Outwell Yosemite Lake 6TC

Years ago, Outwell had a big luxury family tent called the Outwell Yosemite Falls. The name Yosemite is back as this tent, the Outwell Yosemite Lake 6TC, and its smaller siblings, the Outwell Yosemite Lake 5TC and the Outwell Yosemite Lake 4TC.

The Outwell Yosemite Lake 6TC is a big luxury family holiday tent with a matching price tag. So, let’s dive and see what you get for the money.

Outwell Yosemite Lake 6TC Tent Details

You can see this tent in our video at 28:02.

Cotton Feel

The first detail is the ‘TC’ in the product name, which stands for Technical Cotton, and it’s part of the premium feature of this tent.

The technical cotton fabric gives this tent a classy traditional feel and makes camping more comfortable.
Photo © Outwell

The material is the Outtex® Airtech, not pure cotton or canvas. Instead, the material is a mixture of polyester and cotton, giving the tent a more technical tent fabric than just traditional cotton or canvas.

The material is also treated with water repellant and fire-retardant and has a sun protection rating of UPF50+. This UPF rating not only protects the tent but the occupants too.

Note that if you get a cotton-based tent, make sure you weather it before taking the tent to the campsite.

Porch Area

The tent divides into three different zones.

The front zone is the main entrance, which I call the porch area.

Here you have two large doors with tinted privacy windows. You can roll both doors back and have the front of the tent open or roll one door back.

View of the tent with the front door half open.
Photo © Outwell

The arrangement with just one door rolled back is how we have our tent in the day, as it provides easy access, yet a little private area that’s out of any breeze.

This porch zone also has a removable groundsheet. We find removing the porch groundsheet helpful, as it means people can come and go in wet or muddy shoes without getting tent mucky. If people want to go into the inner part of the tent, they can leave any damp or dirty gear in this front zone of the tent.

Interestingly, the Outwell Yosemite Lake 6TC has an additional side door within the porch. So you could keep the main doors closed and go in and out of this side door. Using this side door might be ideal if there’s a cool breeze, as you can sit zone, with the sun shining through the windows, but protected from the cool breeze.

View of tent side. Notice the two doors on this side of the tent.
Photo © Outwell

On this porch side door, you can see the zip-up blinds and the zip-up bug mesh.
Photo © Outwell

Another few features are the porch storage pockets. We found these pockets helpful while using this area, as they conveniently store things you might want to hand, such as sunglasses, sun cream, some games for the kids, etc.

There is also a power cable entry into the porch from the main tent, making it ideal for hanging a lantern or even having a tent heater if you are sitting in there when it is chilly.

Inside the Tent

To access the inner part of the tent from the porch area, you go through another set of doors. These are the excellent Outwell Quick & Quiet doors with a magnetic self-closing mechanism.

You can roll the doors away if needed, but since they can be opened with bug mesh still in place, that’s the way we like it. There’s plenty of airflow into the tent, but the tent will automatically close the bug mesh behind anyone who enters the tent. We found this cuts down on the bugs going into the tent.

The doors that separate the front porch zone and the living space are the excellent Quick & Quiet doors.
Photo © Outwell

Looking inside the Outwell Yosemite Lake 6TC, you can see the enormous interior.
Photo © Outwell

The main living area is massive, with plenty of space for camping furniture.

An optional extra I recommend is getting the matching tent carpet for this part of the tent, as it will make the tent feel warmer underfoot and much more homely. You can make this place the inner sanctum, clean and dry, with all the wet and dirty stuff in the porch area.

This area has side doors on either side. Usually, the porch area would be the way to get into and out of the tent. However, the side doors can help when passing furniture and bedding into and out of the tent when setting up and packing away. They are also helpful in cooling the tent down when it gets hot, as with both side doors open but with bug mesh zipped in place, air flows through the tent, but not the bugs.

This tent has zip-up blinds in both this living area and the porch. Zip-up blinds make it quick and easy to open and close and enable you to set them half-open or closed. Since they zip up from the bottom, you can put them partly open, adding an extra bit of privacy as you make a cuppa first thing in the morning.

The Bedrooms

There are three bedrooms at the back of the tent. All bedrooms are longer than standard tent bedrooms, at 220 cm.

Outwell Yosemite Lake 6TC tent layout

The middle bedroom is considered the ‘main bedroom’ and is slightly wider, making it better for mum and dad, with the kids on either side.

This main bedroom also has an Outwell Quick & Quiet door, so there’s less noise at night if you need to err, pop out and use the facilities? 😉

If you don’t have kids to fill all the bedrooms, you can unzip and roll up the dividing bedroom walls, making a massive tent bedroom. These zip-up dividers are also great if you have young kids, as you can unzip the wall at night to get to them without going out of your bedroom and into theirs. You may even be able to do this while still in your sleeping bag 🙂

All the bedrooms are dark for a better night’s sleep.
Photo © Outwell

The bedrooms are dark, which will help everyone sleep better.  They come with a high-level window with bug mesh that opens into the living space, letting in some light during the day.

There is also a power cable entry, so you can run power into the bedrooms for powered lanterns or even charge your phone at night.

Pitching the Tent

The tent comes in two bags. There is a bag for the tent poles, which weighs 26.8kg and measures 80 x 26 cm, and a bag for the tent, which weighs 35.1kg and measures 92 x 53 cm.

The technical cotton is heavier than standard tent material, and you’ll want at least two people to help lift it in and out of your car and position the tent in the correct place.

If you get the tent footprint accessory, that can help position your tent, as it is easier to get into the footprint into the correct place, then you can unpack your tent on top of it, keeping the tent clean.

The Outwell Yosemite 6TC has a solid metal tent frame.
Photo © Outwell

This tent has a metal frame that you assemble and pushes into the tent’s sleeves. Again, at least two people on each pole make things go quicker.

When pitched correctly, the tent should withstand up to Wind Force 20 storm level winds (55-63mph/89-102kph).