As this thread continues as I hope it does, it's my hope that more will contribute who have bought and used walmart grade tents. For some these work great and are thrilled with them and satisfies their needs and can create lifetime memories for you and your family, for others it's just a source of frustration and disappointment. We all can't afford or even want a tent that costs 400.-700. but, depending on your seriousness and requirements, like most anything else you get what you pay for. How many times does it take to figure out that inexpensive equipment fails when the sleeve for the poles rip, or the stake loop tears out because it's not gusseted or reinforced properly or the zipper fails or the poles break...now what? I'm serious about my shelters, and can count on them to protect me even with the possibility of taking 80-100 pounds of snow dumping off a overhead bough, or two or three days of severe rain or wind up to 60-80 miles an hour. "If you're a fair weather camper you only really need to shelter yourself from a heavy dew or keep insects and critters off of you". If you camp in extreme conditions, or want equipment that will last, you will realize the value of that high dollar shelter, that's why I say you have to be honest with yourself about your needs and expectations .
I'm not suggesting you go out and break the bank on equipment, I'm just trying to point out some of pros and cons of different grades of equipment without being offensive, and now with all this discussion on gear I want to go camping !