But according to our experts, the durability of the floor of your tent is actually more important. If the tent you buy doesn’t come with a footprint (two of our recommended tents, the Mountain Hardwear Mineral King 3 and the Marmot Tungsten 4, do), we recommend purchasing a companion footprint, if one is available. A footprint doesn’t take up much space, is relatively inexpensive, and is much easier to repair or replace than a tent bottom if it tears. Our main issue with the integrated rainfly is that we lose all ventilation (and views of the outside) when there’s risk of rain, but there is a slight solution to this.
This camping tent is designed with the WeatherTec system that features patented welded floors and inverted seams to help ensure you stay dry if it starts to rain. An integrated vented rainfly offers added protection from the rain and improves airflow without the need for extra assembly. This backpacking tent is made from rugged Polyguard 2X double-thick fabric that stands up to the rigors of the outdoors, so you can use it reliably season after season. This 6-person tent offers enough room for two queen size air beds and comes with integrated storage pockets to help you keep small items organized.
In terms of flaws, there aren’t much to speak of with the Wawona 6, apart from the price. The North Face offers a limited lifetime warranty on the tent, and will repair most flaws and damage at its discretion. Our Also great picks, the REI Co-op Base Camp 4 and Base Camp 6 tents, have been temporarily phased out for the season. Logistically the tent is 4.1m x 2.35m with a 1.9m centre height plus mesh windows and an awning and is built to last with a double-thick fabric that stands up to all of the elements. Other notable features include an extra large wall organizer, ground air vents, and H20 Block technology making the tent water resistant (but not waterproof).
Its fly extends into a huge front vestibule that can store large items like bikes, or even accommodate a table and chairs. Adults over 6 feet tall will be able to walk upright inside this tent—which has almost-vertical walls that can easily accommodate beds, cribs, and cots—as well as in the vestibule. And this tent is easy to set up and pack down, especially considering its size. (It comes with a carrying bag equipped with duffle-style handles.) You’re unlikely to find a similar-sized tent that matches the Wawona’s quality and features for less money—most comparable tents we tested cost much more.
If it rains, the WeatherTec™ system with its patented welded floors and inverted seams will help you stay dry. The Instant Tent 6 is also lacking a couple of other features that would help it compete with several similar tents. There’s also no room divider, but this was less of a priority given the lack of entryways.
This three-season instant tent has ample ventilation, a rain fly that covers the mesh ceiling, and guylines and stakes to secure everything in place. The front “D” style door makes going in and out of the tent easy. The manufacturer claims that the Core 6-person tent can fit two queen air mattresses or up to six campers in sleeping bags. Coleman coleman cooler isn’t mincing words when they call this an instant tent. The advertised setup time is a blistering 60 seconds, and we found that this was not an exaggeration—even if you start the clock with the tent still inside its travel bag. The tent is freestanding, so any additional pegging can be accomplished at your leisure (unless wind is a factor).
Note that these tents are strictly meant for car camping; the Base Camp 4 and the Base Camp 6 weigh 16 and 21 pounds, respectively, so you won’t want to carry either one very far. Both come with storage sacks that you sling over one shoulder. In terms of how the two tents feel, the Marmot Tungsten 4 is more geared toward hunkering down and providing stalwart defense against wind, rain, and sun.
But the walls, which are made of fabric that’s “twice as thick” as standard tent fabric, according to Coleman, make for a stuffy place to sleep. Unzip a window and you expose the screens, which are angled toward the sky, to the rain falling down. If you can afford to spend more on a family tent, we recommend The North Face Wawona 6. 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.
The main bodies of our other picks are structured with two main poles with added support from smaller brow poles. The Base Camp, by contrast, has four full-size aluminum struts woven throughout it, somewhat like a basket, plus an additional brow pole that frames the front entrance and supports the larger of the two vestibules. The Base Camp also offers more privacy compared with our other picks—with or without the rain fly.