But unlike the Mineral King 3 and the Tungsten 4, the mesh on each Base Camp tent starts high on the walls—more than 4 feet from the ground. This design is a big plus for people who regularly camp in crowded campgrounds and don’t like to get naked in front of strangers. And you can unzip the front door, remove it, and neatly stash it into one of the ozark trail shower tent tent’s internal pockets—a useful feature if you’re feeling sociable. Underneath the fly, the Mineral King 3 has a full mesh dome with a waterproof, tape-seamed bathtub-style polyester floor. The tent doors are nearly wall-sized, and after you unzip them, you simply stuff them into pockets, rather than having to roll and toggle-tie the fabric.
This Ozark Trail 10-Person Tent has a packed size of 29 by 18 by 13 inches. For a size comparison, here’s what it looks like beside a Coleman 2-Person Sundome Tent, as well as a 32-ounce Nalgene bottle, and it weighs about 30 pounds for everything. The 14 steel stakes that came with the tent are just your standard tent stakes, nothing impressive. The 6 wall poles are made of steel, I think, but they’re probably not stainless steel, because I found some rust on one of these steel poles. So after washing your tent and I also do rinse off the poles, do let them dry first before storing it away.
It uses high-quality materials such as aluminum poles, breathable mesh, and water-resistant polyester fabric, and it comes with a full fly and a footprint. The Tungsten 4’s larger size accounts for the higher price tag (about $40 more), but campers who would like that extra room may find the expense worthwhile. The Kelty Wireless 6 is a spacious tent that is easy to pitch, and it offers solid weather protection and durability for a reasonable price. Like the Mineral King 3, it has a simple, dome-style design that maximizes livability and minimize headaches.
The door does have a bug net, but it’s only for half the door, and not the full door. The holes are quite large, so I’m pretty sure that this is not no-see-um mesh. The entire Ozark Trail 10-Person Tent takes about 10 minutes to set up, when my brother and I were setting it up together (2 people). For ease of use, I looked at how easily I could set up this Ozark Trail 10-Person Tent on my own, and with 2 people as well. After, I looked at how easily I could take down and pack up this tent. The cool thing about these vents is the fact that you can put a cooling system inside them.
The material of the tent body and rainfly are made of 68D coated polyester fabric. Apart from the roof though, there’s not a lot of mesh from the 5 windows and the door, because they’re not very big. This Ozark Trail 10-Person Tent can accommodate 10 single sleeping pads or sleeping bags, and here’s what having 10 pads in this 10-person tent looks like. Because it’s ridiculously inexpensive, the quality, design and weather protection isn’t the best, though I think it’ll work decently in summer (without rain, of course). When you’re not sleeping, you can still keep the rooms open and fold back the doors for a lovely roomy and airy feel. With the versatility of 3 rooms, we love how well this tent would work in a group or family camping situation.
Families who regularly pitch their tent in rainy locales need a wind-fighting tent with a good-size vestibule for storing wet shoes and gear, as well as a full rain fly for added weather protection. Car campers who plan to brave miserable weather will appreciate the extra strength and protection of the REI Co-op Base Camp 4 Tent. The main bodies of our other picks are structured with two main poles with added support from smaller brow poles. The Base Camp, by contrast, has four full-size aluminum struts woven throughout it, somewhat like a basket, plus an additional brow pole that frames the front entrance and supports the larger of the two vestibules. The Base Camp also offers more privacy compared with our other picks—with or without the rain fly.
This shelter may be the least expensive in our roundup, but it still packs some sweet features worth noting. Our favorite is the “storage locker” which gives you a protected place to store items like muddy shoes outside the tent, but can also be accessed from inside using a second zipper. It’s a great spot to stash your “middle of the night bathroom break” shoes and anything else you don’t want taking up space inside the tent.