need a tent for camping

Hi,
I need a tent for camping. I would not like to spend too much on this. I'm not sure what to get though. My price range is

Hi gvayl, Plenty of people here who could help you, need some more info to give any recommendations.

Are you driving or hiking to the campsite?
How many people will be in the tent?
What part of the country will you be in?
Do you plan to camp overnight or a week?
How much do you want to spend?

You can re-post in the "Gear Selection" forum gvayl. Also you can read the FAQ by clicking on the link there.

We'll leave the light on for you.

I moved this thread. Trouthunter is right-without knowing more, we can't give you any advice that would mean anything. You didn't finish your post with your price range, so add that when you come back.

Are you driving or hiking to the campsite? > I'm driving.
How many people will be in the tent? > I need a tent for 1-2 people.
What part of the country will you be in? > Indiana.
Do you plan to camp overnight or a week? > Camp for a couple of days.
How much do you want to spend? > I wana keep it below $100. Could go a little more retail if I can get it cheaper on ebay.

Hello my camping friend, here is my advise, i would tell you to start looking on discount web sites (and ebay) and read. Familiarize yourself with the different brands and the terminology, also the different features available.
Even if you have to save up a little more money I would stay away from the box store brands
ie. walmart,kmart/sears. The quality is shoddy and they are only good for sunny day camping. In my opinion a tent is an investment if you plan on going often. If not, you can get by with a cheap tent, just check the weather report.
If you do go that route also buy a large tarp to stretch out above the tent tied off to trees to protect you in a rainstorm, you have to ignore a good bit of of the sales hype printed on cheap tent packaging. If camping under trees, don't forget to check for dead or questionable looking limbs that could fall on you, pick another spot if in doubt. Always keep your tent zipped up, or it will get full of bugs.
The Eureka Timberline Tl2 is a time tested 2 man tent for around 100 bucks.
Kelty Teton 2 is about 120 bucks.
Top of the line Coleman tents are not bad either.
You just have to shop around, and if you want a tent you can stand up in, you will most likely have to go to a 4 person tent.
The Eureka N!ergy 9 sleeps 4 has a head height of 6', costs around 150 bucks.

Here are a couple links that will take you to some websites so you can look around gvayl. Many sites will let you browse by price and size of tent. Look in their discount pages first.
http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Home_
http://www.sierratradingpost.com/
http://www.backcountryoutlet.com/?avad=397_1342_ml_0_1078075

Good luck, hope you can talk her into going! HA-HA

The Eureka N!ergy 9 kinda interested me...but it does not have good reviews on this website...someone said its floor is not durable?

The Teton 2 got pretty good reviews...maybe I'll go for that one?

Yes there are lots of pros and cons with tents in the lower price ranges. More expensive tents have less cons usually. You have to shop around and read reviews.
Those were just a couple off the top of my head, I'm sure other people will suggest different tents.
I read the review you mentioned, that is the first I had heard of that, and he claimed he did use a ground sheet.
You should always use a ground sheet (also called a footprint) under a tent, you can buy one made for the tent by the tent manufacturer or make one yourself out of .6 mil plastic cut just slightly smaller than your tent floor.

Floor material for the Eureka N!ergy is 1.9 oz. 75D 210T Polyester Taffeta with an 800 mm coating.
Maybe someone knows if there is a problem with that material for tent floors.

See what you can find on Craig's List. Usually people who have only camped once or twice sell their gear there very cheaply. If you plan on camping once or twice a year for a total of 4-5 days a year that's the place to go. That or the Salvation Army.

I recently saw a North Face VE-23 for sale on another site for $75. That is an old tent from the 80's, but a nice little dome tent. That's the kind of thing to look for-a good name, quality tent at a good price. If you are interested, let me know, it's still for sale (it's not mine-for sale by someone on another site to which I belong).

There are deals on new tents if you look around. Check out the REI and REI Outlet websites, EMS and Campmor.

Right now, the REI Outlet website has 3 tents for $100-125. A house brand, a Kelty and an Alps. My choice would be the Kelty. EMS has two around $100, including a Kelty. Campmor has some as well. Try to stay away from a tent with fiberglass poles-they break fairly easily and usually can't be fixed. Aluminum is better. There is a nice little TNF Tephra for $120 at Campmor. Don't expect a $100 or so tent to be superlightweight-saving weight costs money.

The Trailspace gear for sale forum, Craigslist or eBay are good choices for used tents, but you need to know what you are looking at. Like Trouthunter says, a lot of what you read about gear, especially cheap big box tents is hype.