Family Tent Camping

Camping with your family (some large) can be a challenge. As a boy scout I did some camping, can't say I really enjoyed it. Never really liked the small, cramped (claustrophobic) space inside a 2-4 man tent. Waking up with condensation inches from your nose which would shake off onto your back wet as you tried to climb out into the cool morning air. No bathroom handy with out a trek to the out house or latrine if you'd remembered to dig one.

I took my family camping at the end of this last summer, a first for most of them. The state park out house was nearby, running water close at hand, BBQ stand next to the permanent picnic table. We had two 4 man tents between the eight of us. We succeeded at having a good time, discovered things we needed and didn't bring, and everyone wanted to go camping again when it was all over. In fact we extended our one night trip into a two night trip, fortunately we had prepared just enough ahead to stretch out our stay.

One of the things I very much would have liked to have had is a much better tent accommodation. My first requirement for the tent I will buy is that it be sound and secure in just about any climate condition. Wind can be especially challenging for tents. Most tents are built like tumble weeds that catch the wind and take flight across an open field with little provocation.

Roomy is the next biggest issue for me. With our family in order to have enough space for everyone it takes a lot of tent floor space. I have never liked not being able to stand vertically at some point in the tent ether and I'm not exactly a giant. I have looked at tents made by http://www.springbar.com/ out of Utah for a long time. I have always heard good things about them from folks I knew that owned them.

To get one large enough for my family would require a custom build or multiple tents. Both options are pricey and I'm not excited about setting up several tents upon arrival at the camp site. I recently came across a relatively new option Kifaru Tipis http://www.kifaru.net/. Their tents are extremely stable in wind (check out their YouTube videos) and come in sizes large enough for my clan. Their 24 man model has lots of room for everything including the firewood should it be raining outside. The lack of a floor in the tent means there's no having to set it up and clean it once you get home with it, and of course nothing to wear out. http://www.kifaru.net/tipi24man.html

It seems to me that while this is not a cheep tent it is a lot less than a motor home or trailer and much more flexible too. Even their two man tent is tall enough to stand upright in and has room for a small wood stove option (very useful for winter camping). If you know of other or better options I'd love to see what you have to suggest.

Hope this proves informative and useful to you.

Best regards,

Ralph.