REI Camp Hut 4

In terms of price to performance, this is the best tent I own. I purchased it for a little over $100, and I took my two little kids camping at various national forest camp sites in Colorado. We were comfortable and really enjoyed the spacious headroom. I think that is where this tent really succeeds (and other REI tents like the Hobbitat). The headroom (about 5 ft 6 in) makes the tent truly livable.

Sure there are a number of 4-person tents out there, but when you have to withstand two hours or more of thunderstorms, can you live comfortably in the tent space? In this Camp Hut 4 you can. In the Colorado mountains you can expect thunderstorms (and vicious ones at that) to roll in around 3:00 and produce heavy torrential rain. I was totally impressed with the way this tent kept us all dry during all the rain storms.

On one trip I took my Sierra Designs Gamma 3 tent along for my daughter and I while my wife used the Camp Hut with our two younger sons at Ridgeway State Park outside Ouray, Colorado. In the SD tent, water pooled in the corners after hours of thunderstorms (which was fine given the storm's intensity and duration), but the Camp Hut stayed bone dry. For a tent that was about 1/2 the price, I was blown away.

If you are cost conscious about your next tent purchase but want a good tent for the money, I highly recommend this one. I think REI has discontinued this line to promote the Base Camp 4, but if you can get one of these tents at a REI closeout or used on Ebay, I highly recommend it. It is easy to set up and a good investment.