Full-Coverage Fly, Simple Dome Setup, with Enough Room for Your Taste
My essential requirements:
1) Full-Coverage rainfly - to keep rain or wind-blown snow out.
2) Simple, sturdy dome Setup
3) Roomy vestibule for cooking in sporty weather*.
You might want to add with Enough Room for Your Taste.
That is if I have company. Otherwise, if I can fit in a 1Person tent, I can fit in the truck.
Heavy-duty Mountaineering brands (Everest high-camp caliber) like Mountain Hardwear (The Trango^^^ was the tent used in the high camps for the 1996 Imax Everest Team that happened to be there during the 1996 disaster), The North Face, Marmots are bomb-proof.
Then there are what I call "exotics" like Nemo and zpacks whose forte I think is being ultra-light.
The above and their
logo's are pricey.
You pay less for the
logos on Kelty, Eureka, REI. Lightweight and sturdy with features made to handle extreme weather, so those are good value brands.
For tents you don't have to carry on your back for miles Alps Mountaineering, Ozark trail, Coleman and the likes are even less expensive.
For camping near one's vehicle or near civilization where you have the option to dive into vehicle or drive to nearest hotel if weather gets worse. Almost any tent would do.
*(My Bibler iTent is minimal and tiny, but my vestibule is roomier and more comfortable than most other tents.)