The 14 Best Coleman Tents (Bought & Tested!)

Ease of Use

For ease of use, I looked at the set up timing, and the take down and pack away timing (both 1-person timings), the easiest first:

• The tie at the top: Both Pop Up tents are up in 1.5 minutes flat, including staking and guying out
• 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
• Feature-rich = slower: A screen room adds a good 4 to 6 minutes to your set up, and a hinged D-door itself takes 1 and a half to 2 minutes to set up
• Set up with 2 people: WeatherMaster 10 in 10 minutes, Red Canyon 8 in 10, Montana 8 in 11, Evanston 6 in 9, Instant Cabin 10 in 7.5
• Take down with 2 people: WeatherMaster 10 in 8.5 minutes, Red Canyon 8 in 7, Montana 8 in 7.5, Evanston 6 in 6, Instant Cabin 10 in 5
• Bag trick: Rip the strip off the bottom of the carry bag and the bag will become a lot bigger, and you can probably shave 2-3 minutes off the pack up timings

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

Spaciousness

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

*Base area = my calculated total. Screen-room split: Evanston 6 = 83.6 sq. ft. inner + 42.3 sq. ft. screen room; Carlsbad 4 = 58.5 + 27.6 (its screen room fits 1 extra single pad; the Evanston’s fits <2).

• Measurements run small: All of my measurements were anywhere between 1% to 8% smaller than the dimensions marketed by Coleman
• Standing room: I’m 5’3”, and I couldn’t even fully stand up in all of the 2-person and 4-person Coleman tents, but I could stand at the peak height in the 6 to 10-person tents
• The most livable: The Instant Cabin 10 has a cabin, not a dome shape, so I could stand up practically everywhere; the WeatherMaster 10’s 80.5-inch peak meant I could stand up almost everywhere as well
• Mattress thickness: I wouldn’t go thicker than ~4 inches in the Pop Up 2 and ~6 inches in the Pop Up 4, and I could squish a 9-inch thick camping mattress into the Sundome 2
• Queen-bed reality: The 6-person Sundome tents are a few inches shy of fitting 2 queen beds; the Pop Up 2 is the only tent here that can’t fit a queen at all

Comfort and Features

For comfort, I looked at not only a few general tent features, but several Coleman-specific features as well (doors, hinged D-doors, room dividers, dark room tech and storage), the most comfortable and feature-rich first:

• The hinged D-door is one of my favorite Coleman features: 5 seconds, tops, to get in and out of the tent, vs 15 seconds or more of zipping. You can even zip the hinged door up with the fiberglass poles in place
• Dark room tech: Not only a lot darker during the day, but also a lot cooler, though light seeps in through the bathtub flooring, the ceiling-mesh gap and the side vents
• Room dividers: I’ve never been a big fan, because they usually either have really big gaps at the sides, the top, and the bottom, or they’re really see through
• Storage is really quite lacking: Most Coleman tents have only 2 pockets (about 9 by 7 inches); the Pop Up tents get just 1 split pocket, no gear loft, no e-port, and not even a lantern loop
• Elite tents: Over a regular Sundome you get 2 feet more length, an extra hinged door, a room divider, auto rolling windows and pre-attached lighting
• Related: I Bought & Tested the BEST Hinged Door Tents! · Is Coleman’s Dark Room Worth It? (3 Tests!)

Ventilation

For ventilation, I looked at hot day ventilation, as well as ventilation during heavy rain. The bigger 8 to 10-person tents ventilate through ceiling mesh + windows (window area measured); the smaller 2 to 6-person tents get humongous mesh walls instead:

*Hot-day ventilation, bigger ceiling-mesh tents first.

For heavy rain, here’s the number of windows and vents that can be left open, and the ventilation you keep:

*Please take the amount of ventilation with a huge pinch of salt. Especially for the tents with vents, the ventilation you get depends largely on how you stake the vents out.

• Hot days, big tents: The Instant Cabin 10 is the most well-ventilated amongst the bigger Coleman tents, with a whopping 7 massive windows for ~9,400 square inches of window ventilation
• Hot days, small tents: The Skydome 4’s 3 humongous mesh walls make it the most ventilated tent in the 2-person to 6-person range, but those mesh walls cannot be zipped up
• Heavy rain: The WeatherMaster 10’s 2 huge angled windows give it the best rainy day ventilation; the Montana, Instant and Pop Up tents have minimal ventilation because no windows can be opened, and there are no vents at all

Rain Test

I also rain tested each of these tents. Coleman tents are pretty good in light rain, and can hold up to anywhere between 1 to 3 hours of light rain, but they don’t hold up so well under heavy rain. Here’s how long each Coleman tent stayed dry while under heavy rain, the longest first:

*Bathtub flooring = the tub floor extending up the tent walls, with my measured tub height.

• The 30-minute club: The best Coleman tents I have against heavy rain are the Sundome Tent series, as well as the Evanston and Carlsbad Tents. Their rainflies cover about one-third of the entire tent body
• Rainfly length decides it: The leaking always started at the sides of the tents with shorter rainflies
• Inverted seams: Coleman’s WeatherTec inverted seams don’t keep rain out as well as taped seams. For all my Coleman tents, the inverted seams at the top of the bathtub flooring is always the first place to leak
• No bathtub flooring on the Pop Ups: Both Pop Up tents skip the tub floor entirely
• Related: How Waterproof Are Coleman Tents? (REAL Evidence!)

Quality

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

*Materials from my own inspection. All 14 tents have regular mesh (not no-see-um) and unbranded zippers.

• The tie at the top: Both Instant tents lead on quality, the only tents with 150D polyester taffeta (at least twice as thick as the regular 68D to 75D fabric) and steel poles, though my Instant Cabin 10 arrived with a major pole defect
• A small range on purpose: The quality ratings range from just 7.0 to 7.6, because the quality in different Coleman tents are largely similar
• Steel beats fiberglass: Most Coleman tents come with fiberglass poles. The WeatherMaster 10 and the 2 Instant tents get steel poles, which are much sturdier and thicker
• 4 of my 14 tents came with defects: The Instant Cabin 10’s pole was attached the wrong way (I couldn’t fix it, and had to return it), my Elite Sundome 6 came with a defective power pack, my Carlsbad 4 came with not-so-dark dark room tech, and the Skydome 4’s pole pockets were sewn the wrong way round

• Check your tent early: Coleman’s quality control could be a bit better, so I highly recommend checking your tent within the 30-day Amazon return window
• Carry bags: Most are a fairly thin polyester, though my Elite Sundome 6 and Red Canyon 8 bags are made of a thicker, higher quality material
• Related: What are Coleman Tents Made Of? · How Long do Coleman Tents Really Last? · Why are Coleman Tents so Cheap? · Budget V.S. Expensive Tents (Coleman V.S. The North Face) · cleaning and maintaining your Coleman tent

Portability

For portability, I looked at the weight as well as the packed size of each Coleman tent, the most portable first:

*Your packed size may be different from mine, and it depends on whether you rip the strip off at the bottom of the bag, and how neatly you fold it.

• Instant tents pack long: They aren’t necessarily a lot heavier, but they are about 60% longer than the non-instant tents of the same capacity
• Pop-up tents pack flat: The Coleman ones come in a pretty bulky circular shape

• Screen room = size up: If your Coleman tent has a screen room, the packed size would be the same as a tent with a capacity of 2 more people