Best Family Camping Tents "Kodiak Canvas Flex Bow 6 Person Canvas Tent, Deluxe" 9.7 out of 10. based on 133 ratings
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27 of 29 people found the following review helpful.
Fabulous family tent
By navyblue
We borrowed my in law's 20+ year old Springbar tent one year and were really impressed by how well it had held up and how easy it was to set up. Tired of our thin ripstop nylon tent with broken poles, we decided we wanted a Springbar for ourselves. However, the price and wait time (they are custom made for each customer) gave us pause. When we found the Kodiak Canvas website we were thrilled! The founder used to work at Springbar, I understand, and view these tents as less a 'knock off' and more an improvement on a good thing. They were more affordable and available for shipping immediately.
We bought this 6 man deluxe version three years ago and have had no problems whatsoever. It is sturdy, strong, waterproof, keeps us warm in cold weather, is super easy to put up (even when it's just me and the kids and dad's home working), and we absolutely love it.
This tent gets a lot of use from us, we go camping every weekend we can throughout the summer, take
it on two family reunions per year, and camp for a week in it during our homeschool's swim camp. Two years ago the weather at swim camp (the last week in May in the mountains of eastern Idaho) was so cold and windy (thank goodness the hot spring pool is indoors). Anyway, of the dozens and dozens of tents set up (200 people or so), ours was one of the very few left standing after a particularly nasty storm. Many tents flooded, uprooted and blew away, collapsed, and even ripped in the wind. We were warm, dry, and comfortable.
My one caveat: a six man tent is often great for more like four people with all their gear. We can fit all six of us in this tent but we are a bit squished. I would have liked the 8 man tent but we worried we wouldn't fit on typical tent-plots at camp grounds. To make things work we organize ourselves like so:
Two full sized cots hold my 10 year old and 8 year old. We store our gear bags beneath the cots. I use a collapsible hamper
in the corner to catch dirty clothes and wet items (especially useful at swim camp, and keeps the small floor space we have left from getting littered with socks and things). We use a smaller child size cot for our 6 year old, then my husband, the toddler, and I sleep on an inflatable mattress on the floor. We have a decent sized walkway by the door left for navigating around. I use the mesh shelf that attaches near the ceiling to hold coats and jackets, and the wall organizer to hold flashlights, stuffable raincoats, and other small items we don't want to lose.
I really love the tented entrance, we place rugs inside and outside the tent to cut down on mud and dirt.
Cannot recommend this tent and this brand enough.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
Yet another 5 star review
By C. Young
Seems pointless to add yet another 5-star review, but after another outing with my Kodiak "springbar" (I will always have the "springbar" name in my head, it was the tent of my youth) I have to add my praise.
As mentioned in other reviews, it's certainly not a backpacking tent (that's what they make those five pound, two man tents for). This cabin is for comfortable car camping, and it doesn't disappoint.
1) Spacious. It's huge inside. Ever get tired of putting on your pants hunched over, or worse, on your knees or laying down? Worth it just for the ability to stand (I'm 6'1") straight up and stretch out. Have camped with two queen sized mattresses inflated - no problem whatsoever. Could probably fit three cots easily.
2) Incredibly durable. The floor secretly makes me happy each time I see the thick rubberyness of it. The walls and ceiling are amazingly adept at keeping out rain/snow. Being canvas, the one downside is that you have to
really make sure that the material is not wet when packing it up. Or if it was, you need to set it up at home until it dries out. With other tents, you should also take it home and dry it out ... but it's not the end of the world if you don't. I believe it would be if this thing rotted out. Poles / bars have worked flawlessly, no sign of breakage.
3) Easy to setup. In fact, I'd say very easy. Do yourself a favor and get a rubber stake mallet from Target or Walmart (Coleman makes it). It makes pounding in stakes much better, and also won't damage the stakes like a metal hammer. The Coleman mallet has a stake lifter as well so de-staking is a breeze. I have set up the tent by myself each time, no need for a second person.
4) Tent bag is a great size. How many times have you cursed after getting a tent rolled up only to realize it won't fit in the tent bag? This bag wraps around the tent and buckles up, easy to tighten. Both the tent back and the
stakes/poles/bars bag have a very handy handle that makes carrying them simultaneously a breeze (even though I would guess combined it's over 75lbs.)
5) Canopy. Great, durable (same as the rest of the tent). Nice that it rolls up and has holder straps that can quickly be tightened.
6) Pockets and storage. There are nice storage pouches on both sides, as well as an optional overhead storage net. One of my favorite parts!
7) 2 Doors, one on each side! 'Nuff said.
This tent is the ultimate for CAR tent camping. Again, very heavy - but not overly big if you're packing it into your SUV. Plenty of room for multiple people. No reason to worry you're going to put a hole in the floor or sides. Just absolutely rock solid and a treat to camp in. And one that you can put your pants on in ... STANDING UP!
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
Expensive? Yes! High Quality? Yes!
By The Image Doctor
If you're looking at tents you know this one is pretty expensive compared to most. Is it worth the price difference? I really don't know how to answer that as this is the first tent we've ever bought. I did my research and decided to buy the best I could possibly afford, even at twice the price of much bigger and "feature rich" tents. I can tell you this much: Kodiak delivers a high quality, well designed product - and compared with the Wally World and Big Sports Store tents, well there is no comparison. This is a "real" canvas tent, with steel poles and spikes, and heavy duty stitching and zippers. It weighs a lot and having the Prime membership EASILY paid for itself by getting this bad boy delivered in two days! When it arrive it sat in the garage for a few weeks until my 17 year old son decided to put it up, which he figured on his own in about 15 minutes. We are not what you'd call a "camping family" but he promptly lived in the tent for a week straight through rain and
cold - and loved it. In fact, he just put it up again yesterday which prompted me to come write a review. The only concern I have about the tent are the metal "flex-bow" rods which are the entire "secret" to this tend. If they break, as apparently has happened to a few reviewers in the distant past, you are completely out of luck with this tent. We've had no problem with our rods, but I plan to purchase a few replacement rods to have on hand. ("Be prepared!" Right?!!?) Anyway I do recommend this tent.
EDIT: My aforementioned son decided this tent is SO awesome, he has literally lived in it, out in our backyard, for weeks on end. I yes, I mean for WEEKS continuously, through rain and cold and wind and storm. The tent has performed wonderfully. He did notice a small hole in one wall that looked like a manufacturing defect, but of course it's impossible to say. I dabbed it with clear silicone inside and out and have had no problems with it. The only 'problem' he had was one
night when the front 'porch' flap string retainers snapped in the wind and the flap blew up over the tent. This caused some water to puddle oddly and run down inside the tent door which was open slightly at the top. Those plastic quick-tighten string retainers were the only "cheap" part on the tent and have been the only thing to break. Other than that, this tent is a winner. Our family of four is planning to use it for Sukkot* this year (*basically a week long camping trip with friends found in the bible.) Last year we were in a RV for Sukkot so this year should be a lot different. :-) Again, this tent is highly recommended.