Tents and backyard camping?

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  • lovemachine

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    Dec 14, 2009
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    I'd like to buy a tent. Nothing fancy, but something decent. Something that will last for awhile. I'd like to do some backyard camping with my 2 year old son. And then later get my 10 month old son to join in. I don't plan on going anywhere yet.

    The only camping experience I have is when I was in the boy scouts years ago. And it was just a 1-nighter. So my knowledge is pretty thin.

    Is there any specific brand I want, or want to stay away from? What features do I need to look for? I have seen some in the $100-$200 range. And that was on Amazon, REI and Dicks. (I'm ONLY looking at Dicks because I have gift cards). So I’m not sure what price to spend.

    Since this will be weather depending, I don't think I'll need to get any sleeping bags. I figure I can just lay some blankets down or something. Plus in the beginning, I'm betting my son will sleep in a pack n play anyway.

    Any advice?

    EDIT: Eventually, it'll be me, my 2 boys, and my wife in it. So I'd want something large enough to hold 4 people.
     

    Vigilant

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    Whatever you get make sure it has a footprint that comes with it, that way you don’t have to buy one later. I’m partial to Snugpak tents. They are easy up, relatively lightweight, and relatively inexpensive. I currently have the Scorpion 3 I got for just over $200. Perfect for 1 okay for 2 plus gear.
     

    1mil-high

    Sharpshooter
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    Oct 30, 2013
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    Indianapolis
    +1 on Jeepster's comment about capacity. No one in my family is large, and a 6 person tent will fit 4 snugly. I bought a Columbia brand tent last year that I found on clearance. I have only used it once so far, but it was rainy and windy that weekend, and it kept us dry.
     

    CampingJosh

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    I have a number of tents. (My username might tell you that this is my wheelhouse.)

    I have an REI Halfdome tent that I use when my wife and I go hiking. It was probably something around $200 when I got it, and it's very good: rather lightweight, sturdy, dry, and with good ventilation. Lightweight matters to me, as I've carried that thing 50+ miles a few times. When this one dies someday, I might be ready to spend the $$$$ on something nicer, but it really probably isn't necessary.
    I have a Gander Mountain-branded tent that is theoretically for 10 people. That would be pretty snug, but it has had that many in it at times. It's now 10 years old and has been used for something like 20 weeks total, and it has held up. It was probably $300 at the time of purchase. I would buy it again.
    I have a ~15 old Coleman dome tent that is fine. It was like $60 back then, and it has held up well. This is probably my recommendation for a backyard camper.
    I have had a number of Ozark Trail (Walmart) tents over the years, and they are almost disposable. They seriously don't usually last more than two weeks in use. The zippers are garbage, and the materials just aren't high quality. But they are really cheap.

    If you plan to go camping within 100 yards of your car, then you don't need to worry much about the weight of the tent. If the tent doesn't have a footprint, a tarp works fine for that role.

    Features that I look for:
    • Ventilation
    • Quality materials, especially zippers

    On tents, the price really does tell you something about the quality, at least until you get over $300.
     

    indyblue

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    Last edited:

    Cameramonkey

    www.thechosen.tv
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    Speaking from experience, dont skimp. Unless you like to be wet and miserable. A cheap tent that leaks will ruin your night. Guaranteed.

    I'm partial to Eureka myself. Have a 2 man backpacking tent I've used for 20 years. Buy once, cry once.
     

    eldirector

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    Apr 29, 2009
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    I don't know a bunch about the current tent offerings, but... Get something bigger than what you think you need. My wife and I have a 6-person dome from Eureka that fits a queen-sized air mattress. Now THAT is camping. It is pretty old now (25+ years), and is still fine. We used to take it out 2x per month all summer "back in the day". Either get the ground cloth (AKA: footprint) for the tent, or cut a tarp to fit. Make sure it has a good rain fly. Something this size isn't light (with the the tarp, too), but it all fits in a 30 gallon tote for storage and transportation. We used to camp with the "tent tote" (tent, tarp, stakes, sheets/blankets/pillows, and some random stuff), another for all the random cookware and gear, and a cooler.

    Need to do the backyard think with our kiddo. We actually set up the tent one winter in our living room, and camped all weekend. That was fun. No mosquitoes, either.
     

    Gaffer

    Shhhh.......
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    I own several tents, and have some light, small expensive ones for backpacking, but when I "car" camp I use my Eureka Tetragon. I own the 9x9 5 person. I can almost stand totally up in the center. I use it with my three grandkids when we go camping together, or when I just want more room than my smaller tents.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B8EM8LU/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

    I camp year round and have been rained on for three days in a row, and have never had drop leak in. This tent seems to be a great bargain.

    Here is shot of me a while back and it should give you an idea of the size. I am just a tad over 6 ft.. (used be a lot more tad over 6 ft :>).. 9x9 sounds so big, until you use it!

    tent.jpg


    Like campingjosh mentioned above, just a cheap tarp for a footprint works fine. Helps protect the floor a bit, and keeps the bottom of the tent much cleaner. One thing with cutting the footprint out, always make the footprint a bit smaller then the size of the tent. I have seen folks just put a large tarp down and place the tent on top of it. If it rains the tarp hanging outside of the tent catches all the water and it runs under the tent.

    I highly recommend camping. Spring and fall when the weather is cool is just the best. No bugs, nice days, and cool nights. I started camping with my grandkids when they were 3 and they never turn down my invites. They have learned so much being outdoors, hiking, building fires.. etc.

    sorry, didn't mean to ramble so much..

    Ron
     

    BigBoxaJunk

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    If you're anything like me, and you plan to be just getting started with camping with your boys, whichever tent you get, it will be the first of many. My advice is to look at what they have at Dicks and then go to Youtube and look for review videos for the tents, even if for the brand of tent if you can't find a review for the specific model. If you end up doing a lot of camping, you will almost surely graduate to other tents (kinda like guns) as you get into it, and for different kinds of camping.

    We started when our kids were small too, in a 3-man dome tent from Sears. Then we got a big family-sized cabin tent in 1996 that's now me and my son's deer hunting tent. Now it's backpacking, and we each have our own ulta-light tents for that.

    My kids loved camping when they were little, and they both still camp as adults, with their spouses. It used to be me taking them on trips, now it's them taking their old man out. There's nothing I'd rather be doing than hitting the trail with either my son or my daughter. My son and I are planning our first trip in a few weeks and I'm already excited. My daughter and I are hitting the Appalachian Trail later in the summer.
     

    Hoosierkav

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    Reading reviews helps, but look for comments about rain and wind--like most people have said, better to pay a little more than to have a soggy experience.

    I'm looking to downsize my 8 person older Coleman now that the kids are older and less of us are squeezing into the trips.
     

    MCgrease08

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    Mar 14, 2013
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    All this helps :)

    I’ve been on REI’s site this evening, looking at all the different tents. Lots to choose from.

    Just a heads-up, the REI "garage sale" is this Saturday at the Castleton store from 8-10 am. It's for co-op members only, but it's basically a swap meet type of deal where people bring in used gear to sell and REI unloads stuff that's been returned or previously used for big discounts.

    A lifetime membership is $20 and you can sign up on their website.
     

    thunderchicken

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    Feb 26, 2010
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    I used to do a bunch of camping and did tons of it when I was in scouts (as a youth and leader). I would echo what others have said, you get what you pay for. Stay away from the walmart tents that just won't last. Every fall we go on a camping/fishing trip with a group of guys from church and every year the same guy trashes a brand new walmart tent.
    My brother has on old Coleman 2 room cabin style tent that has done very well for over 20yrs. And we have used it in some serious storms. I prefer to not use a dome tent. From my experience they seem to flex too much in a storm or on a windy day. I like a cabin type tent with aluminum poles (so long as you don't plan to backpack and camp on the trail).
    My tent was given to me by one of my old scoutmasters, its an old sears canvas cabin style tent and it still keeps me dry on wet days and stands sturdy in the wind.
    I have an uncle that owns a cemetery so he has some of those heavy duty party type tents. I asked him once how he keep them waterproofed and believe it or not he uses Thompson waterseal. I tried it on my old canvas tent and my brothers nylon tent and it has worked really well.
    We have also had good success with Eurika tents
     

    DoggyDaddy

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    Speaking from experience, dont skimp. Unless you like to be wet and miserable. A cheap tent that leaks will ruin your night. Guaranteed.

    I'm partial to Eureka myself. Have a 2 man backpacking tent I've used for 20 years. Buy once, cry once.

    I second Eureka. We use a 12x14 (their Copper Canyon 12 man) for just DoggyMama and I. But we are "boat campers", (kinda like car camping but we boat to our site) and it is heavy. But if the weather turns bad, you don't want to be cooped up in a little crowded tent. We have room to set up our camp table inside if we need to, plus our queen sized air mattress on a stand, our packs, food boxes, a couple of folding chairs (if it's raining), etc.. Overkill for backyard camping, but if you eventually plan on going somewhere, it's nice.

    This is one of their smaller ones, but otherwise it's identical to ours. It's a combination of dome and cabin. Has the fiberglass poles for the top, but aluminum or steel for the sides. The one thing we did do was to upgrade the door zippers after one broke. I don't know why they put these scrawny little plastic zippers on the higher end tents, but they do. Went to Smitty's Marine on Mass Ave and had them put in heavy duty zippers.

    shopping
     
    Last edited:

    Mark-DuCo

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    So. Dome VS Cabin tents. Why would you choose one over the other?

    Dome tents are more for just crawling in and sleeping, while cabins have more vertical walls that allow you to walk around and stand up more.

    I have several dome tents for back packing and trips where I wont have much with me. I also have a large cabin tent (Coleman Canyon Breeze) that I take out on long weekend camping trips with family and friends where we stay in the site most of the weekend. Mine is divided into 3 rooms, one on the left for my son and I to sleep, the middle area has a rug so we can sit inside if it would rain and is where i keep my coolers, and a room on the right where i keep any other gear I don't want to get wet or walk off.
     

    Vigilant

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    All this helps :)

    I’ve been on REI’s site this evening, looking at all the different tents. Lots to choose from.
    Just a heads up, if you’re an REI member, this Saturday from 0800-1000 is their garage sale, you make pick up a lightly used very high quality tent for pennies?
     

    Vigilant

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    Just a heads-up, the REI "garage sale" is this Saturday at the Castleton store from 8-10 am. It's for co-op members only, but it's basically a swap meet type of deal where people bring in used gear to sell and REI unloads stuff that's been returned or previously used for big discounts.

    A lifetime membership is $20 and you can sign up on their website.
    Haha, didn’t see this before I posted.
     
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