tents for a family of 4 and 2 dogs?

[haaken675]

Hey everyone. Curious as to feedback on what people have had success with camping/overlanding with a family of 4 or larger and dogs. Last summer we did the Georgia traverse as a family of 3 and 2 dogs. I bought a coleman 6 person steel creek fast pitch tent. I liked it for what it was, and the wife liked it because she could stand up in it. Between the dogs and the 1 baby at the time, we were a little tight on space as it was. Now we have another kid and i don't think the tent we have is large enough to be comfortable for everyone.

What are people using for larger families? I was looking at some of the larger 8-10person coleman tents, but wasn't sure if the footprint was going to start getting overly large. I come from backpacking tents, and my wife doesn't understand the smaller size, lol. I try and stay as remote as possible, and some spots last summer were already a little tight with the tent we had. Rooftop tents are out for now at least because of the dogs, and both kids are under 2,so the wife isn't exactly comfortable having to use the ladder for now. Suggestions?

 

[Wellspring]

Gazelle T4 Plus

 

[tritonl]

Gazelle T4 Plus

There is also a T8 Hub Tent, which is two T4's put together and does not have the screen room option.

 

[haaken675]

I'll have to look into both of those. I like the idea, and have looked at the gazelle tents for a while, but they do seem expensive. I wish Kelty made a larger tent. I love my kelty 2 person tent. All mesh and a good rain fly. Perfect ventilation, but clearly not big enough anymore. The last tent the dogs chewed through the mesh screen porch area on my brand new coleman tent after two days, and an $800+ tent having that happen to it would have me putting two dogs down at that point...

 

[roots66]

We researched a lot of options and went with a Kodiak Canvas 10x14. Does not store small, and is not light to carry. However, with your family size, I assume you will have a large enough vehicle to transport it. It has enough room for two queen size air mattresses with space in between to stand/change/etc. (pics below shows available floor space with queen & twin) Having nearly vertical walls means you can use all the floor space. It's strong and sturdy in bad weather, waterproof yet breathable. Not a super quick setup, but 2 people can do it in under 5 minutes.

10 x 14 ft. Flex-Bow VX Canvas Camping Tent with Tarp

Kodiak Canvas 10 x 14 ft. Flex-Bow VX Canvas Camping Tent great camping tent and family tent

www.kodiakcanvas.com

 

[LTV_Chaos]

We’re a family of five, kids 14, 10, and 8 with a dog.

We use the REI brand six man tent. I think it’s the Kingdom tent.

I’m 6’1 and can stand up in it easily. Plenty of space. Easy to set up and take down down. Only has three poles.

REI has great warranties also.

Pete

 

[mmp]

We're a family of 3 and used to have 3 large dogs(Down to 1 dog now ). We have a Coleman 6man Instant tent and a Gazelle T4 Plus. I like both of them but the Gazelle has a thicker material, removeable floor, and an overall higher quality feel than the Coleman. Also the Gazelle will give you two separate rooms. That being said the Coleman is overall lighter and packs smaller. When I go camping without the family I usually take the Coleman along but with the family we like the Gazelle. Lots of options out there.

 

[haaken675]

My big thing is ventilation. I live in Florida, annoyingly enough i really only ever get enough time off during the summer months when all my clients tend to take vacation. That means warm weather, even if not in Florida. We did the Georgia traverse last year during august, and while it wasn't as hot as it was at home, it was still pretty warm most nights, even at elevation. Im going to have to see if I can find a shop locally that sells the gazelle tentsto see if I can check it out in person.

I have a kelty two person backpacking tent and the entire main tent aside from the tub floor is screen mesh, and i love it. I havn''t seen anything else like it, especially in the larger sizes.

 

[mmp]

My big thing is ventilation. I live in Florida, annoyingly enough i really only ever get enough time off during the summer months when all my clients tend to take vacation. That means warm weather, even if not in Florida. We did the Georgia traverse last year during august, and while it wasn't as hot as it was at home, it was still pretty warm most nights, even at elevation. Im going to have to see if I can find a shop locally that sells the gazelle tentsto see if I can check it out in person.

I have a kelty two person backpacking tent and the entire main tent aside from the tub floor is screen mesh, and i love it. I havn''t seen anything else like it, especially in the larger sizes.

We just moved from Georgia to Washington. If we would have stayed we could have met up for a camping trip and you could have checked out our tent. I do understand the hot nights in the summer time. That would be a minus for the Coleman instant tent. It has an integrated rainfly and so doesn't vent as much as other tents. Works fine for spring/fall and winter camping. The T4 plus has a screen room at the front and if you don't use the rainfly then it's just a mesh top. The GA/FL summers will still be hot and muggy though.

 

[Pretzel]

I'll chime in here with my input on the T4-Plus. I love it, tons of space, really well made and if you stake out the hubs it can hold up to some serious winds. My biggest beef is with the mesh. It's small enough that bugs will not bother you but it's so fine it doesn't allow much breeze through either so the tent gets pretty hot.