Family Tent Recommendations

Hi-

We love camping too! We started with our first son was 6 months have camped frequently (3-4 times a year) since then. We bought an 8 person tent for our family of four (as the other reviewer noted, the person count is about as accurate as the MPG advertisements on new cars).

The most important thing for us was ease of putting up the humongous tent. With one parent corralling the young-uns, that leaves one parent to put up tent. And, parent has to do the tent quick, b/c kids are all ansty having been cooped up for hours on the drive up. You're lucky b/c you might be able to get 14yo to help.

So, I'm coming to the reason I splurged and bought the Northface Trailhead 8 ($400 REI). Husband can put it up by himself in about 15min, and the thing is quality. Some of our friend's cheapo tents last one outing, then the zippers break, poles snap, and are generally worth what you pay for.

Best of luck in your decision!

We have the REI Base 6 and loooove it. http://www.rei.com/product/777755

It's pretty basic as far as tents go. I'm not a fan of 2 room tents (but I also don't have a teen).

What I really love about it are:

- Waterproofness (we live in a very wet area, not waking up to laying in a puddle from a crappy tent is soooo worth it)

- Windproofness (the 8 pole thing is huge, most "standard" or economy tents only have 4-6)

- Sturdiness (again, good poles, good design, good materials)

- Price (it's a couple hundred less than comparable Kelty & Sierra tents... but IME just as good as they are... but we don't use it on a weekly basis... maybe it would matter if we did).

We got it 20% off by being a member, and got an addition 20% off because of a sale. We've had a couple "cheap" tents in the past, and they're just not worth it. Poles breaking, zippers ripping out, not waterproof, bad ventilation (so you're all soggy from condensation in the morning)... they would only last one season. Which makes "cheap" tents waaay more expensive that good tents if you're going to camp more than just this year.

REI has a really good tent "finder" online (aka what you're going to use it for, how many people, etc.), and a really good system of reviews. The ones that say "this tent is awful!" get left up there right along with glowing reviews.

The other "trick" I use when buying tents is to always go for 2 more "people" than there actually are... and that means you have room to store your stuff inside the tent. So for 3 people, that ='s a 6man tent (5 man tents are rare). Since you have 5 I'd go for 6 MINIMUM, but would prefer 8+, because 6 will feel crowded. I also like tents with "porches" so that shoes, suits, towels, and other things I don't want inside with me can be protected from the elements & casual sight from passersby

I just got back from camping in Stanislaus National Forest/Tuolumne River in California ( Very Beautiful camp site.. no RV's) and we do a family camping trip every year in the summer. We have a Coleman tent that was able to fit 2 queen air mattress and it has a divider which we never use and 4 zip up or down screens. Very spacious.

Ok, we try to go camping at least once a year and we have kind of big tent (hubby calls it the taj mahal) but what's cool about it is that it has a smaller tent connected by a zipper attached on one side...the lil kids love it because they are close to us an it is there own special place w/ a tunnel and everything!...and my hubby and I like it because we get our own privacy and a lot more room for us and all the luggage:) I highly recommend this type of setup...and maybe even a small, separate tent for the teenager?

Happy Camping!

i like the bigger the better! :) Kmart.com has a few on sale right now that I am looking at by Northwest terrotories. Also, you can't go by the number of people it says the tent sleeps... I have a 10x10 tent that says it can sleep like 6 people, but with air mattresses, it's more like 1 big air mattress, two small childrens sleeping bag air mattresses, and a little extra room for our stuff! So I am looking for bigger floor plans than that!

My mother in law just got one from Kmart/sears called the family vacation tent, and it was huge! 16x14... it looks like it could fit 4 double air mattresses, plus it has a little "storage locker"
it's the first one on this page, but it seems to be out of stock online! that was fast! it was there last week... http://www.bizrate.com/camping-hiking-gear/northwest-terr...

I'm looking ot get this one for myself... it's a 2 feet smaller than the vacation tent, and about $40 cheaper. the reviews aren't stellar, but people are really weird about reviewing tents. haha!
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00622282000P?prd...

We had one that was three rooms under one large tent. It was great. guys dad and son in one room, with their stuff, grandpa got his own room with his stuff, and uncle got his own space.

We are big time campers. Saves us tons of money that we can put towards tourist activities. We have the Coleman Rockwall family tent. I dont think they sell the exact model anymore but you can probably find similar one. We have been in a few MAJOR rain/wind storms and no leaks or tears. My other favorite feature is that we can walk upright inside the entire tent which makes it feel huge. It does have dividers to make "rooms" but they seem to get in the way more than provide privacy. So we dont even put them up. We have 3 boys, 13, 10 and 3. My oldest is my step-son so I am even more attentive to his privacy needs. I just leave the tent when he changes.
We have 2 queen air mattresses and one twin air mattress and still tons of room to store clothing, etc. We feel the mattresses are important as we have camped for a week at a time and are still comfortable. We also get an electric site to plug in camera/camcorder chargers, etc. We have even brought along rope or Christmas lites to plug in and decorate our campground. I know it sounds like we spoil ourselves but like I said we camp for a week (9 days one time) and being comfortable/warm and dry are pretty important.
We always like to stay at places with showers. One of our favorite places is Custer State Park in South Dakota. Thirty minutes from Mount Rushmore. Flush toilets/showers,super clean restrooms. Tons of privacy. We have found that we do not like KOA campgrounds (at least the ones we have been to). They seem to cater more to RV's and the tent sites frankly suck! I am sure there are some good ones-just my opinion.
Good luck and enjoy!