haven't been camping in a long time!

[MikeCL]

So my girlfriend brought the idea of going camping this year.. I live here in Connecticut so last time I went camping I was 13 or so. Right now I'm still debating if it will be CT or NYS.. Being just the two of us I was looking at a 8 person tent a coleman canyon tent and was wondering if anyone here had it.

[a65hoosier]

Re: haven't been camping in a long time!

So my girlfriend brought the idea of going camping this year.. I live here in Connecticut so last time I went camping I was 13 or so. Right now I'm still debating if it will be CT or NYS.. Being just the two of us I was looking at a 8 person tent a coleman canyon tent and was wondering if anyone here had it.

Hi MikeCL and Welcome to the Forum!

The Coleman Canyon would be a good tent for a beginning car camper using it in typical fair weather (which is a great time to start your camping adventures). Good value choice. I think there are other forum members here that have owned that tent. Maybe they'll see this and can add more information.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: haven't been camping in a long time!

Hello and welcome MikeCL,

I don't own that tent but have seen it around the campgrounds on a fairly regular basis.
Here's a vid that reviews it by an owner who points out his ideas of the good and bad:

https://youtu.be/bfH4fi7GM8M

Oh and when your home state has those freak wind storms during the summer this type of tent isn't one I see in the dumpsters the morning after.

[05Kingquad700]

Re: haven't been camping in a long time!

I started with that tent. It is a good fair weather tent, but it flattens out with the wind. That is the main reason I moved on from it. A couple of trips, up all night, keeping it off my face was enough.

[actad]

Re: haven't been camping in a long time!

I have a couple of the Coleman Cabin tents and have been very pleased with them.

[tplife]

Re: haven't been camping in a long time!

I think at that price point, over the long haul, you might be a lot happier with an Alps Edge 4, on sale right now at REI Outlet for $ 152.73. It won't come with dated features like thin fiberglas poles, D-shaped doors, leaky windows, fake reviews, oversized footprint, and tiny bikini rainfly. It WILL come with aluminum poles, full-length rainfly and two vestibules...and will outlast any Coleman tent 5:1. Or a Kelty Acadia 4 off Ebay for $ 169.95. Or a NEW IN THE BAG Big Agnes Burn Ridge Outfitter 4 Person Tent $340 value for $219.00, again, Ebay. A 4-man tent has good size for two, and when you need more room, a 2nd 4-man tent will be easier to set up and site for your "intensity in tent cities"!

[MikeCL]

Re: haven't been camping in a long time!

So I was looking around a bit more and while I know I'm going to need room I was looking at the Wenzel timber ridge tent for 10 people.. it would just be me and her or maybe her sister might join I don't know yet but I want to have room to move around I'm 5'9" maybe the smallest I would do is 8 person.. which brings me to another question is I was thinking of getting a queen size airbed and I was wondering if the weight difference is going to have me bouncing up and down each time she moves?

[NYCgrrl]

Re: haven't been camping in a long time!

Oh and I forgot to mention, MikeCL, if you are planning to camp over the weekends be sure to make your reservations for either NYS or CT ASAP. The reservation window for CT opens 9 months in advance and I think it's 6 months for most of NYS. I book for either Rocky Neck or Hammo every year and plunk money down for the following summer in the prior year's summer; sometimes I don't get 1st choice either. Don't know what part of the state you are in but Housatonic M'dows and Pachaug State Forest both have good fishing, hiking and water sports. PSF has primitive toilets but I'm pretty sure HMS was upgraded in the last few years. A check on the state website or reserveamerica.com will give you the most up to date info.

HTH and have fun out there!

[Mike]

Re: haven't been camping in a long time!

I think at that price point, over the long haul, you might be a lot happier with an Alps Edge 4, on sale right now at REI Outlet for $ 152.73. It won't come with dated features like thin fiberglas poles, D-shaped doors, leaky windows, fake reviews, oversized footprint, and tiny bikini rainfly. It WILL come with aluminum poles, full-length rainfly and two vestibules...and will outlast any Coleman tent 5:1. Or a Kelty Acadia 4 off Ebay for $ 169.95. Or a NEW IN THE BAG Big Agnes Burn Ridge Outfitter 4 Person Tent $340 value for $219.00, again, Ebay. A 4-man tent has good size for two, and when you need more room, a 2nd 4-man tent will be easier to set up and site for your "intensity in tent cities"!

Nice review and good info, TPLife

[NYCgrrl]

Re: haven't been camping in a long time!

Nice review and good info, TPLife

Great review when it stuck to the tents' actual manufacturing attributes.

Only problem is the OP expressed a desire for a larger tent. Maybe the couple is thinking into the future; maybe they just like more space to incorporate chairs and such.

For a trip that is trying to convince a non camper (the GF) of the beauty of camping, my thunk is to make it as comfy as possible; extra space can help to achieve that. I would suggest guy lining the tent well and buying some quality tent stakes to do the job. The Coleman tent will come with stakes but most all tent manufacturers skimp on that necessity and Colman is no exception to the practice.

When I started camping with the man who's only prior camping experience involved a backyard tent in suburbia with his mom bringing a pu pu tray out around 9:00 PM and him and his bro running in the house for bath room needs, I got a sense of what I needed to give him to allow him to enjoy camping. My idea of a relationship is you listen to your SO and make compromises accordingly; never know where it'll take ya to in the years to come. In my case, the man now wants a compact RV, a something, he wouldn't have dreamed of a decade before. He still isn't interested in cycle camping or hiking the Appalachian Trail, yet it's aight, I can do that alone.

Should MikeCL + SO decide in later trips they want to scale back in size the option is still open but IMO stick w/ the original thought and build from there with experience and better understanding as time goes on.

I should further state that a novice camper doesn't need .....Himalayan quality tent specifications until that need actually arrives. A week long (or less) spring/summer/fall trip doesn't want the tent attributes of Californian or Wisconsin worse case scenarios.

[toedtoes]

Re: haven't been camping in a long time!

I don't know about the campgrounds in CT and NY, but here in CA, summer camping doesn't get a lot of wind and rain. Our campsites vary a lot in size also. Some will have a large flat area for a big tent, others may have very small areas. Some are large sites, but with the trees and boulders, etc., you can't fit a large tent, but can fit 2 or 3 small tents.

If they were here in California, I would agree with TPLife that the 2 smaller tents are a better choice than the 1 big tent because of the campsite particulars. We don't have a lot of wide open flat land campgrounds with green grass. If you go to the desert, you can find that wide open space, but that's an acquired taste (hot hot hot days, cold nights, no shade, no lake/ocean/river) and most new campers aren't going to camp in places like that.

At the same time, here in California, I wouldn't worry about buying the quality brands at this point either. While those 4P tents are within the same price point as the Coleman 8P tent, getting the same amount of tent space means paying double that price point. As the OP and his SO don't even know if they will enjoy camping, that's a lot to put out for a trial run. Like NYCgrrl mentions, that bigger tent could mean the difference between never camping again and going out again as soon as possible.

So, again, if it were here in California, I would say get 2 4P tents that combined fit within the price point.

Because the OP is NOT in California, I would recommend that you look at some campground pics for the areas where you're thinking of camping, and get some feedback on weather during the time you're planning on camping, and then making a decision based on those criteria. If you're likely to get caught in a summer squall, high winds, etc., then the better quality smaller tent would be a better choice. If you're going to have nice big campsite pads and fair weather, then the Coleman tent should be fine to start with and then you can move into better quality as you determine what you need and want in a tent.

[MikeCL]

Re: haven't been camping in a long time!

So as far as the tent size I want to have room to expand but also room to walk around. As far as the Wenzel tent I suggested what do you think about that one?

[frank6160]

Re: haven't been camping in a long time!

Been using Coleman for about 13 years.

[MikeCL]

Re: haven't been camping in a long time!

the tent im referring to is the Wenzel Timber Ridge

[MikeCL]

Re: haven't been camping in a long time!

I don't understand the site that you make the booking on It wont take my April 1-3 days it keeps jumping and saying not availability but if I pick the next day it's only offered early to mid May.. I find it hard to think that smaller sites are all booked up?