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
We used a 3 person Coleman tent for almost a decade of car camping and a few years of back country winter camping. It held up through tornado warnings, snow and rain. We finally upgraded this year because the zipper and the poles were starting to go.
It was well worth the $70? we spent on it.
I feel like location may be a big factor. My troop mostly car camp. Very infrequent backpacking.
I’m in Missouri and a $40 Coleman 2 or 3 person is a great starting point. If they stick with it upgrade from there.
I love the Coleman 6 person dome tents. I use them for my Girl Scout troop.
If you want to use them in colder temps, I recommend the Darkroom over the Sundome. The rainfly goes lower and provides more insulation.
Karona_
