[SunTzuMD]

That is exactly like the old Coleman we had growing up as kids.

I got a North Face Bedrock 55. I can stand up in it and theres is a ton of room with a full rain fly. I wanted something to hold up to the weather at high altitude (wind).

Originally Posted by bigndn

Consider going canvas:

I have a Kodiak, which I believe is a knockoff of Springbar and I love it!

Here's the one I have. Talk about easy and fast to set up/takedown!!!


6055 Kodiak Canvas Tent - 6 Person 10 x 10 foot with Hydra-Shield?

[bbing]

Many mid priced brands will work well; I have found that I dont mind paying several hundred dollars for more quality. My last tent was a "middie" and lasted 8 years. Punishing camping too; Northern Baja Coast (mucho brisas) and plenty of Desert time. 2 things are of utmost value to me; wind resist = rigid poles like aluminum and plenty of guy line support UV resist = higher threads better seams etc..

I bought the Base 8 North Face this time. Huge tent easy to set up 3 rooms alum poles.
Just remember ; sometimes the footprint is too big for pitching in tight terrain.


p.s. one last criteria i just considered is that it be well ventilated without allowing too much micro dust opportunity.

[d0ubledown]

i just ordered a kodiak 6010 tent from cabelas canada. they're on sale, so i thought id pony up for one of these instead of the 6055 from ebay (competitive edge producs). i figure i want to buy a tent only once...that will last forever. should fit our family of 5 nicely. kids arent too big yet, so it should be roomy enough. as nice as the 10X14 is, it requires more real estate. might not always find flat land that big where we go.

my req's were that it was very wind and rain resistant...lots of that kinda weather here in the wet coast of canada. strong poles to keep it up, tall enough to stand and walk around in and very durable breathable material. didnt have the coin for a springbar, so hopefully this will work out. hoping to get it mid next week n test it out in our tiny backyard.

[copasspupil]

http://www.rei.com/outlet/search?search=tent&cat=22000147&hist=query%2Ctent^ cat%2C22000147%3AFamily+Camping+Tents

[bbing]

REI staff will talk down North Face attempting to promote their brand.

Not that I have anything neg to say about their brand; it just makes it easy to identify dumb ass sales "kids".

[Atoyot1031]

REI is also a supporter of the Sierra Club and other non-Cruiser friendly groups. Please give your money to companies that support outdoor activities that we participate in or at least please don't give your money to companies that actively support groups that pursue legislation and litigation against responsible off-highway activities. Shopping REI is like shooting yourself in the foot...

[Sanchez]

I also went with a Kodiak 6055. My buddy once told me to invest on a good tent that will last for a while. He helped me set this thing up and I was very impressed on how easy it was to set up. The quality of this tent is also great. I'm very happy by the initial looks, set up and workmanship of this tent "Plus I got a big tumbs up by my buddy, he's big on camping and expedition gear".

Thanks

-Juan

[pc4400]

Hey everybody,

We just bought a new tent, see link below. It's a Coleman 8 person tent.

Coleman Bayside 8 People Family Tent - Orange : Target

I have to say I was cussing at this thing while setting it up, mainly because the Chinese/English instructions didnt match the tent. The picture on the link is very similar, but not the exact shape, causing me so much fury. But it came out nice. It has a "vent" that looks more like a doggy door, so laughed when our dogs ran full throttle into the vent, which wasnt open. It's rediculously large, like 2 queen size mattresses could easliy fit.
Also, I bought this because my small REI tent's (really expensive) pole went out (no more elastic band to hold them together). Any way to fix this? I was bummed that my old $25 walmart tent outlasted my $180 REI tent.

[RevX]

We have this tent and really like it. Easy to assemble and good quality for the price.

[old5chool]

I second the North Face "Trailhead" recommendation. They are a little spendy, but I got mine during the REI yearly sale and it was about 30% off. That was a couple of years ago, so I'm sure the prices have gone up.

The only tent I would really consider in the original posted list would be the Eureka. I have an old Eureka 2 man Mountain Pass XT tent and it has served me well over the years. Personally, I'm a little leery of the jumbo $100 tents you see. If it started to storm, I wouldn't be too confident with most of their rainfly designs/quality.

[pint]

Originally Posted by RevX

We have this tent and really like it. Easy to assemble and good quality for the price.

What tent is that???

[Atoyot1031]

It's the Columbia Cougar Flats II that I have as well. Here are my posts on it from this thread. Two thumbs up.

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 Atoyot1031

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!

Originally Posted by Atoyot1031

Followup on my Columbia Cougar Flats II tent.

We purchased this tent nearly a year ago after out growing our Cabelas SUV tent (2nd child). This was the only "family" tent I could find that had a sewn wall dividing the rooms, which appealed to me for versatility (different temperatures, using one area as sleeping another as weatherproof porch, etc.)

The tent has performed well for our purposes. We have taken it on roughly a half dozen camping trips. I have also taken it hunting. So it has seen all kinds of weather and kept us dry.

The only notable design flaw I have found is the mesh ceiling. When the rainfly is attached it sits roughly 4" off of the tent ceiling. As most all of our camping includes cold nights and our children are still young (3 & 1), we utilize Mr. Heater Buddy heaters. The mesh ceiling allows for massive heat loss when using the heaters. As a hillbilly fix, I have put blankets over the mesh (below the rainfly) and this works well. However, for a long term repair, I am having a gal I work with sew on velcro ripstop nylon covers that I can keep on the tent, or remove if we ever camped somewhere back East and needed the breeze and wanted to see the stars as we slept. This design problem probably would not affect most people due to local climates.

With the flaw noted, I will point out a few things that I have found wonderful about the tent.

• There is a "power port" near the center of the tent about 18" off of the ground. It is two pieces of tent material overlapped and connected by velcro. This allows me to run my propane lines into the tent for the Mr. Heater unit or power lines if you had electrical devices to run, while keeping the tent sealed.
• The "bay windows" work well to keep air moving even during inclement weather.
• The tent is plenty tall for me to stand up and walk around freely in (I'm 6'2").
• The glow in the dark exterior zipper pulls are nice when I am working my way to the tent in the dark trying to keep the kids asleep.
• The "stuff sack" is awesome! It is essentially a piece of luggage with a handle and two wheels on one side that expands if you are incapable of getting all of the stuff in there. I haven't had a problem getting everything in, as a matter of fact, I keep a full size ground cloth tarp in there at all times as well.

All things considered this tent has worked out well for us and will be our wilderness home until we eventually make the leap to the popup.


Nick

[Morse_FJ40]

We just purchased the Kodiak Canvas cabin tent after learning about it from Bigndn. I went and looked at one of the Kodiak tents at my nearest Sportsmans warehouse and liked what we saw. I called up the cabelas in Lacey and they had the one I wanted.... on sale as well!! Set it up in the backyard couple nights ago and love it!!
Here is the link:

http://images.cabelas.com/is/image/cabelas/s7_518889_imageset_01?$main-Large$

It rained cats and dogs the other night, and the tent is nice and dry. I picked this tent because of it's heavy duty floor. Plus I live on the Wetside of Washington where it rains, so I didn't like the designs on the rainflys for the Columbia or other big tents. Taking it to the ocean this weekend for the maiden trip.
later
Ryan

[d0ubledown]

used our kodiak flexbow for the first time this past weekend. cant say enough about how much i love this thing! its 10X10 size with a generous 6'+ height and almost vertical walls makes this setup very roomy and cavernous. we had 3 double mattresses inside and still had enough room for a folding table.

the longest part of setting it up is driving in the stakes. they're nice n big...using the side face of an axe or hammer will save your hands. once its all staked, the tent will literrally go up in less than 5 minutes.

the interior storage and overhead hammock just plain rock. such a useful accessory. a place to hang towels or clothes to dry..etc. the zippers are nice n heavy duty with the door pulls having white rope to make it easier to see and grab. windows roll up easily, and the front tarp, once nice n secure, made an excellent storage platform for things like the kids floaties etc. the floor is nice n thick...and the cinch bag really makes it easy to pack up.

well worth the money spent...as i dont plan on buying another tent. ever. well..unless i upgrade to the 10X14. ive got a cdn m101 to haul the bulky setup in...so if packing space & weight isnt a concern...get this! you'll love it.

[tonkota]

This is just one reason I like this Eureka! Copper Canyon:

open roof 1
open roof 2

and just because I like the picture:
2F-E wagon loaded

[alpinecowboy]

The highest quality tents in the outdoor industry are made by the following brands (in no particular order):
- Big Agnes
- Marmot
- Mountain Hardwear
- Sierra Designs
- Nemo

In all of these tents, you will find a common set of construction characteristics that maximize weather protection and durability while trying their best to minimize weight.
- DAC aluminum poles (superior to easton in this application because of the lower zinc content - less likely to break under strain and made from extruded aluminum vs the rolled/seam welded construction of the easton)
- Waterproof bathtub or catenary cut seam construction in the floors - short version is that this keeps the floors waterpoof, even in standing water up to 8" in some cases.
- YKK zippers on all openings - trust me, this matters
- Full-coverage UV resistant nylon or polyester rain flies... this is so important - I hate the rainfly toupees that the cheapie tents have on them... worthless in a driving rain.
- Seam taped construction on all waterbearing seams
- Ripstop nylon fabrications
- true no see um netting (i.e. over 500 holes/sq inch in mosquito netting - keeps out even the smallest critters)... the cheapy tents are closer to 200/300 which lets a lot of small flying biting things in depending on where you live and the size of your local critters.
- generally more durable and lighter weight fabrications.
- generally stronger pitched geometries.
- not made for car camping... i.e. built for the true backcountry where failure is dangerous vs. a Coleman car camper where failure is just a night in the car...

[Atoyot1031]

See post #1.

[tonkota]

Originally Posted by alpinecowboy

The highest quality tents in the outdoor industry are made by the following brands (in no particular order):
- Big Agnes
- Marmot
- Mountain Hardwear
- Sierra Designs
- Nemo

In all of these tents, you will find a common set of construction characteristics that maximize weather protection and durability while trying their best to minimize weight.
- DAC aluminum poles (superior to easton in this application because of the lower zinc content - less likely to break under strain and made from extruded aluminum vs the rolled/seam welded construction of the easton)
- Waterproof bathtub or catenary cut seam construction in the floors - short version is that this keeps the floors waterpoof, even in standing water up to 8" in some cases.
- YKK zippers on all openings - trust me, this matters
- Full-coverage UV resistant nylon or polyester rain flies... this is so important - I hate the rainfly toupees that the cheapie tents have on them... worthless in a driving rain.
- Seam taped construction on all waterbearing seams
- Ripstop nylon fabrications
- true no see um netting (i.e. over 500 holes/sq inch in mosquito netting - keeps out even the smallest critters)... the cheapy tents are closer to 200/300 which lets a lot of small flying biting things in depending on where you live and the size of your local critters.
- generally more durable and lighter weight fabrications.
- generally stronger pitched geometries.
- not made for car camping... i.e. built for the true backcountry where failure is dangerous vs. a Coleman car camper where failure is just a night in the car...

Well, no matter, I still like our tent, it is perfect for my family and our adventures. I didn't spend an arm and a leg and I can still enjoy the outdoors. Not too sure why I would go camping if a tent failure would be dangerous. It's a tent, not a lion - tigers - and bears (oh my) proof fortress.

[Bogo]

Originally Posted by tonkota

Coleman (WTF happened to these guys?)

This may be a hint...

• The Coleman Solar Charging units are licensed products manufactured and distributed by:

ICP Solar Technologies
7075 Place Robert Joncas, Suite 131
Saint Laurent, Quebec H4M 2Z2
Phone: 888-427-7652 or 514-270-5770 Ext. 150

E-mail:customerservice@icpsolar.com
Web site:www.icpsolar.com