I Tested the 14 BEST Coleman Tents! (2024)

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For this review, I bought and tested these 14 BEST Coleman tents (from largest to smallest):

1. Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent;
2. Coleman Instant 10-Person Dark Room Tent;
3. Coleman Red Canyon 8-Person Tent;
4. Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent;
5. Coleman Evanston 6-Person Tent;
6. Coleman Elite Sundome 6-Person Tent;
7. Coleman Sundome 6-Person Tent;
8. Coleman Sundome 6-Person Dark Room Tent;
9. Coleman Carlsbad 4-Person Tent;
10. Coleman Pop Up 4-Person Tent;
11. Coleman Instant 4-Person Tent;
12. Coleman Skydome 4-Person Tent;
13. Coleman Pop Up 2-Person Tent; and
14. Coleman Sundome 2-Person Tent.

Here’s a summary of all the Coleman tents that I recommend (after buying and testing, of course):

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All the Coleman tents that I bought and tested:

Coleman Tent	Full Review	Check Price
WeatherMaster 10	Read Review	Amazon, Coleman
Instant Cabin 10	Read Review	Amazon, Coleman
Red Canyon 8	Read Review	Amazon, Coleman
Montana 8	Read Review	Amazon, Coleman
Evanston 6	Read Review	Amazon, Coleman
Elite Sundome 6	Read Review	Amazon, Coleman
Sundome Dark Room 6	Read Review	Amazon, Coleman
Sundome 6	Read Review	Amazon, Coleman
Carlsbad 4	Read Review	Amazon, Coleman
Skydome 4	Read Review	Amazon, Coleman
Pop Up 4	Read Review	Amazon, Coleman
Instant Cabin 4	Read Review	Amazon, Coleman
Pop Up 2	Read Review	Amazon, Coleman
Sundome 2	Read Review	Amazon, Coleman

*These are my own measurements and data on these 14 best Coleman tents, and may differ from Coleman’s marketed specifications:

If you need more info on the specifications of each Coleman tent, click here for the more detailed tables.

I spent more than $2,000 buying these 14 best Coleman tents (yes, I actually buy all my tents with my own savings!), a good 6 months testing, filming, editing and putting together this series of blog posts and YouTube videos, not including the many years that I spent using these Coleman tents before that.

During my 6 months of intensive testing and usage, I set up and took down each Coleman tent at least half a dozen times, rain tested each one thoroughly, slept in all of them, amongst other things.

After all that, here’s how I rated each Coleman tent (10 is the best, 1 is the worst):

Coleman Tent	Overall Rating
Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6-Person Tent	7.9
Coleman Elite Sundome 6-Person Tent	7.9
Coleman Sundome 6-Person Tent	7.8
Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent	7.7
Coleman Instant Cabin 10-Person Tent	7.7
Coleman Carlsbad 4-Person Tent	7.7
Coleman Evanston 6-Person Tent	7.6
Coleman Sundome 2-Person Tent	7.5
Coleman Skydome 4-Person Tent	7.3
Coleman Red Canyon 8-Person Tent	7.2
Coleman Instant Cabin 4-Person Tent	7.2
Coleman Pop Up 4-Person Tent	6.9
Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent	6.8
Coleman Pop Up 2-Person Tent	6.8

1. Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent (Best Large Family Tent)

Key Info

• Peak Height: 80.5 inches
• Longest Length: 16 feet 8 inches
• Longest Width: 9 feet 1 inch
• Base Area: 143.6 square feet
• Materials: Polyethylene (Flooring), 68D Polyester (Tent), 75D Polyester Taffeta (Rainfly), Steel (Tent body poles), Fiberglass (Hinged door poles)
• Packed size: 31 by 18 by 12 inches
• Weight: 30.6 pounds
• Storage: 4 pockets, 1 lantern loop
• Ventilation: 6 windows, 2 doors, ceiling mesh
• Other Features: Angled windows (2), Hinged door (1), Room divider (1), E-port (1)
• Set Up Timing: 10 minutes (2 people), 19 minutes (1 person)
• Take Down Timing: 8.5 minutes (2 people), 16 minutes (1 person)

Pros and Cons

Summary

I’ve had the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent for about 4 years now, and it’s still in great condition, which speaks volumes about its durability and quality. I love especially that its poles are made of steel, which is much more durable than regular fiberglass Coleman poles.

One of the main reasons why I’ve kept my WeatherMaster 10 for so long is because I absolutely love the livable space inside the tent. The base area comes in at a whopping 143.6 square feet, and I can’t even reach the peak height of the tent unless I stretch my arm out and stand on tip toes at the same time. The WeatherMaster 10 has, by far, the biggest base area and highest peak height of all 14 Coleman tents on this list. Impressive, huh?

On top of the incredible livable space, the WeatherMaster 10 also has tons of great features. One of my favorite features is easily the super user-friendly hinged D-door, which makes going in and out of the tent a breeze.

The WeatherMaster 10 also has 2 huge angled windows on both widths of the tent, which I could leave open in heavy rain, making for pretty decent heavy rain ventilation.

However, my biggest gripe about this WeatherMaster 10 is that it’s not the easiest to fold up and pack away. Coleman could have provided a bigger carry bag for this tent, for sure. But as long as you take your time to compress the air out and pack it away, this honestly isn’t a big issue at all.

More info on the WeatherMaster Tent 10:

2. Coleman Red Canyon 8-Person Tent (Best Budget Large Family Tent)

Key Info

• Peak Height: 73.0 inches
• Longest Length: 16 feet 4 inches
• Longest Width: 9 feet 7 inches
• Base Area: 140.6 square feet
• Materials: Polyethylene (Flooring), Polyester (Tent and Rainfly), Fiberglass (Poles)
• Packed size: 26 by 13 by 10 inches
• Weight: 20.2 pounds
• Storage: 2 pockets, 1 lantern loop, 1 gear loft
• Ventilation: 2 windows, 2 vents, 1 door, ceiling mesh
• Other Features: Room dividers (2), Clothesline (1)
• Set Up Timing: 10 minutes (2 people), 19.5 minutes (1 person)
• Take Down Timing: 7 minutes (2 people), 14 minutes (1 person)

Pros and Cons

Summary

If you’re looking for a great family camping tent, and the WeatherMaster 10 is out of your budget, I’d recommend this Coleman Red Canyon 8-Person Tent instead. I found it to be great value for money, and I paid about half the price for this Red Canyon 8 than I did for my WeatherMaster 10.

Despite the much lower pricing, I was shocked to find that the base area is huge. It’s so big that I could fit 8 pads, with quite a bit of leftover space inside for gear.

In fact, I calculated the base area to be just very slightly smaller than the WeatherMaster 10.

Coleman Tents	Base Area
WeatherMaster 10	143.6 square feet
Red Canyon 8	140.6 square feet

On top of that, the Red Canyon 8 is quite feature-rich, and it comes with 1 gear loft, not 1, but 2 room dividers, and even a clothesline.

But sadly, unlike the WeatherMaster 10, there’s no e-port or hinged D-door. And there’s only 1 door, while the WeatherMaster 10 has 2 doors.

Also, the Red Canyon 8 comes with these thin rainfly fiberglass poles, which are subject to a lot of tension from the rainfly, so I highly recommend bringing along repair pole splints, just in case.

More info on the Red Canyon Tent 8:

3. Coleman Instant Cabin 10-Person Dark Room Tent (Best Instant Cabin Tent)

Key Info

• Peak Height: 73.5 inches
• Length: 13 feet 11 inches
• Width: 9 feet 9 inches
• Base Area: 135.7 square feet
• Material: Polyethylene (Flooring), Polyester (Tent and Rainfly), Steel (Tent body poles), Fiberglass (Hinged door poles)
• Packed size: 50 by 17 by 12 inches
• Weight: 32.0 pounds
• Storage: 2 pockets, 1 lantern loop
• Ventilation: 7 windows, 2 doors, ceiling mesh
• Other Features: Pre-attached poles and pole clips, Hinged door (1), Room divider (1), E-port (1), Dark room technology
• Set Up Timing: 7.5 minutes (2 people), 16 minutes (1 person)
• Take Down Timing: 5 minutes (2 people), 10 minutes (1 person)

Pros and Cons

Summary

While my WeatherMaster 10 edged out this Instant Cabin 10-Person Tent just a little bit, this tent has, nevertheless, plenty of pros and features as well. For example, similar to the WeatherMaster 10, this Instant Cabin 10 also comes with the same hinged D-door, which is always a welcomed feature.

There are actually 4 ways that this Instant Cabin 10 blows the WeatherMaster 10 out of the water.

First and foremost, this Instant Cabin 10 comes with incredible dark room technology, which is easily my favorite feature. This blackout feature keeps the Instant Cabin 10 not only a lot darker inside the tent during the day, but also a lot cooler in temperature.

Second, it has a jaw-dropping amount of hot day ventilation, with a whopping 7 windows, so there’s humongous mesh panels on every wall, not to mention the ceiling mesh as well.

Third, compared to the WeatherMaster 10, this Instant Tent 10 sets up 3 minutes faster, I didn’t have to struggle as much putting this up alone, and the pack up is a whopping 6 minutes faster.

Fourth, it has a nice cabin shape, which allowed me to fit 4 queen beds. In fact, this Instant Cabin 10 is the only tent on this list that can fit 4 queen beds. Even the WeatherMaster 10 could fit only 3 queen beds.

However, the rainfly of the Instant Cabin 10 is smaller than the WeatherMaster 10’s, and there’s minimal ventilation in the Instant Cabin 10 when it’s raining, because all the windows need to be closed.

So, in summary, if you’re deciding between both Coleman 10-Person Tents, I’d recommend the WeatherMaster 10 if you’re expecting rain, while this Instant Tent 10 is a much better choice for hot, sunny days.

More info on the Instant Cabin Tent 10:

4. Coleman Evanston 6-Person Tent (Best Screen Room Tent)

Key Info

• Peak height inside dome tent: 68.5 inches
• Length of dome tent: 9 feet 7 inches
• Width of dome tent: 8 feet 9 inches
• Base area of dome tent: 83.6 square feet
• Base area of screen room: 42.3 square feet
• Total base area: 125.9 square feet
• Material: Polyethylene (flooring), 68D polyester (tent body) 75D polyester taffeta (rainfly), fiberglass (poles)
• Packed size: 26 by 15 by 12 inches
• Weight: 19.4 pounds
• Storage: 2 pockets, 2 lantern loops
• Ventilation: 3 windows, 1 door, 1 mesh wall vent
• Set Up Timing: 9 minutes (2 people), 17.5 minutes (1 person)
• Take Down Timing: 6 minutes (2 people), 12 minutes (1 person)

Pros and Cons

Summary

Of the 2 Coleman screen room tents that I bought for this review, I prefer this Evanston 6-Person Tent.

I love that the base area is super generous in size. The inner dome tent itself has a base area of 83.6 square feet, and the screen room has a base area of 42.3 square feet, for a total base area of a whopping 125.9 square feet. This is bigger than regular 6-person Coleman tents, and even some 8-person Coleman tents. Check out this neat comparison table here:

Coleman Tent	Inner Tent	Screen Room	Total
Evanston 6	83.6 sq. ft.	42.3 sq. ft.	125.9 sq. ft.
Elite Sundome 6	110.0 sq. ft.	0 sq. ft.	110.0 sq. ft.
Montana 8	103.5 sq. ft.	0 sq. ft.	103.5 sq. ft.
Sundome 6	92.6 sq. ft.	0 sq. ft.	92.6 sq. ft.

This Evanston 6 is also the less expensive Coleman screen room tent, which makes it great value for money.

On top of that, unlike the Carlsbad 4 (the other screen room tent in this review), I could actually take the rainfly off the screen room for stargazing and unblocked views, and of course, more ventilation.

However, just bear in mind that for most Coleman screen room tents, the rainfly doesn’t cover much of the screen room at all. So, even in light rain, water gets into the screen room, not to mention in heavy rain. If you want this to be protected, you’d need to buy an extra tarp or canopy for the screen room.

More info on the Evanston 6:

5. Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6-Person Tent (Best Value for Money)

Key Info

• Peak height: 73 inches
• Length: 9 feet 9 inches
• Width: 9 feet 9 inches
• Base Area: 95.1 square feet
• Material: Polyethylene (flooring), polyester (tent and rainfly), fiberglass (poles)
• Packed size: 26 by 12 by 9 inches
• Weight: 16.4 pounds
• Storage: 2 pockets, 1 lantern loop
• Ventilation: 2 windows, 1 door, 2 mesh wall vents
• Other Features: E-port (1), dark room technology
• Set Up Timing: 11.5 minutes (1 person)
• Take Down Timing: 10 minutes (1 person)

Pros and Cons

Summary

I chose this Sundome Dark Room 6-Person Tent as my ‘Best Value for Money‘ pick because I paid barely over $100 for this tent, which was so worth it to me. And not only is this tent highly inexpensive, there are also so many pros as well.

First (and of course most importantly), this Sundome Dark Room 6 comes with Coleman’s dark room technology. So, not only is this tent a lot darker during the day, it’s also a lot cooler as well.

Setting up this Sundome Dark Room 6 was also really easy even though I’m not tall. The take down and pack up was easy as well, and I didn’t even have to rip this strip off the bottom of the carry bag to expand the bag.

In addition, this Sundome Dark Room 6 has better than average rain protection, thanks to the decent length of the rainfly.

And to top it all off, this tent didn’t have any real cons to it. As far as Coleman tents go, this tent is not only one of the least expensive, but also one of the best in terms of performance.

More info on the Sundome Dark Room 6:

6. Coleman 4-Person Pop Up Tent (Quickest Set Up)

Pop Up Info

• Pop up timing (without staking): 0.25 minutes (1 person)
• Set up timing (with staking): 1.5 minutes (1 person)
• Take down timing (with staking): 2 minutes (1 person)

Other Key Info

• Peak height: 39.0 inches
• Longest Length: 9 feet 1 inch
• Longest Width: 6 feet 8 inches
• Base Area: 60.6 square feet
• Material: 185T 68D polyester (flooring, tent, rainfly), fiberglass (poles)
• Packed size: 36 by 36 by 5 inches
• Weight: 8.2 pounds
• Storage: 1 pocket (split into 2)
• Ventilation: 1 window, 1 door, ceiling mesh

Pros and Cons

Summary

If you’re looking for as quick a set up as possible, there’s no other Coleman tent on the market that can beat the Coleman 4-Person Pop Up Tent. Simply take it out of the carry bag, remove the black strap holding the tent together, toss it away from you, and watch it pop open, with the rainfly pre-attached. This takes all of 15 seconds.

If you want to stake it down and guy it out, it takes just another 1 minute and 15 seconds, for a total set up time of just 1 and a half minutes. It also packs up super quickly, in just 2 minutes, tops. And on top of being super simple to use, this Coleman Pop Up 4 is also pretty inexpensive.

However, its biggest con is its lack of water resistance. The Coleman Pop Up 4 has only a tiny rainfly, it doesn’t have a bathtub flooring, and just 15 minutes of heavy rain will get your tent soaked through. Also, rainy day ventilation is minimal because no windows can be opened, and there are also no vents at all.

Another con is that the base area of the Coleman Pop Up 4 isn’t rectangular; it’s more oval in shape, so you don’t get as much space as the sides. This made it difficult for me to fit 4 regular sleeping pads into the tent. The most I could get was 3 regular sleeping pads, for a 3-person capacity, plus some space for gear.

Essentially, I’d recommend this Coleman Pop Up 4 if your priority is a quick set up, and you’re planning to use this in mainly fair weather. It’s definitely not for torrential weather or crazy rains.

More info on the Coleman Pop Up 4:

7. Coleman Sundome 2-Person Tent (Best Budget Pick)

Key Info

• Peak height: 48.5 inches
• Length: 6 feet 9 inches
• Width: 4 feet 9 inches
• Base Area: 32.1 square feet
• Material: Polyethylene (flooring), polyester (tent and rainfly), fiberglass (poles)
• Packed size: 24 by 9 by 6 inches
• Weight: 6.4 pounds
• Storage: 2 pockets, 1 lantern loop
• Ventilation: 2 windows, 1 door, 2 mesh wall vents, 1 ground vent
• Other Features: E-port (1)
• Set Up Timing: 5.5 minutes (1 person)
• Take Down Timing: 5 minutes (1 person)

Pros and Cons

Summary

If you’re on a strict budget, I’d recommend the Coleman Sundome 2-Person Tent. It is easily the least expensive of all my Coleman tents, and I personally paid less than $50 for mine a couple of years back. In fact, I believe you can still get that kind of pricing nowadays, and you can easily check out the prices on Amazon here.

I also love how the Sundome Tent 2 takes me just ~5 minutes to set up, and just another ~5 minutes to take down and pack away. It’s a very simple and intuitive set up, and you can’t go wrong with it.

I also really liked that the base area was big enough that it could fit a queen-sized mattress. It’s always nice to have that kind of versatility. And on top of that, this Sundome Tent 2 is easily the most compact and lightest Coleman tent that I have.

While I was really happy with my Sundome Tent 2, and I found no obvious flaws with the tent, just bear in mind that this tent is one of the smallest Coleman tents on this list.

Personally, I would upgrade to the Sundome Tent 6 if there’s not too much of a price difference, because it has an awesome 6-foot peak height, and I’m able to stand upright and walk around the tent. It’s a lot more comfy than the Sundome Tent 2.

More info on the Sundome Tent 2:

Check out the Sundome Tent 6:

8. Coleman Elite Sundome 6-Person Tent

Key Info

• Peak height: 74.5 inches
• Length: 11 feet 7 inches
• Width: 9 feet 6 inches
• Base Area: 110.0 square feet
• Material: Polyethylene (flooring), 68D polyester (tent body), 75D polyester taffeta (rainfly), fiberglass (poles)
• Packed size: 30 by 13.5 by 10 inches
• Weight: 21.4 pounds
• Storage: 2 pockets
• Ventilation: 2 windows, 2 doors, 2 mesh wall vents
• Other Features: E-port (1), pre-attached lighting (1), auto-rolling windows (2), hinged door (1), room divider (1)
• Set Up Timing: 16 minutes (1 person)
• Take Down Timing: 12 minutes (1 person)

Pros and Cons

Summary

The Elite Sundome 6-Person Tent has a ton of neat features that the regular Sundome tent doesn’t have. My favorite feature is easily the hinged D-door, which makes going in and out of the tent much more convenient.

I also love that the Elite Sundome 6 comes with 1 extra door, so 2 doors in total, while a regular Sundome 6 will just have 1 door.

The Elite Sundome 6 also comes with super cool auto rolling windows, a room divider, pre-attached lighting at the top of the tent, and even a higher quality carry bag.

And that’s not all. On top of all those features, I also got a bigger base area. My Elite Sundome 6 could fit 7 people, plus leftover space for gear, not just 6 people like my regular Sundome 6.

All of these features gave the Elite Sundome 6 a pretty spectacular overall rating of 7.9/10, tied in first place with the Sundome Dark Room 6 (which was my Best Value for Money pick).

However, for me at least, I found it hard to justify the humongous price increase of the Elite Sundome 6, despite the neat features that I got.

Nevertheless, I still recommend checking out the Elite Sundome 6 and its price. If it’s not too much more expensive, and you like the extra features, I think the Elite Sundome 6 could be worth it.

More info on the Elite Sundome 6:

9. Coleman Sundome 6-Person Tent

Key Info

• Peak height: 74.5 inches
• Length: 9 feet 8 inches
• Width: 9 feet 7 inches
• Base Area: 92.6 square feet
• Material: Polyethylene (flooring), polyester (tent body and rainfly), fiberglass (poles)
• Packed size: 27 by 12 by 9.5 inches
• Weight: 16.0 pounds
• Storage: 2 pockets, 1 lantern loop
• Ventilation: 2 windows, 2 mesh wall vents, 1 door, 1 ground vent
• Other Features: E-port (1)
• Set Up Timing: 11.5 minutes (1 person)
• Take Down Timing: 10 minutes (1 person)

Pros and Cons

Summary

The Sundome 6-Person Tent is a solid camping tent. It’s inexpensive (I paid barely over $100 for mine), it’s easy to set up and take down (~10-11 minutes for 1 person), and it has above average rain protection (can last ~35 minutes in super heavy rain) for a Coleman tent. In fact, I struggled to come up with any glaring flaws with this Sundome 6.

However, the reason this Sundome 6 didn’t make it into my “Top Picks” is because the Sundome Dark Room 6 just happens to be a better tent that I prefer.

On hot scorching summer days, this regular Sundome 6 won’t protect you from the sun as much as the Sundome Dark Room 6. Check out the difference in darkness between these 2 tents, despite light coming in through the mesh wall vents:

So, my recommendation to you is to check out the price difference between this Regular Sundome 6, and the Dark Room Sundome 6.

You might be surprised by what you find. I actually paid about the same price for both my Regular Sundome 6 and the Dark Room Sundome 6, and I bought both tents from Amazon.

Check out the Dark Room Sundome 6:

More info on the Regular Sundome 6:

10. Coleman Carlsbad 4-Person Tent

Key Info

• Peak height inside dome tent: 60 inches
• Length of dome tent: 8 feet 8 inches
• Width of dome tent: 6 feet 9 inches
• Base area of dome tent: 58.5 square feet
• Base area of screen room: 27.6 square feet
• Total base area: 86.1 square feet
• Material: Polyethylene (flooring), polyester (tent body and rainfly), fiberglass (poles)
• Packed size: 26 by 11.5 by 8 inches
• Weight: 14.4 pounds
• Storage: 2 pockets, 2 lantern loops
• Ventilation: 3 windows, 1 door, 1 mesh wall vent
• Other features: 1 e-port, dark room technology
• Set Up Timing: 11 minutes (1 person)
• Take Down Timing: 10 minutes (1 person)

Pros and Cons

Summary

The Carlsbad 4-Person Tent is a very easy to use camping tent, with just 2 poles for the tent body, 1 pole for the rainfly, and only 1 pole for the screen room. It takes just 10-11 minutes to not only set up, but to pack away as well.

Ventilation in the Carlsbad 4 is also decent on not just hot days, but rainy days as well, with sufficient mesh around the tent to keep me cool, no matter the weather.

One of my favorite features has to be the generous base area. I could not only squeeze 4 adults into the dome tent, but another adult (or lots of camping gear!) into the screen room as well.

However, I didn’t like that rain protection for the screen room is terrible. The rainfly doesn’t cover it at all, and when rain falls, it becomes a pain to clean out the screen room. So, you’d need to get extra tarps to cover the screen room, especially in rainy weather.

I also quite liked the dark room technology of the Carlsbad 4, though I realized that mine was probably slightly defective. I suspect that Coleman used a different fabric for the bottom of the tent (red arrow below). The fabric is supposed to be pitch black (like the window), not translucent black, like it is right now.

Nevertheless, despite the slight defect, camping in the Carlsbad 4 is better than having no dark room tech at all, and I still enjoyed it very much.

More info on the Carlsbad 4:

11. Coleman Skydome 4-Person Tent

Key Info

• Peak height: 59 inches
• Length: 7 feet 10 inches
• Width: 6 feet 11 inches
• Base Area: 54.2 square feet
• Material: Polyethylene (flooring), polyester (tent body and rainfly), fiberglass (poles)
• Packed size: 25 by 9 by 9 inches
• Weight: 10.4 pounds
• Storage: 2 pockets (1 is split into 4), 1 lantern loop, 1 gear loft
• Ventilation: 1 windows, 3 mesh wall vents, 1 door
• Other Features: Extra large door with door pocket
• Set Up Timing: 9.5 minutes (1 person)
• Take Down Timing: 10 minutes (1 person)

Pros and Cons

Summary

The Coleman Skydome Tent is a roomier version of the traditional Sundome Tent, with a marketed 20% more headroom. While I couldn’t accurately verify this statistic, I did notice a slight increase in the headroom, as the inner tent body is held up with lots of pole clips.

This Skydome 4 is also my most ventilated Coleman tent in the 2-person to 6-person range. On hot days, the Skydome Tent comes with not 1, not 2, but 3 humongous mesh walls, plus a window on the last wall. As for rainy days, with the rainfly in place over the tent, there are 3 massive mesh wall vents instead, which is actually better than my traditional Sundome tents.

I also really liked the extra big door of the Skydome 4. It measures a whopping 4 feet in length, so it’s much bigger than your traditional Coleman tent, and here’s what the door looks like in comparison to my size.

This door also comes with a door pocket by the side to stuff to door fabric in when the door is open, which makes it really user-friendly.

Also, while traditional Coleman tents come with just 2 small pockets, the Skydome 4 comes with 2 large pockets, plus a gear loft, which will be included with your purchase.

And last but not least, the set up is pretty easy, and there are no tent body pole sleeves in this Skydome 4 to fumble with. Instead, the Skydome tent comes with pre-attached poles, fast-fitting feet, and 14 pole clips to hold the tent body up.

However, bear in mind that the set up will not take 5 minutes, no matter what Coleman says. After setting up this Skydome 4 at least half a dozen times, it still takes me about 9 to 10 minutes for the full set up.

More info on the Skydome 4:

12. Coleman 4-Person Instant Cabin Tent

Key Info

• Peak height: 61 inches
• Lowest height: 50 inches
• Length: 7 feet 11 inches
• Width: 7 feet
• Base Area: 55.4 square feet
• Material: Polyethylene (flooring), 150D polyester taffeta (tent body and rainfly), alloy steel (poles)
• Packed size: 40 by 11 by 8 inches
• Weight of tent: 18.0 pounds
• Weight of rainfly: 2.0 pounds (to be purchased separately)
• Total weight: 20.0 pounds
• Storage: 2 pockets, 1 lantern loop
• Ventilation: 4 windows, 1 door, 1 top vent
• Other Features: Pre-attached poles and pole clips
• Set Up Timing: 4.5 minutes (1 person)
• Take Down Timing: 5 minutes (1 person)

Pros and Cons

Summary

Thanks to the pre-attached poles and pre-attached pole clips of the Coleman 4-Person Instant Tent, the set up is super quick, taking me just 4.5 minutes, and this includes staking and guying out the entire tent. The take down was very easy as well, taking me just 5 minutes.

I also liked that the almost vertical side walls and cabin shape of the Instant Tent 4 gave me lots of livable space to not only stand up, stretch my arms out, but lounge around as well.

The materials used in the Instant Tent 4 are also better than your average Coleman tent, complete with not just alloy steel poles (traditional Coleman tents have fiberglass poles), but with double-thick 150D polyester taffeta as well (at least twice as thick as traditional Coleman tents with 68D to 75D polyester fabric).

The windows in this Instant Tent 4 are also pretty massive, making for good ventilation especially on hot summer days.

However, I wouldn’t recommend using this Instant Tent 4 under prolonged heavy rain (light rain is fine though; I tested it!).

Under prolonged heavy rain, water will leak into your tent between 10 to 15 minutes in. This is because the rainfly is really small, covering literally only the very top of the tent, and the bathtub flooring seam is not taped as well.

On top of that, there’s minimal ventilation when it’s raining, because you can’t open any of the windows.

More info on the Instant Tent 4:

13. Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent

Key Info

• Peak height: 74 inches
• Length: 15 feet 4 inches
• Width: 6 feet 9 inches
• Base Area: 103.5 square feet
• Porch dimensions: 103 by 32 inches
• Material: Polyethylene (flooring), 68D polyester (tent body and rainfly), fiberglass (poles)
• Packed size: 26 by 15 by 12 inches
• Weight: 23.4 pounds
• Storage: 2 pockets, 1 lantern loop
• Ventilation: 3 windows, 1 door, ceiling mesh
• Other Features: 1 e-port, door is hinged
• Set Up Timing: 11 minutes (2 people), 22 minutes (1 person)
• Take Down Timing: 7.5 minutes (2 people), 14.5 minutes (1 person)

Pros and Cons

Summary

For my “Best Budget Large Family Tent”, I was deciding between the Red Canyon 8 and this Montana 8 Tent. However, I felt that the Red Canyon 8 was a better pick because it has a base area that’s 37 square feet bigger than my Montana 8, and it also has better hot day ventilation and rainy day ventilation than my Montana 8.

What set the Montana 8 back a little is definitely ventilation, as the 3 existing windows (on 3 of the 4 walls) inside the tent aren’t very big. In fact, I’m not sure why Coleman didn’t add another window on the fourth wall here (below) for more ventilation.

Ventilation in the Montana 8 is especially lacking in heavy rain, because all the windows need to be closed, and there are no vents in this tent.

The Montana 8 also has the longest set up time of all my Coleman tents, coming in at a whopping 22 minutes for a single person set up.

However, this isn’t a big issue for me, because tents with longer set up timings tend to be more feature-rich, like this Montana 8. When you’re done with the set up, this Montana 8 gives you a nice awesome porch area. This is especially useful on hot summer days for some shading.

On top of that, the Montana 8 also comes with an awesome hinged D-door, which makes going in and out of the tent a breeze. 

Overall, I found this Montana 8 very reasonably-priced for the number of features you get. You can compare prices with the Red Canyon 8, and see which one better suits your budget.

More info on the Montana 8:

Check out the Red Canyon 8:

14. Coleman 2-Person Pop Up Tent

Pop Up Info

• Pop up timing (without staking): 0.25 minutes (1 person)
• Set up timing (with staking): 1.5 minutes (1 person)
• Take down timing (with staking): 1.75 minutes (1 person)

Other Key Info

• Peak height: 32.5 inches
• Longest Length: 7 feet 7 inches
• Longest Width: 4 feet 6 inches
• Base Area: 34.1 square feet
• Material: 185T 68D polyester (flooring, tent, rainfly), fiberglass (poles)
• Packed size: 29 by 29 by 3 inches
• Weight: 6.6 pounds
• Storage: 1 pocket (split into 2)
• Ventilation: 1 window, 1 door, ceiling mesh

Pros and Cons

Summary

This Coleman 2-Person Pop Up Tent is strikingly similar to the 4-Person Pop Up Tent, with the exact same pros listed above. However, I chose to recommend the Coleman Pop Up 4 (my ‘Quickest Set Up’ Top Pick) over the Coleman Pop Up 2, because the Pop Up 2 has a couple of additional cons.

First, my Coleman Pop Up 4 could fit a Queen bed, while I couldn’t even fully inflate a Full-sized mattress in my Coleman Pop Up 2. In fact, my Coleman Pop Up 2 is the only Coleman tent on this list that couldn’t fit a Queen bed.

Second, the Coleman Pop Up 2 has the lowest peak height of all the Coleman tents on this list, coming in at just 32.5 inches. In fact, with an 8-inch Coleman mattress inside the tent, I actually felt pretty squished and claustrophobic.

On top of that, even though the Coleman Pop Up 4 is quite a bit bigger than the Pop Up 2, the set up and take down process is exactly the same, and takes me almost exactly the same time.

But if you’re on a tighter budget, the Coleman Pop Up 2 is still a great, budget-friendly tent, and I enjoyed using it very much. Just watching it pop open out of the carry bag never gets old!

More info on the Pop Up 2:

Here’s a quick summary of all the Coleman tents that I bought and tested for this review:

Top Picks

1. Best Large Family Tent: Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent
2. Best Budget Large Family Tent: Coleman Red Canyon 8-Person Tent
3. Best Instant Cabin Tent: Coleman Instant Cabin 10-Person Dark Room Tent
4. Best Screen Room Tent: Coleman Evanston 6-Person Tent
5. Best Value for Money: Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6-Person Tent
6. Quickest Set Up: Coleman 4-Person Pop Up Tent
7. Best Budget Pick: Coleman Sundome 2-Person Tent

The Others

1. Coleman Elite Sundome 6-Person Tent: A very feature-rich tent, but also pretty pricey.
2. Coleman Sundome 6-Person Tent: An extremely solid and inexpensive camping tent, but I prefer the dark room version.
3. Coleman Carlsbad 4-Person Tent: I do recommend this tent, especially if you like the dark room feature, though I recommend sizing up to a 6-person version.
4. Coleman Skydome 4-Person Tent: A roomier version of the traditional Sundome tent, but definitely isn’t a quick pitch tent.
5. Coleman 4-Person Instant Cabin Tent: This tent is too short to completely stand up in; I recommend sizing up to the 6-person version. Note that only the 10-person instant tent (one of my Top Picks) comes with the rainfly.
6. Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent: My runner-up budget large family tent pick. It’s worth taking a look if you don’t like the Red Canyon 8.
7. Coleman 2-Person Pop Up Tent: I felt that this tent is a little too lacking in space (height and base area), so I much prefer the bigger 4-person version.

Consolidated Ratings

Here’s a cool graphic you can use to compare each of the 14 Coleman tents that I bought and tested for this review:

I put each Coleman tent through 7 different tests:

1. Ease of use (set up and take down)
2. Spaciousness (peak height, livable space, base area, mattress sizing)
3. Comfort and features (doors, hinged door, room divider, dark room feature, Elite tents, storage options)
4. Ventilation (hot day, rainy day)
5. Rain test
6. Quality (materials used, defect rate)
7. Portability (weight, packed size)

1. Ease of Use

For ease of use, I looked at the:

1. Set up timing; and
2. Take down and pack away timing.

Note: All these timings include staking and guying out each tent.

Set Up Timing

Here’s how long each Coleman tent took me to set up (so, a 1-person timing), from the fastest to slowest:

Coleman Tent	Set Up Timing (1P)
Coleman Pop Up 2	1.5 minutes
Coleman Pop Up 4	1.5 minutes
Coleman Instant 4	4.5 minutes
Coleman Sundome 2	5.5 minutes
Coleman Skydome 4	9.5 minutes
Coleman Carlsbad 4	11 minutes
Coleman Sundome 6	11.5 minutes
Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6	11.5 minutes
Coleman Instant 10	16 minutes
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	16 minutes
Coleman Evanston 6	17.5 minutes
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	19 minutes
Coleman Red Canyon 8	19.5 minutes
Coleman Montana 8	22 minutes

Generally, the larger the tent capacity, the longer it’ll take to set up. I was able to set up every single Coleman tent on this list, on my own.

Also, the more feature-rich a tent is, the longer it’ll take to set up too. For example, if your Coleman tent has a screen room, that’ll add a good 4 to 6 minutes to your set up.

Another example is the hinged D-door, which comes with a few Coleman tents, and this itself takes 1 and a half to 2 minutes to set up.

Related: Fast Pitch Tent V.S. Instant Tent (With REAL Pictures!)

Take Down Timing

As for the ease of take down, here’s how long it took me to take down and pack up each Coleman tent, from the fastest to slowest:

Coleman Tent	Take Down Timing (1P)
Coleman Pop Up 2	1.75 minutes
Coleman Pop Up 4	2 minutes
Coleman Instant 4	5 minutes
Coleman Sundome 2	5 minutes
Coleman Skydome 4	10 minutes
Coleman Carlsbad 4	10 minutes
Coleman Sundome 6	10 minutes
Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6	10 minutes
Coleman Instant 10	10 minutes
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	12 minutes
Coleman Evanston 6	12 minutes
Coleman Red Canyon 8	14 minutes
Coleman Montana 8	14.5 minutes
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	16 minutes

For the smaller 2-person to 6-person tents, I didn’t have to rip this strip off the bottom of the bag to expand the bag, and it was still pretty easy to pack up each tent.

If you rip the strip off, the bag will become a lot bigger, and you can probably shave 2-3 minutes off the pack up timings.

I definitely had to rip the strip off the bigger 8 to 10-person tents, and especially for the WeatherMaster, it was a little bit of a tight fit even with after the bag was expanded. Just take a look at how much stuff there is!

Ease of Use Ratings

For the ease of set up and the ease of take down, here’s how I rated each Coleman tent (out of 10, with 10 being the easiest to set up):

Coleman Tent	Ease of Use Ratings
Coleman Pop Up 2	10.0
Coleman Pop Up 4	10.0
Coleman Instant 4	9.0
Coleman Sundome 2	9.0
Coleman Skydome 4	7.0
Coleman Carlsbad 4	7.0
Coleman Sundome 6	7.0
Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6	7.0
Coleman Instant 10	6.0
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	6.0
Coleman Evanston 6	6.0
Coleman Red Canyon 8	5.0
Coleman Montana 8	4.5
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	4.5

2. Spaciousness

For spaciousness, I looked at the peak height, livable space, the base area, as well as the mattress sizing of each Coleman tent.

Peak Height

Here’s the peak height of each Coleman tent from the lowest to the highest:

Coleman Tent	Peak Height
Coleman Pop Up 2	32.5 inches
Coleman Pop Up 4	39.0 inches
Coleman Sundome 2	48.5 inches
Coleman Skydome 4	59.0 inches
Coleman Carlsbad 4	60.0 inches
Coleman Instant 4	61.0 inches
Coleman Evanston 6	68.5 inches
Coleman Red Canyon 8	73.0 inches
Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6	73.0 inches
Coleman Instant 10	73.5 inches
Coleman Montana 8	74.0 inches
Coleman Sundome 6	74.5 inches
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	74.5 inches
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	80.5 inches

The Coleman Pop Up Tents have a lower than average peak height, especially the 2-Person Pop Up Tent. I wouldn’t recommend having a mattress that’s thicker than 4 inches inside this tent, and that’s for someone of my height. I’m 5’3”, by the way.

The Coleman 4-Person Pop Up Tent can take a mattress that’s about 6 inches thick, and here’s what it looks like:

For the Sundome 2-Person Tent, I could squish a 9-inch thick camping mattress inside.

The rest of my Coleman tents have significantly higher peak heights, so I wouldn’t worry too much about the thickness of the mattress.

Livable Space

For livable space, I looked at the standing room in each Coleman tent. I’m only about 5’3″/160cm, and I couldn’t even fully stand up in all of the 2-person and 4-person Coleman tents.

I could, however, stand up at the peak height in the 6 to 10-person Coleman tents.

But most of these tents, like the Evanston, and all the 3 Sundome Tents, these are dome-shaped tents, which have peak heights only at the center of the tent. The moment I take 2 small steps back in any of these tents, my head would touch the wall of the tent.

The Montana and Red Canyon Tents have more of an extended dome shape. The peak height is still only here at the center of the tent, but it takes me about 3 small steps away from the peak height to touch the mesh at the top of the tent.

If you want more livable space inside the tent, I’d recommend either the Instant Cabin Dark Room or WeatherMaster 10-Person Tents.

The 10-Person Instant Tent has a cabin, not a dome shape, so I could stand up practically everywhere inside the tent.

While the WeatherMaster is more of an extended dome than a cabin shaped tent, it has the highest peak height of 80.5 inches, so I could stand up almost everywhere inside the tent as well. In fact, just to reach the peak height, I had to stand on tip toes and stretch my arm out as much as possible.

Base Area

I also calculated the total base area in each of these Coleman tents, from the smallest to the largest:

Coleman Tent	Inner Tent	Screen Room	Total Base Area
Coleman Sundome 2	32.1 sq. ft.	0.0 sq. ft.	32.1 sq. ft.
Coleman Pop Up 2	34.1 sq. ft.	0.0 sq. ft.	34.1 sq. ft.
Coleman Skydome 4	54.2 sq. ft.	0.0 sq. ft.	54.2 sq. ft.
Coleman Instant 4	55.4 sq. ft.	0.0 sq. ft.	55.4 sq. ft.
Coleman Pop Up 4	60.6 sq. ft.	0.0 sq. ft.	60.6 sq. ft.
Coleman Carlsbad 4	58.5 sq. ft.	27.6 sq. ft.	86.1 sq. ft.
Coleman Sundome 6	92.6 sq. ft.	0.0 sq. ft.	92.6 sq. ft.
Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6	95.1 sq. ft.	0.0 sq. ft.	95.1 sq. ft.
Coleman Montana 8	103.5 sq. ft.	0.0 sq. ft.	103.5 sq. ft.
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	110.0 sq. ft.	0.0 sq. ft.	110.0 sq. ft.
Coleman Evanston 6	83.6 sq. ft.	42.3 sq. ft.	125.9 sq. ft.
Coleman Instant 10	135.7 sq. ft.	0.0 sq. ft.	135.7 sq. ft.
Coleman Red Canyon 8	140.6 sq. ft.	0.0 sq. ft.	140.6 sq. ft.
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	143.6 sq. ft.	0.0 sq. ft.	143.6 sq. ft.

All of these measurements that I took were actually smaller than the dimensions marketed by Coleman, and to be more specific, anywhere between 1% to 8% smaller.

Also, for the Coleman pop up tents, the base area is circular in shape, so it’s actually a bit smaller than what I managed to calculate.

Mattress Sizing

Also, here’s some info about the mattress sizing of each Coleman tent:

Coleman Tent	Single Pads	Queens	Screen Room
Coleman Sundome 2	2	1	0
Coleman Pop Up 2	2	0	0
Coleman Skydome 4	4	1	0
Coleman Instant 4	4	1	0
Coleman Pop Up 4	3	1	0
Coleman Carlsbad 4	4	1	1 single
Coleman Sundome 6	6	<2	0
Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6	6	<2	0
Coleman Montana 8	8	3	0
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	7	2	0
Coleman Evanston 6	6	<2	<2 singles
Coleman Instant 10	10	4	0
Coleman Red Canyon 8	10	3	0
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	10	3	0

And here are some things to take note of.

The Sundome 2-Person Tent easily fit 2 regular sleeping pads, and could actually fit even an entire Queen-sized mattress.

Because of the oval shape of the 2-Person Pop Up Tent, I could fit only 2 regular pads, and definitely not a queen. I couldn’t even fully inflate a full mattress (below), because the corners were already touching the tent walls.

The 4-Person Pop Up Tent couldn’t fit 4 regular sleeping pads, it was at most 3 pads. Or, 1 queen bed.

While the Sundome 6-Person Tent could fit 6 regular sleeping pads, the length of the tent is actually a few inches shy of being able to fit 2 queen beds. Already, with 2 almost queen-sized beds, the fit is pretty snug.

The Elite Sundome 6-Person Tent has a big base area, and I could fit seven regular sleeping pads. Or, 2 queen beds.

The Red Canyon 8-Person Tent has a humongous base area. It fits 10 regular sleeping pads, or 3 queen bed.

Spaciousness Ratings

So, for spaciousness, here’s how I rated each Coleman tent:

Coleman Tent	Spaciousness Ratings
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	10.0
Coleman Instant 10	9.5
Coleman Red Canyon 8	9.5
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	9.0
Coleman Montana 8	8.5
Coleman Evanston 6	8.5
Coleman Sundome 6	8.5
Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6	8.5
Coleman Carlsbad 4	7.5
Coleman Instant 4	7.0
Coleman Skydome 4	6.5
Coleman Sundome 2	5.5
Coleman Pop Up 4	5.5
Coleman Pop Up 2	5.0

3. Comfort and Features

For comfort, I’ll go through not only a few general tent features, but several Coleman-specific features as well:

1. Doors
2. Hinged Door
3. Room Divider
4. Dark Room
5. Elite Tents
6. Storage

Number of Doors

Here’s the number of doors that each Coleman tent has, and also, whether there’s a hinged D-door:

Coleman Tent	No. of Doors	No. of Hinged Doors
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	2	1
Coleman Instant 10	2	1
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	2	1
Coleman Montana 8	1	1
Coleman Red Canyon 8	1	0
Coleman Evanston 6	1	0
Coleman Sundome 6	1	0
Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6	1	0
Coleman Carlsbad 4	1	0
Coleman Instant 4	1	0
Coleman Skydome 4	1	0
Coleman Pop Up 4	1	0
Coleman Pop Up 2	1	0
Coleman Sundome 2	1	0

Only my 10-Person WeatherMaster and Instant Tents, as well as the Elite Tent, have 2 doors. But only one of them will be hinged.

The Montana 8-Person Tent has a single door that also comes with the hinged feature.

As for the rest of the Coleman tents, they have only 1 door, and no hinged feature.

Hinged Door Feature

The hinged D-door is actually one of my favorite Coleman features. Coleman will provide you with 2 extra fiberglass poles to install the hinged door.

And when you have this hinged door, it takes just 5 seconds, tops, to get in and out of the tent.

On the other hand, zipping a door open and shut will take 15 seconds, or maybe even more, depending on how snaggy your zippers are.

On top of that, you can even zip the hinged door up, with the fiberglass poles in place.

For much more info on Coleman’s patented hinged door, check out this blog post: I Bought & Tested the 4 BEST Hinged Door Tents!

Room Divider

As for the room divider, only the bigger tents and the Elite tents come with them:

Coleman Tent	No. of Room Dividers
Coleman Red Canyon 8	2
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	1
Coleman Instant 10	1
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	1
Coleman Montana 8	0
Coleman Evanston 6	0
Coleman Sundome 6	0
Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6	0
Coleman Carlsbad 4	0
Coleman Instant 4	0
Coleman Skydome 4	0
Coleman Pop Up 4	0
Coleman Pop Up 2	0
Coleman Sundome 2	0

I’ve never been a big fan of Coleman room dividers though, because they usually either have really big gaps at the sides, the top, and the bottom, or they’re really see through.

And the space behind each Red Canyon divider is really minimal, fitting just 2 regular pads, and there’s not even a zip down the middle to get around it. So, I had to take the divider down, and climb over it.

Dark Room Feature

Coleman’s Dark Room Technology is another one of my favorite features. Here’s what the dark room feature looks like in the middle of the day.

The bathtub flooring at the bottom of the tent doesn’t have dark room tech though, and also, there’s a gap between the ceiling mesh and the rainfly that will let some light in.

And if you have a Dark Room Tent with these vents here by the sides, light will also seep in through the vents. So, if you want it to be darker, you can’t guy out the rainfly too much.

But even with the vents open, compare this Dark Room Sundome Tent to a regular Coleman Sundome Tent without the dark room tech. There’s no comparison.

Sometimes, the dark room feature can be defective. I realized that this Carlsbad tent isn’t as dark because Coleman used a different fabric for the bottom of the tent. It should be as dark as the window fabric, but they’re not.

To find out whether Coleman’s Dark Room Technology is worth it, check out this blog post: Is Coleman’s Dark Room Worth It? (3 Tests!)

Elite Coleman Tents

When you buy an Elite tent instead of the regular Sundome, you get 2 feet more in length, an extra hinged door, so 2 doors in total, a room divider to create 2 separate rooms, super cool auto rolling windows, and also pre-attached lighting, so very feature-rich.

Storage Options

Here’s a quick summary of all the storage options in each Coleman tent, from the most to the least:

Coleman Tents	No. of Pockets	No. of Gear Lofts	No. of Loops	No. of E-Ports
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	4	0	1	1
Coleman Carlsbad 4	2	0	2	1
Coleman Instant 10	2	0	1	1
Coleman Red Canyon 8	2	1	1	0
Coleman Montana 8	2	0	1	1
Coleman Evanston 6	2	0	2	0
Coleman Sundome 6	2	0	1	1
Coleman Sundome Dark 6	2	0	1	1
Coleman Skydome 4	2	1	1	0
Coleman Sundome 2	2	0	1	1
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	2	0	0	1
Coleman Instant 4	2	0	1	0
Coleman Pop Up 4	1	0	0	0
Coleman Pop Up 2	1	0	0	0

I found Coleman’s storage options to be really quite lacking. For example, I have no idea why not all Coleman tents have e-ports.

Also, most Coleman tents have only 2 pockets, with an average size of about 9 by 7 inches.

The 3 better than average exceptions are the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent, which comes with 4 triangular pockets, the Red Canyon 8-Person Tent, which comes with an extra gear loft, and the Skydome 4-Person Tent, which comes with a pretty big pocket (24 by 7 inches), and also an extra gear loft.

And the Coleman tents with the worst storage options are the Pop Up Tents. They each come with only 1 pocket (17 by 8 inches), which is split into 2, no gear lofts, no e-port, and not even a lantern loop. So, I had to hang a lantern up using the door latch attachment.

Comfort and Feature Ratings

So, for comfort and features, here’s how I rated each Coleman tent:

Coleman Tent	Comfort Ratings
Coleman Instant 10	10.0
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	9.2
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	8.9
Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6	8.8
Coleman Carlsbad 4	8.6
Coleman Sundome 2	7.9
Coleman Montana 8	7.7
Coleman Skydome 4	7.3
Coleman Sundome 6	7.3
Coleman Instant 4	7.3
Coleman Pop Up 2	7.3
Coleman Red Canyon 8	7.2
Coleman Evanston 6	7.0
Coleman Pop Up 4	7.0

4. Ventilation

For ventilation, I looked at hot day ventilation, as well as ventilation during heavy rain.

Hot Day Ventilation

For ventilation on hot summer days, I split the testing into 2 groups – bigger 8 to 10-person tents, and smaller 2 to 6-person tents.

8 to 10-Person Coleman Tents

On a hot day without any rain, the bigger 8-Person and 10-Person Coleman Tents come with a lot of ceiling mesh and a decent number of windows.

Coleman Tent	Ceiling Mesh?	No. of Windows	Window Ventilation
Coleman Instant 10	Yes	7	9,400 sq. in.
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	Yes	6	5,500 sq. in.
Coleman Red Canyon 8	Yes	4	3,300 sq. in.
Coleman Montana 8	Yes	3	2,200 sq. in.

The 10-Person Instant Tent is the most well-ventilated amongst the bigger Coleman tents, complete with not just a lot of ceiling mesh, but a whopping 7 massive windows, giving you an additional ~9,400 square inches of window ventilation.

Next up, we have the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent, also with ceiling mesh, but with only 6 windows, all of them are smaller, for a total of ~5,500 square inches of ventilation.

The better ventilated 8-Person Tent is the Red Canyon, with ceiling mesh, plus 4 more windows, for a total of about ~3,300 square inches of window ventilation.

The Montana 8-Person Tent also has a decent amount of ceiling mesh, but there are only 3 windows, which are not very big, for a total of about ~2,200 square inches of ventilation.

2 to 6-Person Coleman Tents

For the smaller 2-Person to 6-Person Coleman Tents, instead of ceiling mesh, you get humongous mesh walls instead. And windows, of course.

Coleman Tent	No. of Mesh Walls	No. of Windows
Coleman Skydome 4	3	1
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	2	2
Coleman Sundome 6	2	2
Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6	2	2
Coleman Sundome 2	2	2
Coleman Evanston 6	1	3
Coleman Carlsbad 4	1	3
Coleman Instant 4	0	3
Coleman Pop Up 4	1	1
Coleman Pop Up 2	1	1

The most ventilated smaller Coleman tent is easily the Skydome Tent. It comes with not 1, not 2, but 3 humongous mesh walls, plus a window on the last wall. However, bear in mind that these mesh walls cannot be zipped up.

The Sundome Tents are a close second, each with 2 mesh walls. The other 2 walls have ventilation through window mesh.

The Evanston and Carlsbad Tents have a little less ventilation than the Sundome Tents, with just 1 mesh wall each, and 3 windows on the other 3 walls of the tent.

The 4-Person Instant Tent has 3 pretty big windows on 3 walls of the tent, but no mesh at all on the last wall of the tent. It has no mesh walls, no ceiling mesh, and only a small vent at the top.

And in last place we have the Coleman Pop Up Tents, with just 1 small window that’s part of the door, and some ceiling mesh at the top of the tent.

Heavy Rain Ventilation

For heavy rain ventilation, I looked at the number of windows and vents that can be left open in the heavy rain:

Coleman Tent	No. of Windows	No. of Vents	Amount of Ventilation
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	2	0	2,100 sq. in.
Coleman Evanston 6	1	1	1,841 sq. in.
Coleman Carlsbad 4	1	1	1,280 sq. in.
Coleman Skydome 4	0	3	1,620 sq. in.
Coleman Sundome 6	0	3	1,663 sq. in.
Coleman Sundome 2	0	3	850 sq. in.
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	0	2	1,820 sq. in.
Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6	0	2	1,540 sq. in.
Coleman Red Canyon 8	0	3	0 sq. in.
Coleman Montana 8	0	0	0 sq. in.
Coleman Instant 4	0	0	0 sq. in.
Coleman Instant 10	0	0	0 sq. in.
Coleman Pop Up 4	0	0	0 sq. in.
Coleman Pop Up 2	0	0	0 sq. in.

Note: Please take the last column (amount of ventilation) with a huge pinch of salt. Because ultimately, especially for the tents with the vents, the amount of ventilation you get depends largely on how you stake the vents out.

For heavy rain, the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent has the best ventilation, with these 2 angled windows. They’re each pretty huge, giving me about 2,100 square inches of rainy day ventilation.

Next up, we have the Evanston 6-Person Tent. Because the rainfly extends over the screen room a little, I found that I could leave the window on the front length of the tent open. This, plus the mesh wall vent at the back gave me about 1,800 square inches of ventilation.

The Carlsbad Tent has the exact same configuration, except mine’s a smaller 4-Person tent, so there was 1,300 square inches of ventilation, or two-thirds of the Evanston’s.

The Skydome Tent has 3 massive mesh wall vents, giving me about 1,600 square inches of ventilation, which is actually slightly better than my screen room tents.

The Regular Sundome Tents also have 3 vents, but only 2 of them are massive mesh walls. The last vent is a ground vent that’s a lot smaller, so altogether about 1,600 square inches of ventilation for the 6-Person Tent, and 850 square inches for the 2-Person Tent.

The Elite Sundome and the Sundome Dark Room 6-Person Tents have only 2 mesh wall vents each, but the Elite Sundome has slightly bigger mesh wall vents, because the length of the tent is 2 feet longer.

And while the Red Canyon 8-Person Tent has 3 vents, they’re all pretty tiny, giving me just about 400 square inches of ventilation.

As for my Montana, Instant Cabin and Pop Up Tents, they have minimal ventilation because no windows can be opened, and there are also no vents at all.

Ventilation Ratings

Here’s how I rated each Coleman tent for ventilation:

Coleman Tent	Ventilation Ratings
Coleman Skydome 4	9.5
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	8.5
Coleman Evanston 6	8.5
Coleman Carlsbad 4	8.5
Coleman Sundome 6	8.5
Coleman Sundome 2	8.5
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	8.3
Coleman Sundome Dark 6	8.0
Coleman Instant 10	7.5
Coleman Red Canyon 8	6.5
Coleman Instant 4	6.0
Coleman Montana 8	5.8
Coleman Pop Up 4	5.5
Coleman Pop Up 2	5.5

5. Rain Test

I also rain tested each of these tents, and found that Coleman tents are pretty good in light rain, and can hold up to anywhere between 1 to 3 hours of light rain. However, I also found that Coleman tents don’t hold up so well under heavy rain.

Heavy Rain Test

Here’s how long each Coleman tent stayed dry while under heavy rain:

Coleman Tent	Dry under Heavy Rain	Bathtub Flooring?
Coleman Sundome 6	~30 minutes	Yes
Coleman Sundome 2	~30 minutes	Yes
Coleman Sundome Dark 6	~30 minutes	Yes
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	~30 minutes	Yes
Coleman Evanston 6	~30 minutes	Yes
Coleman Carlsbad 4	~30 minutes	Yes
Coleman Skydome 4	~15 minutes	Yes
Coleman Montana 8	~15 minutes	Yes
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	~15 minutes	Yes
Coleman Red Canyon 8	~15 minutes	Yes
Coleman Instant 10	~10 minutes	Yes
Coleman Instant 4	~10 minutes	Yes
Coleman Pop Up 4	~10 minutes	No
Coleman Pop Up 2	~10 minutes	No

I found that the length of each Coleman tent’s rainfly really affects how long it stays dry under heavy rain.

The best Coleman tents I have against heavy rain are the Sundome Tent series, as well as the Evanston and Carlsbad Tents.

Notice that the rainflies cover about one-third of the entire tent body. For each of these tents, the leaking started at the sides of the tents with shorter rainflies after 30 minutes, and not the sides with longer rainflies.

Next up we have the Coleman Skydome Tent. While it has a really long rainfly length at 3 sides of the tent, the front of the Skydome Tent has a really short rainfly length, and this wall was the first to leak after 15 minutes.

The Montana 8-Person Tent looks like it has a decently long rainfly, but notice that both widths of the tent isn’t covered by the rainfly at all, and these places are where it leaked first.

Same goes for the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent and the Red Canyon 8-Person Tent. While the rainflies for both these tents are extended at the sides of the tent, the front of both tents have really short rainflies.

And in last place we have the Coleman Instant and Pop Up Tents, each with really tiny rainflies, so a lot of water ran over the tent body.

For much more detail on the waterproofing of Coleman tents, check out this blog post: How Waterproof Are Coleman Tents? (REAL Evidence!)

Presence of Bathtub Flooring

One more disadvantage of the Coleman Pop Up Tents is that they don’t have bathtub flooring, while the rest of my Coleman tents have tub floors.

Apart from these tub floors, Coleman’s WeatherTec system also features these inverted seams. But in my experience, these inverted seams don’t keep rain out as well as taped seams. And for all my Coleman tents, the inverted seams at the top of the bathtub flooring is always the first place to leak.

Rain Protection Ratings

Based on rain protection, here’s how I rated each Coleman tent:

Coleman Tent	Rain Test Ratings
Coleman Sundome 2	8.0
Coleman Sundome 6	8.0
Coleman Sundome Dark 6	8.0
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	8.0
Coleman Evanston 6	8.0
Coleman Carlsbad 4	8.0
Coleman Skydome 4	7.0
Coleman Montana 8	7.0
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	7.0
Coleman Red Canyon 8	7.0
Coleman Instant 10	6.0
Coleman Instant 4	6.0
Coleman Pop Up 4	6.0
Coleman Pop Up 2	6.0

6. Quality

For quality, I looked at the different materials used in each tent, as well as the defect rate of Coleman tents.

Related: What are Coleman Tents Made Of?

Materials Used

The flooring of all my Coleman tents are made of polyethylene, which is this tarp like material.

The one exception is my Coleman Pop Up Tent, which I think has a polyester flooring.

The tent body and rainflies of all my Coleman tents are made of polyester, usually 68 to 75D.

The one exception are the Coleman Instant Tents I think, which are supposedly made of 150D polyester taffeta.

Most Coleman tents come with fiberglass poles, and the 3 exceptions are the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent, the 10-Person Instant Tent and the 4-Person Instant Tent, which have steel poles, which are much sturdier and thicker.

Notice how much thicker the steel poles are compared to regular fiberglass poles:

The mesh of all my Coleman tents is just regular mesh, not no-see-um mesh, and the zippers are not branded.

The double stitching is usually decent, and I’ve never found any huge holes, although sometimes I get this kind of patchwork, along with a few loose threads.

The carry bags of most Coleman tents are made of a fairly thin polyester, though my Elite Sundome and Red Canyon Tents are made of a thicker, higher quality material.

The materials found in Coleman tents are not top of the line kind of materials, but ultimately, I think you get great value out of what you pay for them.

Quality Ratings

Based on all the material info, here’s how I rated each Coleman tent:                                    

Coleman Tent	Quality Ratings
Coleman Instant 10	7.6
Coleman Instant 4	7.6
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	7.4
Coleman Red Canyon 8	7.3
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	7.3
Coleman Sundome 6	7.1
Coleman Sundome Dark 6	7.1
Coleman Sundome 2	7.1
Coleman Evanston 6	7.1
Coleman Carlsbad 4	7.1
Coleman Skydome 4	7.1
Coleman Montana 8	7.1
Coleman Pop Up 4	7.0
Coleman Pop Up 2	7.0

Notice that the ratings range from 7.0 to 7.6, which is a small range. This is because the quality in different Coleman tents are largely similar.

Defect Rate

So, I ordered all of these 14 Coleman tents off of Amazon, and here’s how many came with defects:

Coleman Tent	Defect?
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	None
Coleman Instant 10	Major Defect
Coleman Montana 8	None
Coleman Red Canyon 8	None
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	Minor Defect
Coleman Sundome 6	None
Coleman Sundome Dark 6	None
Coleman Evanston 6	None
Coleman Carlsbad 4	Minor Defect
Coleman Skydome 4	Minor Defect
Coleman Instant 4	None
Coleman Pop Up 4	None
Coleman Pop Up 2	None
Coleman Sundome 2	None

I feel that Coleman’s quality control could be a bit better, so I highly recommend that you check your tent within the 30-day Amazon return window (if you’re buying from Amazon).

My 10-Person Instant Tent had a major defect, because the pole was attached the wrong way. And I couldn’t fix it, so I had to return it to Amazon. (Thankfully, it was the only tent that I had to return!)

The rest of the defects are pretty minor. My Elite Sundome came with a defective power pack, my Carlsbad came with not-so-dark dark room tech, and the Skydome came with pole pockets that were sewn the wrong way round, and I had to take out the stitches on my own.

Related: How Long do Coleman Tents Really Last?

Related: Why are Coleman Tents so Cheap?

Related: Budget V.S. Expensive Tents (Coleman V.S. The North Face)

For Coleman tents, don’t expect top-of-the-line kind of quality, they’re just your regular, simple budget family camping tent. To lengthen the lifespan of your tent, I highly recommend cleaning and maintaining each of your Coleman tents as much as possible.

7. Portability

For portability, I looked at the weight as well as the packed size of each Coleman tent.

Weight

Here is the weight of each Coleman tent, from the heaviest to the lightest:

Coleman Tent	Weight
Coleman Instant 10	32.0 lbs
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	30.6 lbs
Coleman Montana 8	23.4 lbs
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	21.4 lbs
Coleman Red Canyon 8	20.2 lbs
Coleman Instant 4	20.0 lbs
Coleman Evanston 6	19.4 lbs
Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6	16.4 lbs
Coleman Sundome 6	16.0 lbs
Coleman Carlsbad 4	14.4 lbs
Coleman Skydome 4	10.4 lbs
Coleman Pop Up 4	8.2 lbs
Coleman Pop Up 2	6.6 lbs
Coleman Sundome 2	6.4 lbs

Packed Size

Also, here are the packed sizes of each Coleman tent as well.

Coleman Tent	Packed Size
Coleman Instant 10	50 by 17 by 12 inches
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	31 by 18 by 12 inches
Coleman Montana 8	26 by 15 by 12 inches
Coleman Evanston 6	26 by 15 by 12 inches
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	30 by 13.5 by 10 inches
Coleman Instant 4	40 by 11 by 8 inches
Coleman Red Canyon 8	26 by 13 by 10 inches
Coleman Pop Up 4	36 by 36 by 2.5 inches
Coleman Sundome 6	27 by 12 by 9.5 inches
Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6	26 by 12 by 9 inches
Coleman Carlsbad 4	26 by 11.5 by 8 inches
Coleman Pop Up 2	29 by 29 by 2.5 inches
Coleman Skydome 4	25 by 9 by 9 inches
Coleman Sundome 2	24 by 9 by 6 inches

Note: For the packed size, yours may be different from mine, and it ultimately depends on whether you rip the strip off at the bottom of the bag, and also, how neatly you fold it.

But here are a few things to take note of.

The instant tents aren’t necessarily a lot heavier, but they are about 60% longer than the non-instant tents of the same capacity.

The same goes for the pop-up tents, the Coleman ones come in this pretty bulky circular shape.

And if you have a Coleman tent with a screen room, the packed size would be the same as a tent with a capacity of 2 more people.

Portability Ratings

For portability, here’s how I rated each Coleman tent:

Coleman Tent	Portability Ratings
Coleman Sundome 2	10.0
Coleman Pop Up 2	9.5
Coleman Skydome 4	9.0
Coleman Pop Up 4	8.5
Coleman Carlsbad 4	8.5
Coleman Sundome 6	7.5
Coleman Sundome Dark 6	7.5
Coleman Instant 4	7.0
Coleman Red Canyon 8	7.0
Coleman Evanston 6	6.5
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	6.5
Coleman Montana 8	6.0
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	4.5
Coleman Instant 10	3.5

Overall Ratings

Based on all 7 tests above and the scoring in each test, here’s all the scores of each Coleman tent, side by side for easier comparison:

I color-coded the ratings to make it easier to look at. Green is for good, yellow is for not so good, and red is for pretty bad. The overall performance scores are in the last column.

I tried to be as fair as possible in each category, especially for comfort, ventilation, rain, and quality. But obviously for the rest, the big tents are going to score not so great for set up and take down, but great in spaciousness, and vice versa, so I tried to use this weightage to balance out the final score:

• Ease of Use: 20%
• Spaciousness: 25%
• Comfort and Features: 10%
• Ventilation: 15%
• Weather Protection: 15%
• Quality: 15%
• Portability: 0%
• Total: 100%

Coleman Tent	Overall Ratings
Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6	7.9
Coleman Elite Sundome 6	7.9
Coleman Sundome 6	7.8
Coleman WeatherMaster 10	7.7
Coleman Instant 10	7.7
Coleman Carlsbad 4	7.7
Coleman Evanston 6	7.6
Coleman Sundome 2	7.5
Coleman Skydome 4	7.3
Coleman Red Canyon 8	7.2
Coleman Instant 4	7.2
Coleman Pop Up 4	6.9
Coleman Montana 8	6.8
Coleman Pop Up 2	6.8

Related: How Good are Coleman Tents?

This section contains detailed specifications only. Click here if you want to skip past the detailed specs and get to the FAQs.

Dimensions and Measurements

Materials Used

Usage and Versatility

Unlike most Coleman tent product reviews (especially these “Best” ones) that you find on the internet, I actually own, used and thoroughly tested all of these Coleman tents. Yup, every single one.

I spent more than $2,000 buying these 14 Coleman tents. After that, I spent the better part of a year thoroughly testing, filming, collecting data and putting together this series of blog posts and YouTube videos.

Because I’m dedicated to giving you the very best information you can possibly find on these tents.

In fact, to find out how Coleman’s brand compares against other tent manufacturers in the market, check out these completely objective blog posts with real pictures and evidence:

• Coleman Tents V.S. Core Tents (with REAL Pictures!)
• Coleman Tents V.S. Ozark Trail Tents (with REAL Pictures!)

I hope this guide has helped you to find the Coleman tent that best suits your need. Here’s a quick summary:

Top Picks (Summary)

1. Best Large Family Tent: Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent
2. Best Budget Large Family Tent: Coleman Red Canyon 8-Person Tent
3. Best Instant Cabin Tent: Coleman Instant Cabin 10-Person Dark Room Tent
4. Best Screen Room Tent: Coleman Evanston 6-Person Tent
5. Best Value for Money: Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6-Person Tent
6. Quickest Set Up: Coleman 4-Person Pop Up Tent
7. Best Budget Pick: Coleman Sundome 2-Person Tent

The Others (Summary)

1. Coleman Elite Sundome 6-Person Tent: Feature-rich, but expensive.
2. Coleman Sundome 6-Person Tent: Runner up to the Sundome Dark Room 6.
3. Coleman Carlsbad 4-Person Tent: Runner up to the Evanston 6.
4. Coleman Skydome 4-Person Tent: Roomier than Sundome, but not a quick pitch tent.
5. Coleman 4-Person Instant Cabin Tent: I recommend the 10P instead of this.
6. Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent: Runner up to the Red Canyon 8.
7. Coleman 2-Person Pop Up Tent: I recommend the 4P instead of this.

If you need more help, feel free to shoot me an email (you can find my email in my Contact Me page). Do address it to “Liz”, because that’s how I sieve out spam mail. I’ll be more than happy to help you out!