Coleman Sundome 2-Person Tent Review (Bought & Tested!)

This page contains affiliate links, and that means that I may earn a commission if you buy something, at no extra cost to you. You can find my full disclosure policy here.

The Coleman Sundome 2-Person Tent is an incredibly inexpensive tent, fit for 1 person, or 2 people. I loved that it could fit an entire queen mattress, and the set up was super easy, taking me just about 5 minutes on my own.

But if weight and packed size isn’t an issue for you, I’d recommend upgrading to the 6-Person version of this tent instead. Why? Well, do read on to find out!

If you enjoyed this video, please consider subscribing to my channel here:

Check out the Coleman Sundome 2-Person Tent:

RELATED: Best Coleman Tents, Best Tents Under $100

In this section, I’ll be showing you these few things:

• Unboxing
• In the Box
• Specifications

Unboxing

I bought this Coleman Sundome 2-Person Tent from Amazon, and this is what it looks like:

In the Box

Inside the package, this is what I got – the tent body, 3 poles in a carry case, 9 stakes in another carry case, the rainfly, and the carry bag. I also got a foot mat, but it’s not in the picture below, because I lost it.

Specifications

Here are all my personal measurements on the Coleman Sundome 2-Person Tent:

• Peak height: 48.5 inches
• Length: 6 feet 9 inches
• Width: 4 feet 9 inches
• Base Area: 32.1 square feet
• Floor material: Polyethylene
• Bathtub flooring: Yes, ~7.5 inches
• Tent body material: Polyester
• Rainfly material: Polyester
• Poles material: Fiberglass
• Number of poles: 3
• Mesh: Regular
• Packed size: 24 by 9 by 6 inches
• Weight: 6.4 lbs
• Number of guylines: 2
• Number of stakes: 9
• Number of doors: 1
• Hinged door: No
• Number of windows: 2
• Number of vents: 3
• Number of pockets: 2
• Number of lantern loops: 1
• E-port: Yes, 1
• Black-out: No

I also did some testing on my own, and came up with this data:

• Set up timing (1 person): 5.5 minutes
• Take down timing (1 person): 5 minutes
• Number of single sleeping pads: 2
• Number of queen-sized mattresses: 1

I put my Coleman Sundome 2-Person Tent through these tests:

1. Ease of use: Set up, take down
2. Spaciousness: Height, base area, mattress sizing
3. Comfort and features: Door, windows, storage
4. Ventilation: Hot day ventilation, rainy day ventilation
5. Quality: Material, mesh, seams, stitching, zippers, poles
6. Portability: Weight and packed size

Meanwhile, I put my 6-Person Sundome Tent through a heavy rain test. So, altogether for both Sundome Tents, there are 7 tests.

Set Up

To set up this Coleman Sundome 2-Person Tent, first unfold and lay the tent body on the ground. Then, take the poles out of the carry case, like so:

You’ll find that you have 3 fiberglass poles, which look like this:

The pole on the left and the pole in the middle are exactly the same, and are for the tent body of the Sundome Tent. The pole on the right is for the rainfly.

Next, grab the 2 fiberglass poles for the tent body (left and middle poles in the above picture), and insert them into the 2 green pole sleeves at the center of the tent.

This will form an X shape across the tent, which looks like this.

Then, stake the Sundome 2P tent down lightly with 4 stakes at the 4 corners, and I highly recommend this for an easier set up.

After that, prop one of the poles up first, by securing both ends of the pole into these pins, 1 at each corner of the tent.

When you’re done with the first pole, your Sundome tent should look something like this:

Now, do the same with the other pole, which should be easier to set up than the first pole:

Then, attach the pole clips, which look like this.

There’s 1 pole clip on each side of each pole, so 4 pole clips altogether around the tent.

Next, grab the last and shortest fiberglass pole, which has black tips at both ends of the pole.

Then, lay the rainfly out flat on the ground, and insert the black pole right down the center of the rainfly, like so:

To secure this rainfly pole, locate these small black pockets at each end, as well as 2 Velcro strips somewhere in between both pockets.

Then, grab the rainfly by the rainfly pole, and drape it over the tent. Position the rainfly pole with one end over the door at the front of the tent, like so:

To secure the rainfly, there are 4 of these S-hooks on the rainfly, to be secured to the 4 rings at the 4 corners of the tent.

There are also Velcro attachments on the underside of the rainfly, to be secured along each pole. This is to better align the rainfly. There’s 1 Velcro strip at each corner, so 4 around the tent.

After that, zip the door up, and re-stake the tent body down with the 4 stakes, if you need to. Also, guy out the tent with 2 more stakes for the 2 guylines, 1 at each width of the tent.

And finally, go to the back of the Sundome tent, and stake down the ground vent at the back.

So far, we’ve used 7 stakes, and there are 9 stakes altogether. The last 2 stakes are for the foot mat, which I don’t have anymore because I misplaced it. (Oops!)

Altogether, it took me just 5.5 minutes to set up the Coleman Sundome 2-Person Tent on my own.

Take Down

Taking down the Sundome 2-Person Tent is just the opposite of the set-up, and it took me about 5 minutes for the entire take down and pack up.

For more details on the set up, take down, and pack up, you can check out my YouTube video here:

If you prefer a much quick set up and pack away process, you could check out Coleman’s quick set up tents instead:

• Coleman Sundome Tent V.S. Instant Tent (I Tested Both!)
• Coleman Pop Up Tent V.S. Sundome Tent (I Tested Both Tents!)

Height

The peak height in this Sundome 2-Person Tent is about 48.5 inches, and I can sit under this peak height with plenty of headroom left above me.

I can also kneel down, and my head doesn’t touch the top.

But just bear in mind that this peak height is only at the center of the tent, and the rest of the tent slopes downwards. This Sundome tent is a dome-shaped tent, so you don’t get to enjoy the peak height throughout the tent.

With a 4-inch thick sleeping pad inside the tent, it doesn’t reduce livable space by much, and I have plenty of space to sit up and also to crouch.

However, with a 9-inch thick mattress, while I can still sit up with a few inches of space above me, I definitely felt the reduction in livable space.

Notice how I’m much closer to the top in the second picture (Etekcity), when compared to the first picture (Exped)?

Base Area

The length inside this Coleman Sundome 2-Person Tent is about 6 feet and 9 inches, and the width measures about 4 feet and 9 inches, so quite a few inches smaller than the marketed dimensions of 7 by 5 feet.

But, despite the slightly reduced dimensions, I could still easily fit 2 regular sleeping pads inside this Sundome Tent, and here’s what having a double pad looks like inside the tent. I also added a single pad for a better size comparison.

There’s actually more than enough space for this Exped MegaMat Duo, with a few inches of leftover space for some camping gear.

Actually, I could even fit an entire Queen-sized camping mattress inside this Sundome 2-Person Tent, but there won’t be any space leftover for any gear.

Windows

There are 2 windows in this Sundome 2-Person Tent, 1 on each length of the tent.

Each window has 2 white zippers, a bug net to prevent larger bugs from getting in, and also a window latch to hold the fabric when the window is open.

Both windows are about the same size, with the back window measuring about 29 by 12 inches, and the front window measuring about 26 by 13 inches.

This front window is also part of the single door at the front length of this Sundome 2-Person Tent.

Door

The door measures about 38 inches in length, and 32 inches in width, and this is what it looks like when I stand in front of it.

Also, here’s what it looks like when I try to get in and out of the tent.

This door comes with 2 latches by the side to tie the door fabric up to keep it open, and it also comes with 2 black zippers to zip it open and shut.

Storage

For storage, this Sundome 2-Person Tent has 2 pockets inside the tent, each measuring about 9 by 7 inches.

There’s also 1 lantern loop at the very top of the tent for some lighting at night.

In addition to the pockets and the lantern loop, there’s also 1 e-port at the bottom of the tent with a zippered closure.

Hot Day Ventilation

On a hot day, you can take the rainfly off from the outside, and you’ll get quite a bit of ventilation through not only the window, the door, but also through 2 mesh walls.

But just bear in mind that there might not be as much privacy with the rainfly off, because others can see right into your tent through the mesh. Also, bear in mind that these mesh walls can’t be zipped up.

Rainy Day Ventilation

As for rainy days, you do need the rainfly to be in place over the tent, and the 2 mesh walls become vents, spanning both entire widths of the Sundome Tent.

Each of these vents measures about 9 inches in width from the outside.

I also had a little bit of ventilation from this ground vent right here:

This small ground vent measures 35 by 8 inches from the inside, and about 10 inches in width from the outside.

Quality

The flooring of this Sundome Tent is made of polyethylene, and the flooring looks like this:

The bathtub feature of the flooring extends up to about 7.5 inches, and I got this measurement by using a measuring tape:

Both the tent body and rainfly are made of polyester.

Basically, I found all this material info on the pocket of the tent.

I found most of the seams to be OK to decent quality, and most of them are double-stitched and pretty consistent, like so:

However, I found one seam here that looks like patchwork, with not so good stitching.

The mesh is just regular mesh, not no-see-um mesh, and it’s decent quality.

The zippers are also decent quality, and all of them are catch-free. I didn’t have snagging issues on any of the windows and doors.

However, just bear in mind that the design of this rain cover outside the door will sometimes get in the way of the door zippers.

Tip: So, from the inside, push the rain cover out while zipping it up. And from the outside, hold the rain cover away when zipping it up.

Once you get used to this, the door zippers will no longer snag.

All the poles are made of fiberglass with pretty short and snag-free pole sleeves.

The rainfly also comes with 2 pre-attached guylines. It also comes with a pre-attached tensioner (that black thing in the middle of the guyline that allows you to adjust the tension of it).

Portability

Packed Size

This Coleman Sundome 2-Person Tent has a packed size of 24 by 9 by 6 inches. Here’s what it looks like beside a 32-ounce Nalgene bottle:

Weight

The Coleman 2-Person Sundome tent weighs about 6.4 lbs. And here’s what it looks like when I carry it:

Is the Coleman Sundome Tent good for backpacking?

A Coleman Sundome 2 can technically be used for backpacking, if the weight of the tent is split between 2 people. As such, its weight of 6.4 lbs would only be around 3.2 lbs per person, which can be manageable. If you’re on a strict budget for backpacking, this might be worth a shot.

Others

I didn’t put this 2-Person Tent through a rain test, but I did put my Coleman Sundome 6-Person Tent through a heavy rain test, which you can check out here:

Pros

For pros, I found the set up pretty easy, taking me just 5 and a half minutes on my own.

The take down and pack up was easy as well, I didn’t have to struggle to get everything back in, and I didn’t even have to rip this strip at the bottom of the bag off to expand the bag.

Another humongous pro is how inexpensive this Sundome 2-Person Tent is. I paid less than $50 for mine a couple of years back, and I believe you can still get that kind of pricing nowadays.

For less than $50, I don’t think that you can get any other decent quality tent like this Sundome.

Related: Why are Coleman tents so Cheap? (REAL Experience!)

Related: How Long do Coleman Tents Really Last? (REAL Pictures!)

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.

Cons

But, here are some things to take note of.

If you have a rather tall camping mattress, like my 9-inch queen mattress, I found that my head will brush against the wall of the tent when I sit up after sleeping, and it definitely feels very tight (if you’re sleeping 2 in the tent).

This is because the peak heights in 2-person tents are generally not very high.

Also, if you’re tall, the base area of the tent can be a bit tight. You might find the Sundome tent’s sloping walls brushing against your head, which can be annoying. This will be a problem especially if you’re using a thick mattress.

On top of that, inflating a queen mattress inside the 2-Person Sundome Tent can be a pain.

When inflating, I was squashed between the mattress and the tent, because the valve was at the foot/head of the mattress. I also couldn’t inflate it fully, because I had to squeeze out after. So, I squeezed out, I got on top of the mattress and continued to inflate it.

Tip: If you have a queen mattress with a valve at the side near the door, that would be a lot easier to inflate.

Recommendation #1: If you don’t want to deal with all these issues, I’d highly recommend that you upgrade to the 6-Person Sundome Tent if budget, packed size, and weight are not big issues for you.

The 6-Person Sundome Tent has an awesome 6-foot peak height, with plenty of headroom. I’m able to stand upright, stretch my arms out, walk around the tent, stand up on my pads and mattresses, even jump around, and basically just got a lot of livable space for a dome tent.

You won’t be able to stand upright in a 4-person tent, let alone a 2-person tent, but you would be able to in a 6-person tent. (Provided that you’re 6 feet and below.)

Recommendation #2: And for a little more added comfort, you might want to also consider the 6-Person Dark Room Sundome Tent.

Both my 6-Person Regular and Dark Room Sundome Tents were also equally inexpensive, I paid only about a hundred bucks for each of them.

For more info on how this 2-Person Sundome Tent compares to other Coleman tents, you can check out this blog post right here: I Tested the 14 Best Coleman Tents!

Or, if you’ve already got your heart set on the classic Sundome, check out how the different sizes of the Sundome tent will affect you here: Coleman Sundome Tent 6-Person V.S. 4-Person V.S. 2-Person (Tested!)

Or, check out the Coleman Sundome 2-Person Tent: