Ozark Trail - Dark Rest Instant Cabin Tent (10-Person)

I have an ozark trail dark room cabin tent. I got it on sale for like 70 bucks a few years ago (it’s a six person tent) and I’ve been super happy with it. Only been out in weather once and it did great. It was a pretty bad wind and rain storm. We ended up sleeping in the car that night (due to lightning concerns) but the tent inside was dry the next morning when we checked. I did spray it down with waterproofing stuff but that was like ten bucks worth of spray. In mild weather it’s been fine. I can put it up myself. It is huge and heavy but we car camp so I don’t mind that. We are very casual car campers who like a lot of comfort. We often stay in screen shelters at state parks rather than bring the tent. I’m not saying Ozark Trail is high quality but I didn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on our first tent and I’ve been super pleased with ours.

Do whatever you want :)  We have a family of 6 and bring  like 3 tents the largest of which is a 10 person tent that is ridiculously large inside.  We have like a rotation to children in the tent depending on weather and who got scared and well basically don’t really care what anyone thinks?  We got the 10 person Ozark Trails tent from Walmart and that thing can fit like 3 queen size air mattresses so it’s definitely got whatever room you are looking for lol. 

I'd also recommend an ozark trail instant tent, They're the new coleman from decades past. The average mans tent, for whoever is just getting into the hobby and doesnt want to break the bank. Great for familys who may go camping a handful of times a year in mostly fair weather. They'll last some rough handling for minimum a few years to a decade, plenty of time to get use out of it and upgrade. Any from the instant tent line will be big, bulky, and heavy but quick and easy to set up even if its just one person going it. Ive personally set up a 10 person myself in less than 5 minutes. I've also used mine during souther arizona monsoon storms, high winds and sideways rain and I stayed nice and cozy with room to sit around to relax in unlike a dome tent.

The kingdom tents from REI are great. the tubeshape and features are quite nice so are the extras.... but if you want easy to put up an down the instant tents from Ozark Trail I used with my family when kids were young in cub scouts for 5+ years. I the integrated poles made for putting it up and down very quick and easy even by myself, and I could stand up and had 4 cots in them. The may be cheaper than others but there are a few brands that make the instant tents with integrated poles. I was surprised how well my ozark held up. also check out the alps brands, they are built well, but heavy.

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.