Camping Tent - Need suggestions due to specific needs

[Randy88FJ62]

I do a lot of car camping and I always end up borrowing my friend's North Face Nebula tent. It's a 3 person, 3 season, double walled tent with zippered mesh windows.

All the new tents out have mesh integrated into the main wall and no way to close the tent up completely without a rain fly. My budget for a tent is $400. I tried a Marmot limelight 3 and it was great other than the mesh wall openings.

Does anyone know of a good tent manufacturer offering a tent that could fit me and the conditions above? (I am 6'5")

Here is the closest thing I have found:
Eureka! Military Tents: Combat Tent


Thanks.

 

[MANUCHAO]

Try the Black Diamond Single wall tent... they used to be called Bibler... They are single wall 4 seasons tent.. bomb proof..
They have come down in price... They also had some models that came with a fully integrated fully enclosed..
Backcountry Gear Limited's Bibler Store: Your source for Bibler tents and bivy bags on the web.

I have had my Bibler Ahwahnee Tent for over 6 years now and its held up to 60 mph winds, snow drifts and yes car camping too....

There is this one Eureka too but I dont know much about them..

Eureka K-2 XT Tent 3-Person 4-Season from Backcountry.com

Good luck...

 

[bigndn]

Kodiak Canvas Premium Tents

Highly recommended for car camping.

 

[Randy88FJ62]

Frank,
The tent you suggested it a little pricey for me. I rather spend the extra money on climbing gear or my truck.

 

[Randy88FJ62]

Kodiak Canvas Premium Tents

Highly recommended for car camping.

bigndn,
The six person tent is 68 lbs! Looks like a good tent. Do you have one or any experience with one? How long do they take to set up?

 

[bigndn]

bigndn,
The six person tent is 68 lbs! Looks like a good tent. Do you have one or any experience with one? How long do they take to set up?

I have the 10X10. I love it. I can set mine up in under 10 minutes by myself. It's really easy. Square it out, stake out the corners followed by the sides. Put the springbar top together, lift one side, lift the other side. Stake out the 4 corners of the roof and then the lift the awning. Great ventilation from the huge windows on warmer nights.

My biggest concern is rain.......not from the tent, but the awning will fill up and hold it. My second biggest gripe is that I have to set it up at home and vacuum it out when it gets pine needles and stuff tracked in. Like any other canvas tent, they must be totally dry when put away or they will mold. I usually set mine up in the yard for an afternoon if it's wet.

 

[bigndn]

Oh, I got mine on ebay from Competitive Edge. I offered them $300 and they took it.

New 6055 10x10 Ft Scout Camping Kodiak Canvas Wall Tent - eBay (item 370300016669 end time Dec-11-09 11:19:22 PST)

 

[Randy88FJ62]

What holds the tent up from front to back? I see poles holding the sides up and a pole going between the flex-bow lines. What keeps the tent from flopping forwards or backwards other than guy lines tied to stakes?

 

[bigndn]

What holds the tent up from front to back? I see poles holding the sides up and a pole going between the flex-bow lines. What keeps the tent from flopping forwards or backwards other than guy lines tied to stakes?

The strength of the canvas and the fact that the bottom is staked out is enough to hold it up until you can get the guy lines staked out on each corner. Mine's been up in some pretty decent winds and did just fine.

 

[Clutchee]

OZ tent..... you will never buy another tent

 

[Rocktaco]

I would put my Cabellas tent up against a North Face any day!

Cabela's XPG™ Expedition 4-Season Tent

 

[68LC]

Car Camping Tent?? No problem

Go with a springbar. Made in America, will stand up to anything weather related, very small in the back of a '40. This is the one I use - Springbar® Outfitter tent

All three of us sat out a windstorm last weekend at Saline, eating dutch oven pizza washed down with brews. 3 six footers, 3 chairs and a small table.

 

[Randy88FJ62]

Thank you for the continued responses. I now have to make the decsion to go for a canvas versus nylon tent. If I want the tent just for car camping then the canvas ones look more appealing as they have more head room. If I want to try and kill two birds with one stone and have a heavy backpacking tent then I might go with one of the nylon ones. Hard choices.

Keep the suggestions coming! All are great alternatives to the generic mesh tents that plague the current market.

 

[Corbet]

Look into the Mountain Hardwear Hammerhead 3. Unless they have changed the design since we bought ours it fits all the criteria you listed in the first post. We put a queen air bed inside with room to spare. Windows all zip up without fly.

Mountain Hardwear: Camp : Hammerhead 3

 

[DMS1]

I have the Eureka Outfitter 4 and 6 tents - I use the 4 for when I am solo or moving camp each day and use the 6 when I basecamp or my wife joins in the fun. I can set up both of these tents myself in about 10 minutes and they are very sturdy even in a heavy wind.

This summer I had the Outfitter 6 set up along the Colorado river and a thunder shower with 35 mile an hour winds appeared out of no where and did not blow it down. I did have 4 guy lines tied to it and I use custom re bar tent pegs - I will admit I was kind of worried when the storm blew threw but the tent was not damaged at all and kept everything dry.

Here is a pic of the 6

 

[mtnracer]

I have been using the REI Basecamp 6 for car camping with my wife. It's tall enough for me to stand in at 6'4" so changing clothes is easy. Usually we use a double-height queen air mattress to sleep on and it fits perfectly while still having plenty of room for gear and to move around.

I have had it for two years and it's holding up great. At one point we used it every day for a month and it was awesome.

 

[IH8Wood]

What's the deal with a rainfly?

 

[Randy88FJ62]

What's the deal with a rainfly?

I don't understand your question Seth. A rainfly is used to keep the tent dry. Good rainflys go almost all the way to the ground but sacrafice breathability.

 

[IH8Wood]

I don't understand your question Seth. A rainfly is used to keep the tent dry. Good rainflys go almost all the way to the ground but sacrafice breathability.

I meant to ask what's your objection with a rainfly-equipped tent?

 

[Corbet]

All the new tents out have mesh integrated into the main wall and no way to close the tent up completely without a rain fly.
Thanks.

I took this to mean a tent that you can close all the windows without having to use the rain fly to do so. Which IMO is very important for desert camping if the wind picks up. I don't know who many times I've woke up in Moab with a mouth full of sand until I purchased a tent that could close its windows under the fly. If he wants a single wall that's a poor choice for most anything other than winter/mountaineering type usage.