User Review: Ozark Trail 20' x 14' 10-Person Family Dome Tent

First of all, NO TENT IS WATERPROOF. Say that again. I took this tent to Smokemont Campground in Smoky Mountains National Park and the first thing I did was walk around the park talking to veterans, checking out their equipment. Let me pass on what I learned.

Some of them had tents costing five times as much and they said the same thing: no tent is waterproof. The Smoky Mountains National Park is in a rain forest and there are certain things you must do if you are to survive an all day rain in any tent, no matter who made it or how much it costs. The survivors have strung tarps, heavy, waterproof tarps large enough to cover their entire tent with at least five feet of overlap on all sides. You need to take time to study the way they are rigged, as flimsy rigging of the tarp will result in disaster.

Campers who use the tarps to protect their camps stayed their entire one or two weeks and had a great time. ALL CAMPERS who did not protect their campsites with tarps were washed out and went home humiliated.

My tent is now ten years old. I just had it in a 12 hour driving rainstorm in Florida, 28 degrees. It leaked very little considering the horizontal rain in 50 mph winds. I did not have a tarp covering the entire tent. I could still sleep in it that night and all my bedding and clothing were fine. I consider this tent a fine tent, especially for the money. It's been very well tested over the years and I would buy another.