Originally Posted by staehpj1

It really depends on what you want to do in the future, but I will say that in the larger size range I have not found as much benefit to spending more. Strangely most of the 4 man tents in the higher price range weren't that much lighter than our Eureka Tetragon 8 which we paid about $100 for. They revamped the Tetragon so I don't know how the new one is, but we like our old one fine. It was originally bought for canoe and car camping in the Everglades, but served three of us well on our 73 day trans America and a lot of short trips of various types. Nine pounds seems like a ton, but I guess if you say 3 pounds per person it doesn't seem too bad. It is roomy, pitches easily, was inexpensive, and is holding up well. Something similar might be your best choice.