A high ceiling makes the tent feel brighter and more airy than other camping shelters with a similar footprint. The campground received a moderate rain on the second night and the roof collected water in several ozark trail chairs places, causing the screen house to collapse. This was not a heavy rain by any means as no other shelters or tents collapsed. The weight of the water actually bent several poles on the roof and one leg.
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere in the blog, I’m getting married in Joshua Tree on August 2nd, outdoors. It occurred to me that if I insist on inviting people into a blazing Mojave inferno in the height of the summer it would be polite to provide some shade. Shade can be a matter of survival there if you’re outside at midday. Then I started having other wild fantasies, like effectively adding ozark trail chairs a room to the desert shack where I live by erecting the shadehouse in the backyard. The set-up is extremely complicated and took two persons over an hour to complete, including all staking of the structure and guy lines as required by the instructions. We placed the screen house over a picnic table at the campsite and it did a fairly good job of keeping insects out while we were eating.
The North Face offers a limited lifetime warranty on the tent, and will repair most flaws and damage at its discretion. Like our top pick, the Tungsten 4 comes with a footprint. The shelter has a 10-by-10-foot footprint—the most common size for tents of this type—and a peak height of 7 feet. It will shelter a standard-size picnic table, but with little room to spare. The ozark trail screen house is 13 feet long and nine feet wide, with a standing space that tops out at seven feet high.
Any $75 canopy tent from a big-box store—we’re talking about the common square canopy with four spindly metal legs—can provide shade during midday. But when you’re camping or eating outdoors, you’ll likely want protection from insects, as well. That’s why we focused on collapsible camping shelters with mesh walls to keep bugs at bay.
It’s constructed with heavy-duty 210-denier poly oxford walls and the heftiest bug-blocking no-see-um mesh we’ve encountered in any tent. The thicker, darker netting also makes the whole structure shadier, even without the optional side panels. Fellow campers and sun-baked spectators consistently gravitated toward the REI shelter over the L.L.Bean.
But with a ceiling that’s 6 inches lower, it feels smaller and darker. It always cost more than our top pick, but the price has gone up another $150 since we first tested it. Queen Bee has been one of my favorite pages to follow! A friend kept sharing her deals so I had to start following and I’m so glad I did. I have been able to purchase so many items at great prices because of her posts. She is great about commenting back to questions or even just saying thanks to people who let her know they picked up an item she posted!
Finally, these shelters feel noticeably smaller than any of our picks. We also tested and liked the Coleman Mountain View 12 x 12 Screendome Shelter; it was an also-great pick until Coleman discontinued the model. A full rain cover, two vestibules, and an extra-sturdy pole structure make this the best choice for families who want to get outside in any weather. The ozark trail screen house is 13 feet long and nine feet wide, with a standing space that tops out at seven feet high. The tent fabric roof provides shade for 46 square feet of the room.
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