Tents that can accommodate two queen-sized beds have to be superior to those that can only accommodate one, right? We like to think so, at least. An 8-person tent is a way to go if you want to treat your outdoor hotel stay like a stay at the Ritz.
Following an extensive investigation of the market, we have narrowed the field of 8-person models down to the seven that follow. After careful consideration of all the features, we have concluded that the Nemo Wagontop 8 is the best tent available.
We couldn’t help but observe that it took us longer than we’d like to confess to arriving at this conclusion, so we made this buyer’s guide to save you time and effort.
The Nemo Wagontop is the best of the best because of its enormous size, high-quality materials, and innovative design, which make sleeping in just about any wilderness feel like a true luxury.
If the thought of spending money on a tent gives you sticker shock, or if you simply don’t need all the bells and whistles, there is a tent for you here. Grab some firewood and settle in, because these are the best 8-person tents of 2023, as chosen by The Wise Adventurer.
Best 8-Person Tent: The Buying Guide
Floor Size
You can have two queen-sized mattresses within your living quarters if you stay in an 8-person tent, as we said up top. Whether or whether those mattresses fit comfortably, nevertheless, is a function of the room’s floor dimensions.
You’ll need at least 12 feet of space lengthwise from wall to wall to fit two double beds inside the tent. However, we advise at least 13 feet to provide each sleeper some freedom to move around.
For the same reason, that length is important, width is as well: if you have a 6-foot-long queen bed, for example, you’ll need at least 8 feet of spread to get up and go around the edges. The obvious truth is that “more is better.”
Center Height
The tallest point of the tent is the center, so that’s where we’ll take our measurements. Especially for taller campers, this is a crucial dimension because it indicates how comfortable it will be to stand and move around within.
Tents with a center elevation of over 6 feet might not have the same space available at the walls as in the middle of the tent. As the height of the tent gradually decreases from the center to the outside, the height of a standard 8-person tent is proportional to the height of its center.
Weight & Packed Size
Because 8-person tents are designed specifically for automobile camping, they don’t need to be particularly lightweight or compact when packed.
There are heavier (and larger) tents than the ones listed above, such as the Teton Sports, but if you only have to carry it 20 feet from your vehicle to your campsite, the 70+ pounds of a pup tent won’t be much of a problem.
That being said, smaller tents such as the Eureka Copper Canyon can be preferable if you’re traveling in a vehicle with limited storage space or if your home doesn’t have a lot of spare room.
Shape
If you plan on bringing a large group of campers and a lot of stuff, the layout of your tent will become more crucial. For tents of this type, we recommend “cabin” shapes, which have vertical or nearly vertical walls and hence a much larger usable interior space.
Again, we want as much of a tent as feasible to be at standing height. The easier it is to navigate your space, the straighter your walls should be.
Seasonality
Even the best 8-person tents are often only suitable for use during the warmer parts of the year (spring, summer, and fall), as they are not designed to withstand the harsher conditions associated with winter camping.
Camping is best experienced between the months of May and October, and even then, it’s best to keep an eye on the nighttime lows in the area where you want to sleep in case altitude or unusual weather patterns deliver colder conditions than you’re prepared for.
Rooms & Dividers
The ability to separate the 8-person tent inside into two rooms is another feature worth mentioning. Friends groups and couples with older children may want some privacy in the tent after dark, while families having younger children may want to keep an eye on them at all times.
There is a second room where you can change clothes or leave them if you forget them without worrying about being seen by any potential peeping toms. That’s cool with us.
Durability
Once they can accommodate eight people, tents stop being “huge palaces for two” and start being used as intended for larger groups or families going camping.
Naturally, there will be more wear and tear as a result of the increased number of people, who will be opening and closing more doors and windows.
This is why it’s important to check the poles, hubs, zippers, and other hardware, in addition to the main section and rainfly, to ensure they’re of high quality and will last.
Setup
Tents designed for 8 people can be more challenging to set up and keep secure than smaller tents simply due to their size.
You probably won’t have any trouble finding one companion or two to assist help pitch one of the massive shelters, but it’s always comforting to have a tent that you can set up all by yourself, just in case.
In addition, as you hit the 8-person range, you’ll start seeing tents with pre-attached/hinged pole designs, often referred to as “instant tents” or “instant cabins.” Such pop-up designs are the simplest and most practical available, typically requiring only minutes or less to set up. Longevity-wise, we’re still somewhat wary of these designs due to the plastic hubs’ propensity to fail after a year or two of use, but for frequent campers who value ease above all else, it’s a feature worth the cost.
5 Best 8-Person Tents To Keep An Eye On
Browning Camping Big Horn Tent
The Browning Big Horn Tent is so massive that it could be mistaken for a palace. It is about 7 feet in height and has a floor space of 150 square feet. When you add in the room divider and straight sides, you have a camping tent with plenty of room for everyone and everything.
In addition to that, it has two doors, so if you have to get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, you won’t have to wake anyone up.
On the other hand, this convenience does not come free of charge. Compared to other 8-person tents, this one is a bit pricier.
It’s almost 35 pounds heavier, too. This shouldn’t be too much of a problem, though, because you’ll probably use the tent for vehicle camping.
White Duck 10’ X 14′ Prota Deluxe Canvas Tent
The Prota 10′ x 14′ Cabin Tent may be heavy at 94 pounds due to its construction from 10.10 oz. Army Duck Cotton Canvas, but its high-density groundsheet tub and YKK Zippers guarantee its longevity.
Canvas tents last much longer than their polyester counterparts, by several decades.
A large exterior awning and a peak internal ceiling of 78 inches contribute to the Prota Deluxe’s 140 sq ft of area.
The next step is the roof, which is made from a 12-ounce silver-coated protection canvas to protect against harmful rays. If you’re from a place with unbearable temperatures, like Arizona, then a tent might be just what you’re looking for.
A unique feature of this White Duck Canvas Tent is its complete 360-degree window coverage. That will provide a little more airflow and visibility than the standard tents, but it’s not absolutely necessary.
Nemo Wagontop 8: Best 8 Person Tent Overall
In 2022, the Nemo Wagontop 8 is the greatest tent we’ve seen for a group of eight people. We found that this tent outperformed the competition across the board, and it has many unique characteristics that other tents just do not have.
To emphasize the obvious, the Nemo seems to be a massive ship. It’s the biggest tent in our collection, measuring a full 15 feet in length (with the extra-long vestibule). It has higher-than-average ceilings and breadth of 8’4″.
The ceiling of the Nemo, which derives its inspiration from the design of a “covered wagon,” reaches a height of over six feet at its highest point and remains at or above six feet in all other areas. Then there’s the problem of the rainfly in general…
With the enormous integrated rainfly that the Wagontop provides, you’ll have plenty of room to stow wet clothing, dirt bikes, and anything that you’d like to keep dry in inclement weather. The unusual three-pole design is a big hit with us, and we were pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to set up even with such tall poles.
Eureka Copper Canyon LX
Eureka’s 130-square-foot, freestanding cabin tent has a peak length of 84 inches. It’s not quite as capacious as a Browning Big Horn, but still, it comes very close.
Two separate bedrooms are available if that’s what you prefer. There’s a curtain included with this tent that may be used to create partitions if needed.
Having an open layout and nearly vertical walls, you won’t feel confined in any way.
Not only is it spacious, but this tent is also quite well made. You may rest easy knowing that the 75-denier 190T polyester taffeta used to construct the entire tent will keep you dry in the event of a rainstorm.
Extra-large mesh windows are an excellent means of cooling down a room. When many individuals are confined to the same tent, the air can quickly become oppressive. However, this is not the case with the Copper Canyon LX.
Coleman Montana 8 Person Tent
For occasional campers looking to upgrade to a large tent without breaking the bank, Coleman’s Montana 8-Person Tent is an excellent choice.
This family tent has 112 square feet of interior area and a ceiling height of 6 feet, 2 inches, making it suitable for families with multiple young children to camp together.
With a few people helping out, you can have everything set up and broken down in ten to twenty minutes.
Conclusion
For all of the aforementioned reasons, we decided that the Nemo Wagontop 8 was the finest tent for eight people overall. Because of its user-friendly and distinctive assembly process, feature-packed design, high-quality materials, plus lifetime warranty, the Nemo is a premium tent that justifiably commands a premium price point.
We understand that not everyone is interested in shelling out premium money to spend the night in the wilderness, and that’s fine with us. As a result of this, we strongly suggest that individuals looking to minimize their expenditures think about purchasing the Bushnell above as their first large tent. If you enjoy the layout of the Bushnell but would like to spend a little more money on additional features, both Coleman and the Eureka that we discussed earlier have something special to offer.
FAQs
How much do tents that fit 8 people typically cost?
Tents with a capacity for eight people can be purchased for anywhere from $100 to $800, with the difference in price typically representing the quality of the materials used.
What size tent do you recommend for 8 people?
Tents for eight people can be as small as 108 square feet or as large as 130 square feet. This is a really big discrepancy. When discussing tents, the term “8-person” indicates the maximum number of average-sized persons who could fit inside the tent. In most cases, a tent designed for eight people cannot comfortably house that many people inside it.
How many persons are required to put up a tent that can accommodate 8 people?
Due to the complexity of attaching the rainfly, setting up a tent with a capacity for eight people typically requires the assistance of at least two people. The NEMO Wagontop stands out as an exception to this rule because it only requires one person to assemble it.
