Timber Ridge 8 Person Family Camping Tent – Dome With Windows

Timber Ridge 8 Person Family Camping Tent is a 2-room dome-style freestanding tent with 2 doors and 3 windows. The tent is ideal for summer camping and a great choice if you are on a budget.

Key features & benefits

What type of tent is this

The Timber Ridge 8 is a dome tent and it is designed with two rooms which you create by attaching the divider that comes in the package. In such a configuration each of the rooms has its own entry door and its own windows.

The tent is freestanding so you can pitch it anywhere, even after attaching the fly you can still move it around. There is no hub here, the sleeves make the tent self-supporting as soon as you pass the poles through them and fixed them at the corners. But it comes with 14 steel stakes and 4 guylines so you can stake it if the terrain allows this.

If you compare it with other 8-person tents you will realize that it is very lightweight, only 19 lb (8.62 kg). In fact, you will not find many lighter 8-person tents on the market. 

Best use

Space-wise, the tent is with the declared capacity of 8 people. But they have used a backpacking principle to determine the capacity. So you can put 8 pads on the floor but for the real summer camping this cannot work, see the floor plan which tells you that you have only 112 ft² (10.4 m²) of the total area, which per person gives 14 ft² (1.3 m²).

Note that there is no vestibule here or porch so all you camping stuff must be kept inside or in the car. Therefore I would say this tent is for a maximum of 4 people, parents with two kids or for two couples. But if this is about a group of friends at some open-air summer festival, you can squeeze 8 of them in to stay the night.

Seasons-wise, they describe it as a 3-season tent, but I see it as a summer camping tent, for maximum 1 – 1.5 season use.

Climate-wise, the tent is with lots of mesh in the canopy, and such a structure is great for a warmer environment but not in the areas where the temperature drops much during the night, or in the areas with lots of sand and dust in the air.

Weight-wise, the tent is definitely portable if the weight is shared among the users. Price-wise, if you are on a budget and need a nicely built summer camping tent for occasional use, this is it.

Materials & construction

The poles

There are 6 of them and they all are shock-corded fiberglass, this material is frequently used but it needs some care in handling. But you will see the price below, so I think it is fair to expect such a material used here. Only two poles are used for the dome structure and those make the tent freestanding; the rest is there to separate the fly from the inner tent and to make a small brim on the front.

The fabric

The fly is only a partial cover type, so it covers the ceiling only. This is the part of the design, this is why the tent has several windows. If you need a full-coverage fly, please check this list. The fabric is 190T polyester with PU coating, but it is disappointing that they give no details about its waterproof rating.

I have seen 600 mm mentioned in one source, not sure how reliable this is, but this is just a bit more than an ordinary umbrella. I would not expect much more from a summer camping tent, and they write themselves that it is not for a very strong rain.

The inner tent is the same material at exposed sections, plus mesh. The floor is a very thick polyethylene and you should be safe from this side; such materials are normally fully waterproof. It is also a bathtub floor which is always the best design to have.

The doors & windows

This is the best part of this tent; for a dome structure, it is unusual to see such great windows. You have them 3, and they are the double-layer type, with mesh and waterproof panels for protection and privacy. There are two huge doors and they also have mesh in the upper sections, so these are two extra windows.

Other features

There are several mesh pockets very high and close to the ceiling. I wonder why they put them so high. The tent is with a cable port, and you also have a ring for a lantern at the highest point. Please see a bit more in this short video:

Specifications

• Type: freestanding, dome tent.
• Capacity: 8 people.
• Weight: 19 lb (8.62 kg).
• Dimensions: 14 x 8 ft (427 x 244 cm).
• Area: 112 ft² (10.4 m²).
• Area per person: 14 ft² (1.3 m²).
• Peak height: 74 in (188 cm).
• Rooms: 2.

Timber Ridge 8 vs Coleman Montana 8 tent

In the comparison table below I give the Timber Ridge 8 side by side with the Coleman Montana 8 tent, you might want to compare and make the best choice. There are differences, so follow the links for more.

Final thoughts, rating, pros & coons

As of the moment of writing this text, this is one of the most affordable options on the market. See how I rate it:

Timber Ridge 8 Person Family Camping Tent

$114.99

8.1

Area per person

7.7/10

Weight

8.5/10

Packed size

8.5/10

Protection

7.0/10

Ease of use

8.9/10

Features

8.2/10

Pros

• 2 Rooms.
• Great windows.
• Large doors.
• Very affordable.
• Very lightweight design.

Cons

• Fiberglass poles.
• No info about the waterproof rating.
• Too small area for the declared capacity.

Check at Amazon

If you need something smaller from the same brand, please check this Timber Ridge 6 tent built in a very similar style, and also their another instant 6-person tent under the name Timber Ridge 6-Person Instant Cabin Tent with Rainfly.

For a true 8 person camping tent, I would suggest you check this Trail Ridge 8 which is a dome style but with a full-coverage fly. If you want a cabin-style tent check this Coleman Tenaya Lake 8 tent which comes with a separate closet.

Thank you for reading. Please use the comment box below in the case of questions or comments. Have a nice day.