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Tent recommendations

UCFWayne

UCFWayne

Todd's Tiki Bar
Oct 7, 2011
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I am planning on a small camping trip the weekend of Thanksgiving. This is more of a test run to see if we want to do this more often in the future. I have a toddler and an infant, so I will likely need a bigger tent than the older 4 person one I have currently. Im thinking 6 person maybe bigger.

Do you guys have any recommendations on a tent? Any ones I should avoid? Maybe some other gear I should look into.
 
UCFWayne said:
I am planning on a small camping trip the weekend of Thanksgiving. This is more of a test run to see if we want to do this more often in the future. I have a toddler and an infant, so I will likely need a bigger tent than the older 4 person one I have currently. Im thinking 6 person maybe bigger.

Do you guys have any recommendations on a tent? Any ones I should avoid? Maybe some other gear I should look into.
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I have a Eureka Tetragon 8 that sleeps like 8 (makes sense). It is a giant 2 pole dome that i can stand up in the middle and easily fits a queen sized air mattress and kids bags / pack n plays. We've had it for a 4 or 5 years and I have 0 regrets. Never been wet, bathtub floor, etc. Get some good silicon spray seam sealer to make sure you're good no matter which tent you buy.

I also have a small backpacking tent. I broke the aluminum poles the last time i used it :(
 
There are really two choices here: 1. REI Kingdom 8 and 2. The North Face Docking station. The Kingdom has a privacy screen, which is a big plus. The North Face is essentially a component system so you can add pieces as you need them and the kids get bigger and want their own space. Both go for around $500, which is a lot until you consider its about 4 nights at an average hotel. So, you are sleeping free after the 5th night.
 
If this is only a test run, go cheap. Unless it's going to rain then go big. No point in spending a fortune if you're not sure if you'll even use it again.

If you you know you'll get use out of it, get a good one with a full fly. Florida summers are your worst enemy in the woods. I personally have a Marmot Halo 6 that is 10x10 with a full fly and 2 vestibules. Plenty of room and virtually bombproof. Btw, if you get a good tent you won't need to spray anything on it to keep water out.
 
I have the same one as frogerz and I like it. My only problem is not being able to stand in it since it's a dome. I can only stand in the middle. I think his brother just got one that you can stand up at the sides in.
 
cnsaguy said:
If this is only a test run, go cheap. Unless it's going to rain then go big. No point in spending a fortune if you're not sure if you'll even use it again.

If you you know you'll get use out of it, get a good one with a full fly. Florida summers are your worst enemy in the woods. I personally have a Marmot Halo 6 that is 10x10 with a full fly and 2 vestibules. Plenty of room and virtually bombproof. Btw, if you get a good tent you won't need to spray anything on it to keep water out.
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lol. You'll be the guy wet after three days of rain. It doesn't matter what tent, they will all eventually wick water, even if they have taped seams. The Eureka tent I have/recommended has taped seams. You spray the seams to put the odds in your favor.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. Im still hoping to borrow a tent instead of buying one right now. Just need to keep options open. I will likely keep the purchase on the cheaper side if I can. Maybe one day I go big and get a high dollar one, but not right now. Rogerz, do you have a spray you recommend?
 
UCFWayne said:
Thanks for the suggestions. Im still hoping to borrow a tent instead of buying one right now. Just need to keep options open. I will likely keep the purchase on the cheaper side if I can. Maybe one day I go big and get a high dollar one, but not right now. Rogerz, do you have a spray you recommend?
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You can buy a water repellent spray in most places you would buy camping gear. just puts on a light layer of silicone. Works great for any rain gear clothing you may have as well. I do the rain gear for motorcycle every year just before rain season kicks in.
 
I will be in Melbourne with visiting my family on Thanksgiving day. Had they kept the game on Friday, I would be going. I will be camping over the weekend. :p
 
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I have a Coleman that has straight walls. I can stand up all around. It cost around $200-$250. That's the one I suggest to first timers.

Go to an outfitter and see if they have something you can rent for the weekend. My old outfitter in NC used to let people borrow tents for a $50 fee. Even if you were doing 3-4 days.
 
UCFWayne said:
I will be in Melbourne with visiting my family on Thanksgiving day. Had they kept the game on Friday, I would be going. I will be camping over the weekend. :p
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Shitty fan. This is why we can't have alternate jerseys.
 
I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. I looked at all the ones you guys suggested. The tent will be mostly for my family of 4 plus 2 dogs. I decided to go with an 8 person tent for the added room. Might have in laws join us every now and then. I do have a spare 4 person tent they could potentially use.

So I have narrowed it down to two choices:
Budget pick: Coleman Evanston 8 screened tent
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004E4ERIY...olid=1UIY3TWNYLVXE&coliid=IUK2FQ7XA75EY&psc=1

Top pick - REI Kingdom 8
http://www.rei.com/product/810168/rei-kingdom-8-tent

What do you guys think I should do? Should I go budget for right now, or spend the extra money?
 
UCFWayne said:
I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. I looked at all the ones you guys suggested. The tent will be mostly for my family of 4 plus 2 dogs. I decided to go with an 8 person tent for the added room. Might have in laws join us every now and then. I do have a spare 4 person tent they could potentially use.

So I have narrowed it down to two choices:
Budget pick: Coleman Evanston 8 screened tent
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004E4ERIY...olid=1UIY3TWNYLVXE&coliid=IUK2FQ7XA75EY&psc=1

Top pick - REI Kingdom 8
http://www.rei.com/product/810168/rei-kingdom-8-tent

What do you guys think I should do? Should I go budget for right now, or spend the extra money?
Click to expand...

Go for budget. I do quite a bit of primitive camping and have owned the same inexpensive nylon tent from Target for about 10 years and have had zero problems. Personally, I don't see the need for an expensive tent since you will be mostly using for sleeping.
 
UCFWayne said:
I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. I looked at all the ones you guys suggested. The tent will be mostly for my family of 4 plus 2 dogs. I decided to go with an 8 person tent for the added room. Might have in laws join us every now and then. I do have a spare 4 person tent they could potentially use.

So I have narrowed it down to two choices:
Budget pick: Coleman Evanston 8 screened tent
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004E4ERIY...olid=1UIY3TWNYLVXE&coliid=IUK2FQ7XA75EY&psc=1

Top pick - REI Kingdom 8
http://www.rei.com/product/810168/rei-kingdom-8-tent

What do you guys think I should do? Should I go budget for right now, or spend the extra money?
Click to expand...
I dislike coleman tents. I've never owned an REI tent. Personally, i think you're overspending on the coleman, i see 8 person coleman going for sub $75 pretty frequently. Like that tent you have there was sub $60 a couple weeks ago. LINK I just broke an aluminum pole on my coleman backpacking tent (2014 closeout) and I can't get an effing replacement. I used it 4-5 times...

The REI tent will be great if you use it enough, but with just starting out the coleman should do fine for a couple 4 trip seasons.

I think you can find a better deal than the REI in some of the other midrange brands that will last you for a long while until you WANT to upgrade it.
 
Buy a semi decent one. Don't buy the cheapest. If it happens to rain your first trip you'll never want to do it again because everything will be soaked in a cheapo tent and you'll be miserable.
 
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Bob the Knight said:
Buy a semi decent one. Don't buy the cheapest. If it happens to rain your first trip you'll never want to do it again because everything will be soaked in a cheapo tent and you'll be miserable.
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Who in the hell goes camping when they know it's going to rain? If there is a 30% chance of rain, that's as good as 100% and the trip gets cancelled. Any rain is miserable while camping whether you have a leaky tent or not.
 
I ended up getting the Coleman and it will be here tomorrow. I did see other similar tents for cheaper, but this one looked to be better constructed and had higher reviews. Like you mentioned, I just need this to last a few seasons of camping. By then, we will know if we want to invest more or not. There will likely be other options available.
 
I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've gone camping and it hasn't rained. I'd never go if I was trying to avoid rain.
 
UCFWayne said:
I ended up getting the Coleman and it will be here tomorrow. I did see other similar tents for cheaper, but this one looked to be better constructed and had higher reviews. Like you mentioned, I just need this to last a few seasons of camping. By then, we will know if we want to invest more or not. There will likely be other options available.
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I've been taking my kids camping for almost 17+ years and I'm only on my second tent (one was a Coleman from Wal-Mart and one was from Target - I think Ozark?). My daughter has graduated from UCF and my son is in his second year at Valencia and they still make it a point to go camping with me, my brother, and my dad. It's one of the best family traditions ever. The one thing I've learned from the several trips per year is that simpler is better since it cuts down on the set-up / teardown time, cleaning time, storage requirements,... I get the smallest test I can fit the required number of air mattresses in (one twin and a single).
 
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Bob the Knight said:
Your adult children sleep in a tent with you? Do you make Jacoby sleep outside?
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Yes. We're a family, so what's wrong with that? Should they have their own tents? If we were in an RV, should they have their own RV too?

I invited Jacoby but he didn't like my camo hat.
 
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If you know it's gonna rain, prepare. Go get a tarp and string it from trees over you tent to keep the massive rain off the tent. Just be smart and do it at an angle before it collects water.

I'm with Bob, if I waited for no rain I'd never get out. Bring lots of beer and all will be fine.
 
cnsaguy said:
If you know it's gonna rain, prepare. Go get a tarp and string it from trees over you tent to keep the massive rain off the tent. Just be smart and do it at an angle before it collects water.

I'm with Bob, if I waited for no rain I'd never get out. Bring lots of beer and all will be fine.
Click to expand...

What we've done in the past is bring the tailgate tents and use those instead of a tarp. It works great. The only problem with lots of beer is the number of times you have to get up to pee...brrrr.
 
I have a toddler and an infant so if there is a big chance of rain I likely wont go. Now when they get bigger that will change, but its not worth the hassle while they are this little.
 
So I went camping at Moss Park over the weekend. We only went on Saturday night as it was booked and we weren't sure how the my kids would react to it.

Moss Park is really nice. Super easy to get to and a Publix right down the road if you forget anything. The park itself is super clean. Seemed like a good amount of things to do around the park with trails, playgrounds, volleyball courts, etc. The only down side for me, could be a plus for others, is that it was not pet friendly.

The Coleman tent worked out great. It was easy to set up and the front porch area did what I hoped it would do, keep my gear away from critters and dirt out of the main area. Overall, the short camping trip was a big success.

We will certainly be doing it again. Now I just need to find the next location.
 
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