momofkhm Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I want a new tent. I want one with a vestibule or screen porch. Yes, I'm that girl. We only camp once or twice a year but the last few times we've gone it has rained and the rain came right through. So my desire for the vestibule is dryness while getting in and out of the tent. I need help figuring out what size to get. We camp with our youth group. The kids are segregated by age and gender so our tent would just be me and dh and the dog. We have cots we sleep on or I may switch to air mattresses. Yes, plural - air mattresses. Our weight is so dissimilar that my side of the air mattress is like a rock and I can't sleep. But they would be twin size air mattresses. So 2 twins and a 70 pound dog. Do I need a 3, 4 or 5 person tent? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LifeLovePassion Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We have found that the person capacity is for simply the number of people who can sleep without gear. To be more comfortable you would want a 4 to 5 person tent, especially if you want a twin air mattress and not just a narrower camping mat. With the dog, I would go for probably a 5 person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okra Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 You want a 5-6 person tent. Tents do not have accurate people estimates. If you tried for a 2 person tent, it would be laughable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie in Ma Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We have an 8 person tent for 4 people and a dog. It works best for us. Two queen air mattresses on either side of the tent, gear and dog bed fit in well. We generally live in it for 1-3 weeks and we've been doing so for many years. The two coolers stay outside, one is a dry goods pantry and the other for cold stuff and they do not fit in the tent well. My next tent, however needs more windows and straight sides for more overall room. This is what I am looking at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolt. Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 The "people estimates" are for backpackers, and indicate the capacity to sleep shoulder to shoulder in narrow sleeping bags. For pleasant, situated, camping: go for something nice and big. I like to be able to stand up, at least in the middle. Most tents need a waterproofing spray applied. The are not meant to endure significant amounts of rain 'right out of the box'. A 'screen porch' is nice as a sitting area. A closed vestibule is suitable for gear. If you don't need to be screened-in at all times, a tarp tied to trees as a 'dining fly' apart from your tent can be much more spacious and comfortable for sitting around under. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We sleep 4 in an 8 person tent. It's got a vestibule when the fly is on where we put a rubber mat and store shoes. We can keep all our bags in the tent with this set up. If you're going to be car camping and not hiking with your tent, I'd definitely be looking at 6 man tent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skimomma Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 A 5 man at least, maybe more with mattresses. I am pretty sure they measure the number of people by melting them down and pouring them in. We have a 4-man for 3 people and we take up all of the floor space without gear....no mattresses/cots. There is just a tiny sliver left for shoes. Luckily, dd is still short enough that we can stack our clothing on the end of her sleeping bag. We use a shade/rain tent outside of the regular tent rather than a screen porch style. The bigger and more complicated the tent, the flimsier they seem to be. More parts that can break and more complicated designs. Plus they cost so much more. We withstand a lot of really hard rain and storms, so sturdy is important to us. A smaller, but higher-end tent works better for us. REI makes a shade tent with removable rain walls that is modestly priced and very strong. It is big enough for a picnic table or if we are expecting a lot of rain, we set it up right next to the door of our tent to make a make-shift "vestibule." The extra bonus is that we can use the shade/rain tent for lots of other things other than camping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfgivas Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 in my defense, I have rheumatoid arthritis in both hips, and assorted other joints. our latest addition to camping is a twin size, 3 inch, memory foam topper. it compresses much better than we had thought for packing, and it is absolute heaven. it has extended my ability to camp by years; i had hit the point where i couldn't walk for much of each morning and couldn't sleep at night. now, i can even hike and recover! like skimomma we have a high-end REI tent. dh was a high altitude mountaineer, so any tent he gets is quick and easy to set up, and will withstand just about anything. i'll try to find a link to what we have. :) rei doesn't carry it any more. i'm not surprised, as they were Really Expensive when we got it. we used REI points, so it didn't cost us anything, but i suspect they didn't sell so many. Most folks who might want one may well also have used points, and at some point they actually have to sell things, kwim? it is available at backcountry for an amazing price. actually, i just checked again, and the link is to the two person version. we have the four person version. i wouldn't want anything smaller with the dog and the foam ;) http://www.backcountry.com/mountain-hardwear-trango-2-tent-2-person-4-season?ti=UExQIEJyYW5kOjoxOjI6MTAwMDAwMDY4X2Jjc0NhdDcxMTAwMDQ3 finally, here is the link to the four person one. it is currently out of stock. the reviews made great reading! http://www.backcountry.com/mountain-hardwear-trango-2-tent-2-person-4-season?ti=UExQIEJyYW5kOjoxOjI6MTAwMDAwMDY4X2Jjc0NhdDcxMTAwMDQ3 hth, ann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We also have a high end REI tent after having horrible luck with a cheaper one. The REI one has been great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfgivas Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 i love looking at tents. this is our backpacking tent. it is a single wall, so i wouldn't want a dog in the tent and the rain, as they would touch it and it would be all over. but its light, and handles wind in an amazing way. and because the poles are internal, you can climb into it and set it up in the rain/snow/wind. http://www.backcountry.com/black-diamond-bombshelter-tent-4-person-4-season?rr=t off to look at more ;) ann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skimomma Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I know the OP only camps once a year so this advice might not be good for her....but cheap tents do not save money. I cannot tell you how many Colemans, Ozarks, and other Walmart tents we have seen collapsed after moderate wind or rain. We have friends with a big family that bought a 10-man Coleman in the hopes that it would last for years. A pole broke during their very first trip. Coleman replaced it....along with the six (SIX) other poles that broke within the first 3 years they owned it. After that, they had to trash it because the zipper broke. On top of that, it leaked during heavy rain. So, they bought another Coleman because that is all they can afford. However, the amount they spent on two Colemans could have bought them a very nice tent that would work for decades. Kelty makes decent-qaulity tents that do not cost a fortune. We have two. Our oldest (20 years) one has been set up over 150 times and is still going strong. I had to re-waterproof it after set-up number 90. The newer one is of cheaper construction (IMO) but still has protected us during the worst of storms without any after market waterproofing. Skimping on tents can be quite costly. In the OP's once-a-year situation, I would be tempted to go cheap since the likelihood of a major storm in low. But know the risks and be prepared to sleep in the car should the worst happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Measure dimensions carefully. The air mattresses will take up a lot of room. Can you sleep on thermarests? They take up very little space and are easy to manage. I would get the smallest tent that will work for the mattresses because the larger the tent, the harder it is to put up and take down. We have a nice one that is very large, but it is so cumbersome we like to use multiple smaller tents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skimomma Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Measure dimensions carefully. The air mattresses will take up a lot of room. Can you sleep on thermarests? They take up very little space and are easy to manage. I would get the smallest tent that will work for the mattresses because the larger the tent, the harder it is to put up and take down. We have a nice one that is very large, but it is so cumbersome we like to use multiple smaller tents. I second the Therm-a-rests! I think they are far more comfortable than air mattresses or cots and they take up so much less room. Ours are 20+ years old and still work great. I find them as comfy as my own bed at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bensmom Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 i love looking at tents. this is our backpacking tent. it is a single wall, so i wouldn't want a dog in the tent and the rain, as they would touch it and it would be all over. but its light, and handles wind in an amazing way. and because the poles are internal, you can climb into it and set it up in the rain/snow/wind. http://www.backcountry.com/black-diamond-bombshelter-tent-4-person-4-season?rr=t This looks amazing! But the price tag, Yikes. I must not let my husband see this tent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 We camp in a 10' x 20' garage shelter. I sleep on a bed made of 2 camp cots lashed together, topped with a slat bed and regular Ikea mattress, full size. I plan on adding a 10' x 10' shade next year. This is comfortable for the 2 kids and I, for a week-long camping trip. I set up a doody-bag potty inside, and a clothes rack... For what you describe, a 6 person tent minimum would be good. An ez-up shade pavilion overlapping the entrance, weatherproofed or with a tarp overall, would be good, or at least a tarp rigged as a rain fly if you have trees to rig it to, should work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 I have a unit theory for camping. One unit equals one person OR one person's gear. So a five man tent is actually a five unit tent. I assume you are a fair weather camper? If you are cold weather camping I suggest a smaller tent for conserving heat but if you are in warm weather, go big for ventilation! I'd recommend a 5-6 person tent and a big vestibule. I love a vestibule for exactly what you want, a transition zone. A place for a shoe bin so the tent can be socks/barefoot only. Rain gear. You want one with a rain fly that is easy to attach but also easy to take off for daytime ventilation. I have a huge twelve person tent with vestibule but the rain fly is a real pain! I am much happier with the family taking a few smaller tents rather than the big one. I think COSTCO has (or had, last year) something like you'd be looking for. You might check out nice ones at REI, Clymb, Campmoor and Packrat, but if you are only using a tent infrequently you will want one that falls into a comfortable price point as well. Don't forget a new tarp for underneath if your old one won't be the right size for your bigger tent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Lizzie makes a good point, the curved walls cut out usable floor space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pod's mum Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Am I the only one who would see the dog + air mattresses combo not working? Is your dog so obedient that its claws will never come in contact with an inflated air mattress? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatHomeschoolDad Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Kelty makes a pole-less tent called Air Pitch, which looks interesting. Newish, so hard to find reviews. Unless you're packing, I'd go with more space - room for being inside in the rain, etc. Edit link. http://www.kelty.com/mobileshowproduct.aspx?ProductID=734&SEName=mach-6&category=tents-shelters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Am I the only one who would see the dog + air mattresses combo not working? Is your dog so obedient that its claws will never come in contact with an inflated air mattress? We used one with our 110lb dog and didn't have any issues. We did put a feather bed on it. Don't forget to get a nice doormat for the door. It really does help keep the dirt out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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