Coleman Tent Review please

[Fished]

Hello

I'm new to this board, but have been reading different topics on here with great interest.  Myself and my wife enjoy camping very much.  We are looking at getting a new tent.  Wanted to see if anyone had any experience with the Coleman Instant Tent 8 - 14" x 10", good or bad.  Here's the link to the site. 

Coleman Instant Tent 8

I couldn't find any reviews online.

Thanks for your help

_{Edited to make clicky link.}

[EZDUZIT]

  I have several "mistake" tents before I bought this one.  Perfect for two people.  (They call it a 4 person tent, but I don't.)  It's light enough to backpack, and will stand up to anything the weather can dish out. (4 season)   (It was designed for the Marines.)  It's really easy to put up.
It's not cheap, but if you look around, a reasonable price can be had.
This is a good price shipped free.
https://www.mountainsports.com/msmain.asp?Option=Detail&Detail=058430

If you buy it, buy the loft too.  It helps make it more comfortable.

[Spirit Deer]

I can't help you with an opinion about the tent, but it looks nice.  I wonder if it's a brand new model the reason you can't find reviews.

Welcome to the forums!

[jspilaf]

Boy, that sure does look like a nice tent.  Sorry, no review for you though.

[DadofThree]

Hi there.

Before we purchased our first pop up, we bought a tent after much research.  The one that we decided on was the Columbia Cougar Flats II.

I'll tell you a couple of differences in the two tents:

First, the Cougar isn't going to set up in 1 minute or less, but very reasonable in time.
Second, the Cougar DOES have arch windows that allow you to keep the windows open during a rain.
Third, The Cougar DOES have a canopy that allows you to open the door to the tent without rain entering the tent when walking in and out.

I am 6'4" and I can stand up in the Cougar Flats tent.  It has the "Bucket" type floor that doesn't allow water in.  We sealed all the seams with Seam Sealer.  It was just as big as the coleman that you have shown (which looks very nice). 

The Cougar Flats II was actually very easy to put up. 
You WILL be able to find reviews on this tent.  ALL Positive 

Dave
http://www.amazon.com/Columbia-Cougar-Flats-Family-Cabin/dp/B002Q3LICS 

[ghacker]

I have the original Cougars Flat tent (basically the same w/o the canopy). It is a great tent-roomy, great ventilation, and all the other things Dadofthree said. Has held up well in some pretty windy conditions. My favorite feature is that with a zippered middle wall separating the tent into two rooms, you can pretty much keep the bugs out of the sleeping area if you're conscienous about isolating the room.

Looked at the Coleman site you hyperlinked but didn't see some answers I'd want to know.

Are the poles steel/alum/fiberglass? For this type tent, I'd hope they were steel, at least on the vertical poles. Also the joints for the poles may be  a slip/twist/swing joints considering how fast they put it up. I'd prefer butt-joint. Would be stronger, especially if the slip/twist joint is a plastic piece.

JMO, but I personally prefer tents with flys.

It is amazing how quickly they set it up. With the Cougar Flats, our best case was about 18 min. for the two of us. The first time was a pain because of the poorly written instructions but once we figured them out it was no problemo.

[DruidQc]

  It looks fine.  I, however, am not a fan of tents without a fly and vestibule.  The setup time is attractive but I`d be weary of a model that`s too easy. Our tent has a great big vestibule that we can set up two chairs inside and it allows us another zone to chill in if the children are sleeping and there`s enough space when it`s wet out to leave things before you get back into the main tent.

[Fished]

Thanks very much for all your replies.  Still haven't decided yet.  What me and my wife are looking for is a tent that will hold a queen size air mattress, and have room to walk around it for putting on sheets and stuff.  We would also like room for at least one chair and other stuff to keep out of the weather.  Some of the divided tents we have looked at have a sewn zippered divider, not sure if they would have enough room for the air mattress.  I can see the advantages of the divided tents but most look like they are divided in the middle, maybe a 2/3 X 1/3 would be better?  The coleman was only $150 at SAMMS.  Would like to get a nice tent (big enough) for around $250 or less.  Appreciate your help and opinions.

[phils_sweetie]

I was in the same situation as you!  I really like the ease of the Coleman Instant Tent but was wary of buying something so new with no reviews.  A couple people on the tent camping forum at campingforums.com have the tent and have reviewed it.

I ended up buying the Columbia Bugaboo II tent at Cabela's at the Bargain Barn for $50! It's last season's tent, probably a floor model or a return. It had a tiny hole in the floor that I patched.  Set it up in the backyard and it withstood some foul weather nicely.  One thing I did learn...the stakes that come with any tent are crummy.  My tent blew across the yard while staked with 15 of the stakes that came with it! Ended up staking it down with rebar to keep it in place!  The Bugaboo is not as easy to set up as the Coleman by far, but I can do it myself.  For the $100 in savings over the Coleman, I think I can "make do!" 

[mkeeling]

I actually purchased this tent last weekend from Sam's.  $150 is what we paid and I took it home to set it up.  Without instruction and only looking at the box I was able to have the tent up in 3 minutes and 30 seconds by myself.  The under a minute thing is no gimmick with two people.

Everything looks to be assembled well.  It is a very roomy tent.  Easily will fit the one queen mattress your talking about with all kinds of room around it.

All that said i have only set it up in the back yard.  Taking camping on the 20th.

My take: It is not a Eureka, or Marmot or North Face tent, But for the price and convenience, I am OK with that.  I have never been able to set up and take down and pack away a tent so quickly.  Under 5 minutes on both ends.

Good luck!

Matt

[zjrog]

We bought this tent on a whim a few months back, at Sam's Club, also $150.  We finally got to use it last night.  First thing I noticed out of the bag, the bag is a lot bigger than the tent is.  So many cheapo tents never fit back in the bag.  I looked at the box, and the instructions sewn into the inside of the bag, and had it up in about 4 minutes.  DW isn't able to help much.  My first observation is that there is no way 8 people my size can sleep in this thing.  But is otherwise much more spacious than the 8x8 SUV tent we can setup behind my Jeep.  Next of course, no rain fly, or even a method to attach one.  Though I could likely tie out a tarp if need be for such a purpose.

The poles are metal, the locking mechanism is button that clicks into a hole.  The "spider" in the middle appears to a stiff composite plastic, and I didn't think to look at the folding joints in the legs, as they are covered with elastic and nylon cloth.  I don't like the "wire" type tie down stakes that come with it, and will replace them with something sturdier.

Tear down this afternoon was simple, just backtrack from setup.  Teardown was less than 5 minutes from tent to bag.  As mentioned, the bag is plenty roomy and there is minimal fighting with air in the tent. 

Forgot to take a camera with us, as we were testing out all the new stuff we've bought over the winter.

[zjrog]

We managed to break free for another quick overnighter...    My wife and I were joined by one of our friends and his young daughters.  And were even visited by friends of ours for a few minutes.  Managed to snap a few pics this morning before we tore down and came home.  But I think this is the best of the bunch.


The screen tent is not so much for bugs, as much as knocking the sun down some...  Its 9'x13' and is a great match for the 10'x14' Coleman.  I did make one minor adjustment to things.  When tearing down the tent this morning, I scribed an arrow into the head so I know which direction the front door is aimed.

[tplife]

The Instant Tent 8 looks like the wrong tent for the obvious reasons.  It's larger than 10X10, which is the size of most level tent pads.  Its lack of a full-coverage rain fly means seepage and later zipper problems, taped seams won't be enough.  The lack of specs should tip you off immediately.  The poles that go up-and-down in the beginning won't do that once they have a coating of camp grime on them.  There's a reason why there aren't many reviews, think about it.  If you need a bigger tent than a 10X10, buy a 2nd tent.  Stick with manufacturers like Sierra Designs, REI, EMS, Big Agnes, NorthFace, or Mountain HardWear.  There are some good models from Eureka! but you have to be very careful as the mix in a lot of low-end disposables.  Perhaps more importantly, DO NOT use air mattresses!  Like cots they are natural heat sinks in the wild that can cause a lousy nights' sleep at best and hypothermia at worst.  They continuously get colder until they are the same temp as the outside air, which means they are taking heat away from you as you sleep.  Open your wallet and buy ThermaRest self-inflating sleeping pads, or at least some decent knockoffs.  Good Luck!

[zjrog]

For our needs, this tent will be fine.  Since we watch the weather (mainly due to wife's health), we aren't going to be out when its wet and rainy, and the air mattress under out sleeping bags is fine during the summer.  We don't intend to have the tent out for a week at a time anytime soon.  So the grime issue isn't going to be an issue.  This does a great job for our needs.