of the tents we tested came with basic L-shaped stakes, which tended to spin around in the soil and slip a line. Once out of the bag, simply lift each side of the tent until you hear a “click,” and you’re done.
However, I wouldn’t say that Coleman has the best instant tent mechanism, at least for this tent. Sometimes, one of the elbow joints of the poles would jam and won’t prop up properly, and I’d have to fold it back up and try to prop it back up again. Also, I noticed a pretty big pool of water from the zipper of the hinged D-door at about 30 minutes of light rain (so maybe it started leaking at around 15 minutes in). There are no ground vents in this Coleman 10-Person Tent, so there’s hardly any ventilation when it’s raining, except through the gap between the roof and the rainfly. Each “room” can then fit either 5 sleeping pads or sleeping bags, or 2 queen-sized beds. One room, on the left side of the tent, will have 3 windows and the hinged D-door, while the other room will have 2 windows and the other door.
To accommodate 10 people in this tent, it’s almost shoulder-to-shoulder sleeping, although there’s some space down the middle for a little bit of camping gear. Discover the innovative Lawson Hammock, the ultimate camping solution that combines the freedom of a hammock with the convenience of a tent. With its patented design, you can enjoy suspended hammock camping or secure ground camping, providing you with a truly unique and versatile camping experience. No more uncomfortable “bunched end” hammocks that leave you feeling cramped. The Lawson Hammock’s spreader bar and arch pole system keeps the hammock flat and taut, ensuring a comfortable and restful sleep unlike any other.