Sundome 3

If you are car camping get a 2 or 3 person tent. That way when they start to get older than can camp with a friend. I got a cheap 3 person Coleman as a kid. Then used with with a friend. Plenty of room for 2 people and gear spread out.

Either a Coleman basic model or Core tent from Costco. I got a Core from Costco about five years ago for about $125, use it all the time, and still love it. I think it’s a six person although only three of us use it with plenty of room and the ability to stand up.

6 person tent is nice and roomie but you only need a two 4 person tents. I'd go Coleman as a basic tent it comes with everything but a tarp to lay under it. Scouting they usually tent two to a tent with smaller kids having an extra person in their tent.

Honestly, people recommending $300+ tents for simple car camping are nuts with money to burn. Used a 12 year old, $60 coleman this year in the rain, was fine

A lot of people in these subs are either unlucky or spoiled. I just gave my 3-person, $60 Coleman tent I bought roughly 12 years ago to my sister to use, as I needed to upgrade to a 4-person now that I've got a toddler. It rained when we went out this year, and it didn't didn't leak. I waterproof sprayed it about 10 years ago, so I doubt that even did anything other than permanently stain it a bit as I can still where I went over the seams with the spray lol People preaching "you get what you pay for" have to say that to justify spending $800 on a tent when their doing the same kinda camping I'm doing (car camping) with less space than me lol

I've had a coleman sundome for a few years now and it's been a great tent for me. I have had it in some pretty heavy rain and it's always been dry inside. However, the last year or so I have been tieing a large tarp over my tent area to help a bit with some of the condensation / water that tracks through. It's a very small tent and I always end up touching *a* side and that causes water to come through. With a tarp over top it does a better job of keeping dry.

Sundome is much lower quality than the other options. If you're looking at Coleman, step up to at least the Skydome. Funny enough I was going to recommend the Basecamp. Ventilation isn't great with the fly on but that's very common with cheap tents. I like wooded campsites anyway where you can angle the mesh portions of the tent into the trees and keep the non-mesh facing the walkway for privacy. Kelty kinda owns the cheap-but-mostly-quality space. The Discovery Trail 3P is very meshy which helps with ventilation but still a lack of fly vents. If you can stretch the budget or find a good sale, the Kelty Rumpus 4 is a killer deal. Lots of ventilation, vented fly, and a great vestibule that you can keep wide open to help with ventilation. The Teton looks fine. I like the look of the higher denier fabric and vented fly. Teton has historically been a cheap crap brand but they've really made some improvements in the last few years. I don't love that their "lifetime warranty" explicitly mentions that things like bent poles are considered normal wear. The marmot is an excellent option if you can get it at a good price and you're genuinely okay with a 2p.

I went through heavy downpours with a Coleman sundome including inches of standing water, never had a leak. The bottom of the tent is especially well-designed for water I think since it goes up the sides and doesn’t have seams on the bottom. I have camped in this tent in cooler fall weather in the Midwest down to around 30F and was pretty okay when layered up in my sleeping bag with hand warmers inside. I totally trust this tent in rain though. ETA: I just looked closer at the picture you posted and this tent is different from the one I have, though it has the same design on the bottom. The 4-person sundome tent has a different rain fly/window design, though it still isn’t a full rain fly.

The coleman sundome was my go-to for 2 decades of car camping. Great ventilation and it’s waterproof for at least the first few years, after that either spray it or replace it.

If you’re looking for an affordable tent, get one of the coleman dome tents.  Keep in mind that a 6 person tent will be very tight for 6 full grown people. If the boys are 15+ get at least a 8 person tent.

Same here. I have this exact tent and it most definitely is a three-seasons tent. I've been poured on for days in the PNW with no leaks.

Several recommendations for the Coleman tents. Of the two models mentioned, Sundome and Skydome, the Skydome is the far better tent in my opinion. The Skydome has an all clip suspension, while the Sundome has partial pole sleeves. An all clip suspension tent is much easier to pitch solo than a tent that uses sleeves. Stake the corners, assemble the poles, insert poles in the corners. Unzip the door, take off your shoes, step into middle of tent, clip the top clip over both poles. Attach the rest of the clips and add the fly. The Sundome, you'll have to raise the tent body as you insert the poles in the corners. That adds weight and resistance. Lastly, the Skydome has a full coverage rainfly, while the Sundome only comes down halfway. Spend a little more and get the superior tent.