Well, I was always told the general rule of thumb is you go with a two person tent per person. Big enough for you and your gear. I have the [Core Equipment instant tent](https://www.coreequipment.com/products/12-person-lighted-instant-cabin-tent). Highly recommend them. I literally can put this tent up by myself in about four minutes. I just picked the 12 person because that’s what you have and all your pictures.
It’s nice because you can get two queen size air mattress mattresses side-by-side. The lights are powered by a USB. You can use a battery bank. Plenty of room. Easy to set up and take down. If core is not in your price range and definitely look into an instant tent.
It’s just my husband and me. We bought a core equipment 12 person insta tent with lights . The price for that size has gone up some but they some smaller ones or non-lit ones in your budget
My core 12 person was an awesome tent. A ridge pole finally succumbed to 45 mph wind gusts after three days in sustained winds of 25-35mph on the beach with no wind block. I did use all the guy lines and also tied off every pole to a fence on the side that the wind was smacking. If I had not done that it would have folded over. But they are surprisingly sturdy tents. Waterproofing is the downside since they don’t have taped seem at the bottom (inverted only) and they don’t have bathtub floor design. I’ve been in mine in rain many times though and the worst we had was some pooling at the bottom seam on the windward side. You can’t beat the for size and ease of setup. The only downside is they are very bulky in the bag.
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.
I had the L shaped one for my family of 6. It worked great for us, but as others have said, she's a big girl. I've got a Core 12 person tent now but haven't had all 6 of us in there at the same time. I have had 4 plus two big dogs and it was very comfortable for all of us. I like the openess of the Core tent, but it was really nice having three rooms on the Ozark L shaped tent to separate the kids by age and/or gender so everyone got along a bit better.
IMO Buy a Big Box weekend warrior 10-12 person tent with the main feature being set up time with a close second being ventilation. Nothing worse than waking up to it raining inside your tent. lol
Look at the CORE Equipment Instant 12 Person Cabin Tent. I have the 6 Person version for my wife and I. We fit two cots, the dog bed and cooler with room to stand and dress. I have owned dozens of tents and this one is on the short list of favorites for carcamping.
I have had it for two years and it takes us less than 5 mins to setup.
The set up is the selling point for me when it comes to camping with the family. I used youtube review vids to see how tents worked before settling in on this one. Super helpful.
My son is now 22 and its been my experience that Maximizing the living area for family car camping is the best bang for your buck. Especially on a rainy weekend.
Doing it in a way that doesn’t take all weekend to set up is the best bang for your sanity and marriage.
I love to car camp with friends and family,and have done so for decades. But I also I hunt and fish deep in the wilderness so I have little more hardcore knowledge and use a lot of different gear for those things.
With that, the more expensive tents are not automatically better than the cheaper versions. IMO they are more specialized and usually those differences cost more to make due to the specialized materials etc.
The super expensive small hiking tents are all about weight over everything else, including comfort and durability. As someone that sets up in a State Park 10ft from the SUV those extra dollars are mostly waisted.
Big canvas tents are designed for all seasons durability and long term set up. They are heavy duty in every which way and their setup is more complicated because they can withstand a foot of snow, 60mph winds all while you stay cozy next to the woodstove.
I feel, If you are a fair weather weekend car camping the extra money is not worth putting into a specialized tent. But it really depends on your personal preferences and means. Nothing wrong driving to your plane in a bentley if you can do it.
For me comfort items like a solar generator to run fans, air pumps, lights etc added to the quality of our stay way more than features on a tent that don’t match your need.
I also like using cots and self pumping sleeping mats. As far as sleeping bags go, they are just like tents. Money is for the specialization and buying a real expensive on can lead to disappointment cause some tear so easy. I just use walmart specials and thru some (prob too much) money at a weighted blanket. Wont trade it for anything.
Also Nice comfortable camping chairs, high end coolers or even a fridge go along way.
You can even think bigger and look at maybe a canoe of you want to up your game. Not sure what you drive but car topping a canoe for a car camping trip really opens up a lot of cool adventures including river and island camping.
Anyway, $3k can go a long way. Take your time and figure out what will make things more comfortable so tour family will want to do it more/longer.
Top Camping Tents on Reddit
1
The North Face
Wawona 6
85% positive of 133 users
Spacious vestibule, strong in storms, but rainfly tricky solo.
keptman77
