MSR - Habiscape 6-Person

DAC poles, lifetime warranty and full coverage rainfly. Marmot Halo 6p Marmot Limestone 6p MSR Habbiscape 6p Eureka Spacecamp 6p Big Agnes Bunk House 6p Sierra Designs Nomad 6p The North Face Wawona and Nemo Highrise are also good but they don't have full coverage rain flies. Buy additional guyline and upgrade your tent stakes. The stakes that come with lost tents are not good.

You will need a bigger budget For car camping you want a double walled shelter done style tent. Marmot Halo, Eureka Space Camp, MSR Habiscape will work. Get the manufacturer's footprint, additional guyline and upgrade your tent stakes to something more substantial. I recommend the Paria Outdoor Products tent stakes, specifically the Spiral Y beams and Snow and Sand stakes. For guylines I find Lawson Equipments offerings work well. If you plan on going out in more extreme conditions in the winter you realistically need a dedicated winter tent. Something like the Marmot Thor, Eddie Bauer Katabaic, Nemo Chogorri, Sierra Designs Convert, Black Diamond tents etc. These are smaller crawl in tents. They are lower to the ground and are way more aerodynamic than larger family style tents. The Big Agnes Mad House would be an example of a large shelter that can withstand some pretty terrible weather but it's not cheap.

If you want a bargain the Eureka Spacecamp 6p is a great buy at $259. Very storm worthy and has a full coverage fly unlike the Wawona. The Wawona is a good tent if you want the porch vestibule area. The Limestone Ilis Marmot's classic done tent. I used to own this and iw rock the Halo 6p. REI Basecamp is a great tent with a terrible 1 year warranty and no after sales support from REI. Aurora Highrise doesn't have a full coverage rainfly; I would skip this one. Between the MSR tents the Habiscape is newer and a better design with larger vestibules. The Big Agnes Bunk House 6p is fantastic with it's awesome stuff sack, nice vestibules and tall peak height. The Marmot Halo 6p is a killer storm worthy tent and the one I went with.

The Halo 6p is an awesome choice. So is the Big Agnes Bunk House 6p or 8p. Other great choices are: MSR Habitude MSR Habbiscape Sierra Designs Nomad Eureka Space Camp. This one in particular is a great bargain as Johnson Outdoors is discontinuing this brand. You can get this one for as cheap as $250 or so. Marmot Limestone 6p Marmot Midpines or Pacifica 6p. This is the exact same tent except the colors. The Midpines is sold exclusively at Amazon and the Pacifica is a Dick's Sporting Good/Public Lands exclusive. This one only has one door as vestibule. Most family camping tents have 2 doors and vestibules. The footprint for the Midpines fits the Pacifica. Big Agnes Mad House Nemo Aurora Highrise. This one is decent but lacks a full coverage fly. North Face Wawona. As cheap as $300 on sale. Has a giant porch vestibule. Lacks a full coverage rainfly though.

The Skyward is a major downgrade compared to the Eureka Space Camp, Marmot Limestone, MSR Habiscape/Habitude, Big Agnes Bunk House 4p. REI got rid of the full coverage rainfly and went to a mostly single walled design with a rain cap instead of a full coverage fly. This results in no vestibule, more condensation problems and way worse ventilation. The previous Grand Hut was a way better tent.

All all good choices. The Wawona 6p can be had for $299 assuming you can find one in stock. The Wawona has a large vestibule porch area but is large to setup. It does not have a full coverage rainfly. The Wawona 4p doesn't come with the really big vestibule of the 6p, you have to buy an optional vestibule accessory to get that. The Aurora Highrise doesn't have a full coverage rainfly and I would avoid it. The Big House is basically the Bunk House without the Big front vestibule or the really nice carry bag. It has a more basic stuff sack. You can buy an optional vestibule for this. Habitude/Habbiscape are similar. The Habbiscape is a newer design and is a little bit larger. Only a single door and vestibule on this tent.

The MSR Habbiscape is solid. And unlike the Nemo Highrise and TNF Wawona it has a full coverage rainfly.

Honestly, for what you're describing I'd go with the MSR Habiscape (vs. the Habitude). I have the Lounge version which is awesome (much bigger front vestibule space, but you have to get extra accessory poles to use it as a shade cover), but more expensive and a little heavier than the regular version: [https://www.msrgear.com/tents/camping-and-frontcountry-tents/habiscape-6-person-family-and-group-camping-tent/11596.html](https://www.msrgear.com/tents/camping-and-frontcountry-tents/habiscape-6-person-family-and-group-camping-tent/11596.html) It's not quite as "weatherproof" as the Habitude, which you said you didn't care about too much anyway, though still perfectly serviceable in weather. The big difference is it has two doors vs one, so better venting and just nicer for a family to have options. And my favorite, favorite feature is the pass-thru pockets by the doors which let you put stuff in them from inside AND outside the tent so you don't have to go back into the tent to grab car keys or headlamps or whatever. The MSR tents also weigh a decent amount less than I think all the other tents you're considering, if you are crazy enough to want to carry on in somewhere ;) Better you than me! Good luck and happy camping!

I recently picked up an MSR Habiscape 6 from the resupply section for $189, completely unused. Looks like they’re on sale for $300 now anyway. Taken it out once so far and was pretty happy with it. Well under 20lbs and was pretty easy to setup and pack-away. Fit a queen air mattress sideways with more than enough room for anything else.

Snow Peak Alpha Breeze. The site lists it as a 4p, but it’s the size of most 6s. I just got a Habiscape 6 and it’s pretty great.

I feel like you are me. I’ve been eying the Halo for quite some time but it’s expensive and holds its price, even during sales. I removed the Wawona from my list because I don’t like that it’s all or nothing with the vestibule/rainfly and that footprint is large! I think I am down to splurging on the Halo or saving $130 and get the Habiscape. Reviews are great and I also have a family of 4. Aluminum poles, a vestibule that isn’t large but folds back, has privacy, etc.