Ozark Trail Sun Shade: Not Worth The Hassle

Once we understood that the poles retracted, it popped right up! If that’s kind of confusing, watch the ozark trail sleeping bag video above, it explains and shows it  better. My other complaint was the height of the structure.

And compared to some of the tents in the EZ-Up lineup, it sells for almost a 70% discount. One could, in theory, purchase a new Ozark canopy every year (which they might need to!) and still come out ahead over the years vs. purchasing a more expensive alternative. It’s worth highlighting that despite the advertised dimensions of the 10×10 Ozark Trail, because this is a slant leg shelter the top only measures 8×8.

These push locks get very difficult to use over time, especially if the tent is used on the beach and exposed to sand and saltwater, causing rust build up. Many newer tent brands like EZ-Up use revolutionary thumb lock sliders or larger easy to release buttons, which are a much better user experience when setting ozark trail sleeping bag the canopy up or taking it down. With the push buttons you need to worry about pinching fingers or not being able to release the button when it gets rusted, which is never a pleasant experience. The legs extend to give the top peak a height of about 8’10” which will be plenty of headroom for anyone underneath.

We don’t find that to be a noteworthy drawback as the nylon handles and shoulder strap work just fine in carrying the tent. The most popular product in their line is the 10×10 Instant Slant Leg Tent with a blue canopy top. It is made with a steel construction frame and polyester material for the canopy, which is in line with just about every shade tent on the market today. The frame is that of a pyramid structure, which are generally found in all value brand canopy tents as they require less material to manufacture vs. that of a full truss system and as a result can keep the price lower. The Ozark Trail canopy very well might be one of the best selling 10×10 tent brands of all time. The easily recognizable logo has been seen by nearly everyone at youth soccer tournaments or beach vacations in recent years.

Is it for a large family or just used short camping trips? If you’re going to use air mattresses, be sure it fits your size of mattress (most tents can fit a queen size air mattress). I’ve had this tent for 5+ years, it still works great and is in good shape, except for the rainfly.

While both Coleman and Ozark Trail are highly inexpensive family camping tents, this is where Ozark Trail outshines Coleman. While I paid between $250 to $350 for both my 10-Person Coleman Tents, I paid only about $100 for the Ozark Trail 10-Person Cabin Tent, which is less than half the price of my Coleman tents. The easiest models to pitch are pretty much always “instant tent” shelters, which use a system of preattached poles than only need to be unfolded and locked into place. With that being said, we have yet to see an Ozark Trail tent that’s actually “difficult” to set up, so there’s no reason to limit your search to “instant-only” if you don’t mind putting your own poles together. Large dome tents are also an option, and although they’re a little less flashy, they have some perks of their own.

Once the structure is up, all you have to do is attach the detachable sun shade. There is only one shade, which can be put on either side of the sun shelter. You just angle the shelter where you need it, then attach the shade. It’s literally that easy and is very quick and efficient to set up. First off, this is an affordable solution for a sun shelter. It’s not jam packed with all the bells and whistles that some of the other sun shades have, but the price was right, and it’s more than serving it’s purpose.

I’m not sure how it will hold up in super windy conditions as I have not been able to test that yet. We took it out of bag carrier it came in, and were able to get it assembled in about 5 minutes. The box says 30 seconds, which will be true every subsequent time we now set it up. In ozark trail sun shelter fact, even though this tent is one of the highest-rated and most popular Ozark Trail tents, it’s still plenty affordable at just over $100. On the other hand, I’ve had some of my Coleman Tents for about 3 to 4 years now, and I never noticed any of the tent fabric becoming sticky.