Tahoe Gear Prescott 12 Person 3-Season Family Cabin Tent Review
As I explained on the main 12+ Person Tents page, I believe that value is the place where quality and price meet. As an intersection of these two things, a tent with the best value cannot be the tent with the best quality or the best price. It is extremely rare to find a top quality product which is extremely budget-friendly. Similarly, it very difficult to find the cheapest version of a product which is actually decent quality.
As expected, this Tahoe Gear tent is neither the absolute cheapest 12+ person tent I was able to find, nor top quality tent (we selected that tent for the title of “Best Overall”). Instead, this Tahoe tent is reasonably affordable and of good quality. Its price exists somewhere between the lowest and highest prices for tents of this size.
It is designed to meet the needs of most groups or families who plan to camp in relatively good weather. Though I cannot guarantee that it will stand up to the same strong wind storms and torrential rains that a few of these other tents have been known to withstand, it will protect you from insects and effortlessly weather a rain shower.
Aside from decent pest and rain protection, let’s explore some of the reasons that this quality tent is so affordable, as well as some of the features which I believe helped tipped the scales toward rather positive reviews when consumers left feedback for this tent.
Spacious Enough
Some of the other 12+ person tents on this website feature incredibly tall roofs and a handful of over-the-top features designed to impress people who are more interested in glamping than actual camping. Instead of appealing to that group of consumers, Tahoe Gear appears to have focused their attention on people who are in search of shelter and nothing more.
More or less, this is a dome-style tent with a couple of extra areas off two sides of the dome. The height at the pinnacle of the main dome is approximately six and a half feet. From there, the roof quickly slopes until it meets the ground at the end of each side wing.
When you look at this tent in terms of its dimensions, you see that it measures 10 feet deep and is approximately 20 feet long when the side wings are included. Although you may think that this equates 120 square feet of living space, it is actually closer to about 110 square feet, because it would be rather difficult to sleep or even store anything in the tiny acute angle where the roof and the floor meet at either end.
Basic Accommodations
110 square feet is still plenty of space. I estimate that, as advertised, up to twelve people could sleep shoulder to shoulder on the floor of this tent. More comfortable sleeping arrangements would mean that about six to nine people could utilize this tent. Due to a lack of headroom in most of this tent, it is evident that it has not been created as a party space.
This is not one of those tents in which you will be setting up a card table to play games at night. Everyone in the tent will not be able to sleep on top of an air mattress or cot, unless you are limiting the space to about two to four people and are using the wings as storage space. This is a basic tent made for sleeping. It appears to have been designed with the idea that, when you are camping, you will be spending most of your spare time outdoors.
Other Notable Features
There was so much to be said about the proper way to utilize the space in this tent that I really didn’t find myself with much space left to discuss many of the other great qualities and features this tent boasts. I will do my best to summarize most of them here.
This tent features a fully mesh roof which is not only great for airflow and ventilation purposes, it also allows you to gaze up at the stars on clear nights and enjoy beautiful sunrises in the mornings. Many windows also add to the airflow and ventilation in this tent.
Whereas these windows must be zipped up to stop rain from coming in, you will easily be able to drape the partial fly over the roof structure to protect the tent from rain while still allowing for the movement of air through the mesh roof. Floor vents with built-in awnings add even more to this tent’s ability to draw cool air from ground level, replacing the hot, humid air escaping through the mesh roof.
Only four poles are required to build this tent. Many other 12+ person tents feature eight or more poles. In an effort to create elaborate living quarters, many companies created confusing structures which can take hours to assemble. This tent shouldn’t take more than a half an hour to set up – even less if you have help from family or friends.
