Not only that, but the dome tent will keep you safe from the elements better than any cabin tent out there. Generally speaking, if you go into buying an Ozark Trail tent with reasonable expectations, you won’t be disappointed. None of these tents are designed to hold up in a serious thunderstorm. They’re not built for heavy winds, and they certainly aren’t made to stand up to heavy snow. Despite what you may have read, you can absolutely enjoy an outdoors experience in an Ozark Trail tent. Having room to spread out inside a tent is great, but unless it’s after dark or raining, chances are you won’t be spending any more time inside your shelter than you absolutely have to.
On movie nights, set up the included media screen and gather the family—decide beforehand who makes the popcorn. Apart from the large windows featured on all sides of the tent, it also comes with a large front awning—ideal for a hot, sunny day. The lightweight of the tent makes it easy to transport to any location. However, it isn’t suitable for backpacking, as many users have mentioned. They just see how many people can lay down inside the tent, taking all space available. Now that we’ve seen the breakdown of all the features that make a great tent, let’s see the pros & cons of each one, in one table so that you can easily make the comparison between the tents at a glance.
It probably won’t fit in your backpack, and it might not even fit in your car. Being woken up in the middle of the night by water dropping on your face is one of the worse feelings. For each of these 6 factors, we’ll compare the different tents to find out which one is the best. The tent with the highest combined score will win the title of “Best Tent” in its category. If you want to know more about the selection process for these tents, or to have more info to help you decide on which one to pick, keep reading below. The Ozark 8 Person Instant Tent is the best value for money out of the 4 tents we’re reviewing today.
For families looking for an easy-to-assemble tent, this has a lot to offer with three rooms and a high ceiling. You can easily fit two queen-sized airbeds or 11 individual sleeping bags. The Gazelle also comes with an included rainfly that you can put over the mesh roof. The rain fly can be rolled down over the side windows, but you might get a bit of rain in the first room if you’re experiencing strong winds that blow the rain sideways.
But unfortunately, they are many morons out there that don’t know the first thing about camping. I bought this tent and was very dissatisfied, two off the poles snapped right where they connect in the silver part. I just bought the 9’x7′ backpacking tent 2 days ago, because I want to do some bikepacking here in FL. It is easy to set up and take down, and I loved the fact that it has three windows for lots of circulation in the heat and humidity.
Ozark Trail is actually Walmart’s private-label brand—given its name because of the location of the Walmart home office in the Ozark mountain region in Arkansas. However, as with many budget tents, they are unlikely to perform well in really bad weather and they are not as durable as many higher-performance tents. Where Core and Ozark Trail tents share similarities is the mesh ceiling. Both brands feature open mesh ceilings that allow a decent amount of fresh air to circulate the tents. However, these tents are less likely to last through many uses. Some common complaints about durability are poles and stakes breaking.
Other aspects, such as inverted seams, further improve the tents’ protection against rain. Although Core tents are slightly more expensive than Ozark Trail, they still remain as an affordable option. Furthermore, Core features many similar tents to Ozark Trail, such as the instant tents that come pre-assembled. Most Ozark Trail tents are designed with tub floors—which means the base of the tent continues several inches up the sides before it connects to the wall. This further helps to prevent water from making its way into the tent. When it comes to hot weather, Ozark Trail does not fail with ventilation.
Ozark Trail tents such as the 7 Person Teepee are perfect affordable options for camping excursions, particularly if you like to go outdoors with the family or a large group of friends. In fact, with a little bit of seam ozark trail canopy sealer and an at-home DWR treatment, the tent performed much better in the rain than otherwise. All told, with some aftermarket work and careful staking, the tent will hold up in mildly unpleasant wet weather conditions.
The tent is open at the top with a weather rain fly that fits over the dome. The fly is so small it allows rain to blow up under and then runs into the tent. I really liked the way it looked and the space but will not be able to use it due to the leaks. If you a experienced camper like myself you would know that you have to use a tarp to cover your tent so that the water does not get inside when it rains. And you have to make sure that the zipper is closed well and also sprayed with a water repellent.