Understanding the Family Tent Market
The family tent market is one of the most diverse in the outdoor sector, offering a wide range of models to suit different needs and budgets. Prices can vary significantly, ranging from a few hundred pounds to several thousand. The larger, heavier tents are designed for extended stays, providing ample internal space with multiple bedrooms. These models often require large vehicles for transportation, along with all the necessary furniture and accessories such as inflatable mattresses, sofas, dining tables, toys, gas stoves, and barbecues. Some families may find these features essential for comfort during their camping trips.
At the other end of the spectrum, there are lightweight and compact tents that are ideal for backpacking adventures. These models offer fewer comforts but provide the freedom and experience of being in the open air. They are designed to be split between family members, making them more manageable for those who prefer a more rugged outdoor experience.
Between these two extremes, there are basecamp-style structures, group shelters, and more modest family-friendly models that are built to fit within a budget. These tents are typically too heavy to carry in backpacks and are more likely to be transported by car, van, porter, or even a yak. When choosing a family tent, considerations should include factors such as budget, the size of the group or family, and privacy needs. Teenagers, for example, may require their own bedrooms, which can add to the weight and cost of the model selected. Accessories such as cable entry points for electric hook-ups, inflatable sofas, and dining tables also play a role in the decision-making process.
For those looking for a backpacking tent, there will be compromises on space and privacy. It’s important to find a model that is light enough to be split among willing party members. Additionally, any tent accommodating four or more people will need good ventilation to manage the condensation generated by their combined breathing.
Reviews of the Best Family Tents
Lightest in Test: Robens Pioneer 4EX
The Robens Pioneer 4EX is a backpackable family tent that offers great build quality at an affordable price. Weighing just 3.8kg, it is the lightest of those tested. This single porch-and-bedroom tunnel tent can be pitched fly-first, which is helpful in bad weather, or as a single unit. The tent was set up in under five minutes, making it the fastest pitched of the tested models. The three similarly sized poles, colour-coded for ease of use, slip through sleeves to be secured in pockets at the far end. The bedroom is well-ventilated with mesh panels in the upper sections of the back wall and the door, providing a snug fit for four people. The porch serves as the prime gear storage area.
Best for Space: Coleman Weathermaster 4XL Air
The Coleman Weathermaster 4XL Air is a spacious family tent that offers luxurious roominess. Its packed dimensions are quite large, measuring approximately 80cm x 60cm x 42cm, and it weighs over 30kg. The tent features inflatable “poles” that are easy to inflate using a handpump with a pressure gauge. This model can be erected single-handedly, making it quick and easy to set up, especially in rainy conditions. The vestibule accommodates dining tables and chairs or kids’ toys, and there are cable access points on either side for electric hook-ups. The tent also includes six mesh pockets between the doors to the bedrooms for stashing belongings. Mesh ceilings reduce condensation, and each bedroom has two-way zipped access to rear external vents, mesh pockets in the walls, and single hanging loops.
Big Agnes Wyoming Trail 4
The Big Agnes Wyoming Trail 4 is a well-made family tent that offers great rigidity and a generous vestibule with good headroom. It takes about half an hour to erect solo, following meticulous 20-point instructions. The tent is designed as an inner-first pitch and has inner mesh ceilings, making it less suitable for foul weather pitching. The two 135cm-high bedrooms at opposite ends are linked by ground-level fabric ribbons that define the central vestibule space. The tent comprises two unwieldy poles, each over 6m long, which clip together at the apex above the centre of the vestibule. The bedrooms have external doors, allowing sleepers to lie across the width rather than the depth, which helps avoid stepping over a snoring partner when rising in the night.
Best Value: Outwell Earth 4
The Outwell Earth 4 is a weighty tent that represents a good value for money. It is not a backpacking tent, weighing 7.4kg, and is better suited for car camping. The tent is simple, roomy, and pitches as a unit or fly-first. The bedroom features blackout fabric for a better night’s sleep, and the ventilation is good, with a mesh vent in the door and in the rear wall of the sleep compartment. The detachable, double-coated, waterproof polyethylene groundsheet is awkward to fit, but the tent offers good value for its price.
Best for Basecamp: MSR Habitude 6
The MSR Habitude 6 is well-designed and well-made, with no inner space division, making it ideal for close-knit families or as a basecamp. It pitches inner-first, with no single unit-pitch option. The tent’s three colour-coded poles are spidery and gangly, creating a rigid, huge inner space. The inner space is fully utilisable due to the near-sheer walls, maximizing floor space. The single porch is quite shallow, with barely space to sit in, let alone cook within, but it serves as a practical place for dry gear storage.
Vango Beta 550XL
The Vango Beta 550XL is a five-berth tent that is impressively wide and comfortable for four. Pitching took two people an impressive sub-20 minutes, first time out of the bag. The tension bands at ground level and at the inner door between porch and spacious bedrooms added stability and integrity. The groundsheet runs through the sizable, brightly lit porch and the well-vented bedrooms. While the tent offers good value for money, it was let down by the finish, with loose threads and a guyline lacking a crucial plastic ring.
How to Choose the Right Family Tent
When selecting a family tent, it is important to consider durability, comfort, and practicality. Components like poles, pegs, seams, and zips should be made for strength and longevity. Darkened sleeping areas can help enable rest, and enough porch space is useful for setting up a small table and camp chairs. A removable groundsheet in this space helps keep the mud on the outside and separates cooking, living, and sleeping areas. For formal campsites, window blinds and more than one entrance are beneficial for privacy and managing wind direction. The ability to attach an awning is also a boon, especially in poor weather.
Key Features to Look For
Flysheet and Inner Materials
Silicone-coated fabrics are light and durable, while PU coated nylon or polyester is heavier and less durable but cheaper. Cotton or canvas can be used, but they may absorb water, making them heavy and slower to dry. For inner materials, breathable nylon or polyester resists drips from condensation and keeps out breezes. Mesh inners are cooler and airier but not as warm, and condensation can drip through unless the mesh is very fine.
Groundsheets
Groundsheets should be made from heavier fabrics than flysheets and have a higher ‘hydrostatic head’ (the measure of how much water pressure can be applied before a material leaks).
Inner Dimensions
The inner should be long enough that sleeping bags do not touch the end. Allow room for multiple sleeping mats as well as gear. Headroom is usually less of a problem in family tents, but consider how many people might want to sit, crouch, or stand up at once.
Poles and Pegs
Poles should be easy to attach. Tents with sleeves should slide in place without sticking. If the poles are different lengths, they and the attachment points should be colour-coded, for ease of use. Be sure to check the pegs before your first pitch. Be wary of cheaper aluminium pegs, carry spares, and pack a rubber mallet for use on formal campsites when the ground may be hard-packed.
Guylines
The key to stability in high winds. Look for additional guyline attachment points and use them in poor weather – the larger surface area on a group or family tents can act as a sail.
Porches and Doors
As a bare minimum, the porch should be big enough for safe cooking and for storing wet gear, hiking boots, and packs. It’s useful if at least part of the porch is unfloored. On a shared tent, having more than one door is preferable. Components like zips, pulleys, and toggles should be robust enough to survive the rough and tumble of family use.
Ventilation
Larger, shared spaces can build up a surprising amount of condensation. Look for rear and side vents, protected from rainfall, plus mesh ‘windows’ on doors.
Pitching
Some tents pitch inner-first, some flysheet-first, others as a unit. Pitching a larger, inner-first tent in rain is liable to result in a wet inner, simply because of the dimensions. We’ve compiled a useful guide on how to pitch a tent to help you with assembly but in most cases you’ll find instructions within the packaging. Flysheet and unit pitching keeps the inner dry, but it can be harder to tension the inner.
