These 9 Best Survival Tents Will Keep You Dry and Warm

If you don’t want to cuddle with a wild boar before sleep, you need two things: A new girlfriend and an awesome survival tent.

Tents listed in this review will keep you dry, warm and help you better secure the perimeter.

In a SHTF scenario, we want our gear to be both practical and reliable.

I generally want my bug out bag to be ready at all times, along with my bow, fishing gear, water, food and batteries.

Also, I keep my storage loaded with survival food and my tent is always clean and packed in the trunk with other necessities in case Bonnie and I need to bail.

If you’re wondering, Bonnie is my beloved wife who looks a little like Cameron Diaz.

And a lot like Dog the Bounty Hunter.

MY MISSION: To help you find the best survival tent.

HOW I DID IT: I reviewed every tent I could get my hands on, which involved me and Bonnie going to an outdoor shop and reenacting World War Z while dozens of people filmed us with their smartphones.

MY SURPRISE: While doing so, one tent amazed me so much that I decided to shell out and replace my 10 year-old beat up Columbia with it. I don’t want to uncover my review methods but let’s just say that the tent in question is not susceptible to rocking and that it insulates the noise amazingly well because we couldn’t really hear anyone in the store while we were testing it.

In a hurry? Use these shortcuts

• My top Amazon picks
• Best tent with a stove
• Best family tent
• Best tent for rainy weather
• Best tent overall (my new baby)
• Best military-grade tent

Let’s get started.

1) Russian Bear Winter Tent with Stove (Best survival tent with a stove)

Contrary to popular opinion, this tent is not named after my grandma who served in World War II.

Its name stems from a Russian company called Russian Bear which specializes in building all sorts of weird tents: They have canopy tents, tents with stoves and even sauna tents.

But if you’re frisky enough, every tent becomes a sauna tent pretty quickly.

Now, Russian Bear Winter Tent is a 2-person tent with two layers–hence, there’s no condensation. It has a waterproof floor and it’s fully loaded with mosquito nets.

This tent comes with its own frame, a zipper, some tie down straps and a carrying bag so your wife can lug it around easily.

But, best of all, this tent has a stove.

Yes, this means you can cook sausages naked inside while a complete apocalypse is raging outside. It also means that you can stay dry and warm which are the two things that should be especially on your mind come winter time.

All in all, I find this tent great value for money which is why I went ahead and bought it right in the store.

2) Cabela’s Ultimate Alaknak

MY SURPRISE: OK, OK, I couldn’t wait any longer. This is, by far, the best survival tent in 2021 and goes for just $900. For something you’re gonna be using for at least 8 years, that’s a steal.

It’s 12 by 12 feet and sleeps up to six people, which is just about enough for me and Bonnie after chomping down a delicious MRE. Cabela has been making tents for 20 years, so you can bet your ass they learned to build them right.

The Alaknak has an angled roof window and 3 other windows, together with a large door—this makes the inside feel extra spacious.

It has a screen door to keep the bugs out and comes with 10 perimeter poles and one central pole, which means that it can withstand some hard winds and will not fall down if you fart on it from the outside.

As far as practicality goes, this SOB has some really nice features: Shelves with cup-holders to keep all your hunting gear and beer, roof protectors that prevent hot embers burning through the roof (if you’re using a stove) and condensation vents for unmatched ventilation.

This tent comes with 12” stakes, some ropes and a storage bag. It’s 9’8” high (measured at the center) and weighs 54 lbs with the frame.

The Alaknak is a huge tent, so it’ll take some time to set up. I do think there are better tents if you’re just hunting for a day or two—this is more of a 7-14 day outdoor tent when your wife kicks you out of the house or when you’re on a hunting rampage.

And yeah, if you go to Cabela’s you’ll see that the Alaknak comes in several sizes, so you can pick the one that fits your big ass the most.

3) Cabela’s Alaskan Guide

The first time I saw the word “vestibule” on a specs sheet, I got really confused—however I later found out that in American that means an entryway.

Vestibule is actually a hallway at the front of the tent, which is there so you wouldn’t have to bring your dirty gear inside the sleeping area. All it does is it just makes the dirty lies you tell your wife at bedtime a bit less dirty.

And so I succumbed to marketing and got myself a vestibule and let me tell you, I’ll never go back to not having one, As they say once you go vestibule, you never go black…Or something like that.

The Alaskan Guide is made from a 100% ripstop nylon and the outside layer has both UV protection and polyurethane coating to repel both rain and snow. The floor is warm and has a 3,000 mm coating.

This tent sleeps up to four people, but I found that it’s also perfect for 2 people with a ton of gear, so I find it extremely useful for survival scenarios and week-long hunting trips.

It does not come with a stove, but it somehow stays super warm. The structure on this bastard is so stable that it can withstand just about anything from hail to 50 mph winds.

The poles are made from fiberglass and the floor measures at 9 by 8.3 feet. The total weight is 24 lbs and the center height is at 4.8 feet.

At $350, the Alaskan Guide is one of the best deals on this whole damn list and I consider it as one of those all-season tents that can last a lifetime if properly taken care of.

FERRET’S QUICK TENTING TIPS:

• If possible, try to pitch your tent in an open area to avoid bird crap (which I believe is horrible for the canvas in the long term)
• Clean the floor of any sharp objects (duh)
• DO NOT pitch your tent in what may be a natural rain canal (or a bottom of the hill)
• Always pack a dry tent

4) Kodiak Canvas Deluxe Flex Bow 10-ft x 14-ft (Best tent for rainy weather)

The Canvas Deluxe is here for one reason only: It’s super easy to put together. Plus, this is one of the biggest tents on the list as it sleeps up to 8 people.

This tent weighs in at 79 lbs and is 6.6 feet high. It has double front doors, one rear door and poles are made from galvanized steel.

Everything about it screams heavy duty: The fabric it’s made with is both waterproof and breathable so there’ll be no condensation. They call that material Hydra Shield and once you see how dry it keeps you, you’ll just wish they made underwear with it.

In total, this tent has two windows and two doors and so, in summer, you can open the whole thing up and get some breeze down the good old giggleberries.

It comes with 12” steel stakes and a storage bag. The floor on this thing is good, but there are better options out there. However, if you’re looking just for the ease of use and general usability, this thing will serve you good for many years to come.

5) Kodiak Canvas Deluxe Flex-Bow 4-Person Tent

So, this is the same tent as the one above but the only difference is that it sleeps up to 4 people (instead of 8).

It’s 6.1 feet high at the center and comes with the same steel rod stakes and 2 mesh windows (with 2 additional doors).

Just like it’s bigger cousin, this 4-person Deluxe Flex Bow is well-made and will weather anything from rain to heavy winds.

My little cousin Wyatt actually owned this very same tent and I remember how happy he was when he first got it.

“You’re goddamn right this tent is a beauty but don’t mistake her air vents for a real girl Wyatt” is what I used to tell him back jokingly.

6) Bushtec Adventure Echo 2200 (Best family survival tent)

If Chuck Norris had to use a tent in the Forest Warrior, this is what he would go for: Right after he stopped the chainsaw with his bare hands, he’d go to his Bushtec Echo 2200, pop one out of the fridge and kick his hoofs on the bed.

This tent costs $5,000 so the only way you’ll be able to afford it is if you actually are Chuck Norris, but I nevertheless had to include it in this list, just because us preppers love to daydream about gear.

This is a military-grade tent, all the way. Actually, it’s more of a portable house than a tent, and here’s why:

• It’s made from a canvas that’s fully waterproof and fireproof (CPAI-84 standard).
• It’s rot resistant and UV resistant.
• It can withstand 50 mph winds (fully tested) as it has a heavy duty steel frame.
• It has three rooms so you can snore on your own without getting screamed on by people in the middle of the night.
• Fully equipped to host a bathroom and a kitchen
• It measures 23 by 17 feet and is 10 feet high.
• It weighs 500 lbs in total.
• It has six huge windows.
• Sets up in roughly 30-45 minutes (15 minutes if you’re super drunk).
• It has a veranda.

Veranda-whoo? What the hell is a veranda, Ferret? Is this vestibule’s cousin?

Even better! A veranda, besides sounding real fancy and French, acts as a shade from the sun, effectively giving you several feet of shaded area where you can get bitten by various insects in a UV light-free environment.

But, guys, this is what you get when you shell out $5K for a tent: Top quality “portable house” that can sleep an entire family regardless of the season and that is build to last for at least 10 years.

7) Coleman Tenaya Lake 8-Person Tent with Lights

On the outside, this tent looks like Las Vegas in the summer: Plenty of colors, spacious but a bit fake.

However, once it starts shedding its pretty-looking fake skin, you start to realize that this tent has a lot of features that usually don’t come with $300 tents: It has a rain fly, a carry bag with wheels and enough room to fit two queen size mattresses. It also sets up in 10 minutes and can withstand winds up to 35 mph.

And despite it having all that enticing gear, it weighs less than a baboon.

What I was personally impressed with is the integrated closet it has, which allows you to store all of your gear so it doesn’t get in the way. The closet even has coat hangers.

All in all, this tent can sleep up to 8 people, has a 13 by 9 feet floor and is 6.8 feet high at the center and sets up in 10 minutes. Fair deal for $300.

BONNIE’S HIGHLIGHTS:

Let me tell you something, Ferret really embarrassed me when he accidentally zipped himself in this tent’s closet at the store and so I take it as a personal obligation to tell you what actually makes this tent unique: It has an LED light at the center, which you can dim to your desired levels and which lasts for up to 200 hours on three AA batteries.

8) Freespirit Journey Basecamp XT Trailer

If you’ve ever spent more than 5 days in the wild, you know that being comfortable is duck soup when you’ve got 4 things covered: You sleep off the ground, you are dry, warm and hydrated.

This particular tent resolves a majority of those issues. It’s a trailer that expands into a 9 feet tent which sleeps up to 6 people on a 4” mattress.

The construction is made from 14 gauge steel.

The canvas polyester-cotton mix and is resistant to mildew, fire, UV rays and water. You might say it’s resistant to everything but your mother-in-law’s cold heart.

The 45 cubic feet large trailer comes with 31” BF Goodrich All-Terrain tires which will not get stuck in the deep mud. It can carry up to 1,500 lbs and the tent is 275 lbs, so you can pack it with a ton of additional supplies and you’ll be good to go anywhere.

It has a ton of trademark technology on it, most of which I cannot even explain. However, a feature I found interesting is the 144 x 96 feet awning, which can be fully enclosed for extra space.

This is a bona fide SHTF tent and comes with an appropriate price tag. It goes for $5K and, to be honest, the only people ready to spend that kind of money on a tent are Californians named Dylan who think that growing a mustache will help them survive Montana.

And that is not necessarily a bad thing, because literally anyone can survive Montana with this tent. I’d like to use my Californians for something other than bear food.

For what it is though, this is a fantastic piece of equipment geared towards users who are looking to stay prepared year-round, in a setting that will keep them portable and safe in the great outdoors.

9) Mountain Hardwear Trango 2 Tent

I’ve been camping quite a lot in 2020 and found a passion in using tents made for alpine conditions.

In particular, this is a tent I’ve shared for 4 days with a friend of mine and is one of the highest quality pieces of camping equipment I laid my hands on.

It can shelter maximum of 2 people and is made for all seasons, which makes it great for survival purposes. Now, since it’s rather tight and cozy I couldn’t put it at the top of the list because most of us have families to take care of, especially in emergency situations, however if you’re a family of 2 then make no mistake this is the shelter to get.

On to the business. Here’s what makes this tent worth the $700 price tag:

• Fully waterproof
• Measures just 8×24 inches and 9 lbs when packed
• Once set up, the floor area measures 40 sq. feet with a 12 square foot vestibule.
• It has two doors and the fabric is rated 10,000mm waterproof.

Besides the usual, it has a few interesting features that make it stand out.

Mainly, it’s fully taped and watertight so it will withstand any wind Mother Earth throws at you and will keep you dry in any conditions. I find this extremely important for SHTF scenarios.

It can also be fully ventilated. You can also use the fly window to take a peek outside to make sure all is ok.

There’s a plethora of internal mesh pockets so you can store your gear inside, and it also has a little pocket where you can store your battery light and evenly light the whole interior of the tent.

One of the downsides of this particular tent is that it has a bunch of reflective materials on its exterior (mainly the various loops and tent poles), which may or may not fit with the emergency situation you’re in.

If you’re looking for a hideout and a shelter that won’t get noticed in the woods then this is not the tent for you.