Coleman tents · Vs review
Fast Pitch Tent V.S. Instant Tent (With REAL Pictures!)
I own Coleman's Fast Pitch Skydome and Coleman's Instant Tent, both 4-person. 10 side-by-side tests on what actually separates the two types.
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Fast Pitch tentsShown: my Coleman Skydome 4
- Set up9.5 min
- Peak59 in
- Base area54.2 sq ft
- Rain test15 min
Instant tentsShown: my Coleman Instant 4
- Set up4.5 min
- Peak61 in
- Base area55.4 sq ft
- Rain test10 min
The short answer
Only one of these is actually fast, and it isn't the Fast Pitch.
An instant tent has its poles pre-attached at both ends via a central hub and its pole clips already on, so it goes up in 4.5 minutes. A Fast Pitch tent is a Coleman-only label: poles pre-attached at one end and 16 pole clips you attach yourself. Mine takes 9.5 minutes, slower than a conventional Coleman Sundome 4, which does it in 8.5. The Fast Pitch does win on rain protection and packed size, though.
Side by side
Where they actually differ
| Compared | Fast Pitch | Instant |
|---|---|---|
| Set up (1 person) | 9.5 minutesA conventional Sundome 4 does it in 8.5 | 4.5 minutesAbout half |
| Take down | 10 minutesA Sundome 4 does it in 7.5 minutes | 5 minutes |
| Pre-attached poles | One end | Both ends, via a central hub |
| Pre-attached pole clips | No16 on my Skydome 4 | Yes |
| Pre-attached guylines | Yes | Yes |
| Tent shape | Dome or cabinThe Skydome is a dome | Usually cabinMore headroom |
| Peak height | 59 inches | 61 inches |
| Base area | 54.2 square feet4 pads or 1 queen | 55.4 square feet4 pads or 1 queen |
| Poles | Fiberglass | Alloy steelHas to carry the whole mechanism |
| Packed size | 25 by 9 by 9 inchesSame as a conventional tent | 40 by 11 by 8 inchesInstant tents run 50-100% bigger |
| Rain test | 15 minutes at the front3 sides didn't leak in an hour | About 10 minutesThe fly covers only the very top |
| Brand | Coleman only | Many brandsGazelle, CORE, Outdoor Products, Ozark Trail |
✓ = the better result, from my own testing of a Coleman Skydome 4 and a Coleman Instant 4. “Fast Pitch” is a Coleman marketing term; “instant tent” is a design used across many brands.
Which applies to you?
Get this one if…
Choose an instant tent if…
- You want a genuinely fast set up (half a conventional tent).
- You want a cabin shape for more livable space.
- You camp on hot days (big windows on every wall).
- You can live with a pack 50 to 100% bigger and poor rain protection.
Choose a Fast Pitch tent if…
- You want rain protection (mine held 3 sides for an hour).
- You want it to pack small, like a conventional tent.
- You're happy with a conventional-speed pitch, because that's what it is.
- You'll seam-seal the front, after which mine lasted hours in heavy rain.
What Makes a Fast Pitch Tent
| Compared | Fast Pitch | Instant |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-attached poles | At the back only | Both ends, via a hub |
| Fast-fitting feet | YesBall ends into sewn pole pockets | Not needed |
| Pole clips instead of sleeves | Yes16 of them | Yes, pre-attached |
Fast Pitch is a Coleman-only label for a tent they market as a sub-5-minute pitch for one person. The Skydome is the best-known example, and it says so on the bag. Three features are supposed to deliver that: poles pre-attached to the tent, fast-fitting feet, and pole clips instead of pole sleeves.
The poles are pre-attached at the back only. The fast-fitting feet are ball-like ends that drop into pole pockets sewn to the tent corners, instead of the metal tube and ring-and-pin system on a classic Sundome. And the pole clips replace sleeves, which on badly-made tents are long and snaggy.
What Makes an Instant Tent
| Compared | Fast Pitch | Instant |
|---|---|---|
| Central pole hub | No | Yes |
| Poles to assemble | YesYou still build each pole | NoProp up, extend once |
| Pole clips to attach | 16 | 0 |
| Available from | Coleman only | Gazelle, CORE, Outdoor Products, Ozark Trail and more |
An instant tent isn't a brand term: Gazelle, CORE, Outdoor Products and Ozark Trail all make them. What defines one is that the poles are pre-attached at both ends, usually through a central hub, and the pole clips come pre-attached too.
That's the whole difference. On the Fast Pitch I still have to assemble each pole and clip 16 clips; on the instant tent I unfold it, pull four elbow joints outward, and extend each pole once until the silver lock button pops.
Set Up & Take Down
| Compared | Fast Pitch | Instant |
|---|---|---|
| Set up (1 person) | 9.5 minutes | 4.5 minutes |
| Take down | 10 minutes | 5 minutes |
| A conventional Sundome 4 | 8.5 minutes up, 7.5 minutes downQuicker than the “fast pitch” | — |
Double the time, both ways. And here is the number that undoes the marketing: my conventional Coleman Sundome 4 goes up in 8.5 minutes and packs away in 7.5, both quicker than the Fast Pitch Skydome.
Tent Shape
| Compared | Fast Pitch | Instant |
|---|---|---|
| Shape | Dome or cabinThe Skydome is a dome | Usually cabinNear-vertical walls |
| Headroom away from the peak | Less | More |
Most instant tents are cabins with near-vertical walls, so the headroom carries across the tent. Coleman's Fast Pitch range can be either, and its most popular one, the Skydome, is a dome, which gives it less usable height than a cabin.
Pole Material
| Compared | Fast Pitch | Instant |
|---|---|---|
| Poles | FiberglassSame as a conventional tent | Alloy steelSturdier and thicker |
Instant tents almost always use steel, because the poles have to carry the tent, the mechanism, and all that telescoping and retracting. My Skydome has ordinary fiberglass poles, the same kind you get in a conventional tent. Put the two side by side and the difference in thickness is obvious.
Packed Size
| Compared | Fast Pitch | Instant |
|---|---|---|
| Packed size | 25 by 9 by 9 inchesLike any conventional tent | 40 by 11 by 8 inches |
| Versus a conventional tent | The same | 50-100% bigger |
Fully pre-attached poles compact only so far, which is why instant tents run anywhere from 50 to 100% bigger packed. The Fast Pitch packs down like an ordinary tent, because its poles are attached at one end only (the one genuine benefit of that half-measure).
Rain Test
| Compared | Fast Pitch | Instant |
|---|---|---|
| Time to first leak | 15 minutesAt the front only | About 10 minutes |
| The other 3 sides | No leak after 1 hour of heavy rain | — |
| Rainfly coverage | Long on 3 sides, short at the front | The very top of the tent only |
| After seam-sealing | Hours of heavy rain | — |
This is where the Fast Pitch earns its keep. Instant tents ship with very short rainflies that cover only the very top, so they start leaking a few minutes into heavy rain, about 10 for mine.
My Skydome's fly is long on three sides, and those three didn't leak after an hour of very heavy rain. Only the front went, at 15 minutes, where the fly is much shorter. And once I sealed that seam it lasted hours.
Peak Height
| Compared | Fast Pitch | Instant |
|---|---|---|
| Peak height | 59 inches | 61 inches |
Within two inches of each other, a tie on the number, though the instant tent's cabin walls make more of it.
Base Area
| Compared | Fast Pitch | Instant |
|---|---|---|
| Base area | 54.2 square feet | 55.4 square feet |
| Sleeps | 4 pads or 1 queen | 4 pads or 1 queen |
Within a square foot, and both took four sleeping pads or a single queen. I used the same pads in both tents so the comparison holds.
Guylines
| Compared | Fast Pitch | Instant |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-attached guylines | Yes | Yes |
Both come with guylines already attached, though that isn't special to either type. Every Coleman tent I own has pre-attached guylines.
My recommendation
If you want a genuinely fast set up, buy an instant tent: half the time of a conventional tent, and the cabin shape gives you more livable space. Just know they aren't good in rain: less rainfly coverage means less rain protection and less rainy-day ventilation. They are excellent on hot days, though, with big windows on every wall. I’ve reviewed both of my instant Colemans: the Coleman Instant 4 Tent and the Coleman Instant Cabin 10 Tent.
If you had your heart set on a Coleman Fast Pitch for the speed, I think you'll be disappointed. Coleman pre-attached the easiest part of the job. I still have to assemble each pole and secure the harder end. And when packing up I have to align the attached poles neatly with the tent body before rolling, where a conventional Sundome lets me pack poles and body separately.
If an easy pitch is the goal, Coleman’s Pop Up is the other option. I tested it against the Skydome in my Pop Up vs Skydome comparison.
The 16 pole clips are the other problem. Coleman replaced snaggy sleeves with clips, but Coleman's own sleeves are short and I've never had one snag, so threading 2 poles through 2 sleeves is genuinely quicker than clipping 16 clips. For a quick set up I can't recommend Coleman's Fast Pitch tents. They’re perfectly good conventional tents, and they do wonderfully in the rain with a little seam sealant. More detail: my Instant vs Skydome comparison and my Sundome vs Skydome comparison.
Bonus: Coleman also makes a Pop Up Tent that springs open out of the bag. In the post where I bought and tested all my Coleman tents I put the instant tents, the Fast Pitch Skydome and both Pop Ups up against a pile of conventional Coleman tents.
Every figure on this page comes from my own measurements of the tents I bought and tested.
