Advice we’d give to a friend

The Basics

What size tent should I get? - This will really depend on personal factors but there are typically two basic options: an 8–10-person tent or a 4-person tent. 4-person tents are usually 1 room and 8–10-person tents are usually 2 large rooms or 3 medium-size rooms.

How much room do you have in the car and at camp? - Some tents, like the Oztent RV5, are 2m long when packed, so you need a roof rack to get it around. Others, like the Zempire Evo TXL V2 Air, have a massive footprint when set up so you will need a decent enough amount of space to set it up at camp.

Are you going to use it for touring or for longer stay camping? - Some tents for families are easier to set up than others so if you are travelling around to a new spot every night something with a quick setup is going to be important.

Canvas vs. Polyester Materials? - This is a well-debated topic. Canvas is definitely more durable and some believe that these are the best family tents, but they are also heavy and hard to dry. Modern-day tents made of polyester-type fabrics can be just as good or better in our view so long as they are made with a good-density fabric and solid waterproofing.

Budget

When it comes to finding the best family tents we think you can get something decent without dropping a ton of cash. There are always exceptions to the rule but we break the market into three main categories for 8–10-person tents and 4-person tents:

High End (over $1000) - This will get you one of the best camping tents for your family. Good quality materials, spacious and durable.

Mid Range (8–10P $400 to $1000, 4P $200 to $800) - These tents are typically still going to be easy to set up with decent materials that won’t fall apart on you. Quality can vary between brands in this price range, and we find a $800 tent isn’t always better than a $400 tent, for instance.

Low Range (8–10P under $400, 4P under $200) - Be careful; you’ll likely purchase something you’ll regret. Poles may fall apart, or fabric may not be as waterproof as claimed.

Cabin vs. Dome Tents

Dome tents typically have less headroom and are less spacious. For that reason, we believe cabin style tents are the best tents for families whether you are camping or touring. All family tent reviews here are for cabin style tents.

Ratings By Category

Method

After reviewing the market, we pick what we think will be the best family camping tents in each category from a variety of retailers. Each product selected gets 50 points automatically just for being selected. We then perform field tests and in person assessments to rank them out of 10 on the following categories: Comfort, Construction, Features, Size/Weight and Versatility.

Rankings are adjusted or weighted based on importance and how much they vary e.g. some categories will be categorised from 1 to 10 whereas others 4 to 9 etc. (although there may be outliers). For the family tent reviews size/weight and versatility are considered inverse in our reviews. An 8–10 person tent, for instance, isn’t as good for touring, so is less versatile and a 4-person tent isn’t going to have anywhere near the same floor space as an 8–10 person tent. We have handicapped these metrics in order to provide a level playing field so if for instance you see a 4 person tent getting ranked as a 6 out of 10 for size/weight that may actually be a good ranking.

If you are looking for the best family tents in the US, this is where we hope to provide you with all the details. We believe good family tent reviews should provide you with all the info you need to decide and we hope you can find that here.

Comfort

Comfort considers three main elements: how spacious it feels, the layout and key design elements impacting liveability.

Most of the tents for families we reviewed were pretty comfortable and there isn’t a huge deal of variation in this category. Some of the less comfortable models, like the Oztent RV5 have a big aluminum bar running down the floor while others, like the Quechua ARPENAZ 4.2 have no block-out material, so you wake with the sun shining on your face. The best tents for families, such as the Zempire Evo, Kampa Hayling 6 AIR and Zempire Aerodome, on the other hand, have a spacious feel and we’d be happy to spend time in them on a rainy day if needed.

Construction

Construction essentially looks at materials used and craftmanship. Fabrics and pole materials play a massive role in how breathable, strong and waterproof it will be. There is usually a trade-off here between quality and cost.

In a traditional tent, important things to look out for are a strong gauge aluminum frame and high denier (density) materials (such as ripstop or canvas) with a good water head rating. Cheap tents will use thin gauge fiberglass poles or weak materials, so avoid buying those as they will fall apart. The Oztent RV5 and Coleman Cortes Octagon 8 Shelter tick all the boxes. The Zempire Evo TXL V2 Air is not your standard tent, being an inflatable, but we were surprised with how solid the structure actually was when set up.

Features

The features category looks at how easy it is to set up as well as some of the basics like storage pockets, hanging hooks and power access points and ventilation.

The Zempire Evo TXL V2 Air was the best family tent in this category, ticking all the boxes, with a fast setup and having great configuration options, making it very liveable. For an inflatable tent at its price, it was disappointing to see the Heimplanet Backdoor Classic didn’t come with a pump like other inflatables like the Kampa Haling 6 AIR did, although regardless many of the inflatables have great waterproof ratings.

Depending on the type of tent, there was also huge variation in ease of setup. Inflatable tents were fairly simple, though some still required lengthy pegging out, but tents with poles varied hugely between ones with a fully integrated pole system that set up very quickly, to those with a large number of different components that were confusing and took a long time to set up.

Size/Weight

Rankings in this category primarily consider the amount of useable floor space the tent provides. Sleeping configurations, packed size and headroom were also considered. 8–10-person tents will naturally rank higher here and higher on versatility.

The Zempire Evo TXL V2 Air and Zempire Aerodome II Pro Air were the standouts here in their respective categories. They’re actually the biggest family tents we have seen and they feel like mansions inside, without being outrageously large when packed. The Coleman Cortes also provides good space for the whole family or a group of friends with its octagon shape. The Oztent RV5 is 79.5in long when packed, so you will need a roof rack as it won’t fit in the boot.

Versatility

This category looks at whether we would use the tent for family camping, touring or both. 4-person tents will naturally rank higher here and lower on size/weight.

The Heimplanet Backdoor Classic is a great all-rounder that we would happily take touring or on a family camping trip. Easy to set up, durable and quite lightweight for a family camping tent, this is one of the best family camping tents in a 4-person model. For the price, the Quechua Air Seconds 4.1 also offers great value that can be used for touring or camping and isn’t a bad option as a tent for the family.

About Our Testing Process

Here at The Equipment Guide, we write reviews for the US with the goal of providing a genuine personal assessment of the best products on the market right here at home.

All products are reviewed and ranked in a methodical and careful manner and we assess them on relevant key features. We do not accept free products from manufacturers.

Our mission is simple: To create the US’ best outdoor gear reviews.

Afterword

We hope you liked our reviews of the best family camping tents in the US!

Really most of the family tents we reviewed were great and you don’t necessarily have to spend a bundle on the best family camping tents. Our family tent reviews are all designed with US conditions in mind. If you would like us to review a product or have any feedback we’d love to hear from you, feel free to drop us a note.

If you do purchase and are out in your family camping tent please share some pics with us we’d love to see you in action.