Marmot uses color coding smartly to help you position the tent as well as set it up. Both of the doors zip open to the side that’s color-coded blue, as opposed to zipping open to opposite sides. In other words, one partner—or one partner’s gear—is always going to get a dose of weather when they head out. The Tungsten 4 design equalizes exposure and protection.
What you wind up with is a web of pipes and plastic pieces that falls apart at one end as you assemble the other. Then the instructions start to get really funny. ‘Insert the leg poles into the hubs to raise the screenhouse frame’ got the first laugh. The “frame” barely stayed together on the ground.
Wasn’t even able to get the tent set up in a mild wind before one of the corner plastic parts broke. I purchased my tent a couple of years ago, but time passed and just got it out to put it up. Also, one of the parts broke before using it one time. I contacted Wal-Mart (1-800-WALMART) to see where I could get a replacement pole for the tent. They are idiots and seemed like they didn’t want to help me by supplying me with the manufacturer’s phone number.
It has two main that thread through sleeves, stretching between the four corners of the tent. Generally, we like clip-on designs better, since those are easier to put together, but in the case of the Base Camp models, the sleeves add extra tension and stability throughout the tent fabric. There are also two poles that arch over each doorway and down the sides of the tent to add extra shape and support; these attach to the tent body with clips. The rain fly has an additional tent pole, too, to support the vestibule.
It has two large doors, and a peak height of 6-foot-3. That wasn’t the tallest we encountered—the Eureka Copper Canyon LX 6 and the Alps Mountaineering Camp Creek 6 each topped out at 7 feet—but it’s enough space for most adults to maneuver standing up. The tent comes with a full rain ozark trail screen house fly that adds two vestibules for storage (each 14 square feet), totaling 115 square feet of livable space—which is fairly generous yet still practical for most campsites. The Wawona 6 is more complex to set up than a classic dome-style tent like the Wireless 6, but not by much.
After a pretty bad storm at the beach, a few of the poles broke…so we are moving onto the next new one and selling the first for parts. Had I have known that this particular screen house was so hard to find, I would have bought a kit and tried to repair it. If anyone reading this review has any idea where I can purchase another one just like it, please contact me at I am now ready to put up the screen house on my back patio so my grandchildren can play without the bugs getting them or the sun burning them along with eating out there.
Nevertheless, it still comfortably accommodates four people, and it’s a roomy choice for two. This no-nonsense tent is intuitive to set up, has mesh on the top halves of two walls, includes a partial rain fly that’s easy to put on and stake out, and feels cheery inside and out. (We don’t recommend the smaller version of this tent for couples who might actually take it on ozark trail screen house the road; it was just too flimsy in our tests.) Also note that this tent does not come with its own groundsheet. Coleman says that the tent doesn’t need one, probably because its floor is a crinkly (though tough) tarp-like polyethylene, not a taped-seam polyester as in our other picks. The geodesic structure of the Base Camp tents is built to withstand wind and rain.
We assembled and disassembled the tents on all of our testing sites multiple times. We tried the rain fly for each tent as well, one time rushing to get several of them up during an unexpected rainstorm at night. When heavy trade winds buffeted our Oahu-coast testing site, we pitched each tent in full face of the blast.
Find something simple to set up, reliable, durable and with product support. Great product, however, like everyone else, unable to locate replacement parts. I have lost the instructions and the list of parts to the Screen House. I was wondering if anyone can email me the instructions and List of parts. This model has been discontinued and I only need two parts to fix it. No information on where I can get replacement parts.
It also comes with a groundsheet (aka footprint) to protect the tent floor. Its fly extends into a huge front vestibule that can store large items like bikes, or even accommodate a table and chairs. Adults over 6 feet tall will be able to walk upright inside this tent—which has almost-vertical walls that can easily accommodate beds, cribs, ozark trail chairs and cots—as well as in the vestibule. And this tent is easy to set up and pack down, especially considering its size. (It comes with a carrying bag equipped with duffle-style handles.) You’re unlikely to find a similar-sized tent that matches the Wawona’s quality and features for less money—most comparable tents we tested cost much more.