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.
Kelty Rumpus, 4 or 6 person models check off most of your needs and desires. Huge porch area for the doggo. Partially orange in color. Easy to setup even single handed( i have experience at this). Fits your budget pretty close, 4 person is under $300, 6 person size a little over if it's not on sale. Strong aluminum alloy poles.
Can not recommend Kelty enough!! A few different styles to choose from & can be found on a variety of websites like REI, Backcountry, etc. if you like to hunt for sales. We have the Rumpus 6p (my sister has the 4p and really enjoys it as well) & it has a great balance of features for the price. It’s tall enough for me (5’9”) to stand upright, but my partner (6’3”) cuts it close. Pockets on both sides to store items while you sleep & some internal loops to hand string lights or a lantern. My biggest kudos has to be the rainfly tho! It can be really tricky to find a budget tent with an adequate rain fly. Most Kelty’s come with fly’s that cover to the ground (even on 6p models) & spacious vestibules that make leaving shoes or other gear outside of the tent a nonissue.
I would also second a previous commenter’s note about considering two 4p tents as 6p can take up quite of bit of ground space without a ton of flexibility.
I read reviews and watch YT videos. I got a Kelty Rumpus 4 last year, took it out once and it was perfectly fine. I wanted it bc of the larger vestibule and needed to get a bigger tent in general.
https://preview.redd.it/yqx57nupyazg1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f8f559fe2f7f23b7eee2fcbc027e9a8aa1cea55
A ShiftPod or an ice fishing tent might be fine if you can afford it, but there are less expensive solutions as well. if you are willing to do some work. I camped for 10 years in the cheapest 3-person dome tent I could find at Big 5 Sporting Goods. It cost me $35, plus labor and materials to harden it for the Playa. That's cheaper than the cheapest insulated ice fishing tent I found on the Internet: $137.90 at Home Depot.
I modified my cheap dome tent by sewing nylon cloth over the mesh windows to block the dust. If I did it again I would probably just glue the nylon fabric over the mesh windows, leaving just one corner to Velcro strips I could pull open to get some top ventilation in times of mild wind.
To make it cooler, I added a Reflectix (aluminized bubble wrap) cover to the top and South facing sides to keep the sun and heat out. This has the added advantage of helping to keep the tent dry when it rains. Covering the tent with an opaque cover undoubtedly reduced UV sun damage that weakens the nylon tent fabric. The Reflectix cost more than the tent itself, but it was worth it for the heat protection.
I set grommets in the Reflectix material so I could secure it to the tent and tent stakes. Some may get a fancy grommet setting kit, but I just bought the grommets and pounded them down with a hammer to set them into the fabric. This was very inexpensive.
Then I got a thin dashboard sun screen to hang across the main door. I also replaced the puny tent stakes with 18" rebar, and the tent felt very secure even in the highest winds on the Playa. I surrounded the tent with some solar lights, and draped more solar lights over the top, hoping that this would prevent anyone from running over my tent at night.
Does it stay cold all day? No, but it stays a lot cooler than the oven-like temperature I experience with no Reflectix cover. I can sleep in there until mid-morning if necessary. Does it stay dark inside? No, but the Reflectix blocks the sun very well, and it would be relatively dark during the day if I added a Reflectix panel to cover the door.
There are some limits to this solution. On the tenth year, one of the corners separated from the rest of the tent. At that point I retired this tent, in favor of a 4-person Kelty dome tent (formerly used for family camping) that also is a good size for one person and all of their gear. After 10 years the Reflectix aluminized coating started dropping off and turning into moop on the Playa, so the next year I replaced it with an aluminet tarp that someone gave to me. When we had high winds during Build Week, some dust was blowing through the tent fabric.
Still, for the price it can't be beat.
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The North Face
Wawona 6
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Spacious vestibule, strong in storms, but rainfly tricky solo.
AcingSpades
