For this guide, we focused on tents that suit the most common terrains you’re likely to encounter when car-camping—grassy lawns or clearings, beaches, dirt campsites, and basic platforms—in spring, summer, and fall. We’re not looking at tents designed for such specialized activities as mountaineering, backpacking, or winter camping, though some of our recommendations have cross-over potential. One thing we love about ozark trail instant cabins are the accessories that can be added to the shelters.
We reached the next exit point, where Diego could call his family (everything worked out fine). I reflected later that perhaps I should have felt more worried about the endeavor — but it was fun as hell. In ozark trail canopy tent one case, a group of five tubers were beached on a rock in the middle of a strong current and yelled for help. I tossed them a rope and hauled all five of them to the next access point a mile downriver.
The Mineral King 3 has a full rain fly, which you can roll up halfway or completely remove for epic stargazing. It also comes with a groundsheet (aka footprint) to protect the tent floor. At $500, this modified dome-style tent isn’t cheap, but it represents substantial value. Many tents with similar profiles—such as the Big Agnes Dog House 6—either cost more or require you buy the tent body and attachable vestibule separately. The Wawona doesn’t come with a footprint—few tents this size do—but it’s otherwise all-inclusive, and it is compact considering how much livable space you get.
Like most dome-style tents, the Wireless 6 withstands wind like a champ—it fared noticeably better than the Camp Creek 6 in 15-mph gusts. The continuous curve of the dome shape allows for wind to pass over and around it. You can also get a nice cross breeze going by leaving the vestibules open. On sunny days and clear nights, take off the fly and enjoy the sky through the tent’s clear mesh canopy. Some testers, though, thought the tent was stuffy when the fly was fully closed and the sun was out. The Mineral King 3’s fly attaches intuitively with plastic buckles and has well-placed guy tabs.
For 2022, the Ozark Trail 4-Person Connect Tent Universal Canopy Tent has been enhanced to now work with both Straight-Leg and Slant-Leg 10 ft. x 10 ft. You can connect two of these tents to a Slant-Leg Canopy to enjoy private sleeping areas while sharing the common area under the canopy (each tent and canopy sold separately). If ozark trail canopy tent using a Straight-Leg Canopy, you can connect up to 3 of these tents, making it great for festivals or scouting adventures. Join our mailing list to get weekly flyers and be updated about specials, new products and unbelievable sales. Every day cleaning products and brand name vacuums, steamers, and accessories up to 70% off.
It’s pricey, though, and unless the other couples’ tents we recommend, it doesn’t include a footprint. Though the Wireless’s fly kept water out of the tent’s interior, it took longer to fully dry once the rain stopped than some others we tested. If you don’t have time to let the fly dry before you pack the Wireless in its duffle, we recommend laying it out when you get home so it doesn’t mildew in storage. Temperatures ranged from the 50s at night to the 80s during the day.
Many of our picks use grommet attachments, which are more secure and simple to repair than key attachments if anything should break. A senior staff writer at Wirecutter, Kit Dillon has written about everything from backpacks and cooking gear to luggage and road-tripping. Extreme Canopy is America’s premier supplier of custom canopies, custom tents & outdoor shade products. The Extreme team has been in the industry for over 20 years and has an emphasis on producing only the highest quality products. Lexie Sachs (she/her) is the executive director of strategy and operations at the Good Housekeeping Institute and a lead reviewer of products in the bedding, travel, lifestyle, home furnishings and apparel spaces.
It has an interior footprint of 87 square feet, which sleeps four adults on single pads, or two adults and two or three children, and can accommodate a crib. That wasn’t the tallest we encountered—the Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6 and the Alps Mountaineering Camp Creek 6 each topped out at 7 feet—but it’s enough space for most adults to maneuver standing up. The tent comes with a full rain fly that adds two vestibules for storage (each 14 square feet), totaling 115 square feet of livable space—which is fairly generous yet still practical for most campsites. A classic polyester dome tent, the Mineral King 3 uses two high-quality pre-bent aluminum poles, which maximize head and shoulder space, making this tent feel less cramped than other dome tents we tested. Two large doors provide easy entry and exit, and a vestibule—that’s camping speak for “mudroom”—outside each door adds significant sheltered storage.
Some air mattresses we’ve tested, like Coleman’s 4-N-1, can stack to serve as a taller Twin or lay out as a low-profile King. Over the years, we’ve seen taller air mattresses become the norm, especially those with built-in pumps. This past year, we put seven new air mattress contenders through a series of rigorous Lab tests and consumer tests to find the best of the best, using standardized testing methods and other industry standards. Quality sleep is essential, even if it’s “only for a few days.” Beyond feeling comfortable, a good air mattress needs to last, without leaking air overnight.