Ozark Trail - 3-Room Instant Cabin Tent

We purchased the Ozark trail 12 person instant cabin. We love the Ozark tent we got, just took it out for our first trip. It rained a lot, 1/2 inch or more. Everything stayed dry, rainfly did not leak and we had a ground tarp. I do not know how long it will stay waterproof but it did not let us down on that trip. With the extra room in the middle we could bring our wet dogs in. Dry and crate without touching our sleeping area. It set up really fast and had tons of room. We had two 4x5ft dog crates set up on one side and a queen size sleeping area for my wife and I on the other side. We had so much room left in the middle and around the edge of the tent. We absolutely could have had 3 more people sleeping in the tent. This thing is 18x10 with 80 inch ceiling. Its bigger than what we need, but this is our campground tent. We have a small trailer we tow with all our gear on it. So with this Bass Pro tent 14x8 it is smaller than 3 queen size mattresses lined up (assuming 60''x80'') So what is your 5 plus a dog? Married couple with 3 kids, or is it 5 full size people plus a dog. I think if you guys are a couple with your kids you would fit fine. Just think maybe you do a test setup to see how much gear you want to keep inside the tent before your trip. But if its 5 friends and a dog trying to camp comfortably I think this would be too small. If everyone has their own pile of stuff they want to bring and store in the tent. I think you would end up having a wet dog walk on everything. Looks like a nice tent though. We are in New York, camping weather is mostly nice. So we went with a cheaper alternative. Looks like a well made tent, I am curios to hear from anyone that owns the Bass pro tent. [Here's the Walmart tent we got](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-12-Person-Instant-Cabin-Tent-with-Integrated-LED-Lights-3-Rooms-47-87-lbs/55260502?classType=REGULAR&athbdg=L1100&from=/search)

Honestly for car camping we use one of this big instant up multi room tents from Walmart. Cheap, goes up so easily, and we have had ours for years with no problems. Plus the extra space allows for plenty of room for hanging out inside if it’s raining or really buggy, and the dogs have plenty of space. It’s gone through several big storms and never leaked. Sure it weighs a ton but who cares if I’m driving right up to the campsite? Also I like the tarp floors. They stand up to gravel tent pads a lot better

Honestly for car camping with little kids, look at the big instant up multi room ozark trail tents from Walmart. They’re heavy and pack down big, but they’re well under $200, ours has lasted for years and through many rainstorms, and it has enough room to stand up. Also the front room doubles as a screen room which is really nice if it’s super buggy. https://www.walmart.com/browse/sports-outdoors/pop-up-tents/ozark-trail/4125_546956_4128_887708_4094354/YnJhbmQ6T3phcmsgVHJhaWwie?adid=22222222265446360557&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=b&wl1=o&wl2=m&wl3=74904359694166&wl4=dat-2326704043460416:loc-71240&wl5=108901&wl6=&wl7=&wl14=ozark%20trail%20instant%20up%20tents&veh=sem&&msclkid=28b64cefffd2149f863824cddc429607&gclid=28b64cefffd2149f863824cddc429607&gclsrc=3p.ds I wouldn’t suggest a nice tent with little kids unless you’re actually backpacking. They tend to be hard on things, and the more room the better

I love my OT tent, and I specifically recommend their "instant" cabin tents because they are so easy to get up and down. But I will note that the OT tents are all designed primarily for warm and mild weather camping. They have lots of big windows, and rain flies that only cover the top and not the sides, which means you get lots of airflow but way less rain protection. Coleman and Core tents - the other two "budget" brands - are generally made the same way though Coleman at least does have some tents with more extensive flies. Tents that are built for nastier and colder weather are going to be a lot smaller than the "family" tents made by the budget brands, to start with. Keep in mind that tent ratings say "person" to literally mean the space taken up by one average-sized adult in a sleeping bag, so a "4 person" tent is 4 people laying like sardines, or 2 people with gear/clothing and maybe a modest dog. These tents are less likely to be standing height, and in warm weather they are HOT unless the weather is good enough to take the rain fly off entirely and then you have to hope it doesn't rain and there isn't heavy dew. Also, those extensive rain flies can be fiddly to get staked out really correctly, and can become a liability in high winds. You need to think harder about what direction you face the door and sides if you're expecting any kind of weather. So that's why some people might choose the OT and augment with extra tarps, if they camp in places where rain and cold and wind are less likely to be an issue, and they want the extra space and airflow. We have gotten stuck in some crazy rain in our short-fly OT tent and it would have been fine if it hadn't been raining sideways, but that is going to be a challenge with a lot of tents.

Their fabric is damn thin. Do not use this tent in rain. You will regret it, I promise.

It should be just fine for your use case if weight isn’t a factor. I own expensive tents but I also have a cheap $30 Ozark trail tent I bought in 2019, only use it for local 1 nighters and it’s still fine. Only thing I’d recommend is hit all the seams with water proofing spray, especially around the bottom where the fabric is stitched to the tarp floor. I just buy the 3M stuff that is recommended for outdoors, think it has a tent picture on the spray can.

I have the same one. Perfect for one.

Ozark trail makes some solid stuff for the price. I say go for it.

This will not be a popular answer lol. I usually do 3 to 4 night backpacking trips. I bought a $30 Big Cat tent off of Amazon and used it regularly for two years until I broke one of the poles. I had a trip planned so I stopped at Walmart and picked up a $19 Ozark Trail tent. I used it all week and it was exactly what I needed. It was super easy to set up. I would recommend a footprint, though. The flooring of the tent is not the best quality but hey, it was $19.

Ozark Trail and Coleman make decent and easy to use car camping tents that will hold up better than you'd think. I always steer people who don't know if they're going to be super into camping yet towards those brands. They'll keep you dry and covered for the night without breaking the bank. My last Coleman Skydome lasted at least 60+ nights before one of the corners started to wear through.

Ozarks Trail has increased a million fold in quality since it came out (late 90s/early 2000s?). I would definitely give it a try and keep the receipt just in case.