Looking at our first family tent for some camping this summer. I thought I had my mind set on a Coleman tent, with two rooms, pet den and gear loft. Today at Walmart, I saw an Ozark Trail model that has a large dome tent and two smaller ones. The tents can be used individually, or connected together, which might also suit my family's needs. My concern is that Walmart has so many of the different kinds of Ozark Trail tents, and I've come to distrust some of the brands that Walmart carries. The tents are very close in price.

I want the tent to give us many summers of camping. I like the design of the Coleman tent, but the Ozark Trail offers a different kind of versatility. Do I go with the brand I'm familiar with, or take a chance on the brand I'm not so familiar with?

Coleman has a reputation of Quality products. I would go with products you know.

Lee

I have owned several tents, and I've went the Ozark Trail route...first time I put it up, one of the tent peg loops broke off, it rained and the tent leaked like there was no rainfly. So, when I bought my second tent...I stepped up and went with Coleman...better quality, didn't leak..much. I mean it had to be really coming down for long period before water found it's way inside, and the tent lasted for several summers before being retired. I now have one of the newer dome type family tents that seems to be doing a good job..believe it's a Coleman as well.

I think you first have to look at Climate. Here in OK, Spring time camping season is also Thunderstorm and raining season..so the tent has to be able to stand up. If you feel that the both tents are equal...then I would go with Coleman. Just an opinion.

Ozark Trail is walmarts house brand. I've seen some of their stuff in action. Anything nylon is dubious in my experince. I'd put it a slight step below academy broadway, which isn't very good either.

I have to agree with the other's Ors... Ozard Trail is "manufactured in China for exclusive distribution by Wal-Mart" and as such, it's quite literally the cheapest stuff you can find. The fact that you want it to last for a few years tells me that OT is unlikely to be your choice. Coleman has at least a middle reputation for quality (although there are certainly times on their cheaper stuff that's not the case). But OT has pretty much across the board failed to impress me at any time I've purchased their stuff. I've not had a tent from them, but I've had various goods. Their sewing seems pathetic and is unreinforced, the nylon is third rate, shreds easily, etc.

There are plenty of tents not by either OT or Coleman and many are reasonbly priced for their size and versatility. If you go with OT, just be aware it probably won't last a full season, let alone two. Coleman will likely last several years.

If you do go with the Ozark Trails, open it at the store and inspect the construction and the feel of the materials. They may have improved their quality (I stopped buying anything by them a few years ago).

For a real imformative disscussion on cheap tents check out this thread on the Outdoors-Magazine forum. Some of the people might seem a bit "gear-snobbish", but they really do have good advice.

-Blast

I've never had an OT tent, but I have had a Coleman. I used it for several years and it withstood some serious storms blowing off Lake Superior. It did well, it had to really be raining and blowing hard to leak seriously. My biggest complaint was that it had poor ventilation. Other than that it was a great tent for the money and for what I used it for.

I concure completely with the opinions of Ozark Trail Tents. I don't know what kind of budget you're on but try looking at www.sportsmansguide.com They have name brands like Coleman, Eureaka, MSR, etc. at a decent price.

Gear Snobbish?!? What the??? <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Seriously though, Ors, check out that thread if you have a moment or two to spare. We talked about a few differnt brands in that thread.

Ors,

The main thing to always keep in mind when shopping at Walmart is that they have mass production runs performed just for them by many companies. These large orders will be made by Walmart to a Chinese factory (or any other) and the production lot will be made faster at a lower quality. That is one reason Walmart can sell at a cheaper price. Remember, about 10% of all Chinese exports in the world go to Walmart.

I would go with Coleman, but I wouldn't buy it at Walmart. I have Coleman folding camping chairs from Walmart that immediately ripped.

Walmart does more business with the People's Republic of China than France. True- Wallyworld, if counted as a nation, would be the ChiCom's 5th largest trading partner, as of 2000. The way things were looking then, they might be the 4th by now.

I'd have to echo what you've heard here, go with the Coleman tent. I have found their gear to be a little heavy, but, well constructed for the money. If you're going to spend a lot of money for lightweight, high quality backpacking gear, you can find better equipment, but, you're paying a real premium.
I'm assuming when you say "family camping", you're talking about basically tailgating, right? Drive up to the site, empty out half the house from the back of the SUV?

We have a big Coleman family tent that we call "the condo". It's for when my wife comes camping with us. We've had it for over 10 years now. It doesn't get real heavy use, but, multiple trips a year certainly. Still sheds the rain fine and keeps the bugs out. Do make sure you seal the seams of your new tent. That's something people forget, until the first rainstorm.

My son and I mostly do backpacking, so we opt for smaller, lighter gear. I like my Sierra Designs 2-man for backpacking, although we also have one of Coleman's eXponent line of tents that's suitable for backpacking, and is really pretty competitive with far more expensive models from MSR, North Face, etc. We recommend all sorts of Coleman gear to the new scouts joining the troop. (And the Coleman outlet gives Scouts and Scouters 20% off their gear when you show your BSA card. (even off sale prices!)

Have fun camping!

Here's a couple of reviews on the Instant Tents made by Coleman and Ozark Trail. Overall the Ozark Trail is much better quality and is more weather resistant. Coleman usually makes a decent product but they really missed the mark with their instant tents.

http://www.tent-reviews.com/ozark-trail/ozark-trail-8-person-instant-cabin-tent-review/

http://www.tent-reviews.com/coleman/coleman-instant-tent-6-review/

Welcome to ETS Mharrison

Exactly what I had to say about our almost 15 years old huge 3 room 10 person Coleman tent experience. Still kicking perfectly! Very comfy, made to last.

Nice. Necro a 9 year old thread for blog spam purposes...

Mods notified.

Wow! I didn't noticed it's from 2006!

The reason I reported it as spam is because many of the reviews on their website have affiliate links to various other sites...That to me is hidden commercial advertisement. Regardless, you have the final veto on the matter

Well, for my two cents, I would not buy a tent from either brand unless it was for camping the back yard, in ideal weather, and not too far from the back door...

I bought a coleman instant dome 6 at the wife's request earlier this year. Heavy, leaked in the rain, lots of condensation when it didn't rain. But it worked okay. Plenty of room, and went up quick. For a fairweather tent it will do. I guess I got my money's worth, more or less.

Hey guys, I'm obviously new to the forum. I've been building a tent review resource that I'm proud of and want to share my info with other enthusiasts. If it's not for this forum I'll politely leave. Happy Trails!

I purchased one of these for a trip to South Dakota (Custer State Park). I used it for a week, we had one rainstorm (very short), but I had the rainfly on so I was spared. I think it's a "decent" tent, but it's very heavy. It's not a backpackers tent by any means.

I trust Coleman to give me something that meets the minimum requirements. I've given up being "wowed" by them a long, long time ago.

If I am not mistaken, the poles in both of these tents are fiberglass/plastic or some such stuff - a sure sign of mediocrity. Better tents will have aluminum poles, among other features.

Backyard use is about right.

Do those of you with the really large family camping tents find it more difficult to locate a suitable leveled spot to put it up? Sometimes I have a bit of trouble finding a good spot even for my smaller tents.

With a family, I think I'd rather have two smaller tents than one jumbo, multi-room tent anyway. It would give the parents some space, older kids some privacy, and little kids a bit of on-their-own adventure. It's also less hassle when the whole crew isn't going.

My wife and I have used a Coleman brand tent for several years when car-camping. It's easy enough to erect or strike, roomy enough for full airbeds and dogs, and nothing has ever torn, ripped or broken on it. The only problem was that the original stuffsack was way too small to ever get the tent back in once removed for the first time. Also, the tent never seen a serious rain or wind storm, and I have enough doubts about it to always bring along a small mountaineering tent, just in case.