I had a cheap Ozark Trails dome tent for 20 years and it never failed me, or friends that used it, until the last year when friends said some water was getting in. I could've taped and glued the seams and sprayed water proofing on the fly, but hell, id gotten 20 years of good use and had already been using a different tent myself for a few years. Id suggest them for anybody just getting into camping, or doing a lot of car camping. But, for backpacking, bikecamping, or kayak camping, id suggest something that is lighter and packs down smaller.
Hard to say there's so many. To be frank anything sub 60 usd is gonna be questionable however, if you dont go out often or only fair weather camp anything will do. For a summer tent you want as much mesh as possible on the inner tent and a rainfly to cover it. I would grab a tube of seam sealer or a can of scotchguard and hit the seams inside and out. I have a temu tent ment to look like the military ICS 50 bucks work pretty well came out dry after a rainstorm test in the back yard. I also had a Ozark trails dome tent same price from Walmart.... after the rain test it was like a kiddie pool. So you can basically flip a coin on tents in this price range.
Wal Mart has a brand called Ozark Trail. I had one of their dome tents for 10 years. I camp at least a dozen times a year, including winter hunting camps in the rainy PNW. It outperformed many of my friends’ high-end tents in a lot of ways. I replaced it with a high-end model when it finally gave up because I could afford one at that point, but I was consistently impressed with that $50 tent that took heavy use without a hitch for a decade.
Bimlouhay83
