Camping Life: Family Camping Tents, with Helpful Videos
camping gear - large camping tents
If you and your family enjoy the camping life, you’re probably eagerly awaiting the “spring thaw.” It’s already begun in much of the U.S., and folks are eager to get out of their homes and enjoy the great outdoors. Camping is a wonderful way to do this, but sleeping outdoors isn’t always comfortable. If you, your spouse, and your kids are all cramped into a small camping tent, you probably have little room to move around, and there’s not likely much space for storing your camping gear. The solution is family camping tents. They can make your camping life much more enjoyable.
The first camping tents used by mankind were usually a piece of animal hide thrown over a rope or a stick frame. Obviously, tents have come a long way since then. Today’s camping tents are constructed of lightweight material, and most go up quickly and easily. Some family tents are divided into different sections or rooms, providing privacy. This could prove to be a lifesaver to your camping trip when you want some “alone time” away from the kids.
Advantages of family camping tents
A family camping tent is a large camping tent. Everyone has room to spread out and sleep comfortable. You’ll especially appreciate this quality during hot weather, when body heat in a small tent can become unbearable. Family camping tents have more air circulation because of their larger size. And if you suffer from claustrophobia, you’ll love large camping tents!
Many family camping tents have more than one “room.” For example, the family camping tent you choose might have three separate rooms. If that’s the case, you could use one room for you and your spouse, one room for the kids, and the third room for storing some of your camping gear inside the tent so that it’s safe from the elements and from curious animals like raccoons. Those little bandits are capable of creating havoc on your camping gear with their nimble paws.
You might want to use one of the rooms in your family camping tent as a sort of snack bar or kitchen. You could keep the cooler in there, so that you won’t have to exit the tent to get a cold drink or a piece of chilled fruit. In fact, you could keep all your food items in one of the extra rooms in a large tent.
Note: Bears have never been an issue anywhere we've camped, so I didn't consider their presence. As fellow hubber DzyMsLizzy reminded me, if bears are anywhere nearby, you shouldn't leave any food inside the tent. Racoons, on the other hand, were rampant in our favorite campgrounds, but we never had a problem with their trying to get to food inside the tent. If we left food outside the tent, they'd get it. They could even open the coolers! We learned to place bungee cords around the coolers if they were left outside the tent, and this worked well.
Another idea for large camping tents is to use one of the rooms as a playroom for the kids. Sure, the children will be spending lots of time playing outdoors on a camping trip, but the playroom could come in handy at night. If your camping trip is going to last for several days, you could set up all the kids’ games and toys in one room.
Swiss Gear Family Dome Tent
This roomy dome family camping tent has 177 square feet of space, enough for ten people. It includes two main rooms plus two additional side rooms. all the rooms have sewn-in divider curtains. The entry door is large, and there are windows on the sides and on the back of the tent.
The tent is made of polyester taffeta that has been treated to make it more weatherproof and more water resistant. Electrical cords can be accessed through the E-port. The floor is made of welded polyethelene for super water resistance.
This is a stable tent that goes up quickly and easily.
Columbia Cougar Flats Family Dome Tent
Columbia family tent
This camping tent measures 15 x 10 feet and has a height of over seven feet. This is a great tent for foul weather because of the GoBe Dry rain protection. you'll stay dry even in the heaviest downpours. You'll alsp appreciate the special ventilation system, the Cyclone system. If you're camping in hot weather, this tent will keep you cool and comfy. Even when it rains, you can leave the windows open without having to worry about getting your family or your camping gear wet.
This tent is also easy to transport, thanks to a storage back with wheels. It goes up easily, too. The two rooms have a zippered divider that can be left openor closed. There's also lots of storage compartments, pockets, and hangers.
Eureka condo tent
Eureka Family Condo Tent
If you want to camp in luxury, consider this large camping tent by Eureka. It measures 20 x 10.6 feet, with 210 square feet of space. The center height is a full 8 feet tall. The tent can be made into either two or three rooms by opening or closing the divider. The screen room is large and airy, the perfect place for setting up your camp picnic table and chairs and enjoying meals without insects.
The tent includes ten windows and three doors. If it rains, you can employ the storm panels to keep everything dry. The floor is constructed of heavy water-repellant nylon and is very tough. The color-coded system makes the tent easy to set up, too.
BlackPine Turbo Tent
BlackPine Turbo Tent
This tent is one of the easiest and quickest tents in the world to set up. It measures 10 x 8.5 feet and has two rooms. A neat thing about this tent is that it connects to your automobile via a special canopy. This greatly increases the amount of "indoor" space you have, and you can go from tent to vehicle without having to venture "outside." Just back your SUV or pickup truck with a camper shell up to the tent and connect the canopy, and you'll have easy access to more living, sleeping, or stage space.
The tent has a tough PVC bathtub floor, mesh panels for air flow, three canopies, and a handy power inlet. The BlackPine Turbo Tent sleeps up to six campers comfortably.
Paha Que Perry Mesa Tent
Paha Que Perry Mesa Tent
This is an extremely popular family camping tent. The innovative design incorporates a roomy sleeping area with a large screen room. The airy screen room can be used as a living room or as a dining area. If you prefer, the two separate rooms can be turned into one really big room by bolting the awnings down on the screen room.
In all, the tent has three doors - two exterior doors and one interior door. The roof, windows, and doors all have no-see-um mesh for superior air circulation and ventilation. The total size of the tent is 14 x 10 feet.
Coleman Elite Weathermaster
Coleman Elite Weathermaster family tent
The Coleman name is synonymous with the camping life, and this is another great product. This tent measures 17 x 9 feet and provides room for six campers, with two separate rooms. There's also a screened room that can be used for extra sleeping quarters or for storage space. This is a tough, durable model that will keep you dry even in heavy downpours, thanks to the WeatherTec coating. The Weathermaster also goes up in less than twenty minutes.
A really neat feature of this tent is the built-in LED lighting. You can set it on high or low, or even as a nightlight, and you don't even have to be in the tent to turn the lights on because it has a remote control. You'll also like the rigid door frame and the hinged door. During the hot months of summer, the Cooler Port will keep you cool and comfy.
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