TIA
Kathy

I myself am a BIG fan of Eureka tents. I have three of them (different sizes and uses) and find them to be tops in quality.

If you plan to own your tent for several years, my advice is to avoid fiberglass poles. They will last a while, but eventually they will shatter.

Eureka has a decent range of prices. You can get a 4-person Timberline for just $140. Yeah, its not a sexy looking as some of the dome tents, but it is a very good tent for the money that is extremely weatherproof. It is the best-selling tent in history for a reason.

If you really want a dome tent, then the fiberglass poled 4-person Eureka Tetragon 8 is only $90 at Campmor.com.

By the way, I don't have any connection with Eureka or Campmor, but I do like their products/service. I have also purchased tents from arkatents.com with good service and prices.

I appreciate your advice and I have heard great things about Eureka but can't afford them. Quality is nice but so is food on the table. LOL Since we tent only a couple times a year we don't have to spend the money on the best quality.

Thanks again.

Kathy

Dale

If you need more windows, then they have a Sunrise 9 for $170 in Hot Deals too. The problem there is that the windows are a source of leaks in the rain.

Invest in some decent rain gear so you don't have to spend rainy days inside your tent. Good ponchos can be fairly inexpensive.

What I like to do mostly with a tent is to make an overnight canoe/fishing trip down river. My main base camp is now a popup camper (tent trailer) so the tent is secondary. By the way, quite often I will pitch the tent next to the popup for storage, to get camping gear out of sight, like lanterns, fishing equipment, ect..

I'm 5' 11" and like y'all, I like to be able to stand up in the tent. Now I like the size tent I presently have and the previous one, too, which was the exact same size - 9' X 9' with a 6' peak. Pleanty of room for two people and their gear (and I should think for one little person, too). And it's an easy job of setting up and taking down. The present tent is an Eureka "Sunrise 9", I bought it a couple of years ago for $160.00 and they paid the freight -
(www.vtarmynavy.com)
This is an excellent summer tent in that it has great ventilation - and I've been caught out in some hard rain and it has nary leaked a drop ... that's around the windows or anyplace else.

The previous tent, same size, 9' X 9' with a 6' peak, another dome style tent but it did not have the windows the present Eureka Sunrise has. But none-the-less, it was an excellent tent and I had it for a few years - also, some hard rains, but no leaks with that one either. Now I bought this tent from K-Mart - called "Northwest Territory". The tent was on a 30% Labor Day sale, regular $79.95 and I got the thing for less than sixty bucks, tax included. What's important is that tent does not owe me a dime, it was well used when I got through with it (but I also take care of my gear).

Since your not going to use a tent all that much, I don't see how buying a K-Mart or Wal-Mart tent will be all that bad. Consider this, I know for a fact if you bought a tent from our local Wal-Mart and it leaked, or anything other was wrong with it, they would take it back and refund your money in a flash! I see our local Wal-Mart has tents on display and if I remember right, they were something like $59.95 for about the size I'm talking about. Bottom line: your not going to be using the tent all that often. AND, when you are using it, you'll be out doing things and the only time you will be in the tent is for dressing and sleeping. I'd vote for the Wal-Mart special.

When you and DH begin planning to climb Mt. Everest, we will worry about finding you a tent with all the whisles and bells ... THEN.

Good luck,

Dale

We've found that having a tent that is self-standing - one that has poles supporting every single corner - is important. In sandy soil the tents that have to be staked out to be taught are never taught enough - and therefore water and dirt end up sitting on the part that ends up laying on the ground. You also lose a lot of interior room that way.

The further down the rainfly comes and more window space you have, the better. Good luck!

For dry space while camping during rain, step up a tarp, pitched to shed water and staked/poled to keep it steady in the breeze. The tarp doubles as a sun shade, too. Set up chairs, coolers, cooking station and/or a picnic table under it, and hang out there. IMO, a tent is for lying down and sleeping.

The largest Ridgeway tent they currently carry is a 3-room cabin dome with a great screen room in front (I think it's still called the Saratoga). It's about $100.

BTW, the label will say "Ridgeway by Kelty". Although the Ridgeway label is owned by Kelty (an excellent tent manufacturer), this label is used for their budget line and the tents are manufactured by 3rd parties (like Wenzel).

IMHO, this is a good 3-season tent and it can be made more rain-worthy if you use seam-sealant and pitch it correctly with lines. It's best used for general car-camping.

They are not designed to stand up to harsh use (winter, heavy rains, high winds, etc). But for someone who camps in good weather four or five times a year they make a good choice.

If you go with one. Set it up before you ever go camping for they are many poles that must be put into their proper place and trying to figure them out the first time takes some doing. Tagging them helps. Using a piece of Scotch tape over top of a small piece of paper explaining where each pole goes attached to the poles themselves helps a lot.

One other note on using a Wenzel. ALWAYS use a ground cloth (tarp, piece of plastic etc) laid down to set the tent on will help keep the floor dry. Take a tarp large enough to cover 2/3 of the tent will help keep it dry in a light rain, heavy fog or dew.

I personally would not buy a Wenzel for I to am a Eureka tent beleiver. But I have friends that owns Wenzels and they fit their needs nicely.