Have you always wondered what other camping enthusiasts claim are the best family tents available today? For this article, we chose not to feature just one tent that may be considered the absolute best of them all. We instead chose to focus on three key aspects that compel people to deem a specific tent as the best option. As such, we featured three different family tents, each of which gets high marks for one of those three aspects. Besides, it’s not likely that you’ll come across a single tent that gets the highest possible marks in all three categories. Family tents—and even other kinds of tents, for that matter—are designed and manufactured differently to accommodate people’s various preferences.
Fortunately, you can still find out what customers have been saying about the three family tents featured here and then decide for yourself which one comes the closest to what you truly need if you happen to be in the market for such a tent. You need not worry as these family tent reviews don’t talk about three different tents that were chosen at random. These tents were selected after careful deliberation that included several other options.
The Best Price – Coleman 8-Person Red Canyon Tent
Before we move on to discussing the featured tent with the best price, it is imperative to stress that a family tent that is labeled as having the best price doesn’t necessarily mean it’s also the cheapest one available. As is often the case, budget-priced alternatives made by little-known manufacturers easily break apart since they are not really capable of withstanding the rigors of outdoor use. Instead, best priced in this case means having a lower price than those of the majority of competitors while possessing the minimum capacity, durability, and portability (which includes ease of storage) expected of a family tent.
For the best priced family tent, we decided on the Coleman 8-Person Red Canyon Tent, which is currently sold through Amazon.com for $134.68.
With a 17 x 10-foot floor area and a 6-foot center height, the Red Canyon Tent provides adequate space and headroom, making for a comfortable camping experience for 8-person groups and especially for smaller groups. There is even a built-in Variflo adjustable venting system and a cool air port that can help you control interior air flow, in effect allowing you to control the temperature as well. That means the inside of the tent can be nice and warm even with the low nighttime temperatures in the outdoors. There are even dividers that you can use to easily convert the tent into a 3-room dwelling if you so wish.
This tent weighs only 21.5 pounds, and it together with the poles and stakes can be easily folded and packed. This means you can bring all of it with you without adding considerably to the bulk that is already in your backpacks.
The Red Canyon Tent also has Coleman’s patented Weathertec System in the form of coated polyester fabric, leak-free seams, waterproof floors, and a wind-resistant frame. This is to ensure the tent stays upright and you and your companions are as safe and as dry as possible should you encounter unexpected inclement weather during your camping trip. However, it is not advisable to take this tent and go camping during the wet season as it offers very limited protection in case of moderate to heavy rainfall.
To sum it up, the Coleman 8-Person Red Canyon Tent is proof that a tent that is spacious, highly portable, and designed to provide the safest possible camping experience can also be affordable.
The Most Popular – CORE 9 Person Cabin Tent 14’ x 9’
For the most popular family tent, we searched for the ones with the highest customer ratings and the ones with the most customer reviews posted on Amazon.com. This is because we believe both of these factors are key indicators of a product’s popularity. The family tent that rates high in both departments is the CORE 9 Person Cabin Tent 14’ x 9’.
This is a rather big tent that can accommodate 9 people as its name implies, thanks to its 14 x 9-foot floor space and 78-inch center height. The space is also big enough to fit two queen-size air mattresses for greater comfort for the occupants when out in the wilderness. It even comes with wall storage pockets so that some of your camping essentials can be properly stowed out of the way instead of kept on the tent floor where they are at risk of getting damaged.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this tent is that it can be set up in just 60 seconds, though putting the rainfly in place will add to the time it takes to put everything together. The additional time is of little concern, though, as the minimum setup time means campers can quickly get settled in as soon as they find the ideal spot.
There is only one noticeable drawback of the CORE 9-Person Instant Cabin Tent. If the tent is used in an area notorious for humidity, the multiple windows and mesh roof, which otherwise help facilitate air flow during days of cooler temperature, could make the inside of the tent hot and stuffy.
Regardless, it’s spacious and very easy to set up while having negligible flaws. It’s no wonder the CORE 9-Person Instant Cabin Tent is such a highly sought-after family tent.
The Tent for the Pros – Big Agnes Flying Diamond 6
In selecting the best family tent for this category, we looked more closely at choices that have been hailed for durability as these imply the ability to remain fully functional even after years of heavy, repeated use. Our search brought us to Big Agnes, a brand known for durability, and their Flying Diamond 6-person 4-season tent.
The Flying Diamond 6 boasts of a strong fabric body and pole structure, giving it reasonable weather protection. Standing room is limited to only 5 feet and 6 inches, but that is an acceptable tradeoff as tents with lower profiles have less risk of being swept away by strong winds. The tent has two rooms of different sizes, the smaller one being ideal if you bring your kids along with you whenever you go camping.
The biggest downsides to this tent are the $700 price and the setup time of 15 minutes as reported by a number of users. However, those are to be expected of a family tent that was built with durability in mind. You end up paying a lot more than you would for most other family tents, but if you get to use the same tent again and again for many years, then cost should become less of an issue for you.
Parting Advice
Whatever qualities you look for in a tent, you cannot deny that price, popularity, and durability are all important factors that could influence one’s decision. Moreover, what we regard as the best tents are likely to be viewed by other people any number of ways depending on their experiences and preferences, so don’t treat this guide as an absolute authority on the traits that a family tent must have. At the very least, this should encourage you to do some research and come up with your own top three based on other key factors that you feel are just as important
Wildzilla 