Big Agnes - Bunk House 8

I just bought the big Agnes bunkhouse 8 and finished setting it up an hour ago. I’m very impressed with its quality, workmanship and design. It’s replacing an older rei kindgom 8. I also have the North Face Wawona 6. The bunkhouse has a lot of mesh for ventilation, although the fly goes to the ground limiting air flow. If the fly is fully shut, it get a bit stuffy. Overall I’m very happy with it and would recommend the Big Agnes or the North Face Wawona. Both great tents.

What I did when I wanted to test out TV sizes was to make a paper template the size of the screen to see what fit best in the room, You could make a template with kraft paper the size of the tents that you are considering so that you will have an actual visual of how large a tent you will feel comfortable in. You may find that a 6 or 8 person tent is sufficient for your needs and easier to set up and transport. My husband and I have always camped in at least a 8 person tent, our current go to is an eight person Big Agnes Big House tent. It is perfect for us for car camping. We take a smaller Big Agnes Big House 6 person tent for trips that include airline travel but we took a smaller 4 person tent for international travel and camping in France. The different tents and campsite setups is a constant learning process. Walk around the campground and see what others do and you'll find that there are tents of all shapes and sizes. Do whatever makes the camping experience enjoyable for you. I'd suggest the 6 person Agnes as one that you can stand up in and be comfortable with plenty of space for your gear, and a large enough to not feel closed in if you are stuck in on a stormy day. See if there is a place to look at tents fully set up so that you can see how large/small they are.

Finding good flat ground for a 10 person tent can be challenging at times. Some campgrounds have elevated pads for the tents and a 10 person can sometimes overflow. A lot of it depends on how much stuff you bring. Having space in the tent for a board game on a rainy day is definitely an advantage. If it were me, I would go with the six person, and move some sleeping bags if needed to play a board game. I currently use a Big Agnes eight person tent for my family of 5-6.

I've got a Big Agnes bunkhouse tent that's got a nice vestibule on the front for deshodding and storing gear.  It's been in some heckin rainy weather on scout campouts and never gotten wet inside. 

Basecamp is a great tent with a garbage warranty and repair policy. REI only warranties for 1 year, they don't repair tents and don't sell parts. For this reason alone I would take the Bunkhouse hands down. BA has a lifetime warranty.

For being "green focused" not having replacement parts and repair services not not green at all. They have a new CEO and they finally got rid of Eric Artz so we'll see if they improve on this. Even Stoic (backcountry.com brand) and 3F UL Gear (inexpensive Chinese backpacking brand) has a lifetime warranty.

I’ve spent a few nights in the Bunk House and it’s a solid tent. My experience was during a windy and rainy storm. The tent handled it well. I currently own a couple of Big Agnes tents and I love them all. No experience with the Snow Peak.

I have a Big Agnes. Love the tent and love the brand.

Big Agnes, MSR, and Nemo are 3 of the best tent brands available. I ran the warranty desk for an outdoor gear company, and saw the least amount of warranty issues with those brands. They’re not inexpensive, but, you get what you pay for. I have a Big Agnes tent that’s at least 10 years old, we use it regularly and only have to hose the dirt off. It’s amazing. Nemo is awesome too, I know a lot of people with Nemo tents and they love them. I just got an MSR 3 person tent and absolutely love it. Definitely get a 2 person tent. The general rule is to take however many people will be sleeping in the tent, and add 1. So 1 person = 2 person tent, 2 ppl = 3 person tent and so on. A 2 person tent is more comfortable for having your gear inside the tent, changing your clothes, etc. If you don’t plan to go backpacking with it, I’d get a 3-4 person tent just for the space.

After dealing with a warranty issue with Durston I would rather deal with Big Agnes

Big Agnes warranty and customer service help is top-notch. I sent them an email earlier this week and they responded within minutes with a fix that allowed me not to send the tent in and repair it myself.