Kingdom 8

I get that… you had mentioned tha TNF is better and I was wondering what you mean? Tents in general are use specific… there are really no tents that have it all and do it all. You kind of have to decide what matters to you? Price, size, strength, weight, features, etc… Try and list the things you want it to do and then check to see which has that… Every person is different and it is good to run through what you want. Of all of the tents I’ve used that REI sells, the one I go to the most is the BaseCamp 6. with that said… my all time favorite is a tent they no longer make… Kingdome 8 it was a gigantic tent, it was heavy and almost gaudy, but man was it nice. My brother and I did a trans-New Hampshire trip in a 6 wheel military vehicle… it was just the two of us, but we each had our own room. We did it right… we had cots, oriental rugs, tables and chairs inside that tent. We practically could have parked the vehicle in the tent. Glamping or Maximalist for sure.

I don’t know if there are still REI outlet or garage sales of returned merch, but I got a never used $500 tent for $250 with a very seam error (looks like the sewing machine wandered for about an inch) that I sewed up. I understood why it was returned… and worked out great for me… spent over 150 nights in that! Eventually one of the door zippers busted… I sewed it closed and used only the other side for a year waiting for a big sale on the new one I wanted. Our old tent was a REI Kingdom 8, new one (not cheap but great so far) is a North Face Wawona 8. Our family of 3 also does twin air mattresses. Queen air mattresses resulted in too much irrational anger at the other person for doing normal stuff like turning over that resulted in interrupted sleep. I liked the idea of cots, which kept everything well organized underneath, but as a stomach/side sleeper, the hip/back pain was too much.

I really like my kingdom 8 from REI but not sold anymore =[

Yeah! I have the piece for front and rear. With those attached it's pretty massive.  Went to big bear for a two nighter winter, snow was on the ground and used my diesel heater. It did okay. Low 20s. I'm thinking bringing an extra tarp to cover the mesh section. 

The REI Kingdom 8 is worth every penny at around $500, super spacious for 4 people + gear and the poles are sturdy af even in heavy winds (used mine for 3 years with no issues).

Check out the REI Kingdom series - I'm 5'3" and can set it up solo (takes practice tho), has amazing ventilation with the rainfly partially rolled back, killer vestibule, and keeps rain out when properly staked.

I’ve had both of those tents. I hung the kingdom out to dry during an overnight stop at my cousins on the way back from the boundary waters and took off without it. Stopped at REI in KC and they had the wawona returned for $160, so I bought it. I didn’t have the extended vestibules for either. I give the kingdoms the advantage in comfort. The pockets are perfect and everywhere. The Wawona seems better constructed and better materials. It took about 40 family trips with young boys over 2.5 years to have the kingdom pretty warn out. I just remembered that I swapped it out at REI halfway because the zipper eats holes in the rain fly, so really less than 2 years of hard use and it’s shot. The poles also bend too easy. One windstorm and it was never exactly in the right shape again. The wawona is about the same weight, but everything is sturdier. Thicker poles, mesh and fabric. Better zippers. No deforming after storms. I miss the stow pockets for the tent doors every time I use it. The pockets feel minimalist. The ones on the back door don’t help that much because it self empties when you unzip it. You can put a tablet in there and watch shows as a family. Both tents are cavernous. You need to stake everything out if there is going to be a storm. If you put the wawona with the front door facing away from the wind it actually does well in heavier weather.