Not the best, but certainly better than other shelters I’ve stayed in. It sucked the trip the camping everything because the damn zipper broke and I got beast up on by mosquitoes and bugs. Trust me, it’s worth the money when you are soaking wet a long distance from your car. Protects your roof from UV rays, sparks, sap, pitch, animal droppings. Fly will cover tent front to back and have a 1’ overhang on each side. Features reinforcements in all 4 corners in addition to d-rings every 3’ along each eave.
The Tungsten 4 is also bigger (by about 10 square feet) than the Mineral King 3. This accounts for a slightly higher price tag (it will run you about $40 dollars more), but the larger size makes the Tungsten 4 a great choice for campers who would like that extra bit of room. But we’d be just as happy to find ourselves in the Tungsten 4, particularly if we were anticipating soggy or inclement conditions. Of all the models we tested, it offers the best balance of generous interior space, ease of setup, good durability, and a reasonable price. The Mountain Hardwear Mineral King 3 Tent is the best car-camping tent choice for couples.
That’s plenty of room for two queen mattresses with room left over for some chairs, a cooler, and a camp table. Speaking of camp tables Ozark Trail actually includes a small table with this shelter, which mounts at the base of the main support pole to make the most of the tent’s interior space. The table includes four large hanging mesh pockets at its sides, which, along with the multiple pockets found along the walls of the Ozark Trail Yurt, make storage and organization another high point of the tent. Wall tents are good in the wind; however, this is because the frames are so sturdy and not because they are designed exceptionally dynamically. Dome tents and most other tent shapes often perform better in the wind than wall tents do because they are lower to the ground and more aerodynamic, but when windy, they still flex and flap around a bit.
He has also written for Popular Science, The Awl, Metro, The Observer, and Fortune. It is oddly relevant work for testing aluminum tent poles. An avid hiker, camper, and long-haul road-tripper, Claire Wilcox has slept in (and occasionally improvised) tents in 11 states. She covers outdoor gear for Wirecutter and worked on the most recent update of this ozark tent guide. A full rain cover, a spacious vestibule, and a reinforced pole structure make this the best choice for families who are committed to getting outside no matter the weather. A full rain cover, a spacious vestibule, and a reinforced pole structure make this the best choice for couples who are committed to getting outside no matter the weather.
Although we liked the pricier variants well enough, generally we don’t think they’re worth the markup for the extra features. It is also important to consider the way in which the tent poles attach to the tent. Many of our picks use grommet attachments, which are more secure and simple to repair if anything should happen.
I had bought this tent thinking it was going to be dry, man was I wrong. I will never buy an Ozark Trail tent in my life and I will tell everyone I know that if they buy one what to expect. And that is you will never be dry in one because they suck bad. Thank you OZARK for making camping nights with small children just a little more difficult!!!!
Rain fly is too big — it needs one side cut differently to allow to get in and out of the tent. Again, I AM a soldier with nearly 30 years experience in putting tents together. ozark trail wall tent This piece of crap promises the buyer a lot for a lot of money, but what you get is something of lesser quality than if you bought a tent from the local Dollar store.
It’s common to troubleshoot positioning in windy conditions, but neither the Mineral King 3 nor any straight-poled dome tent we tested collapsed in this way. Once we Velcroed the poles to the fly via the tabs that run under the seams, the poles stabilized. And ozark trail tents with some added staked lines, the tent was as sturdy as any we observed. But under windy conditions, you’ll want to reinforce the poles with all available mechanisms and not cut any corners in setup. Also, like the Mineral King, this tent is short on stakes.
A valuable feature to improve comfort is the awning at the front, which creates more shade outdoors and provides rain cover before you enter your tent. The inside is nice and cozy with the thick floor attached, and a stove is going when it is cold. You get a front and rear roof vent that sits just below the ridge and allows heat and moisture to escape when needed. There is no bug netting on the door, so you can use a pyramid-style bug net over where you sleep or try to craft one yourself to sit behind the canvas doors. We found that company representatives are reluctant to estimate the lifespan of their tents.
We also tested at the Mountain Oak Campground, located an hour or so east of Los Angeles, where at night the temperatures stay much cooler than in the surrounding valleys. Here, we also faced an onslaught of no-see-ums (biting gnats). Our testing also included sitting through thunderstorms on the public land just south of the Hualapai reservation, near the Grand Canyon. Finally, Kit somewhat cheekily borrowed many of these tents and thrust them into the hands of guests at his own wedding.