Discovery Element 4

Kelty all day every day in that price range. Discovery Element 4 and it's footprint is well under budget and gets you to a little more comfortable size for storing your gear. If you're backpacking or otherwise prioritizing size/weight the Discovery Trail 2 or Grand Mesa 2 would work as well.

https://www.steepandcheap.com/kelty-discovery-element-4-tent-4-person-3-season I have this tent. A pole did snap but Kelty warranty replaced it. I think it may have been a fluke, there was 4 straight days of rain. I had a mishap with it (my fault this time) so I just replaced it for $80 shipped. Most of our scouts have Kelty tents. We're in the southeast. Nothing wrong with Coleman either though. Perhaps better for you actually. They dont have a full rainfly so you'll get more condensation on that single wall - not a huge issue. They're pretty bullet proof though and the thick tent floor is nice, no need for a footprint tarp.

Where do you camp, what is the weather like? Generally Kelty or Alps Mountaineerimg tents are the budget tents that are a step up from Coleman. Two layer (separate body and rainfly) are most forgiving. Full rainfly (covers the whole body) is best. More mesh in the body for hot and humid. Less mesh for colder climates.

Yeah the marketing is so bad. There are 3 season tents that are better suited for colder climates but they aren't advertised like that. So weird. In the south, I recommend Kelty tents a lot because their 2 layer tents have almost-full mesh bodies. I notice that people in the northern US swear by Alps Mountaineering tents... their bodies happen to have a lot less mesh in the body. They're like 3.5 season tents, lol (but they'd be bad in the south).

I have the kelty Discovery Element and like it. We camped in 20 campgrounds this summer so we had a lot of set up/take down and I have no complaints!

I have a kelty discovery element that we took down every day on a road trip this summer and it was the least painful part of setting up/breaking down. Color coded so you know what goes where, two poles, shark mouth bag so you can just jam it back in. Up/down in just a couple of minutes, after spending one zillion minutes deflating pads and squeezing them small again.

I have a great easy to set up kelty discovery element tent that's a pretty teal, and have a women's sleeping bag from them too in a similar color way. I spent all summer in both and am happy with them.

For budget, I love my kelty discovery element tent. It takes less than 5 mins to setup, everything is color coded.

How long is a long trip, and what are the concerns of failing? Most tents can last a good long time without issue. Make sure you are thinking about takedown time as well, just because it's fast up doesn't mean it'll be fast down as well. We did a month last summer plus a bunch of weekends in a Kelty tent, which I could set up and take down on my own in under 5 mins. Two poles, color coded, didn't cost me one zillion dollars, easy to get back into the bag without folding it perfectly. I think you're overthinking this.

I just bought the Kelty Discovery for an upcoming trip. Fits in my bag well and I think it’s going to do good.

I have had a normal kelty 4 man and the daydreamer 6. The 4 held up great for almost a decade of use (~6 trips a year with that tent) before we needed more space and upgraded. The day dreamer 6 is pitch black inside which is great for getting kids/dogs to sleep in later than sunrise. The thick fly to keep out light definitely adds a pound or two to the day dreamer vs a normal tent.

it fits my kelty 6 comfortably with space on the size. it was very tight with my kelty 4

I have two tents (both kelty brand) a two person for solo backpacking/short trips where bad weather isn’t forecast and a 4 person for trips where I have another person in the tent with me or I plan on having to spend more time in the tent. Totally a reasonable move and the bigger tents really aren’t usually much harder to set up unless you have some huge 10 person multi room situation