Best Family Camping Tents "Mountainsmith Conifer 5+ Tent" 7.9 out of 10. based on 133 ratings
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Most helpful customer reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
A Good Value
By Fred
I looked at this tent at full retail and set it up. I liked it a lot but walked away due to price and after looking at some of the stitching. Then I spent 2 weeks setting up several other name brand tents (Kelty, Big Agnes, REI, North Face, Mountain Hardware, etc.). The stitching on most tents I looked was generally comparable with either quality control or design issues noticeable.
My 20 year old tent has better quality.
After seeing this on Amazon for $245 I ordered knowing this was a lot of tent for the money with a huge fly that gives great coverage which protects well in rain (covers fully like a mountain tent). The poles are beefy too. I ordered the footprint as well.
Without seam sealing, it kept my family of 4 dry for 2 rainy days on first use. The tent is roomy and the vestibule was large enough for my German Shepherd and a potty bucket to be used by the girls during the night.
With maintenance and eventual seam sealing it should
provide many years of use. It does not have all the bells and wistles but it is a good value.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Great huge tent!
By Wanderer
I wanted a big car camping tent so I didn't have to cram people and puppies into my backpacking tents. This is very spacious, I can stand up inside of it, easy to set up (color coded poles and clips) and has kept us dry in all night downpours. The front vestibule is big enough that we rode out a storm the other day drinking beverages and eating snacks in full sized chairs with two dogs...plenty of room and there are even big windows too look out on. A gear storage inside it great for hanging a light to illuminate the whole tent. I bought the footprint which gives me some added security when it rains and if I have to set up on anything that might try to poke through the floor. Great tent at a nice price!
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
First impression is great so far!!!
By J. Tallant
Upon initial review, I give it 4-stars. Arrived today, and set this up in my yard in the middle of the night (tonight) just to simulate real world experiences.....LOL!!! Anyway, my single person setup took approx 25-30min. First thing I noticed as I unpacked the tent, is the color seems to be a very appealing spring green and not the more vibrant neon look as it appears in the stock photos. On to the setup, it was pretty strait forward if you've ever set any dome tent up before. The interior is very spacious, and with an added front vestibule it feels much larger than it would seem. Materials are top notch, with aluminum poles being a huge benefit. Fit/finish are as equally well done with no loose stitching or wayward seams. With all the available guy-outs and full length fly, this is more like a 3 1/2 season..........but would be too airy in deep winter due to not being able to seal off the screens. Only reason I give four instead of five stars is due to only having limited
time on this review of the tent. Only cons I can come up with is in the zippers............really wish they were of the #10 variety and not the smaller #8's it comes with, and had traditional pulls instead of small cord loops. Even then, I can't fault it much of at all for that.
An update to this initial review will follow after a full and extensive testing period in all conditions. Stay tuned!!!
***Update***
5/12/2014
After a couple of outings over the past month and through one torrential storm/downpour, I must say I'm improving my rating by 1/2 star. The tent proved very weather resistant and sturdy with all guy-outs staked, without a single drop of moisture making it's way in. It is one of the rare tent's I've seen in this style and price range where you can attach the fly along it's inside seams to the actual frame of the main body tent. The large covered vestibule and fly was immensely effective and functional during the storm we rode out.
Keeping mud outside of the main tent and allowing us to store/dry our wet clothes as well. Guess it's my favorite thing about this tent. As I found another small oversight in that the rear side stake points need extensions and I still don't particularly like the smaller sized zippers or their pulls, I can't give it a perfect 5 rating, although I will amend the stars anyway.