Unfortunately, the steel pole in the back of the tent did not lock into position, so this tent is defective. I did not continue to set up the screen porch (which has no floor) or put the rainfly on. I did go inside the tent to stand up and not hunched over and noticed the mesh ceiling with lots of ventilation. I’m sure this tent is good during a wind storm and rain/condensation issues. This isn’t an instant tent, but ease of use is still a high point of this model thanks to the simple setup.
Its 10-person version has an impressive peak height of 90 inches, and I couldn’t even reach the top of the tent! (I’m 5’3″, ,by the way.) Another great thing about the Core Cabin Tent is that there are no obvious flaws…. It also has a nice high peak height of 88 inches, plus its side walls are vertical, so it offers a lot of livable space.
First off, dome tents are typically less expensive since they have fewer total parts and less sophisticated frames. Second, dome tents tend to fare better in bad weather because they’re rounded shapes are more aerodynamic. Ozark Trail tents are pretty much all “fair-weather” shelters, but dome tents get the advantage here.
But with so much mesh on the ceiling, I would not use this tent in a cold climate. There’s no dark room technology though, and it’s quite bright throughout the day. This Ozark Trail 10-Person Tent has only 2 pockets in the entire ozark trail canopy tent tent, and both measure about 13 inches in length and 6 inches in width, which is very tiny for such a huge tent. Every single time I open this door, the zipper will snag at least once, sometimes twice, which can be annoying.
There was quite a bit of this sort of inconsistent mesh in some places, so not very well put together. Some parts of the stitching aren’t that great as well, and there were fairly big holes, especially where the guylines are connected to the main tent body. I also found a bunch of loose threads on the floor when I first got into the tent, and excess material on some parts. The pole structure is very simple, there are only 8 guylines in total, and the stakes aren’t your super high-quality stakes. Also, I noticed that some water was already seeping through the blue fabric at the bottom of the tent, and the fabric is pretty much soaked. For ventilation, this Ozark Trail 10-Person Tent has a lot of mesh on the roof of the tent.
The door does have a bug net, but it’s only for half the door, and not the full door. The holes are quite large, so I’m pretty sure that this is not no-see-um mesh. Each window has 2 zippers, which are a little bit noisy, but are generally quite snag-free. The entire Ozark Trail 10-Person Tent takes about 10 minutes to set up, when my brother and I were setting it up together (2 people). For ease of use, I looked at how easily I could set up this Ozark Trail 10-Person Tent on my own, and with 2 people as well. After, I looked at how easily I could take down and pack up this tent.
Our favorite is the “storage locker” which gives you a protected place to store items like muddy shoes outside the tent, but can also be accessed from inside using a second zipper. It’s a great spot to stash your “middle of the night bathroom break” shoes and anything else you don’t want taking up space inside the tent. Oddly enough, Ozark Trail’s most basic, base bones shelter takes the title of most durable. We chose the Ozark Trail Clip & Camp because unlike larger cabins with plastic hubs and countless poles, this traditional two-pole dome has the fewest number of parts that can potentially fail. Our favorite Ozark Trail tent currently is the Ozark Trail Three Room Instant Cabin. This tent’s combination of floor space, livability, and value make it a home run for large groups or families looking to spread out in style, but this 12-person behemoth won’t be everyone’s first choice.
Seasons-wise & climate-wise, I see it best suited for summer camping without much rain and winds. This is a tall and boxy structure so it is best to use it in a quiet area. But I have seen some users reporting of using it in the winds of 50 mph. Trailspace’s community of gear reviewers has field-tested and rated the top warm weather tents.
Just slide the roof poles into place, then plug the side and corner poles into their designated hubs and raise it all up. Two people can get this cabin set up in about five minutes, but setting the 2 Room Cabin up solo isn’t out of the question either. I think it works totally fine in fair weather, so you can take the rainfly off and open all the windows for a decent amount of ventilation. It definitely won’t be great in strong winds, heavy rain, or even light rain though. You have to add the fly as well, so it is best to have somebody to help you.
The 2 green pole sleeves are for the longer diagonal poles (with 9 fiberglass segments), and the 1 blue pole sleeve is the for the shorter pole (with 5 fiberglass segments). The fabric is a 190T coated polyester, they do not provide information about waterproof rating. Many users have reported that the tent was working fine even in strong prolonged rains.