Big Agnes - Bunk House 4

I'm a big fan of our Big Agnes Bunkhouse 4. With two dogs you might want to keep more of your gear in the vestibules, but for two people it's the perfect size. Can find it on sale for less than $500. Might also want to look at the REI Base Camp 4 or the North Face Wawona 6 (the 4 is kinda small but it is cheaper)

Big Agnes has a better fly and since I had a chance to compare the two side-by-side, I believe it also has better fabric, better poles and probably better design. But that can be subjective so YMMV

My husband and I just got the Big Agnes Bunk House 4 for car camping. He didn’t like it at first but he said it grew on him as the summer went on. (He loved the Big Agnes this one replaced). We sleep on an air mattress in the front country. It’s so much easier to get in and out with a bigger tent. Room on the sides. I am 5’6” and I can stand in it. He’s 6’3” and more comfortable than he’s been in anything else. But I will caution you. A bigger tent limits the sites you can use. It’s not a problem until it suddenly is. I would only go one size bigger. I wouldn’t get a 6 for 2 people.

Big Agnes Bunk House 4. It’s a bomber tent with a large vestibule for when the weather turns bad. As far as waiting for next year’s models, now is the time to strike. Most brands are changing over their tents for next year and you can get way more tent for your money right now.

Big Agnes Bunk House. It’s a bomber tent with a huge vestibule.

Marmot Halo, Limestone MSR Habitude or Habiscape Eureka Spacecamp Big Agnes Bunk House I own the Halo and did a review on it a couple years ago. I also did a review on the Limestone back in 2021. The MSR Habitude and Eureka Spacecamp have review on here too.

The Halo 6p is an awesome choice. So is the Big Agnes Bunk House 6p or 8p. Other great choices are: MSR Habitude MSR Habbiscape Sierra Designs Nomad Eureka Space Camp. This one in particular is a great bargain as Johnson Outdoors is discontinuing this brand. You can get this one for as cheap as $250 or so. Marmot Limestone 6p Marmot Midpines or Pacifica 6p. This is the exact same tent except the colors. The Midpines is sold exclusively at Amazon and the Pacifica is a Dick's Sporting Good/Public Lands exclusive. This one only has one door as vestibule. Most family camping tents have 2 doors and vestibules. The footprint for the Midpines fits the Pacifica. Big Agnes Mad House Nemo Aurora Highrise. This one is decent but lacks a full coverage fly. North Face Wawona. As cheap as $300 on sale. Has a giant porch vestibule. Lacks a full coverage rainfly though.

Marmot Limestone 4p Eureka Space Camp 4p Both of these are unDer $300 If you have room a 6p is a nice upgrade because these are usually standing height. The Marmot Midpines (sold exclusively at Amazon) and the Marmot Pacifica (sold exclusively at Dick's Sporting Goods and Public Lands) are under $250 right now and are excellent shelters. You won't get a rear door or vestibule for that price but otherwise it's excellent. A 6p family camping tent is going to be standing height where most 4p tents are not. The exception to this is the Big Agnes Bunk House 4p and the North Face Wawona 4p are exceptions to this and are standing height. When you step up to a Marmot (which is Coleman's higher end brand), Eureka, Big Agnes, Nemo, MSR etc you are going to DAC aluminum poles(instead of heavy steel or fragile fiberglass), much lower weight and significantly smaller pack sizes vs the huge heavy Coleman Instant Cabin tents. Make sure to buy the manufacturer's footprint to help site cleanup be easier and to protect the tent floor. I also recommend upgrading the tent stakes that come with the tent as they are usually not great. The Paria Outdoor Products Spiral Y beams work great and are affordable for $20 for 10 of them. Use the welcome10 coupon code to save a couple of bucks. Use cashback sites like ActiveJunky.com and Topcashback.com to save a few more bucks. We have a Labor Day megathread stickied on the main subreddit landing page. Sales are quite good right now.

The Limestone is a better value for the money being around $299 online. Big vestibule and lots of room. Dual doors and vestibules. The Bunk House 4p upgrades you to standing height, has a front porch mat and a much nicer bag to pack the tent. Slightly bigger vestibule too. The Bunk House is another $120 though in the 4p model. If you don't care about any of those features then the Marmot Pacifica 4p is only $180 at Dick's or Public Lands. Only has a single door and vestibule, but still has DAC aluminum poles and a lifetime warranty.

All all good choices. The Wawona 6p can be had for $299 assuming you can find one in stock. The Wawona has a large vestibule porch area but is large to setup. It does not have a full coverage rainfly. The Wawona 4p doesn't come with the really big vestibule of the 6p, you have to buy an optional vestibule accessory to get that. The Aurora Highrise doesn't have a full coverage rainfly and I would avoid it. The Big House is basically the Bunk House without the Big front vestibule or the really nice carry bag. It has a more basic stuff sack. You can buy an optional vestibule for this. Habitude/Habbiscape are similar. The Habbiscape is a newer design and is a little bit larger. Only a single door and vestibule on this tent.

Have the Bunk House 4. Perfect size for 1-2 people with cots. I’m just over 6’ and can’t stand full height without my head brushing the top, but it’s comfortable enough to get up and get dressed without slouching.

I’ve been in some real storms in our Bunk House 4 and Aurora Highrise 6 and they both did great. No leaks, no deformations. Earlier Gen Bunk Houses are built like tanks. I trusted the Bunk House over the Aurora but we like the Aurora way more and it really held up in storms.

+1 for Bunk House