what is a good 4 season car camping tent?

[markwebster]

My 24 year old Eureka 4 man A frame tent blew up at Joshua Tree this year. It was the expedition basecamp model. They still sell it:

4 man eureka outfitter A Frame.

 

It was heavily reinforced, particularly in the zippers which were the largest zippers I've ever seen, they lasted the whole time. I hate replacing zippers.

 

Eureka makes a new outfitter 4 man dome that looks very good, supposedly military spec:

assault outfitter 4 man eureka dome .

 

REI also sells a nice 3 man dome with a good reputation:

REI Mountain 3 dome tent .

 

Why doesn't REI or EMS or Marmot sell Eureka tents? Their web site looks good. They seem to have good reviews on the few places that still sell them, other than complaints about heaviness which is a plus for car camping.

 

I don't backpack anymore, all I do is rockclimb: smith, squamish, leavenworth, yosemite and jtree. I want a tent big enuf' for the wife and me and a third (daughter, son, buddy, etc.). It needs to handle the freak 60 mile an hour storm at jtree, and I want solid construction that lasts.

I have a bibler for trips without the wife.

 

thanks for any advice you can offer,

My wife and daughter:

 

This is Crystal from Jtree at xmas:

 

My son. We bought our old Eureka when he was 6 months old:

[Vickster]

Invest in a Hilleberg you wont regret it. Maybe this tent is still available... http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/868773/Searchpage/1/Main/65654/Words/Hilleberg/Search/true/hilleberg_keron_4_tent#Post868773

[DanO]

For car camping I like to look for the best deals. I look

on the campmor web site and also check ebay etc. I used

to live in new york and could pick through the mail return

items in the campmor store. I could find really good deals in those days. I think most any modern tent made by a brand name to

good quality so other than size I would look for a good deal.

 

One thing to consider though is there any chance you would

use it on a real trip?

 

If so I would consider one of these tents.

 

http://www.golite.com/Product/ProductBySubCategory.aspx?sc=86&s=1

 

They can get very big and you can get the floors and the bug

nets for them. Great for snow camping, very light for the

number of people and do well in high wind, good for multiple

usage.

 

Dan

[letsroll]

If money was not issue big and bomber

 

I have been looking at this and I could actually use it on a climb. Have not pulled the trigger cause my current car tent is still rockin.

 

lookin at this

 

 

[mattp]

That Eureka looks like a fairly good tent. I had a huge Walrus tent that was not really made for mountain storms but I got away with using it in the Coast Range a couple of times before, on the third trip there, it blew up in a storm. Fortunately we had been flown in for that trip and had other tents to cram into for the rest of the time.

 

It was nice to have a big tent so five or six guys could fit in one, and if you divide the weight by the number of people who fit inside, these big heavy tents don't end up weighing more per person than many of the two man tents people use in the mountains.

[letsroll]

That Eureka looks like a fairly good tent. I had a huge Walrus tent that was not really made for mountain storms but I got away with using it in the Coast Range a couple of times before, on the third trip there, it blew up in a storm. Fortunately we had been flown in for that trip and had other tents to cram into for the rest of the time.

 

It was nice to have a big tent so five or six guys could fit in one, and if you divide the weight by the number of people who fit inside, these big heavy tents don't end up weighing more per person than many of the two man tents people use in the mountains.

 

But no matter how you divide it up the body of the tent weights more and the fly weighs more. Some one is hoofin it around.

[mattp]

True, Roll, but then it is not difficult to redistribute other items so everyone is carrying equally. Its all a matter of what you want, I suppose, and I'm just saying that big tents have their positives.

[John Frieh]

Bibler eVENT tent ...

[hafilax]

Good grief. Did everyone miss the car camping qualifier?

Weight is not an issue.

 

4 season tents should be renamed 1 season tents because they aren't much use in the summer (or spring and fall for that matter). They're built for big alpine storms. So far I've done just fine with 3 season tents for sheltered winter camping.

 

MEC tents are pretty good and you could pick one up on the way to Squamish. My girlfriend and I use a Tarn 3 which is a little heavy for backpacking but great for car camping. It survived a big storm at Mt. Baker this winter although we pitched it in the lee of some trees. It fits 2 bouldering pads for sleeping on with lots of room left over. Plenty of headroom for me to sit up although I'm only 5'8". My only complaint is the deep vestibule which is a stretch to open and close fully.

 

MEC also has lots of big family car camping tents but I've never looked at them seriously.

[markwebster]

thanks for the advice. I ordered this tent:

"assault outfitter 4 man eureka dome" (linked above).

 

Get it in a week or so. It should at least make the wife happy.

[markwebster]

thanks for the advice. I ordered this tent:

"assault outfitter 4 man eureka dome" (linked above).

 

Get it in a week or so. It should at least make the wife happy.

[JohnyBlaze999]

The Coleman six-person tent is awesome.  https://bestoutdooritems.com/best-frame-tent/ I chose this one after researching it and it works great when camping with my two boys. If your children are young and don't respect the floor of the tent, properly cleaning sticks, stones, and not walking on it with shoes, then perhaps a cheaper tent is better. Don't get anything that has a tarp for the floor.