The Pacific Breeze Easy Up and the Qipi Beach Cabana came in just behind the top scorers. This position is primarily due to their larger packed sizes, which makes them slightly more difficult to carry and store. The Qipi, in particular, has a much longer packed size and, at nearly 10 pounds, it’s heavier than the others mentioned above. The Easy Up may have been the lightest in our list of top scorers, but it also comes in a longer packed size, which affected its overall score.
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. It offers impeccable craftsmanship and is even graded as “Entry Commercial” by the manufacturer. Additionally, its 600-denier canopy fabric is the thickest we’ve seen.
It’s made with reinforced polyester and heavyweight no-see-um mesh, and it comes with the strongest stakes we’ve seen on any tent. The Clam also sets up and folds down with remarkable speed—we timed the process at 60 seconds. However, this model is too big to fit in the trunks of most sedans, and the muted colors look good when it’s sunny but can feel a bit gloomy if it’s already rainy out. The canopy fabric is made of a lightweight denier polyester, offering water resistant features and 50+ UPF, which we love.
Likewise, the roller bag is made from commercial-grade components and fabrics, and the frame is thicker and heavier than other canopies. It can be popped into place by just one person, and it boasts pinch-free lockers and height adjusters, which allow everything to glide into position easily. Our favorite setup feature for this model is its crank-style center mast.
Likewise, the Pacific Breeze Easy Up does not require additional assembly. It springs into place with just the pull of a single chord, similar ozark trail screen house to opening an umbrella but in reverse. The simplicity of this design makes it easy for one person to produce an instant sunshade in seconds.
Over the years, I have evaluated gear for magazines including Wired, Popular Science, and National Geographic Adventure, where I was a senior editor. The REI Co-op Screen House Shelter is easy to set up and pleasant to use, providing good protection from bugs, sun, and gentle rain showers. A high ceiling makes the tent feel brighter and more airy than other camping shelters with a similar footprint.
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. Be comfortable and safe even when sleeping in the outdoors when you have the Ozark Trail 6-Person Connect Ent for a Straight-leg Canopy (SOLD SEPARATELY). This 100 sq ft. tent comfortably fits 2 queen air beds or up to 6 sleeping bags, so you can have your family or group of friends under one roof. The Ozark Trail 6-Person Connect Ent easily sets up in about 10 minutes by clipping into your 10 ft. x 10 ft. straight-leg canopy (SOLD SEPARATELY) to convert it to a roomy sleeping area. Center height means even tall members of your crew can stand up in your tent.
After weeks of testing, we have thrown a few penalty flags on the field. This product’s excellent wheel system is mostly plastic; we wish it were constructed primarily of metal. Additionally, it packs up large and is heavy, making it difficult to find room for it in the trunk of just any car. It’s also more challenging to lift into and out of a vehicle alone, and although quite solid, the E-Z Up can be a little wobbly at full height. These caveats aside, this is still our number one when heading out to the playing field.
We also noted special features, like quick-release levers, that make setup easier. To uncover the best canopy tent, we use comprehensive test metrics and cover all manner of use cases and essential details. We also looked closely at the quality of each canopy tent for our craftsmanship metric and measured each tent when packed up to provide details on portability. We weighted each metric according to its importance before grading and ranking each shelter, side by side, on a scale of 1-10. Below, we discuss the metrics we used to score each model and highlight impressive models in each performance area.
It will shelter a standard-size picnic table, but with little room to spare. If you love camping but hate eating your morning pancakes in the rain, a canopy tent can protect you from the trifecta of bugs, sun, and sudden showers. Getting our hands dirty with the top-rated 9×9 Neso Grande lightweight beach canopy tent. We explore the lightweight beach canopy that’s powered by the wind to see if its worth its hefty price tag.