Camping Families - Rec Your Inexpensive Family Tent

[stczt]

it has been my experience you get what you pay for, when you buy cheep you pay. We learned this the hard way. We buy Eureka tents and if you do some looking you can find them cheaper. We personally have the Eureka Titan its regularly $800.00 but I found it for $350.00. We are in charge of a youth group and we bought Eureka Sunrise, we camped this weekend and since it was dh and I we slept in the smaller ones and stayed dry we were impressed with the amount of rain we had. We also use McNett seam sealers and their tape is awesome it will patch any hole.

 

[CajunDixie]

We have one I got on clearance at Sears, not sure on the brand but I think it says Hilary on it. We stayed dry during a horrible storm at scout camp as we kept ourselves and our stuff in the center of the tent and didn't touch the walls at all. We also had a tarp under it when we set it up.

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

We have a SwissGear St. Bernard style tent and LOVE it! It is huge. It has 3 rooms and a little porch. We fit a queen air mattress in each side room and 2 twins in the middle section. We got it at Walmart last year and paid $168. I thought it was great for the price.

 

[SandrA9810]

We have a greatland tent we've been using for several years now. Clearance at Target.

We've gotten a little damp around the edges, but the screen goes all the way down to about a foot above the base. An extra tarp can go a long way too. We've used tarps for directing airflow of our a.c. into the window of the tent. And it helps keep it a bit darker and cooler in the morning hours. Without the tarps, so much air seems to go right out without doing much cooling, and you can get a two pack at home depot for like 15-20$.

Every one has thier personal opinion. But definatly buy a can of sealant for a couple bucks to keep up the rain protection. I'm gonna have to get a night at the fort just so I can seal it. Living in an apartment doesn't provide much room for me to set it up for a day to spray it and let it set.

 

[eh24fan]

We've used tarps for directing airflow of our a.c. into the window of the tent. And it helps keep it a bit darker and cooler in the morning hours. Without the tarps, so much air seems to go right out without doing much cooling, and you can get a two pack at home depot for like 15-20$.

Are you kidding me?? A/C in a tent????

 

[chartle]

Are you kidding me?? A/C in a tent????

http://acboot.com/

 

[Chim Chiminy]

There have been times I wish we had AC!
We stayed in our tent when we first moved to KY, before we were able to get into our house, for two weeks during a heat wave! Awful......

We always seal our seams, spray the tent with repellant. And never touch the tent when it rains. We always keep our stuff away from the walls of the tent.
Always lay a tarp down on the ground first to protect the bottom of the tent also, just in case there are rocks or something on the ground that go unnoticed.

 

[eh24fan]

http://acboot.com/

Now that is amazing. I honestly had NO idea you could do that!! Now that might convince me to tent camp in the summer.

 

[Corjack]

http://acboot.com/

OMG that ROCKS!!!!!!!

 

[Mrs.Reese]

http://acboot.com/

That's it you've convinced me. I will now camp in Florida in July if I have that.

 

[NotUrsula]

I grew up camping with Army surplus tents from WW2, enormously heavy canvas things that stood very tall in the center. No fly on them at all.

Not touching the walls was absolutely key. Canvas will repel water as long as there is air trapped between the fibers, but press the air out, and you will cause water to start being absorbed by the walls. The whole thing would get waterlogged and collapse, and believe me, a waterlogged canvas Army tent is NOT a lightweight thing; a child could suffocate under it before you could lift it off to allow them to get out.

If you have doubters about the whole touching the walls thing, get yourself a collapsible canvas water bucket, or even one of those canvas bags from Land's End, and demonstrate. They will hold water nicely if you don't touch the surface along the bottom or sides, but break that air layer and you'll have a dripping sieve.

 

[rbork]

Ac in a tent, Check out the camping board!
I had never heard of a/c in a tent before reading the camping board. Those people have to do something to cool down while camping in that August heat and humidity. All kind's of set ups over there at FW.

We have the Coleman Montana Dome 7x 14. The picture in the previous post looks similiar. Key to setting that rainfly is pulling it out past the window openings. I just ordered new poles for it (8 years old) I love it and don't want to have to buy another because DH has finally learned how to set it up byhimself . Don't even make me do that again


ps. don't touch the walls.

 

[armomof3lvsdisney]

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.

I second on the Columbia Cougar Flats I did alot of research on tents last year and we got the Cougar Flats and LOVE IT!! I think I paid around $250 for it, definately worth the money. We went camping in the Smokies last summer and it was perfect.

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

we have a Eureka dome that you can stand up in easily and I am 5'8. Key is seam sealing it and do not touch the walls as others have said. I have never had ours leak. We have our tent 12 yrs and then 9 yrs ago graduated to a popup camper, but we still take along the tent, the older kids love it. It is their own space.

http://www.eurekatent.com/p-87-equinox-6-tent.aspx this is the newer version of the tent we have.


dont know what size you are looking for but Eureka has an outlet found this one for a good deal

http://www.eurekacampingctr.com/eur...NDED+STAY&pf_id=PAAAIALPMOGHHDCN&dept_id=3018

also this one, but it is a bit more $ and smaller in height
http://www.eurekacampingctr.com/eur...NDED+STAY&pf_id=PAAAIALPMOGHHDCN&dept_id=3018