Family Tent

[PHBeerman]

Originally Posted by landcrusher909

COPPER CANYON 10 Product we are looking at this one Looks like a good deal ! 150 shipped to Calif. and it should work out fine for me and the wife. This thread helped out alot Thanks

Do you get much rain where you plan to camp?

[landcrusher909]

Originally Posted by PHBeerman

Do you get much rain where you plan to camp?

not alot, why do you know something about this tent ?

[slimbuddha]

I've been looking for a tent as well.. I looked at the Copper canyon, but I wanted to get one with a dome. Here are a few of the ones that I am considering:

Eureka Tetragon 1210 Family 12- by 10-Foot Eight-Person Tent
Kelty Green River 6 person Tent
Kelty Grand Mesa 6 3-Season Backpacking/Camping

Eureka is getting alot of recommends on this thread, but i haven't heard anyone say anything about the Kelty lines. Right now I am leaning rowards either the Kelty Grand Mesa or the Eureka Tetragon for the following reasons:
1.) Single door (i have young kids, and I don't want them getting up and letting themselves out. It's easier to block a single door.
2.) Its lighter, has aluminum poles, and has a vestibule
3.) Factory taped seams on fly/floor.

I've seen a few reviews at various sites, and all three seem to get good recommendation. Any experiences with Kelty bad or good?

[archie]

I think that two entrances on a tent is a plus. You could padlock one entrance till the kids get big enough, this way the tent will have a longer useful life with a family.

[tonkota]

Originally Posted by slimbuddha

I've been looking for a tent as well.. I looked at the Copper canyon, but I wanted to get one with a dome. Here are a few of the ones that I am considering:

Eureka Tetragon 1210 Family 12- by 10-Foot Eight-Person Tent
Kelty Green River 6 person Tent
Kelty Grand Mesa 6 3-Season Backpacking/Camping

Eureka is getting alot of recommends on this thread, but i haven't heard anyone say anything about the Kelty lines. Right now I am leaning rowards either the Kelty Grand Mesa or the Eureka Tetragon for the following reasons:
1.) Single door (i have young kids, and I don't want them getting up and letting themselves out. It's easier to block a single door.
2.) Its lighter, has aluminum poles, and has a vestibule
3.) Factory taped seams on fly/floor.

I've seen a few reviews at various sites, and all three seem to get good recommendation. Any experiences with Kelty bad or good?

My brother has a Kelty cabin tent. It's old but has lasted him at least 10 years. It is the reason we wanted to find a cabin tent, we picked up a Eureka Copper canyon 1312.

I say Kelty is good.

[lingo]

I got tired of camping in my Rei Clipper (2 person backpack tent) when I went to GSMTR. So I went out and bought a North Face Trailhead 6. I finally got to use it back in the fall. I am glad that I got it over the Trailhead 8 due to it having a full rain fly and the 8 doesn't. We set camp just a tropical storm set in. We were completely dry in the morning and there was a creek running through our campsite. Three of us and all of our gear in the tent and we still had plenty of room. You can stand in the center section of the tent (6ft) but not in the two side "rooms".

[PHBeerman]

Originally Posted by landcrusher909

not alot, why do you know something about this tent ?

I had a tent for one week which had rain fly like that, and I took it back because the first camping trip we got soaked by a rain storm. If it is raining hard, that fly will not protect you very well. However, if it does not rain a lot where you camp, it is a great tent.

[slimbuddha]

I ended up ordering the Eureka Tetragon 1210 Family 12x10 8person at Amazon. It was hard to pass up as the price had dropped down to $97 with free shipping (when I first looked at it, it was around $150). I figure for $97, I can't really go wrong, and the reviews from other sites were all positive.

When it arrives, i'll give a review in case anyone is interested.

[jonheld]

FWIW, I really like my Eureka Headquarters. That line from Eureka has a heavier floor than some others they sell. Stayed dry in driving rain, as long as it is set up correctly (as with any tent). Use it on every trip with my 2 kids and it has taken a beating over the years.

It is not light and it is not cheap. But it is big, sturdy, well vented, and easy up/down.

[Lars]

Originally Posted by Atoyot1031

I'm pretty sure I'm going to pull the trigger on the Columbia Cougar Flats II tent. I found it at Campmor for $256.94 shipped. I really want a two room tent with a "real" wall dividing the two rooms (in order to just heat the kids portion). It seemed to be a good tent from all the reviews I've found.

What I'm wondering is if anyone has any experience with it? And if you do, my old Cabelas tent (which I love), came with all the necessary and auxillary tent posts and guy lines (sp?). My much more expensive North Face meanwhile only came with the minimum stakes and guy lines. So although there are many other options for securing the tent and rain fly, it didn't come with the tent. Go figure. Anywho, any additional information would be most helpful.

We have the original Cougar Flats model and it's a great tent. Although we only used it a few times before upgrading (to an RV), I can say it performed wonderfully ... including one evening in the worst rain/lightning storms I've been in. Everything stayed dry!

Great ventilation, plenty of room and no defects. It came with everything needed except a ground tarp. We used a big blue tarp from Costco which fit nice. I don't remember there being anything troublesome or awkward about setup. It was pretty easy/fast with two people.


Good tent. No regrets.

[Mr. Toad]

I have a Kelty Domolite for the family. It has lasted forever and is still going strong. I think it's a 1992!?! Had it out in the rain this past weekend and stayed bone dry. The only time I get wet in there is when we zip up tight for warmth, like we did in the snow over the winter. But you can't really fault the tent for that, because you're not supposed to do it.

But for backpacking, I'm very happy with my Big Agnes Seedhouse SL.

[hwy5076]

Just offering an opinion here, as I also looked at all kinds of reviews on tents and the requiremets mentioned here are exactly what I was needing...I chose the Eureka Copper Canyon 1312 and couldn't be happier. Pint, mentioned the 1512 and I have a family of 4 with 2 dogs and had plenty of space left over for gear or ? This also has massive headroom, can seperate into two rooms-each with its own entrance/exit door, plenty of ventilation and is very easy to set up. I also considered the 1512 but am glad I went with the 1312. Hope this helps anyone looking at this model...thumbs up on this end.

[landcrusher909]

Originally Posted by landcrusher909

COPPER CANYON 10 Product we are looking at this one Looks like a good deal ! 150 shipped to Calif. and it should work out fine for me and the wife. This thread helped out alot Thanks

Got the tent and its perfect for us. Lots of room goes up quick. It was windy but once inside you could not ever tell. I guess I am always expecting something to have a thicker material but this works.

[C6H12O6]

Sort of an older thread, but FWIW, REI has the Base Camp tents on sale right now. The BC4 is at $199 and the BC6 is at $249. Awesome tents for a family car-camp kinda trip.

[slimbuddha]

I used this memorial day weekend for three nights. I hadn't had time to put it up and figure out how it went together before the trip. Even so, it took less than 30 minutes to put up, with the help of my teenage nephew. I put the rain fly up, but luckily by the time I arrived, all the rain had finished, and I had clear skies, and little wind for the whole trip. Since I didn't expect heavy wind/rain, I did not guy it out.

Overall, I would say well worth the $97 I paid (shipping included) from Amazon. We had one queen mattress, and could have easily had two on either side of the tent, with space in the middle between them. There were 4 of us in there, and there was plenty of room for gear, etc. The gear loft was great to place to put up an LED light. I wish I had brought a few more, but it was a last minute grab.

Takedown was about the same time. If you are using air mattresses, I believe you could fit two queen, and a twin at the foot of each queen, and leave a small open space in the middle to get in out.

First night out, it was a little cold, and since this is such a large tent, don't expect it to hold in much heat.

I expect to take it out again in the summer months, but living a largely desert area, I don't expect to get much rain testing in, but very likely some wind. When I do, i'll post an update.

[5280Hawk]

I just bought one of these -



It's a Eureka Pine Lodge tent. 10x12 and it is really tough. THe steel poles have steel cable shock cords, and the thing is re-enforced averywhere! you can get it anywhere from $300.00 to $400.00
Only thing is it weighs like 120lbs, and is tough even for me to get on top of My roof rack!
I really Like it so far, haven't had it in the rain yet, but i wouldn't be worried in the slightest.

[Atoyot1031]

Originally Posted by Atoyot1031

I'm pretty sure I'm going to pull the trigger on the Columbia Cougar Flats II tent. I found it at Campmor for $256.94 shipped. I really want a two room tent with a "real" wall dividing the two rooms (in order to just heat the kids portion). It seemed to be a good tent from all the reviews I've found.

What I'm wondering is if anyone has any experience with it? And if you do, my old Cabelas tent (which I love), came with all the necessary and auxillary tent posts and guy lines (sp?). My much more expensive North Face meanwhile only came with the minimum stakes and guy lines. So although there are many other options for securing the tent and rain fly, it didn't come with the tent. Go figure. Anywho, any additional information would be most helpful.

Originally Posted by Lars

We have the original Cougar Flats model and it's a great tent. Although we only used it a few times before upgrading (to an RV), I can say it performed wonderfully ... including one evening in the worst rain/lightning storms I've been in. Everything stayed dry!

Great ventilation, plenty of room and no defects. It came with everything needed except a ground tarp. We used a big blue tarp from Costco which fit nice. I don't remember there being anything troublesome or awkward about setup. It was pretty easy/fast with two people.


Good tent. No regrets.

Well I got the Cougar Flats II about a month ago. We're using it for the first time this weekend. So I figured that I'd best do a test run setting it up.

First of all, I must have misplaced the instructions or filed them with the warranty info, cause they weren't in the stuff bag/case. It didn't matter! This tent is highly intuitive to erect. Even the tent materials used color coordinate with the necessary poles. Instructions might have actually slowed me down!

I had it up in my carport, while watching the 8 mo. old baby girl in ~20 minutes on the virgin run. This thing is huge (15'x10' floor)! It appears to be well built with lots of thought going into the design. It appears that my research paid off on this purchase. I'll keep you posted as we get through the family camping season and it goes into hunting season.

My impressions are that I would highly recommend this tent for a family, especially since you can close off half of it (for the kids). We do this so that we can put our Mr. Buddy heater in with the kids to keep them warm, and we can keep the windows open on our side to stay nice and cool!

[PHBeerman]

Originally Posted by 5280Hawk

I just bought one of these -



It's a Eureka Pine Lodge tent. 10x12 and it is really tough. THe steel poles have steel cable shock cords, and the thing is re-enforced averywhere! you can get it anywhere from $300.00 to $400.00
Only thing is it weighs like 120lbs, and is tough even for me to get on top of My roof rack!
I really Like it so far, haven't had it in the rain yet, but i wouldn't be worried in the slightest.

Same tent I have and love it. How do you like the door?

[smkymntn]

I was looking at getting that same tent or the Kodiak- Is the door all its cracked up to be? I have a 4 year old that can tear up a tent zipper in 5 seconds flat.

[PHBeerman]

Originally Posted by smkymntn

I was looking at getting that same tent or the Kodiak- Is the door all its cracked up to be? I have a 4 year old that can tear up a tent zipper in 5 seconds flat.

The door is awesome for the kids. Even my 1.5 yoear old can come and go as she pleases. I love it for that very reason. The downside of the door is that it is not 100% closed off from critters getting in. Oh well.

[C6H12O6]

We bought the REI Base Camp 6 a couple weeks ago. Sweet tent, huge vestibule, great full-coverage rainfly (a must in the PNW), I can stand up in it, plenty of room for wife, dog, giant air mattress, and our forthcoming little one. Seriously every single feature I would wish for in a car-camping, large, family tent. I'm not backpacking with this 21 pound beast, but for family trips in the cruiser, it is perfection. It's a little spendy at full price, but I got it on sale for $249.

REI Base Camp 6 Tent from REI.com

Also, FWIW, there was a buggered up rivet on one of the pole tabs on the bottom of the tent and REI was out of stock when I went it to return it. The guy at REI said to just keep using the tent until they were back in stock and bring it in later in the summer. I also had a question about the footprint and he pulled one out of the bag, laid it out in the store and showed me what's up. Incredible customer service.

[landcrusher909]

Originally Posted by landcrusher909

COPPER CANYON 10 Product we are looking at this one Looks like a good deal ! 150 shipped to Calif. and it should work out fine for me and the wife. This thread helped out alot Thanks

Ours worked great