Coleman Skydome Tent V.S. Carlsbad Tent (I Have Both Tents!)

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I have both the Coleman 4-Person Skydome Tent and the 4-Person Carlsbad Tent, and in this blog post, I’ll go through all the differences between these 2 tents.

While the Carlsbad Tent has a much bigger base area than the Skydome Tent, thanks to the added screen room, this results in a heavier weight, a larger packed size, and a longer set up timing. In contrast, while the Skydome Tent is a little smaller, it has a better door, more storage and better ventilation.

*This is a picture of me in my Coleman Skydome Tent (left) and my Coleman Carlsbad Tent (right).*

Characteristics	Skydome Tent (4P)	Carlsbad Tent (4P)
Set Up Timing	9.5 minutes	11 minutes
Peak Height	59 inches	60 inches
Base Area (Tent)	54.2 square feet	58.5 square feet
Base Area (Screen Room)	0	27.6 square feet
Total Base Area	54.2 square feet	86.1 square feet
Door Dimensions	48 by 39 inches	47 by 35 inches
Pockets	2	2
Gear Lofts	1	0
Lantern Loops	1	2
E-Port	0	1
Mesh Walls	3	1
Windows	1	3
Heavy Rain Test	~15 minutes	~30 minutes
Weight	10.4 lbs	14.4 lbs
Packed Size	25 x 9 x 9 inches	26 x 11.5 x 8 inches

A table containing all the differences between the Coleman 4-Person Skydome Tent and the 4-Person Carlsbad Tent.

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Check out the Skydome and Carlsbad Tents:

Check out the Skydome Tent on Amazon

Check out the Skydome Tent on REI Co-Op

Check out the Skydome Tent on Backcountry

Check out the Skydome Tent on Moosejaw

Check out the Carlsbad Tent on Amazon

Read my full review on the Skydome Tent

Read my full review on the Carlsbad Tent

Table Of Contents

Set Up Timing
Livable Space
Base Area
Screen Room
Doors
Dark Room
Storage
Mesh Walls and Windows
Rain Test
Weight
Packed Size
Recommendation
Bonus: Must Read!

Set Up Timing

For the set-up timing, the Skydome 4-Person Tent took 9.5 minutes to set up, including staking and guying out the entire tent, while the Carlsbad 4-Person Tent took slightly longer, at around 11 minutes.

*This is a picture of me guying out the Coleman Skydome Tent.*

This is mainly because the Carlsbad Tent comes with one extra pole for setting up the screen room at the front of the tent, and 2 extra stake loops to stake the screen room down.

*This is a picture of me setting up the screen room of the Coleman Carlsbad Tent.*

Livable Space

While the peak height of both tents is about the same, the 4-Person Skydome with a 59-inch peak height and the 4-Person Carlsbad with a 60-inch peak height, one of the selling points of the Skydome Tent is actually the 20% more headroom.

*This is what the Coleman Skydome Tent looks like without the rainfly.*

I would say that the Skydome definitely feels a little bit roomier, because these pole clips at the top of the tent pull the tent body upward and outward, but whether it’s actually 20% more headroom, I’m not really sure.

*This is what the Coleman Carlsbad Tent looks like without the rainfly.*

Base Area

Surprisingly, the length of the Skydome is actually 1 foot less than the Carlsbad. A 4-Person Carlsbad has marketed dimensions of 9 by 7 feet, while a 4-Person Skydome has 8 by 7 feet.

*This is a close-up shot of the Coleman marketed dimensions on the carry bag of the Coleman Skydome 4-Person Tent.*

This is the logo of the Coleman Carlsbad Tent. The red arrow is pointing to the marketed dimensions of 9′ x 7′.

I calculated the base area of the 4-Person Skydome to be 54.2 square feet, while the base area of the Carlsbad Dome tent was slightly bigger, at about 58.5 square feet.

*This is what the Coleman Skydome 4-Person Tent looks like with 2 double pads (the Exped MegaMat Duo 10 and the Klymit Uninsulated Double V).*

But I could still easily fit 4 regular sleeping pads, or 2 double pads, inside both tents. Notice that because the Carlsbad is slightly bigger, there’s a little bit of space between the 4 sleeping pads, so you could fit slightly wider pads too.

*This is what 4 pads look like inside the Coleman Carlsbad 4-Person Dome Tent. From left to right: Exped MegaMat Duo 10, Sea to Summit Camp Mat, Big Agnes Friar sleeping bag.*

Alternatively, instead of 4 pads, you can fit 1 queen bed in each tent.

*This is what the Coleman Skydome 4-Person Tent looks like with 1 queen bed in it.*

*This is what a queen bed looks like inside the Coleman Carlsbad 4-Person Tent.*

Screen Room

The Skydome doesn’t have a screen room, but the 4-Person Carlsbad has 27.6 square feet of screen room space, for a total base area of 86.1 square feet.

The screen room has a width of about 3 feet and 10 inches, the longest length is about 8 feet and 8 inches, and the shortest length at the front is about 5 feet and 9 inches. And the peak height in the screen room is just 54 inches.

Doors

The door of the Skydome is slightly bigger, measuring 4 feet in length, and 39 inches in width. It also comes with a door pocket by the side, so that you can stuff the fabric in there when the door is opened.

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

On the other hand, the door of the Carlsbad tent is slightly smaller, measuring about 47 inches in length, and about 35 inches in width. Instead of a door pocket, the Carlsbad door comes with 2 door latches by the side to tie the door fabric up, which takes more time to do.

*A picture of me tying up the door fabric of the Carlsbad Tent.*

And also, the Carlsbad screen room comes with another door, which spans almost the entire length of the screen room, and there are also 2 door latches, 1 on either side of the door.

*A picture of me taking the dimensions to the screen room door of the Carlsbad Tent.*

Dark Room

I bought the Skydome Tent in a non-dark room version, though you can buy it with the dark room feature, while the Carlsbad comes only in a dark room version. Just take note that sometimes, the dark room feature can be defective.

In my Carlsbad tent, the dark room isn’t as dark as I expected it to be, because Coleman used a different fabric for the bottom of the tent. It should be as dark as these windows, but they’re not.

*What the Coleman Carlsbad Tent looks like with dark room technology. The red arrow is pointing to what I think is the defective part of the dark room tech.*

Storage

Both my Carlsbad and Skydome Tents come with 2 pockets each. But, the Skydome comes with an additional gear loft, which my Carlsbad doesn’t have.

*This is the gear loft of the Coleman Skydome Tent.*

On the other hand, my Carlsbad has 2 lantern loops, 1 inside the tent and the other outside the tent, while my Skydome Tent has only 1 lantern loop inside the tent.

Here’s the lantern loop on the outside of the Carlsbad Tent’s screen room.

And the Carlsbad Tent has an e-port, while the Skydome Tent doesn’t.

*This is the e-port of the Coleman Carlsbad Tent.*

Mesh Walls and Windows

My Skydome tent comes with 3 mesh walls and 1 window, which look like this when the rainfly is off.

*This is a picture of me lying down inside the Coleman Skydome Tent without the rainfly.*

On the other hand, my Carlsbad tent comes with 1 mesh wall and 3 windows instead.

*This is what the mesh wall of the Coleman Carlsbad Tent looks like when the rainfly has been taken off.*

There are pros and cons to having either mesh walls or windows.

The pros of the mesh walls is that they provide more ventilation than windows when the rainfly is off, and when the rainfly is on, you get these awesome mesh wall vents.

*One of the mesh wall vents inside the Coleman Skydome Tent.*

But the cons of these mesh walls is that you can’t look out when the rainfly is on, and there’s no way to zip up or close up these mesh walls except to slacken the guyline from the outside.

*The back wall of the Carlsbad Tent is partially made from mesh.*

And for the windows, while the window mesh is much smaller than the mesh of the mesh wall, so less overall ventilation, I like that I can look out through the windows when the rainfly is on, and that I have the option of zipping it open and close too.

*Here are 2 of the windows in the Coleman Carlsbad Tent.*

Rain Test

For my heavy rain test, the rainfly of my Carlsbad Tent covers about one-third of the entire tent body, which is a pretty decent length.

*A picture of me using a water hose to hose down the Coleman Carlsbad Tent in my yard.*

As such, the leaking started only after 30 minutes through this inverted but un-taped bathtub flooring seam.

*This bathtub flooring seam of the Carlsbad Tent is always the first place that leaks. Notice the droplets of water on the floor near my hand?*

As for my 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.

*This is the front of the Coleman Skydome Tent under heavy rain.*

So naturally, this wall was the first to leak after 15 minutes, again through the un-taped bathtub flooring seam.

*The bathtub flooring seam of the Skydome Tent had started leaking a little.*

With a little seam sealant though, both the Skydome and Carlsbad Tents should be able to last at least a couple hours of heavy rain.

Weight

My 4-Person Skydome Tent weighs 10.4 pounds, while the 4-Person Carlsbad weighs 14.4 pounds, or exactly 4 pounds more, because of the extra screen room.

*Here’s a picture of me holding a packed-up Coleman Skydome 4-Person Tent.*

Packed Size

Unsurprisingly, the 4-Person Carlsbad (26 x 11.5 x 8 inches) also has a 20% bigger packed size than the 4-Person Skydome (25 x 9 x 9 inches), because of this screen room as well. In fact, the 4-Person Carlsbad is almost the same size as a 6-Person Sundome Tent.

*The Coleman Carlsbad 4-Person Tent beside the Coleman Sundome 6-Person Tent for a size comparison.*

Recommendation

I think both the Carlsbad and the Skydome Tents have a ton of pros, and of course, some cons.

Let’s start with the Carlsbad. This tent has a slightly bigger base area in the dome tent itself, not including the screen room. When you include the square footage of the screen room, the base area of the Carlsbad is actually 60% bigger than the Skydome, which is super generous.

*That’s me lying down in the screen room of the Coleman Carlsbad Tent.*

I also really like that the Carlsbad could withstand more heavy rain than the Skydome before leaking.

But just bear in mind that the screen room has no rain protection at all. There’s no rainfly over the screen room, so you’d need to get an extra tarp if you expect rain. And the cleanup is a bit of a pain, even though it comes with a mesh drainage for draining water.

Dirt and leaves trapped in the mesh of the screen room of the Carlsbad Tent. Also, there's lots of water inside the screen room. — *Dirt and leaves trapped in the mesh of the screen room of the Carlsbad Tent. Also, there’s lots of water inside the screen room.*

And of course, because of the extra screen room, it’ll take you slightly longer to set up the Carlsbad than the Skydome, it’ll weigh more than the Skydome, and the packed size is also bigger.

Check out the Carlsbad Tent on Amazon

As for the Skydome, there’s definitely a little more headroom inside the tent, I really love the super user-friendly door pocket, the storage options are better than your average Coleman tent, and ventilation is also much better than your average Coleman tent.

*The pole clips of the Coleman Skydome Tent.*

But of course, the base area is slightly smaller, it doesn’t have a screen room, it doesn’t have an e-port, and I do highly recommend seam sealing the bathtub flooring seam.

Check out the Skydome Tent on Amazon