Columbus Mt. Pleasant 18- by 10-Foot 8 Person Dome Tent

Take the entire family camping with the spacious 18- by 10-Foot Mt. Pleasant Dome Tent from Columbus. Perfect for car camping with the entire family in the summer, this tent will sleep up to eight campers comfortably and offers three rooms for privacy. Three doors with built-in windows provide easy tent access and excellent ventilation. Three separate rooms can be created by using the included divider curtains, which can be easily removed to create a single, large room. The Mt. Pleasant has a footprint measurement of 18 by 10 feet for a 180-square-foot area, and a center height of six feet.

The frame is composed of shock-corded fiberglass poles that allow for quick assembly. The rainfly is fully seam-taped and offers a waterproof coating to keep you dry in wet conditions; no-see-um mesh on the interior will keep bugs away for a comfortable camping adventure. When packed up, the tent weighs 23 pounds and can be easily stored and toted around in the included carry bag. Additional features include skylights for star gazing at night, a gear loft to keep your equipment organized and out of the way, and inner pockets to stash small items.

Specifications:

• Footprint: 18' x 10' x 6' (L x W x H)
• Weight: 23 pounds
• Fly: Fully seam-taped fly, 1000mm coated polyester for superior waterproofing
• Fly Material: 800mm water resistant polyester
• Interior Material: 800mm polyester, No-See-Um mesh
• Floor Material: PE, 1000mm horizontal
• Shock-corded fiberglass poles
• Three large doors with built-in windows and storm cloth zip covers
• Two guy rope attachments and guy ropes
• Inner pockets and flashlight loop tie

What's in the Box?
Tent, rainfly, shockcorded poles, guy rope attachments and guy ropes, divider curtain, carry bag

Amazon.com Tent Guide
Selecting a Tent
Fortunately, there are all kinds of tents for weekend car campers, Everest expeditions, and everything in between. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Expect the Worst
In general, it's wise to choose a tent that's designed to withstand the worst possible conditions you think you'll face. For instance, if you're a summer car camper in a region where weather is predictable, an inexpensive family or all-purpose tent will likely do the trick--especially if a vehicle is nearby and you can make a mad dash for safety when bad weather swoops in! If you're a backpacker, alpine climber, or bike explorer, or if you like to car camp in all seasons, you'll want to take something designed to handle more adversity.

Three- and Four-Season Tents
For summer, early fall, and late spring outings, choose a three-season tent. At minimum, a quality three-season tent will have lightweight aluminum poles, a reinforced floor, durable stitching, and a quality rain-fly. Some three-season tents offer more open-air netting and are more specifically designed for summer backpacking and other activities. Many premium tents will feature presealed, taped seams and a silicone-impregnated rain-fly for enhanced waterproofness.

For winter camping or alpine travel, go with a four-season model. Because they typically feature more durable fabric coatings, as well as more poles, four-season tents are designed to handle heavy snowfall and high winds without collapsing. Of course, four-season tents exact a weight penalty of about 10 to 20 percent in trade for their strength and durability. They also tend to be more expensive.

Domes and Tunnels
Tents are broadly categorized into two types, freestanding, which can stand up on their own, and those that must be staked down in order to stand upright. Freestanding tents often incorporate a dome-shaped design, and most four-season tents are constructed this way because a dome leaves no flat spots on the outer surface where snow can collect. Domes are also inherently stronger than any other design. Meanwhile, many three-season models employ a modified dome configuration called a tunnel. These are still freestanding, but they require fewer poles than a dome, use less fabric, and typically have a rectangular floor-plan that offers less storage space than a dome configuration. Many one- and two-person tents are not freestanding, but they make up for it by being more lightweight. Because they use fewer poles, they can also be quicker to set up than a dome.

Size Matters
Ask yourself how many people you'd like to fit in your fabric hotel now and in the future. For soloists and minimalists, check out one-person tents. If you're a mega-minimalist, or if you have your eye on doing some big wall climbs, a waterproof-breathable bivy sack is the ticket. Some bivy sacks feature poles and stake points to give you a little more breathing room. Also, if you don't need bug protection and you want to save weight, check out open-air shelters.

Families who plan on car camping in good weather can choose from a wide range of jumbo-sized tents that will accommodate all your little ones with room to spare. A wide range of capacities is also available for three- and four-season backpacking and expedition tents. Remember, though, the bigger the tent you buy, the heavier it will be, although it's easy to break up the tent components among several people in your group. It's also helpful to compare the volume and floor-space measurements of models you're considering.

Customer Review: Does not hold up under stong winds
I purchased this tent to take to a music festival in Florida and overall I was not impressed with this tent. PROS: The tent was very easy to set up and is very large for the price paid. CONS: The rain fly is too small and poorly designed. The rainfly only leaves 1-2 inches of coverage over the mess panels. A very slight breeze causes the rainfly to pull back and expose the tent to rain. The zippers were very cheap and would catch and tear the surrounding fabric. The walls leaked around the zippers and windows. You will need to buy heavy duty stakes. The stakes that come with the tent will pull out of the ground very easily because the tent performs so poorly in the wind. Summary: I would rate this tent as below average overall because it does not handle strong wind or rain very well. If you are creative and somewhat handy you can make this work for the price, but I was looking for something I could put up and not worry about it and I had to spend time each day salvaging the tent from the elements.
Customer Review: good for the price
i'm comparing this tent to a similar Coleman one I've used. Overall a good tent for the price i paid (was about $100). I used this in Yosemite when the temperatures reached the mid-30s at night. It doesn't hold heat as well as tents designed for colder temperatures, but luckily our sleeping bags were more than up to the task. The tent goes together well and is pretty roomy. I did not test it's water resistant properties.

So you, like me, are an avid camper. My family and I try and go on at least four camping trips during the year. Here in New Jersey, at least for me anyway, the best times to go are March through the end of May, and September through middle of October.

For me the summer months in New Jersey can get too humid, bringing out a plethora of bugs and mosquitoes, which quite frankly I do not find too pleasant of an atmosphere. I try to limit my time during the cooler months for that reason and for comfort. There is nothing more enjoyable about camping then sitting around the camp fire on a crisp cool evening. Something that I don`t feel you can enjoy during the dog days of summer.

Now that is not to say that camping isn't enjoyable here in New Jersey during the summer months. It is, as you will find many, if not all of the campgrounds, private and public are booked solid. The main reasons being, kids are out of school and the days are longer. New Jersey provides a wonderful selection of campgrounds throughout the state. You can hit the mountains in Northern New Jersey, the Jersey shore campgrounds down in Cape May. Whichever you choose, be prepared for the terrain.

If you go camping in Northern New Jersey, expect very rocky ground. If you are tent camping, which is something that I absolutely love to do, bring a good hammer with you to bang those tent stakes in. In fact, you probably should bring some heavy duty tent stakes with you. If you just use the ones that come with your tent, chances are they will bend on you.

A hammer is not needed central to south Jersey for camping as the soil is more soft without much rock to break through.

If you are a novice to camping I would recommend not so much "roughing" it on your first try. What I mean by that is, look for a campground that has water hookups near your site. It will make it easier on you when you need water for cooking, cleaning etc. Also choose a campground that has bathroom facilities. Not all of them have them, most do, but keep that on your checklist. I recommend the more new you are to camping, the closer your site should be to the facilities. It doesn't make the trip enjoyable when you have to go in the middle of the night and have to walk a half mile to get to the bathroom. Once you get accustomed to the camping lifestyle, trust me, it really is not that big of a deal.

Regardless of where you camp, what time of year, or who you go with, the key to a fun, safe and rewarding camping trip is in the planning. Sit down and write a list of everything you will need to make the trip comfortable. Separate your list into categories, such as food supplies, cooking and eating utensils, sleeping gear and so on. After you write your list, double check it against the list others you are going with might have made up. Maybe you forgot some things that they have, and vice-versa. The more time you spend in the planning process, the more easy your trip will be and the more fun you will have. There is nothing worse, then when you are about to cook those steaks over an open fire and you forgot the utensils to cook, or the seasoning or even worse, the steaks themselves.

Camping is a fun and enjoyable activity for the entire family. Proper planning, and not trying to extend beyond your comfort level, will make it even that more special.

About the Author:
Bruce A. Tucker is the Associate Director of http://www.Indocquent.com, an online resource that allows campgrounds, camping suppliers, camping supply manufacturers to post their products and services for sale and hire in 20,000 cities throughout 200 countries around the world.