Dome Tent Vs Cabin Tent – Which Style Is Better?

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dome tent vs cabin tent which is better?

Dome Tent Vs Cabin Tent – Which Are Better?

You may be shopping around for a new tent and wondering which are better dome tents or cabin tents?  When in reality neither is better than the other. The debate of whether to choose a dome tent vs cabin tent really comes down to your preferences and how you plan on using the tent.  

Are you going to be tent camping mainly or are you going to be taking your tent on backpacking trips?  Do you plan on sleeping in your tent by yourself or will there be other people with you? How much space do you need to store your camping gear?  Do you plan on camping in bad weather? Each type of tent has its pros and cons. So should you go with a dome or cabin tent?

What Is A Dome Tent?

A dome tent is a tent that is shaped like a dome that you would see on top of football stadiums.  Dome tents have been around for a long time and are the most popular style of tent sold. While some family size dome tents are large enough to walk inside of. 

Most 4 person dome tents are going to be too short to stand upright and walk around in.  However, dome tents will still have plenty of room on the ground at the base of the tent for storage for your camping gear, sleeping bags, or inflatable bed. Dome tents are shaped like a dome because the shape is good at deflecting wind and allows rainwater to easily slide off the walls of the tent.  Having rainwater slide off the walls of your tent is crucial because you don’t want to give water a chance to seep into the walls of your tent and soak your sleeping bag and camping gear. 

If you are interested in checking out the current prices on Amazon of the Coleman 6 person tent shown above click here.

If you notice most backpacking tents and tents that are used in extreme conditions are dome tents. This is because dome tents are superior to dome tents when it comes to extreme wind and weather resistance.  However, if you are going to be camping in mostly sunny weather like most people you may just want to opt for a cabin style tent.

What Is A Cabin Tent?

A cabin tent is a tent design that makes the tent look more like a cabin because of the almost vertical walls of the tent.  Cabin tents are designed to allow you more space inside of the tent to move around and typically have a higher center height than a dome tent.  Another nice feature of a lot of cabin tents is that they are designed to be set up within minutes.If your tent is an instant cabin tent that means it can be set up in about a minute or less because the tent has telescoping poles that stay attached to the walls of the tent.  Instant tent setup allows you to get to your campsite and take your tent out of the bag and not have to mess connecting any poles. You just extend the poles and secure the tent to the ground and that is it.  If you are interested in checking out the current prices on Amazon of the CORE 9 person tent shown above click here.

One of the major downsides to a cabin tent is its ability to handle extreme winds.  Because the walls of a cabin tent are almost vertical they will be more susceptible to being blown around by the wind.  Which is also why you should take care to secure your cabin tent to the ground so that it doesn’t fly away if it gets hit by a big gust of wind.

What Size Dome or Cabin Tent Do I Need?

Center Height Matters

When picking a dome vs cabin tent the center height of the tent will matter.  If you are a taller person or you just like to move about inside your tent without bending over you will want to pay attention to the center height of the tent that you go with.  The center height of a tent is the height at the very center point of the ceiling. Once you have an idea of how tall the center height of the tent is you can get a feel for how easily you will be able to move around in the tent.  

If you want to be able to walk around inside of your tent without having to bend or crouch you would want to go with a cabin-style tent with a center height that is taller than you and your other family members.  A cabin tent will have a ceiling that slowly goes down from the center point that allows more headroom inside of the tent. With a dome tent, the ceiling will slope down more from the center point leaving you less headroom at the top of the tent.

Portability

If you plan on taking your tent on a backpacking trip the portability of the tent should definitely be a factor that you take into consideration.  If you just plan on car camping the portability would not be as big of a factor and ease of setup should be a higher priority. Obviously, if you are going to be hauling a tent around on a backpacking trip you would want to make sure it fits in your backpack and is not over cumbersome.  That is why most backpacking tents are going to be dome tents that can be broken down and packed into very small spaces.

Durability

Another consideration to take when buying a tent is the durability of the tent.  The more durable the materials used to make the tent the longer it will last you.  And I don’t know about you but I don’t want to have to keep replacing my tent every other year, I want something that is going to last.  You would be better off going with tents that are made from reputable tent manufacturers so that you get materials that are made to last a long time.  You may save some money by going with a cheap tent but it likely won’t last as long.

A couple of things that you can to make your tent last as long as possible is to fully dry out your tent before storing it.  If your tent got wet and you pack it up into your tent bag you are leaving the opportunity for mold and mildew to grow on the walls of your tent.  Once this happens the staining on your tent walls from the mold will be permanent. If you can’t fully dry off your tent before packing it up you would want to unpack it when you get home and leave it out in the sun to dry before putting it back into your tent storage bag. 

Ease of Setup

One other item to take into consideration when purchasing a tent is the ease of setup.  With some new tents on the market, they allow you to set up the tent in a minute or less.  If you don’t like messing with your tent when you arrive at your campsite I would recommend going with an instant set up tent. 

With instant tents, they are designed with telescoping poles that remain connected to the walls of the tent that just need to be extended once you arrive at your campsite.  Once you have the poles extended you would then just need to secure the tent to the ground and you’re done.

With a traditional tent, you would have to mess around with connecting all of the pieces of the tent poles together and then stringing them through the walls of your tent to create the dome tent shape.  With instant tents, this hassle is removed.

In What Seasons Are You Going to Be Using Your Tent?

Most people are going to go camping when it’s nice outside, no one really likes to go camping if it’s freezing out or if it’s going to be raining the whole time. 

With that said you would want to pay attention to what seasons your tent was designed to be used for. 

3 Season Tents

The most common kind of tent is going to be 3 season tents.  3 seasons means that the tent was designed to be used in the spring, summer, and fall months.  You can use a 3 season tent in the wintertime but if you are going to be camping a lot in the winter months you’d be better going off with a 4 season tent as they would be better designed for cold weather.  3 season tents will hold up fine with small amounts of snow but could have problems in higher amounts of snow and extremely cold weather. If you are like most people and you don’t plan on camping in the cold you should just go with a 3 season tent.

4 Season Tents

4 season tents are designed to be used all year round and are designed specifically to hold up in colder conditions.  With 4 season tents, they can be used in mid-summer as well as mid-winter. You can change the setup of the tent based on the current weather conditions.  If it’s hot outside you can unzip the liners covering the mesh ceiling of the tent to provide more ventilation. If it’s cold outside you can keep the extra ceiling liners closed to keep in the warm air from your body heat.

Backpacking Tents

Backpacking tents are designed to be light and small so that you can pack them down into your backpack to bring along on your trip.  With backpacking tents usually, they will use mesh for the ceiling and the walls of the tent to help reduce weight. Mesh is nice in the summer because it will help with venting the hot air from your tent but the mesh does not provide much protection from the cold.  Because of this backpacking tents are usually designed to be used during the warmer months of the year.  

Before You Decide Dome Vs Cabin – What Is Your Tent Going to Be Used For?

Family tents or Car Camping

Car camping which is what the majority of people around the US do allows you to bring along your tent and camping supplies without having to worry about how much anything weighs or the size of your tent.  As long as you have a big enough vehicle to fit you, your family, and your camping gear that’s really all you need. 

If you are going to be camping at local campgrounds what many call car camping with your family and friends you don’t really need to worry about the size or weight of your camping supplies and tent.  

Backpacking trips

If you are going to be taking your tent backpacking then the weight and portability of the tent are going to be the main consideration you should make.  The vast majority of backpacking tents are going to be dome tents so you likely should just go with a dome tent if you are planning on taking your tent backpacking. Also, you would want to check the weight of the dome tent that you plan on going with to make sure that it’s not too heavy.

Backyard camping

Are you going to be using your tent to camp in the backyard?  If so you would want to take into account how much space you have in your back yard.  If you have a tiny back yard you would probably want to go with a 4 person tent. If you have a larger back yard then you could go with a larger family-style tent designed to hold 8-10 people.  If you are mainly going to be using your tent in your back yard then you likely won’t care about how portable the tent is as you won’t be leaving your home with it.

Beach trip

I’ve also noticed people using tents on their trips to the beach.  If you are going to be taking your tent to the beach then portability will be a factor as well as the ventilation.  Everyone knows it can get hot sitting on the beach having the sun beat down on you. To combat that I would recommend going with a tent that has a full mesh ceiling to help vent the tent. 

One other recommendation would be to check out Coleman’s Dark Room technology tents. Coleman says that their tents with Dark Room technology will block out up to 90 percent of the suns rays from being able to enter the tent.  This would be helpful for a tent on the beach as it will keep the inside of the tent from getting as hot.

Are Dome Tents or Cabin Tents Better In Storms?

When choosing a dome tent vs cabin tent which does better in storms? Dome tents are going to be better than cabin tents in storms because of the shape of the tent.  With cabin tents, the ceiling of the tent is almost flat. Because of this most rain flys on cabin tents will not cover the entire surface of the tent. 

With that surface area that is left exposed there will be more of a chance of water getting in through the tent walls. Dome tents will have rain flys that will cover the majority of the tent if not the entire tent to help keep it shielded from the rain.  Dome tents also do better in storms because the wind will blow over and around the tent because of the shape.

With cabin tents when the wind hits a wall of the tent it will try to blow it over, you don’t have as much of a problem with that with dome tents. Dome tents are also more likely to have a vestibule to help protect the front of your tent from rain and provide coverage from the rain while you are entering your tent.  Cabin tents are less likely to come with a vestibule or screen room.

Should I Get An Instant Cabin Tent?

If you are planning on going with a cabin tent I would recommend going with an instant cabin tent because of how easy they are to set up.  That is just one less thing that you will have to mess around with and will leave you with more time to get everything else set up at your campsite.

Should I Get A Dome Tent With A Screen Room?

There are a lot of dome tents that come with screen rooms. If you think that you would like to sit in a screen room to avoid mosquitos and other bugs then I would go with a dome tent that has a screen room or a vestibule which are essentially the same thing.  Having a screen room allows you the option of sitting outdoors while being protected from bugs.

Dome Tent vs Cabin Tent – Related Questions

Can you fit an inflatable bed in a 4 person dome tent?  I own a 4 person dome tent and I am able to fit an inflatable queen size bed inside of the tent without problems.  I still have space on one side of the bed where I have enough room to store my camping gear and clothes.

I cannot stand up inside of my tent but usually, when I go camping I’m with buddies and only need enough storage and sleeping room for myself and my camping gear.  You could fit two people on the queen bed if you wanted but you may start to be running out of storage space.

What is the best 4 person dome tent for the money?  One of the most popular tents on Amazon is this Coleman 4 person dome tent.  It has great value for the money and also comes with Coleman’s Dark Room technology.  If you are interested in checking out the current prices of this Coleman 4 person dome tent on Amazon click here.What is the best cabin tent to buy?  I really like the CORE 9 person instant cabin tent.  It features COREs instant setup technology that allows you to easily set up the tent and has plenty of space inside to move around.  If you are looking for a cabin tent this is the best one out there that I have seen.

What other types of tents are there?  Canvas tents are made of canvas material which means the walls of the tent will be thicker than a typical cabin or dome tent which walls are typically made of synthetic material.  This has its pros and cons.

Canvas material doesn’t breath as well as polyester or mesh so it will retain heat in the tent more than a typical dome or cabin tent. Canvas also weighs more than polyester or nylon so it will also be heavier than a traditional tent.  One area that canvas does shine is in privacy. Because canvas is a thick material you won’t be able to see through it like you would a mesh tent.

What About Truck Bed Tents?  Truck bed tents are also an option if you want to go camping but don’t really want to sleep on the ground.  You can set up a truck bed tent that allows you to use the space within your truck bed as a floor. The truck bed tent would cover the entire truck bed allowing you space to put your sleeping bag and other camping gear.

Dome Tent Vs Cabin Tent – In Conclusion

Hopefully, now you have a better understanding of the differences between dome tents and cabin tents.  Now that you know more about cabin tents and dome tents which one are you going to go with?  If you would like to learn more about CORE and Coleman tents check out my other article comparing them.