ALPS Mountaineering - Camp Creek 6 Tent

Here’s what I would do. I would buy a 4-6 person tent that is 6’ tall and has a full rain fly with vestibules on each side. This gives you room Inside for sleeping and standing up to get dressed. The vestibules give room for gear storage and the rain fly keeps everything dry. A good tarp to go under the tent will help keep the ground dry. Make sure the tarp does not extend beyond the tent/rain fly or water will pool underneath and seep up into the tent floor. Bring a large tarp and some collapsible poles and rope/stakes to put up a dining fly for your cooking/eating area. I’m a big fan of Alps Mountaineering equipment. It’s a good value for a good price. It’s not the best high end but it’ll last a long time if you take care of it. Most of my gear is Alps and I camp at least once a month. The browning Glacier 4 or the Alps 6 person cabin tent may be good options to look at. Alps has an ultralight shelter tarp and a set of poles available too. If you decide to use an air mattress, remember the air in the mattress will get very cold so you need an insulation layer to keep you warm at night.

Third on the ALPS Mountaineering tents. My family has used a 6P for car camping for several years. We use an orange plastic tarp for a groundsheet. It has aluminum poles.

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.