5 Best 6 Person Tent

In this guide, I will be taking you through my top 6 person tent reviews.

One of the first things I think about when investing in a new tent is quality. During my early camping years I made the mistake of being taken in by appearances, and learned the hard way that there are important factors to look for in a tent if the trip is to go smoothly. After all, who needs a sagging, damp tent to retreat to at the end of a day exploring in nature?

These days I won’t settle for less when it comes to camping comfort and I can say with confidence that I know what to look for in my camping equipment. Gone are the days of battling high winds and rains, snapped tent poles, cramped conditions and being baked in my sleep. I’m here to share my findings so that you make the best possible choice in 6-person tent for a successful group camping trip.

What Factors Should You Look For In A 6-Person Tent?

Space

Space is a very important factor. Any seasoned camper can tell you that 6-person tent doesn’t always mean that 6 people will be comfortable sleeping together inside. Not everybody wants to sleep in a single sleeping bag, so if you sleep best on an airbed, be sure to consider the dimensions of the tent, number and dimensions of airbeds and position of the poles. Sometimes a central tent pole (as in a teepee style tent) can limit the sleeping positions too.

Storage Capacity

It might not always be convenient to leave luggage and valuables in a car, so before forking out for your tent, check out the storage space. If you’ve got 6 people in your group, that might mean 6 sets of luggage. Some tents are well equipped for this, with porches, screen doors and even storage space in the roof. Those who tend not to travel light will definitely need to take this into consideration.

Even a simple tent should have a little extra space after sleeping areas are designated. Lastly, does the tent have storage pockets for valuables and those bits and pieces you need easy access to? I personally find it tedious to have to rummage through bags and piles of belongings looking for things. Storage pockets make it easy to stay organized.

Quality Of The Tent Poles

Tent poles come in various materials, but the most common are fiberglass and aluminum. You can also get steel poles or air tubes. Joints and poles are often profiled for easy pitching; this also helps to increase the pitch of your tent walls for more space inside. Look out for color-coded poles, which makes pitching a lot easier. If a manufacturer has gone out of their way to do this, it’s generally a good sign.

Fiberglass poles tend to break more easily than aluminum or steel, but they can be repaired and as they are lightweight, spares are easy to carry. Aluminum poles are strong and sturdy, but heavier and more expensive. Steel poles are also strong and sturdy, but even heavier, more expensive and more prone to corrosion. Air tubes are light and convenient, but they can puncture, lose air and need a lot of monitoring. Personally, I recommend going for fiberglass (and carrying a repair kit or spares), or aluminum.

How Waterproof Is The Tent?

I recall one camping trip when we were inundated with rain for the entire weekend. That was when I found out that my ‘top quality’ tent wasn’t quite up to the job after all. 6 of us huddled inside to escape the heaviest downpours, and about then the tent gave up. This was mainly due to the quality of the rainfly. Back then I didn’t know to consider the ergonomics, and the angle of my rainfly meant that rain was directed onto the tent door. As the zippers weren’t adequately covered, rain leaked in. The floor wasn’t a ‘tub’ floor (bathtub style) and the seams weren’t properly waterproofed. The result: camping game over.

Here’s What To Look Out For:

• Is the tent made from nylon or polyester? If so, it’s a good start. It might be made from canvas or poly cotton coated with PVC, but that wouldn’t be my first choice. Ideally, your tent will be polyester coated with polyurethane.
• The groundsheet should be properly sewn in rather than separate, and ideally in a tub shape so that the seams are not on the ground.
• Your rainfly should extend past the tent walls and direct the water towards the floor, rather than down the tent walls. This is an exaggerated analogy, but you can think of it as like a mushroom, where the tent body is the stalk. Your rainfly should also be fixed in place with guy lines so that winds can’t shift it.
• The seams and stitching should be sturdy, and seams would ideally be double-stitched. If you can see through the seam to any degree, it’s not going to be waterproof. To be sure, I always coat my tent seams with a silicone seam sealant.

Does It Get Plenty Of Air?

The last thing you want is to be sweating inside your tent, whether that’s due to hot sun rays or humidity. When buying a 6-person tent, I always look out for number of windows and quality insect-proof mesh. I go for tents that have a mesh inner door so that I can still have a closed door while getting air, plus at least one mesh window. If it has smaller vents near the floor, all the better, and you can’t go wrong with roof ventilation. It’s pretty tough to sleep in a humid tent, so don’t miss this factor.