Core Equipment - 12-person Instant Cabin Tent with Built-In LED Lighting System

I’m going to 2nd [Core 12 person](https://www.coreequipment.com/products/12-person-instant-cabin-tent-18-x-10) is what we have and will confirm it literally takes 3 mins to setup. Take down is easy also. The 10 & 12 person are big tents so yes it’s big when packed away. It fits in the back of my wife’s Explorer just fine in the trunk. Our family of 4 fits perfectly with plenty of room in there wife and I have a queen size air mattress the kids each have a single. We even setup a small table in there basically have a small living room in between our side and the kids. We don’t have a light one, but a simple Coleman lamp that hangs from the center is plenty of light. I don’t know about you but I’m not hanging out in my tent long enough to warrant a light built in. If I were you I’d go with the 12 for the room for $30 more than your stated max budget. We got our 12 person off Amazon $379 that 10 person is cheaper $279 Costco.

Love our 12 man core tent. We’ve had it since 2019 and it’s gone on a bunch of trips with kids and dogs. Simple and affordable without all the gimmicks. We do put down a tarp before setup to protect it though. Just fyi tents are like bike frames - most are made in the same factory with different logos slapped on them and then different distribution companies selling them… just make sure they have a good warranty policy.

Do you already have the air mattresses? If not, consider getting cots instead! We have a CORE 12-person instant cabin tent, it’s got plenty of room and is super easy to setup! It’s not the nicest tent on the market, but we are casual car campers and it works great for our family.

I picked up the 12 person version and just used it this past weekend. It ended up raining one day and it was dry on the inside. Everyone loved how big and spacious it was. I bought this just for my wife, my son, and I lol.

We have the core 12 person for just my husband and me. Highly recommend for a family

I've got a Core 12 person tent. Holds four people, two dogs, and all of our stuff. It's been out probably 20 times, one zipper is a little wonky, but is perfect otherwise. You might not need the 12, but they make them in different sizes. Highly recommend, less than $300.

Pretty sure I have the same one and I think we have had it for 10 years. Use it 3+ times a year too. And some times we rotate to a Core 12 person that’s also instant up.

I did the same. Bought a 10-12 person Costco behemoth for 2 people (usually). It was embarassingly large, we only used a small bit of the space, and I ended up getting a 4 person that is still very spacious but reasonably sized.

If you've got plenty of space in your vehicle(s) to pack the 10 person, do that. We have their easy up style one (poles are already in it, you just pull the joints into place and extend the side poles). I can't remember if it's 10 or 12 people, but we went big for our future family. Right now, it's just me, my husband, our toddler, and our 20lb dog. We comfortably put a queen sized, 18" tall air mattress and pack and play on one side , my husband's large cot on the other with his box fan and our blanket tote. Plenty of room for activities in the middle and down the road we can lay our toddler and his future sibling in the middle and still have space to move around. My husband and I both are 5'10.

We just picked up the core instatent and love it. Takes about 90 secs to set up, plenty of room. It’s not a backpacking tent but we’re really happy with it!

https://preview.redd.it/a9me8t9y7gee1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0294785910567290d6e8cf18d7a18a8e22a48b45 Here’s a view of the inside. Plenty big for 2 cots. We went with 6 person for the extra room when our kids go with us.

Family of 5 here - we did the Core instant pop tent, it was a game changer, makes camping with the r family so much easier. They are bigger to pack than the standard pole tents.

Love the Core Instant Cabin. Goes up super fast and is cheap at Costco

Get an instant cabin tent for the adults (5 minute setup) and possibly smaller tents for the kids. Your mom will likely also need a cot or tall air mattress, getting up off the floor or even sleeping on a hard floor can be too much as you get older. Core, Coleman, and Walmart all make inexpensive instant tents. Our core tent has lasted for 3 years of monthly camping trips. It's not great at heavy rain, but the newer models are supposed to be better.

Look at Core Cabin tents. I think Costco sells them. Easy to set up for first timers and you can stand in them. Get a 6 or 8 person. Keep in mind that the number is the number of average sized sleeping bags it will hold crammed next to each other.

I have a core cabin tent and I adore it. It’s my home in the woods. My partner and I bought it five years ago and we use it at least 6 times a year going camping with my parents. We only had one issue with one pole snapping (after a toddler got hold of it) and it was easily repaired with a kit we got at Walmart.