Can't decide on family tent

[kcscout]

Background... got back into camping because my son's involvement in scouts. Picked up a 3 person marmot tent that is soley for me the limelight 3 p that I love. But I have only used it on one campout so far. But lots of rain and wind and it held up fine.

For family there would be 5 of us and I like to make sure I have ample room, I use a 6'6" sleeping bag so need decent space. Some of the tents that I have been looking at are the Big Agnes Flying diamond 6 or 8 person tents, Marmot Limelight or capstone or Halo 6 person tents, I also spent quite a bit of time looking at Cabelas which we have locally and looked at their tent options. My problem is that there doesn't seem to be good resources for telling me about Big Agnes or Marmot beyond just selling the backpacking size tents and I need something bigger for the family. I think I also saw the Big Agnes King Creek or Big House online, but not quite sure what the main differences of the different tents are. Some seem very similar.

I like having 2 doors, vestible space, the option of 2 rooms although it sounds like that may not be necessary, and definitely something that holds up in rain and wind. I won't plan on taking the kids out in the winter time (most likely) but something versatile would be nice... I've also been told to get the aluminum poles although one of the models at Cabelas was fiberglass or for a lot more came in aluminum poles DAC. The person there seemed to think unless I was in extreme weather that I would never need the aluminum poles, but they also had the clips that have the eye-bolt? versus my marmot where the tent pole sticks in a hole which the latter seems much easier.

Anyway would like some suggestions. Thanks.

[kcscout]

Re: Can't decide on family tent

So more specically recommendations between
Marmot capstone or Halo
Big Agnes flying diamond or king Creek
Cabelas

Or something different
??

[05Kingquad700]

Re: Can't decide on family tent

for that kind of money, I would look at REI, they have a life time warranty on the REI tents. Or check out spring bar or kodiak canvas tents.

[tplife]

Re: Can't decide on family tent

You only see low-end tents anymore selling fiberglas poles. Anodized aluminum packs more strength for a smaller pole diameter than other material outside of titanium! I agree that a trip to REI or EMS is recommended, and you'll see that you might include Sierra Designs, NorthFace, Mountain HardWear in your quality tent choices. Marmot makes outstanding tents but you get the same quality and features from the other companies I mentioned, including lifetime warranties. Try to keep your total tent size to 10X10 and you'll wind up with a rugged piece of equipment that will fit almost any campsite and give you two decades of regular use.

[kcscout]

Re: Can't decide on family tent

I looked at REIs site before and the main one that pops up is their kingdom dome. An independent review showed it being one of their #1 picks for family camping and big Agnes flying diamond #2 but then considering weather rating the big Agnes was the best. Ie 10 for big Agnes vs 7 for rei. Comfort is #1 but part of being comfortable is knowing the tent won't collapse in high wind or rain storms. At my last scout campout a family joined us with the typical cheap big box store and their tent collapsed at night in the storm whereas in my marmot I was warm and dry.

I like the screened in area of the rei kingdom dome but being more barn like is why I suppose it doesn't hold up to the elements quite as well.

Anything about not going bigger than 10 x 10? I have a cheapie Coleman that is probably that size but really meant for fair weather only.

I've seen on some of the tents that they add 1-2 extra poles. Ie instead of just 2 poles that cross for a square floor tent they might have 2 additional poles that cross in the middle. How much benefit does that add? Or overkill?

[05Kingquad700]

Re: Can't decide on family tent

My 10x14 has fit in every tent pad that I have camped on. It takes up the whole box though. If you really want a bomb proof tent that will hold up and give you plenty of room I will suggest (jokingly) checking out this one.
http://www.kodiakcanvas.com/26x8-ft-...n-canvas-tent/

Actually a few of us have Kodiak canvas tents, but not this behemoth.

[kcscout]

details details details

I've continued to look and analyze the different tent models. I'm still somewhat coming down to the marmot capstone, big agnes flying diamond or maybe even the big agnes king creek. I noticed that the Cabelas tents that are supposed to hold up to Alaska weather are actually made of nylon versus polyester and most sites say that higher end tents are using the polyester ripstop fabrics and hold up much better so if that is true I think that eliminates the Cabelas tents.

An odd thing is that the flying diamond 8 is actually showing up cheaper than the 6 which makes it even more appealing, but the more I think about it the 8 may be just way too big considering it might be 20 feet long if you include the vestible. For the price the Marmot capstone seems to offer the best headroom and size for the money without going over board on size of the tent. Of course one site that I found the tents on shows the Flying Diamond 8 only $30 more than the Capstone 6 person tent. The big Agnes looks sturdier, but I think properly tied down that other tents could hold up as well too.

[kcscout]

Re: Can't decide on family tent

Although it will probably be 4-5 days before I get it I just ordered the Marmot Capstone 6p tent. I was able to get it for around $150 off the list price and assume part of that is all of the cyber / after Thanksgiving sales and that people are not usually buying family tents now. amazing the amount of differences in price you can find on the Internet. The only down side is that it doesn't include the foot print and they are pricey... How does a custom made foot print compare to just getting a heavy plastic tarp from the hardware store? I also considered the Halo, BA flying diamond, and a couple of Cabelas tents. I think the material had some corners cut on the Cabelas tents and not as easy to setup by the looks of how they do their poles/ configurations versus Marmot. I was also surprised that the Capstone might be as room and more comfortable for most camping that I might do compared to the BA flying diamond. Then that left the Halo or the Capstone and could have also considered the 6p limestone, but that seemed like the upgraded Coleman tent in a way although much better (hopefully) from what I could tell the Halo was built to withstand rougher conditions but I don't think the capstone is far behind and has much more head and floor space and for family camping will work out better. I will be real curious to see how much space is actually in the tent and how the wall divider works if their is room for kids in the back and adults in the front.