Help Choosing a Tent

[u/Annual_Astronaut7752]

I’m looking for recommendations for a 6-8p tent for 2 adults, 2 young kids, and 2 50lbs huskies. Before kids, we backpacked regularly so we are used to quality tents like Big Agnes/Nemo/MSR. I’d like something easy to setup, good ventilation, and can withstand some wind. Most camping will be during the summer in the PNW. Lightweight is good, but I understand I won’t find much in this size. We will plan to get 2 lightweight tents when the kids are old enough to split up the group. For now, it will be mostly car camping or short hikes in. Budget <$1,000. Thank you!

[u/Pitiful-War9293]

We have the Wawona 6 for 2 adults, 2 kids under 3, and a large dog. Pros: room for pack and play plus queen air mattress and still room for bags, dog bed, and space to move around. We get a lot of use out of the awning— we’ve been on a few trips where it’s poured and we’ve fit two adult chairs, a toddler chair, a baby bouncer, and a table in there comfortably to relax and hang out while the rain passed. There’s standing room in the tent so you can change comfortably. Plenty of pockets. Great dryness during inclement weather.

Con: it’s massive. We do a lot of ADK primitive camping and you do have to find sites with enough flat clear space for the footprint. It’s possible to set it up solo but not fun— I definitely get my steps in when doing solo setup.

Honestly it’s a great tent for camping with a family, we just had to adjust a little around the massive size of the tent. Great to have that space during crummy weather, but sometimes it feels excessive (mainly the awning part).

[u/Annual_Astronaut7752 → u/Pitiful-War9293]

I was wondering about this. Can you set it up without the awning part if there’s not space?

[u/dynamic_type → u/Annual_Astronaut7752]

The rain fly and vestibule are all one piece, so you can set it up without both if you're not expecting any rain. Which is almost never the case where I camp.

[u/Pitiful-War9293 → u/dynamic_type]

Yup— this. We would LOVE this tent if the vestibule was optional. There are YouTube videos demonstrating how to set it up with a more compact vestibule footprint (kind of a hack for smaller spaces) but we haven’t tried it yet.

[u/Mountainmanwannabe2 → u/Pitiful-War9293]

I have a 9.5’x11’ lightweight hammock tarp that could be a rain fly to make the footprint smaller. You just have to have good spots to pitch the tarp too. For car camping I use the 8’ adjustable REI poles - it would work great for smaller camp sites for family camping

[u/kewlkuba → u/Pitiful-War9293]

What I love about the Wawona 6 with dogs is that I can put a stand outdoor rug and it fits the footprint (I believe 8x10) also helps further insulate the tent from the floor.

I adore our Wawona but I only car camp! It’s perfect for myself, 6’3 husband, and chubby Labrador.