There is no, single best family tent. There are tents that are best for your family’s camping needs. Thus when searching for a family tent for camping, you need to take into account what suits your needs. Things like the size of your family, the type of camping you do, the weather you camp in, and your budget.
Size of your family
The size of your family is going to determine the best family camping tent for your needs. Although having too big a tent isn’t nearly the problem that having too small a tent is. Both can become a problem and ruin your camping trip. Too big of a tent becomes a hassle and you won’t want to carry it around. Too small and you’re sleeping on top of your family members.
Tent size is traditionally labeled as the number of people who can fit in them. The problem is those numbers don’t really work. Sure you can sleep 2 people in a 2-man tent. You won’t have room for your gear and you will be snuggling all night. The same goes for 4, 8, and 10 person tents. They don’t leave room for gear or personnel space while sleeping. A good rule of thumb is to buy a tent that almost doubles the number of people you plan on having. Such as a 4 person tent for 2 people and a 6-8 person tent for 4 people.
A recent trend is for tent manufacturers to give you actual dimensions of floor space and a picture of how they expect people to sleep. This gives you a great picture of how they expect people to sleep. I have no want to sleep with my head next to someone’s feet. But many of these tents would need it if you have the amount of people they suggest in them.
Type of Camping
Having a 10-person cabin tent for backpacking is a really bad idea. Whereas an ultralight backpacking tent for camping at the lake for a week is doable but not as comfortable.
When choosing the best family camping tent. You need to decide what kind of camping you do. Car camping, backwoods, backpacking or just hunting they all have different requirements for tents. Knowing the kind of camping you do goes a long way to finding the best family camping tent for your needs.
Weather Your Camping in
You must take the weather into consideration when looking for the best family camping tent. Tents come in summer only, 3 season and 4 season for cold weather. This means if you plan camping when the temperature drops a little, a summer tent isn’t going to work for you. Likewise, a thick-walled winter tent is going to very hot in the middle of the summer.
Do you camp in bad weather? If so consider how durable and waterproof your tent is. There is nothing worse than waking up in the middle of the night to water dripping on your head. Ask me how I know? Not to mention you don’t want a tent that will blow over in heavy winds. I’ve seen dome tents with flexible poles lay over on top of people in heavy wind gusts. Yet another thing you don’t want to wake up to.
Types of tents
There are three basic types of tents. Not including tepees and yurts as they fall under their own category.
Ridge or Tunnel
The ridge or tunnel type tents are usually smaller and have a door front and back door. These are your traditional triangle-shaped tents or half tube-shaped. They are normally easy to set up. Very stable in high winds.
The downfall is a lack of Headroom. This makes using things like cotes and air mattresses difficult. As they can put you very close to the tent sides. It also means you aren’t walking around inside your tent.
Dome, Geodesic, and semi-geodesic
All three of these tents use flexible poles to hold up the tent. They have an arched roofline giving you more headroom for the same amount of floor space.
The biggest difference is how many poles they use. The dome tent uses 2 poles crossed at the center. They are great for smaller tents. However, as the tent gets bigger they tend to move around in heavy winds. Whereas the geodesic domes use multiple poles creating triangles. This gives more rigidity to bigger tents. With more poles, there is more time to set up a tent.
Cabin/ Instant Up Tents
Cabin tents and instant up tents have almost straight up walls to them. This allows you to have a lot more headspace in the tent. These tents are great for larger families. With some having dividers, allowing you to have more than one room. They also give you space for story gear and using multiple cotes or air mattresses.
The only downsides to cabin tents are their weight, and they tend to big sails in high winds. If you’re camping close to your car weight is not an issue. You don’t have to pack your tent a half-mile to your campsite. Of course the farther you have to walk to your campsite the less likely you are to enjoy one of these tents.
The other downside is they catch wind. This means if you camp during storms or windy areas you will have to stake it down very well. A cheap cabin tent is more likely to have tent poles bend or break in windy weather.
Tents for a Budget
Now that you know generally what you are looking for in a tent. You need to consider your budget. It’s obvious that the bigger the tent the more it will cost. However, there can be a huge price difference between tents in the same size.
Manufactures will do many things when they make a budget tent. Coleman sells tents without a rain fly to save money. Others use thinner materials or weaker tent stakes.
As far as budget tent brands. Ozark Trails is one of the least expensive. Whereas Coleman and some others have budget-minded tents. The Ozark Trails tents definitely give the best bang for your buck. You should overlook the idea that they primarily sold at Wal-Mart. They are not a Wal-Mart exclusive brand as you can buy them on Amazon and other places.
Quality Tents
High-quality tents normally come with a higher price. They also have better zippers, thicker materials and normally last longer. Some tents even come with warranties. Many of the things that make a tent high quality are hard to see when shopping for a tent. So if you look for certain brands, you will normally be safe. Brands like Cabelas, Kelty, Eureka!, and CORE are all good brands. Like everything you get what you pay for when you buy a tent. If you plan on camping once a year in nice weather don’t worry about the quality as much. If you camp every month and want your tent to last more than a summer buys something with quality.
Recommendations
4 Person
Cheap 4 Person Tent
If you are looking for a cheap and easy to set up the tent then the Ozark Trails 4-person tent instant A-Frame tent is perfect. All though it doesn’t come with a separate rainfly, it’s designed for airflow from the bottom of the tent so you don’t get too hot, or wet.
Quality 4 Person Tent
For a quality 4 Person tent, you can’t go wrong with the Eureka Timberline tent. They have a great rain fly. Are made of good quality fabric. Hold up to plenty of abuse and can handle high winds. Not to mention easy to set up even for young Boy Scouts.
6 Person
Cheap 6 Person Tent
The Coleman Sundome 6 person tent is great for anyone on a budget. It’s big enough for a family of 4 to go camping for the weekend. With Coleman tents being well-liked by most. For the price, you can’t beat it for a 6-person tent.
Quality 6 Person Tent
For a quality 6 person tent, you can’t go wrong with the Eureka Copper Canyon Tent. As a cabin style tent, you have plenty of room. Where Eureka uses thick steel poles and shock-corded fiberglass, making them strong and last long.
8 Person and bigger
Cheap 8 Person Tent
The Coleman Weather Master is a cabin-like 10 person tent that gives you plenty of room for your family and gear. At under $200 you get a lot of tent for your money. With Coleman being a well-known name in camping gear.
Quality 8 Person Tent
When it comes to a high quality 8 person tents you can’t go wrong with the Cabela’s Instinct Alaskan tent. It’s a 4 season tent that can handle 50 mile an hour winds and lots of rain without any problem. Not to mention it has Cabela’s lifetime warranty making sure it will last you forever.
Conclusion
When choosing the best family camping tent there are lots of things you have to consider. Think about how many people you need to fit in the tent along with the gear. Consider how likely you are to camp in the rain, storms, and cold weather. Also how often you will be camping. The amount of use your tent will see dictates the budge you should spend. Your budget will influence the best family camping tent for your needs. However, the best family camping tent is the one you own and use. So find a tent, go out and go camping. You’ll never regret a great camping trip, and you’ll never forget a bad camping trip. So make memories with your family.