Camping Families - Rec Your Inexpensive Family Tent

[summerrluvv]

We previously had a couple of them from Target that looked great, but leaked. Looking for something with a room divider and large! TIA

 

[KristinU]

We had a Coleman 3 room dome tent that we liked a lot - kind of an L shape - I know they still have it on the Coleman site. Did your Target ones leak off the bat? Or was it after a bit of use? We have always seam sealed our tents (backpacking and family tents) ever couple of years and re-treated the rain flys about the same time. Maintenance may go a long way in the leak department.

The only reason we got rid of our Coleman is the cute little camper you see in my avatar Sold the Coleman to some friends who lead a Girl Scout troop.

Happy Camping! And, you may want to post the same question on the Camping forum - lots of tent campers there.

 

[pperfectmom]

We bought the Columbia Cougar Flats one last year and love it. It was a lot more pricey than a Walmart one but should last a long time. It is very roomy-we had a blow up queen mattress in one room and two twins in the other and still had tons of room. I think if it's something you will use a lot in different weather conditions that you should most definitely upgrade.

 

[summerrluvv]

I forgot there was a camping forum on here! Thanks!!

The Target ones leaked off the bat...we only used them a couple of times for Cub Scout camping. I didn't do any seam sealer, I was a novice with basically no clue! I'll check out the other forum, thanks!

 

[Melynny]

We just returned from our local Walmart Supercenter and they had some big tents on Clearance. I think they were 140.00 tents, one large room, with an attached screen room and a small awning for 65.00. They also had screen room tents for around 29.00 on clearance. I did not see the original price on those. Good luck they might be on sale at yours too!

 

[d1sneyf4n]

I am not sure if I can say this but if you watch steepandcheap.com they have a lot of tents at really good prices.

 

[chartle]

I can't give you an exact model but this is what I look for.

Two things I look for is a "bathtub floor" and as much of a full coverage fly as you can get.

A bathtub floor is one where the floor wraps up the side of the tent and meets the walls about a foot or so up the sides.

A full coverage fly covers as many seams as possible, particularly seams around windows. Just imagine looking at the tent from above. Are there seams where rain can either hit directly or worse where rain will collect for a bit before it drains off the tent. Most tents have mesh on the top of the tent and a fully waterproof fly covering it.

On this tent, the rain will hit all those seams around the windows and worse the seam between the walls and the floor meet can tend to curl up which just diverts the water into the tent.

On this tent the fly covers the whole tent and even the seam between the bathtub floor and the walls.

The worse tent we had was a cabin style tent with no fly like this.

The rain would hit the roof and then collect at the corners also all the windows get directly rained on.

 

[nelep]

We bought a great tent last year at Bass Pro Shop. I looked on their site, but I couldn't find it.

It is HUGE. It has a main area that you can stand up in and then 2 "rooms" w/dividers that branch off of the main area. Each holds a Q air mattress. We used one for the Q for my DD6 and DD4 and put the pack n play in the other. DH and I slept in the main area.

Then there is a screened in porch on the front part which serves as a staging area to take off shoes, etc. If you get one with an attached porch, make sure the porch area has a floor (many don't). Cuts down on the mess.

I wish I could find it on the site for you. It is a Bass Pro Shop brand and we are very pleased with the quality.

Happy camping!

 

[8esther8]

We got our gi-normous tent at Sam's Club a couple of years ago. They have two different models every year. We got the big one. It has 2 dividers, three rooms--we call it the Taj Mahal. It's so big it doesn't fit on the tent pad on some campsites, but it can be set up where you don't stake one end, and only use 2/3 of it. Check 'em out!

 

[S. C.]

Double post!

 

[S. C.]

Happen to us years ago with a new tent. Then we read the instructions that said to wet it down and let it dry completely before first use. It never leaked again and we had it for years.

 

[familyS]

Don't get rid of those old tents. Just reapply waterproofing AND buy another, large, rainfly to cover it

 

[laurafergie]

Don't get rid of those old tents. Just reapply waterproofing AND buy another, large, rainfly to cover it

Yes! We also take an extra large tarp that will more than cover the tent. So if the forecast is heavy rain, we cover with the tarp. Works great! An added bonus is the extra insulation if it gets chilly.

 

[summerrluvv]

Thanks for the replies! You have all been very helpful!!

 

[CarolA]

I forgot there was a camping forum on here! Thanks!!

The Target ones leaked off the bat...we only used them a couple of times for Cub Scout camping. I didn't do any seam sealer, I was a novice with basically no clue! I'll check out the other forum, thanks!

OK if you were a novice... did you or the cubscouts touch the tent walls during the rain. If so, game off! Seriously a lot of tents will leak then! That's why some of them have the "fly" to keep that from happening.

(It's not all tents that do this, but enough to be careful. I did that 3 Day Breast Cancer a few years ago. Night one it started raining and I woke up, looked at my friend and said "DO NOT TOUCH THE TENT, IT WILL LEAK" passed back out. Next day we were nice and dry.... all around us folks were wringing out their sleeping bags and when we asked, yep they touched to "see how wet it was" )

 

[summerrluvv]

OK if you were a novice... did you or the cubscouts touch the tent walls during the rain. If so, game off! Seriously a lot of tents will leak then! That's why some of them have the "fly" to keep that from happening.

(It's not all tents that do this, but enough to be careful. I did that 3 Day Breast Cancer a few years ago. Night one it started raining and I woke up, looked at my friend and said "DO NOT TOUCH THE TENT, IT WILL LEAK" passed back out. Next day we were nice and dry.... all around us folks were wringing out their sleeping bags and when we asked, yep they touched to "see how wet it was" )

Ahh that explains it! Everyone was touching the tent

 

[CarolA]

Ahh that explains it! Everyone was touching the tent

I bet that was one of your problems! You have to train the kids not to touch!

I think it's more common on "less costly" tents, but not a reason to throw them away!

 

[Corjack]

The worse tent we had was a cabin style tent with no fly like this.

The rain would hit the roof and then collect at the corners also all the windows get directly rained on.

We have had a tent like this for 12 years and used it every year (except 1) at least 3 times a summer. We have been in some MONSOON type rain before and had minimal leakage. We spray it every other year with waterproof spray. We boguth it from Sams Club for about $80 12 years ago!

We will infortuneately probably have to get a new one after this year. A few seams are starting coming apart. I think a lot of how a tent works depends on how you take care of it. My SIL and BIL have been through a few dome tents and we are still using our old one. Dh does not like tents that he cannot stand up int eh middle of. Our tent is 12x16 and can fir 2 queensize double high a single and a pack and play(although it is tight when that full). Normally we have a double high queen, single and pack and play.(plus all our stuff).

jackie

 

[Tink415]

I can't give you an exact model but this is what I look for.

Two things I look for is a "bathtub floor" and as much of a full coverage fly as you can get.

A bathtub floor is one where the floor wraps up the side of the tent and meets the walls about a foot or so up the sides.

A full coverage fly covers as many seams as possible, particularly seams around windows. Just imagine looking at the tent from above. Are there seams where rain can either hit directly or worse where rain will collect for a bit before it drains off the tent. Most tents have mesh on the top of the tent and a fully waterproof fly covering it.

On this tent, the rain will hit all those seams around the windows and worse the seam between the walls and the floor meet can tend to curl up which just diverts the water into the tent.

On this tent the fly covers the whole tent and even the seam between the bathtub floor and the walls.

The worse tent we had was a cabin style tent with no fly like this.

The rain would hit the roof and then collect at the corners also all the windows get directly rained on.

30+ years camping experience, the middle tent above is the only type I've never had leak. Only downside is they are usually small. Oh, and never touch the tent

 

[englishteacha]

We have a Coleman dome tent (8X8' or 9x9' footprint). We've been through 2 torrential rainstorms and stayed very dry. It has a giant fly that comes way down on the sides which really helps. I have a cheap Walmart dome tent that was given to us as a hand-me-down. I set it up for the first time last summer. It has a tiny fly. It rained and the wind blew the water UP under the fly and into the screened top of the tent. It also came in all the sides. So I bought a can of waterproofer (bright orange top in Walmart sporting dept.) and sprayed it thoroughly and the fly, too. Next storm, less wind, the tent was completely dry inside. If we ever have to use it, I'll tie a tarp over the top to keep water from going up under the fly, but I'm comfortable with it now. I'd sleep in it.

I'd try seam sealing your exisiting tents and/or spraying them with waterproofer. Another great tip I learned from a friend is to put a tarp inside on the tent floor (or a piece of rugged plastic). It should be a few inches bigger than the inside of the tent so it will bend up against the walls. Then if water seeps up through bottom of the tent, it won't get you or your stuff wet.