Eureka! Copper Canyon 6 – Gear Review

The last time my wife and I stayed in the same tent together was almost 10 years ago. When we started bringing kids we switched to staying in a pop up camper, and I’m happy to say we’re going back to tent camping.

Eureka! has been bringing making outdoor equipment for more than 100 years. They produce tents, shelters and sleeping bags ready to go everywhere from high adventures to backyard camping. From beginners to advanced users, Eureka! has products that make the outdoors comfortable. When Eureka presented the opportunity to try out the Copper Canyon 6 to the Busted Wallet team, my family jumped at the chance and here’s what we discovered…

What’s in the Box:

• Tent
• 6 poles
• Rain Fly
• Carry Bag
• 8 Stakes
• Setup Instructions (they are in the stake bag!)

Specs:

• 10’ x 10’ floor
• 7’ height
• Straight walls for maximum use of space
• Simple shock-cord pole construction in steel (legs) and fiberglass (top)
• Zippered E! Power Port that allows you to bring an electrical power cord into the tent
• High stash-pockets and gear loft keep essentials close at hand and easy to reach (or out of reach of the children!)

Design:

Eureka! makes a number of 6 person tents, this is the Copper Canyon 6. It appears that the upgrades available include a stouter floor in the Jade Canyon 6 and more weather proofing in the Silver Canyon 6. The tent is square, symmetrical, and awesome. Why? Because you don’t have to remember what pole goes where. It just isn’t complicated. There are a few storage pockets and they are located high up in the corners, a gear loft in the ceiling, 1 door with a huge window, 3 huge windows, and the entire top is a mesh. In the summer this tent would stay extremely cool. The zippers are covered with flaps to protect from rain and leaks. The E! Power Port allows an electrical power cord into the tent to charge media devices or whatever else you’d need power for when camping. No more running a cord through the door. It packs up small. I’d guess that of the almost 23 lbs pack weight, 20 of it is the poles.

Construction & Setup:

Each of the 2 top poles are fiberglass and have bungee style shock cords. Assembled, they slide in to sleeves and lock into brackets at each end. They fit snugly, but not so tight you have to fight it, not loose like they are going to fall out. The 4 side poles are steel construction with a metal shock cord. They have an open top that fits in the same bracket as the top poles and a hole in the bottom that locks in to the pin at the base.

It’s a great setup and isn’t overly complicated as some tents can be.

1. Put in the top two poles through the top sleeves,
2. Then place the four side poles 1 at a time. Because the side poles lock into the bottom of the tent with the pin and clip to the tent with 2 clips, each pole stays in place while you set the tent up.
3. Drop a stake in a corner, then do the next 3 corners pulling tight each time.
4. The fly goes on just as easy. Match up the yellow corner on the fly with the yellow corner on the tent and go to town. Hook the cord at the bottom on the clip, attach the Velcro to hold it in place on the pole and then do each off the other corners. The fly slides over the top easily.

One person can set this tent up on his (or her) own. What seemed like a daunting task took about 15 minutes with the help (can you call it help?) of three children and stopping to take photos to document. On the way out of camp, the kids played at the playground while I took down the tent on my own. It’s helpful to have someone to help fold the tent before rolling but it can be done by yourself. That’s not bad for a tent, let alone a tent that is the large.

The pole bag and stake bag both have tension closures which is a nice attention to detail. The zippers all work easily on the door and windows. The side windows roll down and store in a pocket/sleeve sewn at the bottom of the window out of the way. The poles are stout and hold everything well, they inspire confidence that the tent is going to stay up. The brackets that connect the poles are strong and large, easy to grip. I never even considered that I would pinch a finger while assembling this which is really nice. The corners are really well constructed and the webbing used is strong stuff, it doesn’t feel cheap or an after thought. Each piece fits and there is room for each one. You aren’t left fighting to get the fly hook in or the stake through a impossibly small hole.

The straight wall construction is a blessing and a curse. We brought 3 children (age 3, 6 and 8) with us and they were able to walk (well, run) around inside the tent. From edge to edge you can walk around and not have to duck or crawl around trying to wiggle into pants or pajamas. It’s a curse only during setup. We had a breeze when the tent was going up and it wanted to push on the wall facing the wind. Once staked out this was no longer a problem. For heavier wind I would recommend staking out the guy wires on the fly too. I wouldn’t take it out in a hurricane, but I think it can hold it’s own for regular weather just fine.

Weight and Size:

Just how large is this tent? Big enough it stood out in the campground. It’s HUGE (10’ wide x 10’ long x 7’ high). Usually with tents if it says it can sleep x number of people, I divide by 2. Well this tent says it can sleep 6 and we slept 5 people in it, WITH GEAR. It’s a true family tent.

How Eureka! says it fits 6.

How we fit 5 people and gear.

Approximately 23lbs pack weight. Why approximately? Because ounces don’t matter to me when you are packing a 23+ pound tent. This is made for a vehicle to haul in.

Ease of Use:

Easy, It’s a tent. For the last 10 years we’ve pulled a pop up trailer. Well we didn’t have to spend 2 hours prepping the trailer or packing it away when we got home. We didn’t have to bring special bedding or pack a bunch of extra stuff. We went out for the night on the spur of the moment. We each packed a nights clothing, pajamas, toothbrushes, sleeping bags pillows (a few stuffed animals) and took off in a van. The hardest part of using this tent was finding a campground that had a vacancy on Memorial day weekend. We ended up at a local KOA. We’ve stayed there before, nice big sites, wooded, lots of activities and a great playground for the kids. We’ll definitely be back and we’ll be bringing this tent with us.

Negatives/Improvements:

Nothing is perfect and each person has different needs and wants. In our opinion, this tent could use a pocket or two at the lower edge of the tent. All the pockets are at the top and while that keeps things out of the reach of children, it isn’t convenient for everything. I wear glasses and I like a pocket at sleeping height.

It could also use a stouter floor. You’ll want to be careful to really inspect the area you set this tent up. Once we pitched it we noticed we didn’t get all the pine cones out from under it, so we pulled two stakes and held the tent up while the kids grabbed all the pine cones they could find. The floor seems like the same material as the sides. In the future we are going to either get a floor protector, or bring a tarp to place down first.

During setup it catches wind like a kite. We had a slight breeze during setup, it wasn’t a problem, but you might want to stake the bottom out first at least on the lead edge if you have wind. There are guy wires to pull out and stake down from the fly so it can handle stronger winds once setup.

The instructions were in with the stakes, rolled into the tent. I expected them to be on top in the box. No big deal. We are going to laminate them and put them on top of the tent in the bag for next time.

Value:

At $259 this is a great tent for someone camping with a family looking to tent in fair weather, spring summer and fall. This isn’t a backpacking tent, it’s 23lbs. It isn’t for an expedition to Everest (but Eureka! has tents for that!). It’ll handle sunshine and some rain. It’d be great for a day a the beach to provide shade and insect protection too. Any campground, beach, or backyard will welcome this tent. The only reason to pass on this tent is to upgrade to the Jade Canyon 6 or possibly the Silver Canyon 6.

Buy now: $259.90 at or find our more at EurekaTent.com