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I Bought & Tested the 4 BEST Hinged Door Tents! (2024)

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For this review, I bought and tested these 4 BEST hinged door tents (from largest to smallest):

  1. Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent;
  2. Coleman Instant 10-Person Dark Room Tent;
  3. Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent; and
  4. Coleman Elite Sundome 6-Person Tent.
This is a picture of me going through the hinged door of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent.
This is a picture of me going through the hinged door of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent.

Summary

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

Hinged Door Tent Recommendation Score Price
BEST OVERALL
Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent
  • Peak height: 80.5 inches
  • Base area: 143.6 square feet
  • Set up timing (1P): 19 minutes
  • Weight: 30.6 lbs
  • Hinged door: 1
  • Total doors: 2
  • Highest peak height
  • Biggest base area
  • 2 angled windows (60 by 17.5 inches)
  • Durable steel poles
7.7
7.7 / 10
BEST FOR HOT DAYS
Coleman 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent
  • Peak height: 73.5 inches
  • Base area: 135.7 square feet
  • Set up timing (1P): 16 minutes
  • Weight: 32.0 lbs
  • Hinged door: 1
  • Total doors: 2
  • Phenomenal dark room tech
  • Humongous windows
  • Great hot day ventilation
7.7
7.7 / 10
BEST BUDGET PICK
Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent
  • Peak height: 74 inches
  • Base area: 103.5 square feet
  • Set up timing (1P): 22 minutes
  • Weight: 23.4 lbs
  • Hinged door: 1
  • Total doors: 1
  • Front porch (103 by 32 inches)
  • SUPER inexpensive
6.8
6.8 / 10
COOLEST FEATURES
Coleman Elite Sundome 6-Person Tent
  • Peak height: 74.5 inches
  • Base area: 110.0 square feet
  • Set up timing (1P): 16 minutes
  • Weight: 21.4 lbs
  • Hinged door: 1
  • Total doors: 2
  • Auto-rolling windows
  • Lantern and light switch
7.9
7.9 / 10

If you enjoyed the video, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel right here:

All the tents with hinged doors that I bought and tested:

Tent with Hinged DoorFull ReviewCheck Price
Coleman WeatherMaster 10Read ReviewAmazon, Coleman
Coleman Instant 10Read ReviewAmazon, Coleman
Coleman Montana 8Read ReviewAmazon, Coleman
Coleman Elite Sundome 6Read ReviewAmazon, Coleman

I spent about $1,000 buying these 4 tents with hinged doors (yes, I actually buy all my tents with my own savings!), and a good couple of months testing, filming, editing and putting together this blog post and the YouTube video above.

And without further ado, let’s get into the recommendations.

The 4 Best Tents with Hinged Doors

1. Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent (Best Overall Pick)

This is a picture of me standing in my Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent.
This is a picture of me standing in my Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent.
4.5
Ease of Use
10
Spaciousness
8.9
Comfort & Features
8.5
Ventilation
7
Rain Protection
7.4
Quality
4.5
Portability
Overall Score 7.7 / 10

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
  • Total number of doors: 2
  • Number of hinged doors: 1
  • Ventilation: 6 windows, ceiling mesh
  • Other Features: Angled windows (2), 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

Highest peak height, biggest base area
Lots of features (2 angled windows, room divider, 2 doors, 1 of the doors is hinged)
Great rainy day ventilation
Good quality and durability
Reasonably priced, great value for money
Carry bag a bit tight

Summary

I’ve had my Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent for a few years now, and it’s easily one of my favorite Coleman tents.

The hinged door of this tent is on the front length for easy access into the tent, and here’s what it looks like:

This is a picture of me ducking to get through the hinged D-door of the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent.
This is a picture of me ducking to get through the hinged D-door of the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent.

On the other hand, the door at the back length of this tent is just your regular door that needs to be zipped open and shut.

This is a picture of me ducking to get through the back door of the Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent.
This is a picture of me ducking to get through the back door of the Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent.

I love the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent because it has the biggest base area of all the tents on this list, coming in at a whopping 143.6 square feet.

Tent with Hinged DoorBase Area
Coleman WeatherMaster 10143.6 square feet
Coleman Instant 10135.7 square feet
Coleman Elite Sundome 6110.0 square feet
Coleman Montana 8103.5 square feet
A table containing the base area (in square foot) of all the 4 tents with hinged doors.

In fact, I could fit 10 single sleeping pads or sleeping bags into this WeatherMaster tent, here’s what it looks like, and I even had a little bit of space leftover for camping gear.

This is a picture of my Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent with 10 sleeping pads (a mix of 2 single, 3 double sleeping pads, and 1 full mattress) inside the tent.
This is a picture of my Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent with 10 sleeping pads (a mix of 2 single, 3 double sleeping pads, and 1 full mattress) inside the tent.

Also, the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent has the highest peak height of all the tents on this list, coming in at 80.5 inches, while the rest of the tents had 6-7 inches less in peak height.

Tent with Hinged DoorPeak Height
Coleman WeatherMaster 1080.5 inches
Coleman Elite Sundome 674.5 inches
Coleman Montana 874.0 inches
Coleman Instant 1073.5 inches
A table containing the peak height (in inches) of all the 4 tents with hinged doors.

In fact, the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent is the only tent that I had to stretch out my arm and stand on tiptoes at the same time, before I could reach the top of the tent. (But then again, I guess I’m not very tall, that’s why.)

This is a picture of me reaching the top of the Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent.
This is a picture of me reaching the top of the Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent. Please excuse the mask, I’m just camera-shy!

The WeatherMaster also has 2 of these huge angled windows that can be kept open in even moderate to heavy rain, so there’s some ventilation when it’s raining. This tent is one of my best Coleman tents when it comes to rainy day ventilation.

This is a picture of the rain avoiding the angled windows of the Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent.
This is a picture of the rain avoiding the angled windows of the Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent.

The poles of the WeatherMaster are made of higher quality and sturdier steel, unlike most other Coleman tents that have fiberglass poles instead.

After assembly, here’s what all of the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent’s steel poles look like. I put a red box around the 3 curved steel poles, because you need to set those up first.
After assembly, here’s what all of the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent’s steel poles look like. I put a red box around the 3 curved steel poles, because you need to set those up first.

Over the last few years of using my WeatherMaster Tent, none of my steel poles have broken, while some of my other Coleman tents’ fiberglass poles have snapped into 2.

This is a picture of me duct taping the rainfly pole of the Coleman Red Canyon 8-Person Tent. It broke on my first use.
This is a picture of me duct taping the rainfly pole of the Coleman Red Canyon 8-Person Tent. It broke on my first use.

As for the negatives, I think there honestly aren’t that many of them. The biggest one I can think of is that Coleman could have made the carry bag a bit bigger for a slightly easier pack up, right now the carry bag is kind of small and there’s just so much stuff to pack away.

This is a picture of me trying to stuff everything back into the carry bag of the Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent.
This is a picture of me trying to stuff everything back into the carry bag of the Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent.

But hey, that means there’s tons of features for this tent, so that’s somewhat a good thing, right?

Overall, even though there are so many cool features, the Coleman WeatherMaster 10 isn’t even the most expensive tent on this list. In fact, I found it very reasonably priced for everything that I got.

This is a picture of the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent’s room divider, with 1 sleeping pad and 2 double sleeping pads (so 5 pads in total) on one side of the divider.
This is a picture of the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent’s room divider, with 1 sleeping pad and 2 double sleeping pads (so 5 pads in total) on one side of the divider.

This WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent has worked really well for me over the past few years, and I got insane value for money out of it, for sure.

More info on the WeatherMaster 10:

2. Coleman 10-Person Instant Tent (Best for Hot Days)

This is a picture of me standing in front of my Coleman 10-Person Dark Room Instant Cabin Tent in my yard.
This is a picture of me standing in front of my Coleman 10-Person Dark Room Instant Cabin Tent in my yard.
6
Ease of Use
9.5
Spaciousness
10
Comfort & Features
7.5
Ventilation
6
Rain Protection
7.6
Quality
3.5
Portability
Overall Score 7.7 / 10

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
  • Total number of doors: 2
  • Number of hinged doors: 1
  • Ventilation: 7 windows, ceiling mesh
  • Other Features: Instant set up, 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

Fast set up and take down
Phenomenal dark-room technology
Great hot day ventilation
Lots of features
Small rainfly
Minimal rainy day ventilation

Summary

Next, in second place, we have the Coleman tent that’s Best for Hot Days, which is the Coleman 10-Person Instant Dark Room Tent. This tent has a boat-load of cool features as well.

It has, of course, your super user-friendly hinged door on the left width of the tent.

This is a picture of me reaching for the handle of the hinged D-door of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent.
This is a picture of me reaching for the handle of the hinged D-door of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent.

And on the right width of the tent, you get another door, but this is just a regular door that needs to be zipped open and closed.

This is a picture of the back door of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent, that I’ve left open in this picture.
This is a picture of the back door of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent, that I’ve left open in this picture.

Take note: If you buy the smaller 4, 6, or 8-Person versions of this Coleman instant tent, they won’t come with the hinged door, if I’m not wrong. So, you have to get this 10-person version if you want the hinged door.

Aside from the hinged door, the instant mechanism of this tent makes it pretty easy to set up. I’m only 5’3″ (160cm tall), and I was able to set up this entire tent on my own in just 16 minutes, which is anywhere between 30% to 90% less time than any other similarly sized 10-person tents with a conventional set up.

This is a picture of my brother extending the steel wall poles of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent.
This is a picture of my brother extending the steel wall poles of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent.

On top of that, the dark room technology is phenomenal. Not only is it a lot darker inside the tent during the day, it’s also a lot cooler as well, so it’s great for sleeping in.

This is a picture of the dark room technology (also known as the black-out feature) of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent.
This is a picture of the dark room technology (also known as the black-out feature) of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent.

When you wake up, you can open all the windows and doors, and get plenty of ventilation through all these massive mesh panels, so it doesn’t feel too stuffy in the tent during the day.

This is a picture of me opening up all the windows on the left and back wall of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Tent.
This is a picture of me opening up all the windows on the left and back wall of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Tent.

And when you take the rainfly off as well, you get so much ventilation everywhere.

This is what the ceiling mesh of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent looks like when the rainfly has been removed.
This is what the ceiling mesh of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent looks like when the rainfly has been removed.

And last but not least, the quality of the materials used to make this tent is pretty good. The fabric is 150D polyester, which is double the thickness of regular Coleman tents, and the poles are made of alloy steel.

This is a picture of me grabbing the rainfly of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent.
This is a picture of me grabbing the rainfly of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent.

However, I wouldn’t recommend using this tent if you’re expecting tons of rain and wind. The rainfly of this tent is pretty small, so there’s not a lot of rain protection.

Rain dripping off the rainfly of the Coleman Instant 10.
Rain dripping off the rainfly of the Coleman Instant 10.

If you’re expecting moderate to heavy rain, I recommend at least sealing this inverted seam between the flooring and the tent fabric.

I noticed that the inverted seam connecting the black fabric of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Tent to the bathtub flooring was leaking.
I noticed that the inverted seam connecting the black fabric of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Tent to the bathtub flooring was leaking.

Also, there isn’t much ventilation when it’s raining. There are no vents in this tent, and also no windows that can be opened.

This is a picture of rain dripping off the rainfly of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent and onto the mesh of the doors and windows.
This is a picture of rain dripping off the rainfly of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent and onto the mesh of the doors and windows.

Overall, I feel that this Coleman 10-Person Instant Tent is perfect for summer use, with the awesome dark room feature and plenty of ventilation. I highly recommend this if you’re expecting high temperatures and hot weather.

This is a picture of me lying down in my Coleman 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent with all the windows, doors and ceiling mesh opened for plenty of ventilation.
This is a picture of me lying down in my Coleman 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent with all the windows, doors and ceiling mesh opened for plenty of ventilation.

Since that’s the weather that I usually camp in, I really, really enjoyed using this tent.

More info on the Coleman Instant 10:

3. Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent (Best Budget Pick)

This is a picture of me standing next to my Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent in my yard.
This is a picture of me standing next to my Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent in my yard.
4.5
Ease of Use
8.5
Spaciousness
7.7
Comfort & Features
5.8
Ventilation
7
Rain Protection
7.1
Quality
6
Portability
Overall Score 6.8 / 10

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
  • Total number of doors: 1
  • Number of hinged doors: 1
  • Ventilation: 3 windows, ceiling mesh
  • Other Features: 1 e-port
  • 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

SUPER inexpensive
Comes with front porch
Only 1 door
Ventilation can be improved

Summary

In third place, we have the Best Budget Pick, which is the Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent. This Montana 8 is the least expensive tent on this list.

And of course, the front door of this Montana Tent is hinged, making it incredibly easy for you to get in and out of the tent.

This is a picture of me opening up the hinged door of the Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent.
This is a picture of me opening up the hinged door of the Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent.

Take note: If I’m not wrong, I think the 6-Person Montana Tent doesn’t have this hinged door. So, if you want the Montana, get this 8-Person version instead.

On top of just the hinged door, the Montana Tent comes with this awesome front porch area, which measures about 103 inches in length, and about 32 inches in width.

This is what the front porch of the Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent looks like.
This is what the front porch of the Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent looks like.

I really like that it provides quite a bit of shading from the hot sun, and it kept my flip flops cool instead of superheating it. It is my only Coleman tent to come with a porch.

This is the shading provided by the front porch of the Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent against the hot sun.
This is the shading provided by the front porch of the Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent against the hot sun.

However, bear in mind these few cons of the Montana Tent.

First, this Montana Tent has only 1 door on the front length of the tent. It is hinged, but I expected at least 2 doors for such a big tent.

This is a picture of me ducking to get through the hinged door of the Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent.
This is a picture of me ducking to get through the hinged door of the Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent.

And this Montana Tent is the only tent on this list to come with just 1 door. The rest of the tents on this list have 2 doors each.

And second, ventilation in this Montana Tent isn’t the best. There are only 3 windows in this tent, on 3 of the walls. And these windows aren’t very large at all.

This is what one of the two side windows of the Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent looks like.
This is what one of the two side windows of the Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent looks like.

And this fourth wall here doesn’t have any windows and is just one entire block of fabric.

This is what the back wall of the Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent looks like from the inside of the tent.
This is what the back wall of the Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent looks like from the inside of the tent.

But if you take the rainfly off, there’s a decent amount of ceiling mesh for ventilation though.

This is what the ceiling mesh panels of the Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent look like with the rainfly taken off.
This is what the ceiling mesh panels of the Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent look like with the rainfly taken off.

Overall, I found the Coleman Montana Tent to be a great budget pick. I paid slightly over $100, but definitely much less than $200 for this tent, and found it to be pretty good value for money.

This is a picture of my brother taking the Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent out of the cardboard box.
This is a picture of my brother taking the Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent out of the cardboard box.

Of course, don’t expect top-of-the-line quality and tons of amazing features. This is just a simple, budget family camping tent, but a pretty good one at that.

More info on the Montana 8:

4. Coleman Elite Sundome 6-Person Tent (Coolest Features)

This is a picture of me standing in front of my Coleman Elite Sundome Tent in my yard.
This is a picture of me standing in front of my Coleman Elite Sundome Tent in my yard.
6
Ease of Use
9
Spaciousness
9.2
Comfort & Features
8.3
Ventilation
8
Rain Protection
7.3
Quality
6.5
Portability
Overall Score 7.9 / 10

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
  • Total number of doors: 2
  • Number of hinged doors: 1
  • Ventilation: 2 windows, 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

Fits 7 (not 6) sleeping pads
Auto-rolling windows
Provided lantern and light switch
Pricey

Summary

In fourth place, we have one of the most feature-rich Coleman tents, which is the Coleman Elite Sundome 6-Person Tent.

When you buy an Elite Sundome tent instead of the regular Sundome tent, there’s a ton of super cool features that you’ll get. To start off, the regular Sundome tent has just 1 door, while the Elite Sundome Tent comes with 2 doors for lots of cross ventilation.

In this picture, you can see both the back door and the front door of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent.
In this picture, you can see both the back door and the front door of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent.

And of course, one of the doors in the Elite Sundome Tent will be this awesome hinged door.

This is a picture of me ducking to get through the hinged door into the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent.
This is a picture of me ducking to get through the hinged door into the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent.

The Elite Sundome also has 2 extra feet in length, which gives you an extra ~17.5 square feet compared to the regular Sundome.

Coleman TentBase Area
Coleman Elite Sundome 6110.0 square feet
Coleman Sundome 692.6 square feet
This table contains the difference in the base area between the Coleman Elite Sundome 6 and the regular Sundome 6.

In fact, the Elite Sundome’s base area is so big that I could fit not 6, but 7 regular sleeping pads inside the tent, and here’s what 7 pads looks like.

The Coleman Elite Sundome 6-Person Tent can fit 7 regular-sized sleeping pads. From left to right: Klymit Insulated Double V (red), Exped MegaMat Duo 10 (green), Klymit Uninsulated Double V (blue), Sea to Summit Camp Mat (yellow).
The Coleman Elite Sundome 6-Person Tent can fit 7 regular-sized sleeping pads. From left to right: Klymit Insulated Double V (red), Exped MegaMat Duo 10 (green), Klymit Uninsulated Double V (blue), Sea to Summit Camp Mat (yellow).

The Elite Sundome tent also comes with 1 room divider, while the regular Sundome doesn’t have one. The room divider is to be put up in the middle of the tent, and each side of the divider can fit either 3 pads, or 1 queen bed.

This is a picture of the room divider of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent with sleeping pads in place.
This is a picture of the room divider of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent with sleeping pads in place.

The windows in the Elite Sundome have a super cool auto-rolling feature, which rolls your window fabric up as you unzip the entire window, so no more droopy window fabric, and no more fumbling with window latches.

This is the window at the front of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent.
This is the window at the front of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent.

The Elite Sundome also has pre-attached lighting, and comes with a lantern, a power pack, and also a light switch near the hinged door to control the lighting.

This is a picture of the provided lantern that comes with the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent.
This is a picture of the provided lantern that comes with the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent.
This is the lighting switch that comes with the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent. The left is for night lighting, the right is for day lighting (if needed).
This is the lighting switch that comes with the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent. The left is for night lighting, the right is for day lighting (if needed).

However, because of all the extra features in the Elite Sundome, it’s really quite pricey for a 6-person Coleman tent, more than double the price of a regular Sundome.

Here’s everything that came with the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent. From left to right: Cardboard box containing the lantern and power pack, poles in a carry case, rainfly (white), stakes in a carry case, small bag (black), foot mat, and tent body.
Here’s everything that came with the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent. From left to right: Cardboard box containing the lantern and power pack, poles in a carry case, rainfly (white), stakes in a carry case, small bag (black), foot mat, and tent body.

The pricing of this Elite Sundome Tent is one of the biggest cons of this tent, and this is the reason why I put this tent in fourth place.

Because ultimately, I do want to give you the best bang for your buck. If you really like the features though, then hey, I say go for it. They’re really pretty damn cool.

More info on the Elite Sundome 6:

What is a Tent’s Hinged Door?

A tent’s hinged door is basically a door on a tent that works just like a regular door at home.

This is a picture of me taking off my shoes before going into the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent through the hinged D-door.
This is a picture of me taking off my shoes before going into the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent through the hinged D-door. Please excuse the mask, I’m just camera-shy!

It swings open and close (pictured above), and comes with a handle on both the outside and the inside (pictured below).

A close-up shot of the handle on the outside of the hinged door of the Coleman WeatherMaster 10.
A close-up shot of the handle on the outside of the hinged door of the Coleman WeatherMaster 10.
A close-up shot of the handle on the inside of the hinged door of the WeatherMaster 10.
A close-up shot of the handle on the inside of the hinged door of the WeatherMaster 10.

This hinged door is something that has been patented by Coleman, and some (not all) Coleman tents come with this hinged door. In fact, out of the 14 Coleman tents that I have, only 4 came with this hinged door.

Coleman TentHinged Door?
Coleman WeatherMaster 10Yes
Coleman Instant 10Yes
Coleman Montana 8Yes
Coleman Elite Sundome 6Yes
Coleman Red Canyon 8No
Coleman Evanston 6No
Coleman Sundome Dark 6No
Coleman Sundome 6No
Coleman Carlsbad 4No
Coleman Instant 4No
Coleman Skydome 4No
Coleman Pop Up 4No
Coleman Pop Up 2No
Coleman Sundome 2No
This table shows which Coleman tents come with hinged doors, and which don’t.

On the other hand, most tents come with zippered doors instead, where you would need to zip open and shut the door to get in and out of the tent.

This is a picture of my brother unzipping the back door of the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent and clipping it to the side so that it stays open.
This is a picture of my brother unzipping the back door of the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent and clipping it to the side so that it stays open.
This is a picture of me holding the 2 black door zippers of the back door of the Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent.
This is a picture of me holding the 2 black door zippers of the back door of the Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent.

How to Set Up the Hinged Door

If you buy a Coleman tent with the hinged door, you’ll get 2 extra fiberglass poles to set it up. I’ll use the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent to show you how to set this hinged door up.

First up, take note that the hinged door poles have these black tips at each end of the pole.

The hinged door poles of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent have these rounded black tips at both ends of the pole.
The hinged door poles of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent have these rounded black tips at both ends of the pole.

Of the 2 poles, the shorter pole is for the straight side of the door. First, put the pole together, then insert it through this pole sleeve straight down the door here.

A picture of me inserting the shorter of the hinged door poles into the straight pole sleeve.
A picture of me inserting the shorter of the hinged door poles into the straight pole sleeve.

The pole will pop out at the other end of the pole sleeve, and should go straight into this rubber gasket here.

A close-up shot of the rubber gasket at the bottom of the hinged door.
A close-up shot of the rubber gasket at the bottom of the hinged door.

Then, bend the pole a little bit, and insert the other end of the pole into the other gasket at the top.

A close-up shot of the rubber gasket at the top of the hinged door.
A close-up shot of the rubber gasket at the top of the hinged door.

After that, simply zip up the pole sleeve, like this.

A picture of me zipping up the straight pole sleeve of the hinged door.
A picture of me zipping up the straight pole sleeve of the hinged door.

The longer of the 2 poles is for the curved side of the door. First, locate the pole sleeve, which is right here by this zipper, which I have already unzipped.

The red arrow is pointing to the pole sleeve for the curved part of the hinged door. My hand at the bottom right is right beside the zipper.
The red arrow is pointing to the pole sleeve for the curved part of the hinged door. My hand at the bottom right is right beside the zipper.

Then, push one end of the pole through this pole sleeve (pictured above), step into the tent if you need to, and secure that end of the pole into the rubber gasket at the top (pictured below).

A picture of me installing the curved part of the hinged door pole. The red arrow is pointing to the rubber gasket at the top.
A picture of me installing the curved part of the hinged door pole. The red arrow is pointing to the rubber gasket at the top.

Then, put the entire pole together (if you haven’t already done so), and curve the entire pole gently. After that, secure the other end of the pole to the gasket at the bottom.

A picture of me having finished setting up the curved pole of the hinged door. The red arrow is pointing to the rubber gasket at the bottom.
A picture of me having finished setting up the curved pole of the hinged door. The red arrow is pointing to the rubber gasket at the bottom.

Then, gently ease the entire pole into the pole sleeve, and zip it up slowly.

A picture of me zipping the hinged door pole up in the pole sleeve.
A picture of me zipping the hinged door pole up in the pole sleeve.

How Long Does it Take to Set Up the Hinged Door?

Is it difficult to install the hinged door, and how long does it take?

Well, to me, I’ve already gotten used to it, and I’ve done this dozens of times, so it’s pretty easy for me to install it on my own now.

This is a picture of me installing the hinged door of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent.
This is a picture of me installing the hinged door of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent.

Nowadays, it takes me about 1.5 minutes, or just 90 seconds, to install the entire hinged door on my own. So, it doesn’t actually take very long if you know how to do it.

If you have someone else helping you with the hinged door, I think you could install it in half the time, or at most 1 minute, which is really quick.

This is a picture of my brother and I setting up the hinged D-door of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent.
This is a picture of my brother and I setting up the hinged D-door of the Coleman 10-Person Instant Cabin Tent.

Pros of the Hinged Door

1. The hinged door is easy to set up

One of the pros of having a hinged door in your tent is that it doesn’t take much time at all to fix it up, and took me 1 minute to 1.5 minutes, tops (as mentioned in the previous section).

2. The hinged door is very user-friendly

The second and probably the biggest pro, is that it’s incredibly user-friendly!

To use this hinged door, all I had to do was to grab the handle on the door, pretty much like a regular door at home, and use it to pull the hinged door open.

This is a close-up shot of the handle on the outside of the hinged door.
This is a close-up shot of the handle on the outside of the hinged door.
This is a picture of me pulling the hinged door open with the red handle on the outside.
This is a picture of me pulling the hinged door open with the red handle on the outside.

After that, I just step into the tent, and let the door close automatically behind me.

This is a picture of the hinged door closing by itself, automatically.
This is a picture of the hinged door closing by itself, automatically.

It takes me just 5 seconds, tops, to get in and out of the tent.

On the other hand, zipping a door open and closed to get in and out of the tent will take about 15 seconds (which is 3 times the amount of time), or maybe even more, depending on how snaggy your zippers are.

This is a picture of me zipping the back door of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent closed.
This is a picture of me zipping the back door of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent closed. Please excuse the mask, I’m just camera-shy!

And from my experience, because most Coleman tents come with this storm flap or rain flap on the outside to cover the zips to prevent leaking, this sometimes gets in the way of the zippers, which can be a bit frustrating if you’re not used to zipping it up.

A close up of the storm flap/rain flap getting in the way of the Coleman zippers.
A close up of the storm flap/rain flap getting in the way of the Coleman zippers.

I mean, of course, you can roll the door fabric up and latch it to the side like this, but that definitely affects your privacy and also lets in a whole lot of bugs.

This is a picture of me latching the back door of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent to the side to keep it open.
This is a picture of me latching the back door of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent to the side to keep it open.
A close up shot of the door latch that keeps the door open.
A close up shot of the door latch that keeps the door open.

3. Velcro tabs keep the hinged door closed

Another pro is that each hinged door comes with these Velcro tabs along the door to keep it closed when not in use.

This is a picture of me pointing to the Velcro strips on the hinged door.
This is a picture of me pointing to the Velcro strips on the hinged door.

4. The hinged door can be zipped up too

And the last pro is that the hinged door can also be zipped up at night before sleeping, and you can do so even with the fiberglass poles in place, so you don’t have to take them out before zipping the hinged door up.

This is what the hinged door looks like when zipped closed. Although I'm using the handle to try and pull it open, it doesn't open.
This is what the hinged door looks like when zipped closed. Although I’m using the handle to try and pull it open, it doesn’t open.
A close up shot of the hinged door zippers. The white zippers are for the window, and the black zippers are for the hinged door.
A close up shot of the hinged door zippers. The white zippers are for the window, and the black zippers are for the hinged door.

Cons of the Hinged Door

On the other hand, are there any cons to having a hinged door?

Sadly, yes, there are a couple of cons.

1. The hinged door is smaller than average tent doors

First, bear in mind that the size of the hinged door is usually not very big. That’s because you need fiberglass poles to support the entire door to make it rigid.

This is a picture of my brother installing the fiberglass poles for the hinged door of the Montana 8.
This is a picture of my brother installing one of the fiberglass poles for the hinged door of the Montana 8.

As such, the bigger the door, the more tension will be put on the fiberglass poles, and the more likely the poles would be to break. So, I guess I can understand why Coleman made these hinged doors a little smaller than their regular doors.

This is what the hinged D-door of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent looks like when it’s opened.
This is what the hinged D-door of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent looks like when it’s opened.

In fact, across all my tents with hinged doors, the hinged doors all came down to about the same size, which is about 47 inches in length, and 29 inches in width, so honestly not very big, and here’s what it looks like when I stand in front of one of them.

This is what the hinged D-door of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent looks like when I stand in front of it.
This is what the hinged D-door of the Coleman Elite Sundome Tent looks like when I stand in front of it.

On the other hand, regular doors can be much bigger. For example, my Skydome Tent, even though it’s just a small 4-person tent, it came with a huge door that measures a whopping 4 feet in length, and 39 inches in width, and here’s what it looks like when I stand in front of it as well.

This is a picture of me standing in front of the door of the Coleman Skydome Tent.
This is a picture of me standing in front of the door of the Coleman Skydome Tent.

2. The hinged door poles are thin

And the second con is that the fiberglass poles of the hinged door are really quite thin, and are probably going to be one of the thinnest fiberglass poles you’ve ever seen when setting up tents. (And this brings us to the next section.)

A close up shot of the hinged door fiberglass poles.
A close up shot of the hinged door fiberglass poles.

Lifespan of the Hinged Door

At this point, I want to talk a little bit about the lifespan of the hinged door.

Because of how thin the hinged door fiberglass poles are, I highly recommend that you be gentle when fixing it up. So, especially when bending the longer pole for the curved side of the hinged door, do so gently, and don’t bend it more than it needs to be bent.

This is a picture of my brother and I curving one of the hinged door fiberglass poles into place for the WeatherMaster 10.
This is a picture of my brother and I curving one of the hinged door fiberglass poles into place for the WeatherMaster 10. Please excuse the masks, we’re just camera-shy!

After maybe about a dozen campouts or so, one of my poles for the curved part of the hinged door on my WeatherMaster Tent cracked a little bit.

This is a picture of a small crack on my fiberglass pole for the hinged D-door of the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent.
This is a picture of a small crack on my fiberglass pole for the hinged D-door of the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent.

But it wasn’t a serious issue, so I just taped it back together using duct tape, and it still works fine.

The red arrow is pointing to the part of the hinged door pole that I used duct tape on.
The red arrow is pointing to the part of the hinged door pole that I used duct tape on.

And also, the black tips at both ends of the pole dropped out, and got stuck inside the rubber gasket, which is kind of funny. I never bothered to fix this up, but it still works fine.

A close up shot of where the black tips dropped out from the hinged door pole.
A close up shot of where the black tips dropped out from the hinged door pole.
This is the rubber gasket at the top of the hinged D-door of the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent. Notice something stuck inside? That’s the tip of my fiberglass pole.
This is the rubber gasket at the top of the hinged D-door of the WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent. Notice something stuck inside? That’s the tip of my fiberglass pole.

If your entire fiberglass pole snaps into 2 though, I highly recommend just buying a couple of these inexpensive pole repair splints to repair the hinged door pole.

So, overall, even though the hinged door does have its cons, I think the fixes are pretty simple, and I still highly recommend it.

Recommendation Summary

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

  1. Best Overall Pick: Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent
  2. Best for Hot Days: Coleman 10-Person Instant Tent
  3. Best Budget Pick: Coleman Montana 8-Person Tent
  4. Coolest Features: Coleman Elite Sundome 6-Person Tent

Why You Can Trust Me

Unlike all the other ‘Best Tents with Hinged Doors’ product reviews that you’ll find on the internet, I actually bought, own, used and thoroughly tested all the tents on this list. Yup, every single one.

I’m dedicated to providing the best camping gear reviews not only on this blog, but also at my YouTube channel (@CampingGuidance).

Bonus Reading: Coleman Tent Testing

If you want to find out how I tested and analyzed all these Coleman tents in much, much more detail, check out this blog post right here: I Bought & Tested the 14 BEST Coleman Tents!

It features all 4 of these tents with hinged doors, plus 10 other Coleman tents as well.

This is the thumbnail I used for my 14 Best Coleman Tents video. From left to right: Coleman Instant Cabin 4-Person Tent, Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent, and Coleman Sundome 6-Person Tent.
This is the thumbnail I used for my 14 Best Coleman Tents video. From left to right: Coleman Instant Cabin 4-Person Tent, Coleman WeatherMaster 10-Person Tent, and Coleman Sundome 6-Person Tent.

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!

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