As much as we love the ger, it’s too cumbersome for shorter trips or space constrained sites. I decided we needed a modern family tent, because the wee ones are too wee for separate tents.
One of the quandaries in buying camping gear, or anything really, is should you buy a cheap one that won’t last or spend money on a quality item that will last? In my mind, that depends on the use case. Many of my friends buy a new $100 tent every two or three years. If this tent lasts eight years, I’ll be ahead of them financially.
We bought the Wawona6 by The North Face. As far as family tents go, I feel like it’s a pretty solid mid-sized choice. It’s basically a three pole dome tent with a monster vestibule. The third pole is used to pull the front wall to vertical for more interior room.
I’m not sure how The North Face expects six people to fit in this tent, it’s cozy for four and a small dog.
Probably the best feature of this tent is the vestibule. It’s six feet tall, so an adult can stand up in the vestibule. Both sides open up for a cross breeze, though we generally keep one side closed. There are three loops in the ceiling, which we use to hang a string of lights.
Normally, we keep a chair inside the vestibule and use it as a dressing room. There is actually enough room for an adult to sit on the chair and dress a kid.
The poles are color coded and the sleeves are continuous for easy setup.
It’s not a perfect tent though. (If you find the perfect one, please let me know.) The biggest flaw in my eyes is that the side windows have to be closed off when it rains, so you loose a lot of the ventilation.
Another flaw is that there isn’t a solid panel at the front door. If you need privacy, you need the fly / vestibule.
When you first get into the tent, the number of storage pockets seems overwhelming. There are three built into the back door, three above that door and two low ones beside the front door. Don’t get attached to the ones on the back door though, if you plan to use the door. As soon as you open the back door, the contents of these three pockets will spill onto the floor.
The tent ships with ten stakes which is enough for the tent itself. If you’re expecting rough weather, you’ll want seven more stakes for the guy lines.
Speaking of guy lines that aren’t always used – I tie mine into a chain knot to keep them handy, but avoid an unnecessary trip hazard.
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