In contrast to the Mineral King 3’s triangular vestibules, the Tungsten 4’s vestibules are trapezoidal, opening via a central door with protected areas on either side. This design does a better job shielding the tent from incoming—and sideways—wind and rain. The Tungsten’s two brow poles create an especially effective awning over the tent door, so very little water gets in when someone comes or goes. Like most dome-style tents, the Wireless 6 withstands wind like a champ—it fared noticeably better than the Camp Creek 6 in 15-mph gusts. The continuous curve of the dome shape allows for wind to pass over and around it.
The included carrying bag does not have wheels to aid in transportation, but at only 29 lbs. We don’t find that to be a noteworthy drawback as the nylon handles and shoulder strap work just fine in carrying the tent. The canopy fabric is made of a lightweight denier polyester, offering water resistant features and 50+ UPF, which we love.
The screen room makes up the fifth part of the star-shaped tent. It has an attached mud mat to help keep the rest of the areas clean. This section acts as a porch, so you can keep away from bugs while still feel joined in to those hanging outside. Other notable features include the eight reflective colored guy ropes, an interior loop for hanging a lantern, and pockets for storing small items. Digging our toes in the sand under one of the best full-overhead coverage beach tents on the market. The BYU Design Review is not pranking you today, but we did think it timely to take a break from our normal content and bring some smiles to our readers’ faces.
It has everything you need for three-season camping, with the bonus of being light enough to double as an occasional backpacking tent. Although it’s designed to accommodate three people—hence the “3” in its name—we found that at 42.5 square feet, the tent is more comfortable for two, plus gear and maybe a medium-size dog. Our only quibble with the Mineral King 3 is that it comes with only six stakes. (Our runner-up pick comes with eight.) Six is enough to secure the tent and fly but not to fully secure the tent’s extra lines in very windy conditions.
The Wireless 6 lacks some of the premium materials found in pricier tents, but it features solid workmanship and should provide dependable, comfortable shelter in most three-season camping situations. 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.
Bend each pole into an arch and secure it at the corners of the tent at ground level by placing the tent pole into the pin ring. Connect the snap-quick clips to the tent poles to give the tent shape. Getting our hands dirty with the top-rated 9×9 Neso Grande lightweight beach canopy tent. Lastly, I haven’t yet had a chance to test its waterproofing in a huge down-pouring of rain, but it did hold up in some strong winds surprisingly well. Future users may want to seal or waterproof the seams a little better.
The floor of the tent is made up of a durable PE, again, pretty standard for camping tarps or other heavy-duty fabrics. Even though it is so robust, I always recommend using a ground tarp or some sort of barrier to protect your tent long-term. The poles are steel and connected by braided wire, so there’s not much concern with those going off. Guy lines and the sliding plastic adjusters are an area of concern, but so long as you don’t crush them or expose the tent to undue extreme weather, they should hold up.
I would suggest that you go back to making the tents as in the past and I’d love to have another tent only if I knew I wouldn’t wake up to rain coming in on me. Daughter did manage to get a lot of tent trapped in one zip at one stage and after 10 minutes ozark trail chair of cursing I had the material out of the zip but the teeth were ‘offset’. Completely opening then closing the zip (again as per instructions) recovered everything as per new though. I am 6′ and definitely could stand up straight in the centre.
A senior staff writer at Wirecutter, Kit Dillon has written about everything from backpacks and cooking gear to luggage and road-tripping. It is oddly relevant work for testing aluminum tent poles. A full rain cover, two vestibules, and an extra-sturdy pole structure make this the best choice for families who want to get outside in any weather. And finally, the biggest con is probably that the quality isn’t the best with the slightly sticky tent fabric, loose threads, snagging issues and inconsistent mesh.
The only drawbacks to this tent are that there is a weather protecting flap over the door zipper that is kept in place by an elastic band which causes the flap to pull in toward the zipper and snag occasionally. It comes loose easily enough but over time this has put lots of little holes in that flap. In fact, even though this tent is one of the highest-rated and most popular Ozark Trail tents, it’s still plenty affordable at just over $100. Also, my steel wall poles were showing signs of rust even though I did my best to dry them before packing.