It has generous mesh D-windows, and a full rain-fly. The gear storage sacks are situated on opposite corners of the room. I broke out the Ozark Trail Sun Shade on my first outing this season. It took me a few minutes to figure out that the flaps on the bottom ozark trail sun shelter are designed to be sandbags for use at the beach. I appreciated the directions being attached to the storage bag so they did not get lost or misplaced. It was helpful that I happened to have a hammer to pound the eight stakes into the hard ground.
This screened-in shelter also gets high points for its price, which is always a selling point with an Ozark Trail tent, but this one represents a particularly good value considering all its features. This isn’t an instant tent, but ease of use is still a high point of this model thanks to the simple setup. Just slide the roof poles into place, then plug the side and corner poles into their designated hubs and raise it all up. Two people can get this cabin set up in about five minutes, but setting the 2 Room Cabin up solo isn’t out of the question either. You can escape harsh sun rays on the beach or in your own backyard by using an Ozark Trail Sun Shelter, made by North Pole Limited. The shelter is a three-sided, dome-shaped tent that easily packs up to carry on your outdoor adventures.
I also rain tested my Coleman Sundome Tents, and I have the regular 6-person version, the 6-Person Dark Room version, and also the Elite 6-Person version. All these tents were able to stay dry for about 30 to 35 minutes of heavy pouring rain. Ease of setup (how easy it is to pitch and take down a tent) is pretty much always a high mark for Ozark Trail tents. These tents are built for first-time and/or fairweather campers, so Ozark Trail puts a lot of effort into making them easy to use.
The main thing to know going into an Ozark Trail purchase is that you need to do your due diligence not to overstress the materials because a heavy hand can absolutely damage them. Take time to inspect your tent when you first get it (damages from shipping are common), and don’t ever “force” anything when setting up or tearing down your shelter. As stated above, durability and materials are the main pain point of Ozark Trail tents.
For the inside of the tent, when I was setting up my Ozark Trail room divider, I realized that the divider doesn’t even have a zip down the middle, for access into the other room. In contrast, my Ozark Trail 10-Person Tent has only 1 door at the front of the tent. And Ozark Trail doesn’t have the super cool hinged door feature that Coleman has. In fact, one of these doors is even a hinged D-door, which makes going in and out of the tent that much easier.
Again, Ozark Trail tents are mainly fair weather camping tents (so you won’t be hiking into the backcountry with them) which means weight and packed size aren’t a big priority. The Ozark Trail 9 Person Cabin shares the same shortcomings as the other discount cabins found in the Ozark Trail lineup, most notably being its weather protection and ozark trail sleeping bag durability. We also don’t recommend this tent for high winds because although all the poles are steel, Ozark Trail uses a thin-walled alloy that can bend under stress and plastic hubs that we wouldn’t trust in serious storms. As far as fairweather shelters go, however, this one may be the best value in terms of livability for your money.
With that being said, Ozark Trail does a good job of seam-sealing their tents from the factory in most cases, and with a little help, these budget-shelters can keep you dry when unexpected rain hits. Take time to treat the entire tent with a DWR coating like Nikwax (not just the rainfly) and never leave the house without a tent repair kit in case disaster strikes. Layout wise is virtually identical to the Core Instant Cabin we evaluated for our 10 person tent roundup, but delivers those same massive interior dimensions for about $100 less. Cabin-style construction means vertical walls and impressively high ceilings (they’re over 7 feet) span the length of the tent, so you’ll have plenty of room to spread out even with two queen-sized mattresses inside. Ozark Trail is all about big family camping tents on a budget, and few are as big and budget-friendly as the Ozark Trail 10 Person Two-Room Cabin.