buying a new tent

[jbuck984]

Hello everyone! I'm a new member and am wanting some advice on a new tent purchase. We are looking for a tent that is simple to set up, good quality, and made in the usa(if thats possible?). We have a fifth wheel camper for the longer stays but we find it very enjoyable hitting the road without much of a plan, carefree, and light, we really enjoy the tent for that. We get stuck sometimes setting up at night,  in bad weather, and mesquito infested campgrounds, we really need something that is easy to setup! We want something that sleeps 5 but isn't huge either.As a bonus something that we could hike a short distance to a spot and one that has very good zippers on the doors would be nice. I'm hoping to hear some advice from the members here, the people that use their tents instead of a salesman that may or may not have any idea of what the product truly is. thanks.

[tplife]

It's hard to go wrong if you stay with quality brands - Sierra Designs, REI, EMS, Big Agnes, Marmot, Mountain HardWear quickly come to mind. Eureka! offers some outstanding models, but you must be a detective to seperate their "junk" from their good stuff.  The other brands I listed are designed in the US and made overseas (the gov't in the US regulated these companies out of the country with ridiculous mandates, and here we are) using top-quality materials and technology.  Tents in the "base camp" category today offer large amounts of vertical useable space, generous vestibules,  full-coverage polyester rainflies, waterproof bathtub floors,  condensation-fighting mesh venting, standup headroom,  light weight materials with SwiftClip and hub techniques, anodized aluminum poles,  reinforced fastening points - and quality zippers!   There certainly are quality offerings from companies like Kodiak and Springbar in heavy-duty canvas, and they have their followers at every campground.  We enjoyed canvas decades ago, but the addtional care, huge poles and unnecessary weight of canvas tents quickly overcame the romance of yesteryear.  Sites like Ebay offer a way to get up to 60% off MSRP for new-in-the-box tents, but you really do have to put the time in to know your product and follow the auctions - most just don't have the patience for that.  Otherwise, if you find a model you like you can review the price, and just as importantly, the people you're dealing with at www.resellerratings.com.  Have fun! 

[81eagle]

I cannot say enough good things about the Cabelas WestWind, and the Alaska Guide Model.  The Alaska Guide model is the absolute best for windy areas, and they both have excellent rain flys.

[tplife]

Per the Westwind,  I would have expected anodized aluminum poles, (the fiberglas poles used are too small in diameter for high winds)  a continuous-zipper door (D-door is pure 1970s) and polyester construction.  the 16-pound 9-ounce weight of the 6-man is another tipoff of lack of reinforcment and/or insufficient denier weight of fabric for the square footage.  It is the same design as my loaner Eureka! Tetragon 7.   There are better choices out there at this price point, in my humble opinion.   It is colorful though!  And for $269 maybe that's all you get for your money...The Alaskan Guide model is an improvement, weight shows fabric strength and pole diameter are appropriate, only once again the outdated D-door.    Both tents offer full-cover vestibules, which is very important for shedding rain and light snow.  The Alaskan Guide is a much better choice, although at $489 it is overpriced considering dated features, nylon construction and fiberglas poles.  More worrisome than either tent are the photos showing the use of cots and air mattresses, two big no-nos in camping as they invite heat loss and potential hypothermia in cool camping conditions.

[lizrfoust]

You can try checking out this article that's got some really nice tips on how to choose and buy a tent.