Camping Tents?

[root*children]

Wasn't sure exactly where to post this Q, and since this is my favority forum, and thought it was probably semi-related to F&F, I'd try here

We need a camping tent for 3 people. I don't want to buy a mart one, b/c I'm afraid the quality will be bad. I heard you can get great deals on ebay, but the choices are OVERWHELMING!! Any recommendations for a good quality tent or brand that you are not just paying for the brand name, KWIM? I thought this would be a smart time to buy one on ebay, since they are sort of off-season right now.

TIA!!

[chel]

we have a Taj 3 from REI. It's very room for a 3 person tent which is great for dc and all their stuff. If you're not looking to save weight, for backpacking and such, I've had friends that do well with the "MART stuff". campmor.com has great deals as well.

[smudge]

We bought a Coleman from Target that is 10'x10' and it is great for the three of us. I think it was around $75?

[jocelyndale]

The Open Roads forum at RV.net has a tenting group. Folks review tents and ask questions like this all the time. I recommend checking it out!

I've had super good tents and I've had 'Mart tents. I've had great luck with pretty much all of them, though I will say I'd prefer a nicer tent when camping in windy conditions. I was shocked that our Swiss Gear survived our cross-country trip with *very* windy conditions. It did, though, and we're pretty happy. It was an emergency replacement for a North Face or Eureka (I have a horrid memory) that did *not* survive a midwestern summer supercell (to be fair, I staked it VERY poorly).

[Malva]

We have a Eureka and have had no problem at all in rainy and windy weather.

[root*children]

thanks everyone! Off to check out that site jocelyn

[CountrylivinmomtoB]

Check dicks or dunhams if you have them. That is where we got ours. We had ordered one on ebay and the lady never sent it and last minute, hubby went to either one of those places and found a cheaper and better one. We had a walmart one before that, and returned it because it was made so cheaply and it was a coleman, go figure... we went camping at the beach and it would of never held out in all the beach wind and the rain we had!

I can't remember the brand we got, but it was a huge tent, for the 3 of us, and our 3 dogs.


Columbus was the brand of our tent- just asked DH! :-)

[kristenok18]

I don't know if you have a Cabela's near you, but we've gotten some *amazing* deals on tents in their "bargain cave". Apparently there are lots of people who buy a tent and use it for a vacation, then return it. The store re-sells them at a much lower rate.

[4evermom]

I'm happy with our Hobitat 4 from REI. It has great ventilation so it isn't too hot in summer with the fly on. It might be too chilly in spring/fall, however. It has great head room. I can do jumping jacks inside and I can set it up by myself (I'm 5'2").