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. Our favorite of the eight canopy tents we tested, the REI Co-op Screen House Shelter ticks all those boxes. However, it isn’t meant as a place to sleep; for that you should choose a regular car-camping tent. Overall, we think the Ozark Trail canopy serves its intended purpose – a value brand 10×10 instant shelter that caters to price conscious consumers looking for an affordable shade option. And compared to some of the tents in the EZ-Up lineup, it sells for almost a 70% discount.
This cooler, when compared to the Pelican 45Q Elite and Yeti Tundra, has the smallest profile while still providing 45Q internal storage. It features rubber latches which I am a huge fan of for boating applications. When you are out on the water, people often sneak over to grab something from the cooler and may not latch it back up. Leader Accessories is one of the highest-rated pop-up shelters on the market, but is it the right one for you?
It’s advertised as a 10×10 tent, but your canopy is actually 7.8’ x 7.8’, for about 61 square feet of space under the canopy. If canopy coverage is important to you, this is a very good reason to go with a straight-leg option. Additionally, the size of a straight leg canopy defines how much shade and protection you have under the canopy. Let’s say you’re shopping for a 10×10 pop up canopy, you can be confident that you have 100 square feet of protection under that canopy. Enjoy views of the Ozark landscape as you gain 500 feet of elevation up 2.5 miles to the top of Stegall Mountain. Camp out at the top overnight, catching a glimpse of a full sky of stars if it’s clear.
I also use a Marmot 20 liter pack which does have a thin hipbelt, but it is more limited space-wise and weighs a couple of ounces more. It is also hydration compatible and comes with an included 2L reservoir so you can stay hydrated on the trails. It’s light enough that I don’t mind putting it in my backpack and it takes up almost no space at all. For day hikes ozark trail chairs this is just as good as (and lighter than) my Osprey Daylite that retails for almost four times more.
The Coleman 15 × 13 Instant Screenhouse is essentially a larger version of the Coleman 10 × 10 Instant Screened Canopy, and it has similar shortcomings. The sloping walls make the interior space feel much smaller than the generous footprint might lead you to expect. The mesh doesn’t seem particularly durable, and given the cap-like roof, the shade provided is much more limited than with our top-pick tents. During the winter and early spring of 2017, we added four more canopy tents to our testing lineup. In addition to the models from REI and L.L.Bean, which became our new top picks, we tested the Coleman 15 × 13 Instant Screenhouse and the Wenzel Sun Valley Screen House.
These include sidewalls, weight bags, and a host of other great add-ons that can really increase the use and versatility of the canopy tent. Perhaps our two favorites are camping tent additions that connect to the frame of the shelter and leverage the stability of the 10×10 frame to support a camping tent structure. The canopy fabric is made of a lightweight denier polyester, offering water resistant features and 50+ UPF, which we love. Being protected from the suns harmful UVB rays is probably why you wanted a canopy tent in the first place, and this Ozark Trail tent meets all criteria in this department. The one complaint we have is that there is no vents in the fabric at the peak to release the build up of hot air under the canopy.
I only walked about a mile away on a dirt trail to the showers but it was not a flat surface and ozark trail canopy the equiptment on my back was stable. OT maps are a great resource to help identify places where you can access water. If it’s manufactured correctly, each leg should form a 90-degree angle with the floor.
The one downside with integrated rain flies is the lack of ventilation and temperature control. We had great weather – not too hot and not too cold – but it did rain for about 5 minutes. Fellow campers and sun-baked spectators consistently gravitated toward the REI shelter over the L.L.Bean.