These push locks get very difficult to use over time, especially if the tent is used on the beach and exposed to sand and saltwater, causing rust build up. Many newer tent brands like EZ-Up use revolutionary thumb lock sliders or larger easy to release buttons, which are a much better user experience when setting the canopy up or taking it down. With the push buttons you need to worry about pinching fingers or not being able to release the button when it gets rusted, which is never a pleasant experience. The legs extend to give the top peak a height of about 8’10” which will be plenty of headroom for anyone underneath.
The whole thing is remarkably easy to set up, even for one person; the family at the next campsite was amazed at my tent prowess when I set it up solo. Takedown is similarly simple, though Clam provides an instructional video if you need help. The Screen House Shelter packs into a reasonably roomy drawstring bag with a strap that makes the canopy tent much easier to transport ozark trail wagon than tents, like the L.L.Bean, that lack a strap. For casual outings as well as possible commercial use or for tailgating, this is a fantastic and trusted choice. With bonus stakes, guylines, and a wheeled carry bag, you’re certainly getting value for your money. With 100ft² of ground space, multiple people can stand or sit comfortably inside without feeling cramped.
Even so, the roof openings have hoods over them, so there’s no easy way for water to leak through. It would probably only protect against light rainfall as the materials aren’t specifically made for moderate or heavy moisture levels. We think you should use a waterproof spray, that you can find at many retailers, just to be safe.
The shelter has a 10-by-10-foot footprint—the most common size for tents of this type—and a peak height of 7 feet. It will shelter a standard-size picnic table, but with little room to spare. In between trips, we turned a neighbor’s large, flat yard into an ad hoc camping-gazebo testing ground. We erected our shelters just in advance of a 24-hour rain and checked for leaking and rainy-day ambience midstorm. We also timed setup and breakdown times for each shelter, and we repeatedly zipped and unzipped doors and windows, looking for annoying snags. Our favorite of the eight canopy tents we tested, the REI Co-op Screen House Shelter ticks all those boxes.
Think about it like an umbrella, where you may often feel a whirl of air getting stuck between your head and the umbrella. This is where it would usually flip inside out, if the wind is strong enough, and it can damage the frame. The first is to generate an element of airflow when you’re standing underneath. Yes, it is a completely exposed structure with open walls, but when the hot rays of the sun are beating down, it makes things more comfortable when you have a concentrated breeze flowing through. Today we’re uncovering all its design features and digging into the reasons why it’s considered one of the best value pop up canopies around, additionally seeing if it’s worth a little piece of our next pay check.
Its 112-inch center height gives you plenty of room to create an entertainment space for your outdoor furniture and guests. Whether you are hosting a barbecue, attending a sporting event, or spending a day at the beach, you will be able to take your 10-foot by 10-foot Ozark Trail Instant Canopy anywhere. Any $75 canopy tent from a big-box store—we’re talking about the common square canopy with four spindly metal legs—can provide shade during midday.
One thing we love about ozark trail wagon tents are the accessories that can be added to the shelters. These include sidewalls, weight bags, and a host of other great add-ons that can really increase the use and versatility of the canopy tent. Perhaps our two favorites are camping tent additions that connect to the frame of the shelter and leverage the stability of the 10×10 frame to support a camping tent structure.
If we were camping somewhere infested with mosquitoes or no-see-ums and could fit the Clam in our vehicle, we’d prefer it over any of our other picks. In early March, we took our second trip to the oceanside Sycamore Canyon Campground (PDF) near Oxnard, California. A later check of the weather at nearby Point Mugu Naval Air Station confirmed top recorded wind gusts of 40 miles per hour. We later used the shelters on group trips at Wheeler Gorge Campground near Ojai, California, and at the La Jolla group campsite at Point Mugu, as well as on a trip to the El Mirage Dry Lake in the Mojave Desert. A canopy tent is a purchase most regular car campers consider after stocking up on the basics. After all, you can find plenty of smaller and less-expensive items to help you fight bugs, guard against the sun, and shrug off rain.
We explore the lightweight beach canopy that’s powered by the wind to see if its worth its hefty price tag. We typically see pyramid frames built with flimsy trusses and thin struts and reinforced (if you want to call it that) with cheaply made plastic joint connectors, and unfortunately this 10×10 Ozark canopy is no different. The biggest issue in all of this is the inability to withstand any rotational pressure during medium and high impact weather conditions as the joints become unstable and collapse at the mid points. In windy conditions high stress is applied to each side and the frame begins to break down at the unreinforced joint connectors. That is why we always recommend tents with a full truss structure as they are able to withstand rotational pressure since the cross section of the main support runs through the tent’s center as opposed to outer perimeter.