ALPS Mountaineering - Big Horn Two-Room 8

I have the Browning Big Horn 8 person tent (old version, brown and khaki, there's an updated gray version). My family of 5 sleeps comfortably in it. It's held up in heavy rain with no problem. You can usually find it on sale in your price range.

I love my Alps tent and they’re not too expensive.

Personally I have two Gazelle knock offs that are just absolute chefs kiss. Unfortunately that company sucks and they don’t make them anymore. I would be hesitant to buy an Ozark Trail tent, but I do have a $30 tent from Academy that I use for outdoor storage and it stays surprisingly dry. I love my Alps tent, and I think it was Eric on YouTube that did a budget trip and the Featherstone tent he really liked.

The kingdom tents from REI are great. the tubeshape and features are quite nice so are the extras.... but if you want easy to put up an down the instant tents from Ozark Trail I used with my family when kids were young in cub scouts for 5+ years. I the integrated poles made for putting it up and down very quick and easy even by myself, and I could stand up and had 4 cots in them. The may be cheaper than others but there are a few brands that make the instant tents with integrated poles. I was surprised how well my ozark held up. also check out the alps brands, they are built well, but heavy.

Anything by Alps mountaineering. Really good warrantee, great quality, good pricing.

Look into Coleman for decent and affordable. I've been happy with Alps Mountaineering on Amazon. Best suggestions I can offer.

All the tents from Alps mountaineering have treated me very well in wind and rain. Colemans not so much.

Yeah the marketing is so bad. There are 3 season tents that are better suited for colder climates but they aren't advertised like that. So weird. In the south, I recommend Kelty tents a lot because their 2 layer tents have almost-full mesh bodies. I notice that people in the northern US swear by Alps Mountaineering tents... their bodies happen to have a lot less mesh in the body. They're like 3.5 season tents, lol (but they'd be bad in the south).

The alps mountaineering tents are a solid option.

Kelty and Alps Mountaineering have both been good to me. Quality gear at excellent prices. I often reach for my alps gear more than my expensive MSR gear sometimes. Anecdotally, my Kelty Grand Mesa has lasted me almost 20 years. Still waterproof. My Alps Mountaineering tent has withstood several Pacific Northwest storms and many nights of absolutely frigid temps. Hasn’t let me down either. Check out discount websites like Sierra.com and Steep&Cheap for good sales.

Second on the Alps, and I also own a Nemo dragonfly osmo. Some people will say they aren't necessary, but I disagree 100 percent, especially in your use case. Get. a. ground cloth/footprint. Even if it's a $4 dollar general blue tarp. If somebody in the troop has access to tyvek housewrap, even better. You can run that through a wash and dry cycle and make it a lot less crinkly if you want. Unless you plan on camping on carpeting, there will inevitably be a stick, rock, piece of broken glass or debris that will scratch or puncture your floor. As far as purchasing, also keep an eye on the REI Garage Sale. I've seen some really good deals on things that were returned after a couple uses or missing an item that could be easily replaced.