3-Room Instant Cabin Tent

Full on gear junkie here. My parents bought what I refer to as the Taj Mahal from Walmart to start camping again. They ended up buying an rv instead and gave it to me. I’d never buy this 12x18 3 room tent. It was probably $100. It was f’n amazing when we brought our kid camping when they were months old. There was room for the pack n play, a changing station, a blow up bed. We ultra light backpacked for years with the bare minimum, that thing was a whole new world. Couldn’t recommended it enough and available for borrow to my friend group. I think I own 7 tents from a bivy type to a canvas to the Taj. They all have their place.

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)

I’m a huge fan of the Ozark Trails tents. They are easy to put together, decently priced and reliable. Highly recommend.

Oh and the 12 person cabin tent is $200 right now. It can fit 4 queen mattresses.

A 10 person tent is my fav. Actually, the Walmart brand Ozark Trails has a 12 person tent with enough room for 4 queen size beds, it’s under $200 right now. I’d go that route. That way everyone has space and room for gear. As others have suggested, a tent for big kids is fun too. Depending on your budget I’d still go with the big tent and a 4 person smaller tent.

We use the Ozark instant up cabin tent, not the popup. We have used it through many rainstorms and many, many scouts putting it up and down. They aren't gentle handling jt. And it has lasted so far through the years. I am 5'2" as well and can put them up easily by myself. We have almost all of the size options of the tent. Pretty easy to pack up as well.

I ran a instant up Ozark trail for well over a decade. Went a few years with a small camper and sold it to get into a nice gazelle and I couldn't be happier. I don't do hiking/backpacking due to disabilities but it's perfect for car camping. Throw it on my roof rack get to camp and 10 min later my tent is set up.

I for one love my gazelle tent. It really feels like a buy once cry once purpose. My Ozark trail lasted many years fairly easy to put up. Then I got my gazelle and was blown away. Goes up so much easier. Materials don't feel like 1 month of combined sun exposure will make it all brittle like the cheap tents/canopies. I also just updated to a set of xped megamats for the wife and I. A bit pricy. But so much better than a air mattress or cot both in comfort and insulation for those cold nights.