ALPS Mountaineering - Taurus

[Hikerdirect.com](http://Hikerdirect.com) Make an account using your BSA credentials. All Alps Mountaineering gear at generally 30-50% off retail. The Taurus 4 is roomy but not tall for standing. The Taurus 5 is about 6' at the peak. Hot tents are a gimmick. There is a reason no reputable company makes one at a price under 1k.

[Hikerdirect.com](http://Hikerdirect.com) Make an account using your BSA credentials. All Alps Mountaineering gear at generally 30-50% off retail. The Taurus 4 is roomy but not tall for standing. The Taurus 5 is about 6' at the peak. Hot tents are a gimmick. There is a reason no reputable company makes one at a price under 1k.

I second the Alps Mountaineering, especially the Tarus, built well, easy set up, and you're not going to be taking out a second mortgage to pay for them. We use them in my son's Scout troop monthly and they've held up for years of use (make sure you get the Tarus with aluminum poles, it's a bit more expensive than the one with fiberglass poles but they last)!

Alps 6 person with vestibule. Holds up to wind and rain.

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

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.

Three years ago, seeking a tent with more space, I bought a cheap Alps Mountaineering Meramac 3 \[with a footprint $145\]. It's a solid - conventional dome tent, and has held up well. The only issue I had with the Meramac is that the tent fly doesn't fully cover the entries, and since it rains in sheets on the PNW coast, I bought an Alps Taurus 4 \[full tent fly/aluminum poles\]. The Meramac with excellent ventilation is for Spring/Summer, the Taurus with less ventilation is for Fall/Winter. Alps has several 6-man tents that you might like. I'd take a look at the Lynx 6 person. Between value and price, Alps has hit a sweet spot.

My first super-cheap Alps tent was a pleasant surprise, so I recently bought a Taurus 4-person Expedition tent for the fall/winter season. I needed a rugged tent that could manage heavy coastal PNW winds and torrents of rain. I haven't tried Alps gear other than their tents, but somehow they have managed to provide good value for a fair price.

3 person minimum for two to sleep comfortably. Need to decide if you want room to stand up or not. Full size cots (normal bed height) or low profile cots (4” off the ground) or just sleeping pads on the tent floor? A couple options to look at. I own both and can confirm they do VERY well in Washington state. We use them once a month for Boy Scouts camping. Alps mountaineering Lynx 3 or the Taurus 4 if you want more room Browning glacier 4 if you want 6’ high for standing and full size cots. All those options have a rain fly that goes all the way to the ground with vestibules for keeping gear out of the rain (chairs, coolers, muddy boots etc)

Troop scoutmaster here. If you are in a troop (11-17 year olds). I strongly recommend getting two tents. One for you and one for your scouts. The scouting program wants to encourage SYT best practices and youth independence by having adults and youth tent separately if at all possible. The challenge is finding a tent that is big enough to be comfortable but small enough to pack and travel well. In general, a 3 person tent will be big enough for two people plus their gear. A two person tent will be big enough for one person and their gear. You can go smaller or larger but that’s a good starting point. If you’re just starting out, I might recommend looking at more car camping style tents which will be bigger, heavier but more durable and comfortable than more compact backpacking style tents. Depending on your area and typical weather patterns, you might want to look for something with a full rain fly that goes all the way to the ground and has covered vestibules. These will keep you the driest in rainy weather. As for specific recommendations, I strongly encourage you to create a free account/profile on www.hikerdirect.com. It is an unpublished website owned by Alps Mountaineering that is intended for scouts to purchase good quality gear at nearly 50% off retail prices. I have used their products almost exclusively in my 8 years of scouting with my kids and everything has been great quality. My favorite tents are the Lynx, Taurus, glacier 4 and Ranger 1. (I currently own over 7 tents)

Our Trail Life troop bought a bunch of the Alps Meramac 2-person tents for the troop. After a while I decided I liked the tent, but just wanted more room. So got the Taurus 4 person tent. Also switch from an air mattress to a cot. Now my back is happy, and because of the bigger tent, my head and feet are not poking into the sides of the tent.

My Scout troop uses ALPS Mountaineering Taurus tents with aluminum poles. They're great and do not break the bank. We used to use Eurekas with fiberglass poles and were constantly replacing poles or complete tents when the poles eventually split. I think I've only replaced 2 or 3 poles since we switched.

any of the alps mountaineering 4 person tents. they're awesome for the money

Have one and it's awesome. Heavy for backpacking but split between members it's not bad.