Hi everyone 🙂
I've been looking for a good quality pop-up tent for a while, they all seemed to have some kind of problems and quality weaknesses, but I have FINALLY found a good one, check it out:
The reason I wanted a pop-up tent is because I have 2 small kids and I need to be able to set up a tent alone and quickly, especially in case of rain.. pop-up tents seem like a great solution.
They seem like a good idea but I would read the reviews carefully before buying one.
If it's the Broadstone 4 person (the link doesn't work for me) most reviews say it broke or ripped after the first few uses.
One of the main problems with that design of tent is they are difficult to get folded back to fit in the bag.
The reviews are awesome, two of my friends have this tent, no rips or any damage at all, survived a big hail/rain storm no problem and easily folds back in the bag.
Any quality tent can be set up by one person quickly. I wouldn't trust any camping gear sold by Canadian Tire to last long or perform well.
Mountain Equipment Co-op has great gear at good prices, and there's one in Toronto. I highly suggest checking out their website, mec.ca to see what they have. I bought a tent this summer to replace my last one that lasted 16 years (and will be my back-up after getting refurbished), and the new tent sleeps two with lots of space, or three in tight quarters, yet weighs only 4 lbs. Set-up is a breeze and it's so much more waterproof than my last tent, which was a quality tent in its day.
Is coleman considered a company with low quality products?
mec does not carry what I'm looking for
I mostly canoe trip and hike, so I look for high performance gear that is durable and light-weight. I know that that influences my opinion greatly, but I don't think that Coleman produces good quality gear. Their products are made for the car camping crowd that have the option of packing up and driving home if the weather's bad. I don't know what you want to use it for, so I can't comment on how suited the linked tent is for your purpose.
I will use it for convenience camping with 2 small kids
I already have a great Russian tent but it's not realistic with 2 small kids and one adult and I've been caught in the rain setting it up by myself way too many times
Didn't I see one that uses air filled tubes instead of poles? Essentially an inflatable tent?
I haven't seen it, Perfesser, I'd love a link if you can find it 🙂
Maybe the quality of the colman tents have gone down, Hubby and I bought a good tent at Canadian Tire in 2001 in yellowknife and its still holding well in 2012, we have used in camping all over the north, Yukon, NWT, Nunavut and most of the time now, in the back pasture these days or in the local woods (can't go far from the farm) but we still set it up at least a couple times a year.. certainly I don't consider it a good SHTF tent, that is ideally what the miners tent, that goes on a built bottom/with small wood stove would be for ideally but I can't say that I have been unhappy at all with the tent we have.. its a nice little four person, which held us, our gear and the hounds on many a trip in the past..
http://livingmydreamlifeonthefarm.wordpress.com/
I thought I saw a Can Tire commercial a few months back for one but damned if I can find one searching.
A few companies in Europe make them now.
This link shows a few but nothing specific in Canada.
http://www.thegearcaster.com/the_gearcaster/2012/08/kelty-airpitch-inflatable-tents.html
Maybe inflatables were invented by a Canadian ....
http://www.airzonerecreation.com/pdf/ohiooutdoor.pdf
There are several places to find descent tents now as em ty pointed out Mountain Co-op is one of them,there is also Sail Stores in Your area,not to mention all the sites online if you type in tents.I have a old coleman that i got fifteen years or so, that packs down very small but can sleep four I used it as a one man, easy to put up in about 3-5 mins and sits behind me very well on the bike when I'm on the road.Last few years though I find that even though the tent is with me I more often than not set up my tarp as a lean-to it's fast and very easy, gives me lots of room to store my gear,easy to conceal,give me a wide field of vision when under it and on chilly nights with a heat reflector behind my fire I'm comfortable,I understand that this system is not for everyone,and I don't travel with children,I travel alone, but it is a good alternative to a tent.
Both, Sail and MEC don't have what I'm looking for, there are a few websites but their shipping costs are higher than the price of their tents...