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See the 12 tests

1. In the Box
2. Set Up & Take Down
3. Peak Height
4. Base Area
5. Front Porch
6. Doors
7. Windows
8. Storage
9. Ventilation
10. Rain Protection
11. Quality
12. Portability
13. Pros, Cons, Recommendation
14. Bonus – MUST read!

In the Box

I bought my Coleman Montana 8 from Amazon. Inside I got the tent body, the rainfly, 7 fiberglass poles, and 21 stakes in a carry case.

Set Up & Take Down

• Set-up time (1 person) 22 min
• Take-down + pack-up (1 person) 14.5 min
• Poles 7 fiberglass

• Stakes / guylines 21 / 9

Solo, this tent is a fight. The 2 long black poles collapsed on me a few times. Alone it took 22 minutes — double the 11 minutes with my brother.

Take-down runs about 14.5 minutes on my own. I even had to rip the strip off the bag’s bottom to fit everything back in.

Peak Height

• Capacity 8-person8 pads shoulder-to-shoulder, or 3 queen mattresses
• Peak height 74in

At 74in peak I stand fully upright, but only dead centre. Two steps out and my head hits the mesh at 61in; the sides slope into a 44in dead triangle. I’m 5’3″.

Want more standing room? The WeatherMaster 10 tops out at 80.5in, and I put the two head to head in WeatherMaster vs Montana.

Base Area

• Base area 103.5 sq ft15ft 4in × 6ft 9in — shy of the marketed 16 × 7ft

The floor measures 15ft 4in by 6ft 9in (103.5 sq ft), under the marketed 16 × 7ft. It fits 8 sleeping pads shoulder to shoulder, or 3 queen mattresses — no gear room either way.

Front Porch

• Front porch 103 × 32in

Out front, the staked-out rainfly makes a 103 × 32in porch. It throws real shade and kept my flip-flops cool on hot days.

Doors

• Doors 1hinged D-door — 46 × 27in, 58in tall

The single hinged D-door is my favorite feature. It swings open like a real door, with a handle inside and out — and few Coleman tents have it. It’s 46 × 27in and 58in tall, so I duck through at 5’3″.

Pro Tip If the hinged door won’t close, undo one of the pole clips on the black poles to ease the tension — it seats fine after that.

Windows

• Windows 32 side 51 × 15in, 1 front 27 × 24in

Three windows let in light — two 51 × 15in sides and one 27 × 24in front panel — each with a bug net and a latch.

Storage

• Pockets 210 × 7in each

• Lantern loop 1
• E-port 1

Storage is lacking for an 8-person tent: just 2 pockets (10 × 7in each), one lantern loop, and one e-port.

Ventilation

• Vents 0
• Roof mesh Yesremovable rainfly for stargazing

• Back wall No meshsolid fabric — limits airflow

• Windows 3on the small side

Roof mesh is generous — pull the rainfly off and you can stargaze on a clear night.

But airflow is this tent’s weak point. There are no vents, the 3 windows are small, and the entire back wall is solid fabric with no mesh. In heavy rain you close the windows too, so it gets stuffy.

Rain Protection

• Light rain Dry15 min, seams and fabric dry inside
• Heavy rain hold 15–20 minbefore the untaped bathtub-floor seam leaks

• Bathtub floor Polyethylene~7in high, no water through the floor itself

• Seam taping Noneall seams inverted, untaped

Light rain is a non-issue. I gave it 15 minutes and everything stayed dry inside.

Heavy rain is the weak spot. I ran a hose on it; water began seeping in around 15 minutes, and by 20 I stopped the test.

The leak came through the untaped seam joining the tent body to the bathtub floor — the one spot the rainfly doesn’t cover. The 7in bathtub floor itself never let water through.

Note Before heavy rain, spray the rainfly and lower green fabric with waterproofing, and seam-seal the bathtub-floor seam.

Quality

• Floor Polyethylenebathtub floor, ~7in high
• Body & rainfly 68D Polyester
• Seams Invertednot taped

• Mesh Regularnot no-see-um
• Poles 7 fiberglassnot the sturdiest

The floor is polyethylene with a 7in bathtub; the body and rainfly are 68D polyester, like my other Coleman tents. The fabric is thin — I can just make out my fingers through it.

Seams are inverted but untaped, which is the real quality miss. Stitching is double and consistent, with one loose thread and a little stray mesh. The mesh is regular (not no-see-um), zippers are catch-free, and the 7 fiberglass poles aren’t the sturdiest.

Portability

• Packed size 26 × 15 × 12in
• Weight 23.4 lbseverything, including stakes and guylines

Packed, the Montana is 26 × 15 × 12in and weighs 23.4 lbs with everything in the bag.

The one gripe: the carry strap is too short to sling over a shoulder, so it’s an awkward two-hand haul.

Pros, Cons, Recommendation

Now, what are the pros and cons, and would I recommend the Coleman Montana 8?

Really inexpensive

Reasonably priced for how much tent and how many features you get.

Hinged D-door

My favorite feature. It swings open like a real door, handle inside and out. Not many Coleman tents have it.

Front porch

The extended rainfly makes a 103 × 32in shaded porch — great for gear and hot days, and rare on Coleman tents.

Decent livable space

Four side poles hold the walls up, so there’s a real 74in stand-up zone inside.

Tough to pitch solo

The 2 long black fiberglass poles collapsed on me repeatedly — 22 minutes alone versus 11 with a second person.

Weak in heavy rain

It lasts 15–20 minutes before the untaped bathtub-floor seam leaks. A pass of seam sealant fixes it.

Limited ventilation

No vents, small windows, and a mesh-free back wall — and in heavy rain the windows close too.

Bonus – MUST Read!

Every figure above is from my own testing — measured by hand, bought with my own money.