Coleman tents · Guide
How Long Do Coleman Tents Really Last? (REAL Pictures!)
I’ve bought and used 14 Coleman tents over the past 4 years. Here’s what actually wears out, what my oldest two look like today, and what I paid for all of them.
- 14 tents owned
- 4 years of use
- $2,000 spent
- ~4 min read
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.
Jump to a section
The short answer
At least 5 years
Footprint down, washed and dried after every trip, stored somewhere ventilated.
How I do it ↓4 years and counting
The WeatherMaster 10 and Carlsbad 4 — one cracked door pole, one faded dark-room coating.
See the damage ↓Thin fiberglass poles
My Red Canyon 8’s rainfly poles snapped on the very first use.
Why ↓Part 1 of 6
Three materials decide how long a Coleman tent lasts
Across my 14 Coleman tents, only three things decide the lifespan.
- PolesEither fiberglass (most of the smaller tents — Sundome, Skydome) or alloy steel (the big ones: WeatherMaster 10, Instant Cabin 10, and every Instant tent, because the steel has to hold the instant frame). Steel is far thicker and takes much more abuse.
- Flooring12 of my 14 have polyethylene floors — tarp-like, and easy to puncture. Only my Pop Up 2 and Pop Up 4 use polyester.
- Body & rainfly68D or 75D polyester on most of them. My two Instant tents (Instant Cabin 10 and Instant Cabin 4) use double-thick 150D.
Fiberglass poles
- − Thin, and prone to snapping when bent
- − The rainfly poles are usually the thinnest of all
- + On most Sundome and Skydome-size tents
Alloy steel poles
- + Much thicker and much stronger
- + Takes far more wear and tear
- + On the big tents and all the Instant tents
Thin fiberglass is where things break. The rainfly poles that came with my Coleman Red Canyon 8 were really thin, and they snapped on my first use of the tent.
My adviceIf you want a Coleman tent to last, buy one with steel poles, or accept that a thin fiberglass rainfly pole is the part you’ll be taping up first.
Part 2 of 6
How that compares to a pricier tent
Coleman keeps the price down with cheaper materials, so a Coleman tent is less durable than a higher-end one. Where an REI Co-Op or North Face tent spends the money:
- PolesAluminum, sometimes DAC aluminum — extremely rugged, and far less prone to snapping than fiberglass.
- FlooringPolyester at 150-denier or more — at least twice as thick as a Coleman floor, and much less abrasion-prone.
My adviceExpecting prolonged strong winds or genuinely bad weather? Buy a higher-end tent. Camping a Coleman through that is the fastest way to shorten its life.
Part 3 of 6
What 4 years actually did to mine
My WeatherMaster 10 and my Carlsbad 4 are the two I’ve had longest — about 4 years each, used lightly, dried and stored properly. The honest damage:
4 yearsand both are still in use. Neither has failed — but both show wear worth knowing about.
WeatherMaster 10: steel body poles still fine. The hinged D-door pole is fiberglass and much thinner, and it started splitting. Not serious — I duct-taped it and carried on — but it’s thick steel versus thin fiberglass in one picture.
Carlsbad 4: poles fine (not too thin, and I don’t camp in strong winds). The dark room coating is what’s going — long streaks, and it isn’t as dark as it was. That’s UV.
Also expect thisThe waterproof coating wears out too — I re-spray roughly every year. More in my guide to how waterproof Coleman tents are.
My adviceUsed lightly in gentle conditions, a Coleman tent will give you at least 5 years. Mine are at 4, and counting.
Part 4 of 6
Wind rating and warranty
Coleman officially claims about 35 mph, fully staked and with every guyline guyed out (it’s in their own short video). I can’t verify that — I don’t camp in strong winds. What I have tested is light wind and breezes, at most an estimated 10 mph, on most of my Coleman tents, and they all held up fine (I stake the body and guy out every line).
Warranty is the other durability tell, and it isn’t Coleman’s strong point. Mine all came with the 1-year sheet in the box — all 14 of them.
| Brand | Tent warranty |
|---|---|
| Coleman | 1-year limited |
| Teton | Lifetime |
| ALPS Mountaineering | Lifetime |
Part 5 of 6
What 14 Coleman tents actually cost me
This is where Coleman shines. I saved up and bought all 14 myself for around $2,000.
~$140average price per tent across all 14 I own. Estimates — I bought most of them a few years ago.
| Coleman tent | Price I paid |
|---|---|
| Coleman Instant Cabin 10 | ~$300 |
| Coleman WeatherMaster 10 | ~$250 |
| Coleman Red Canyon 8 | ~$140 |
| Coleman Montana 8 | ~$150 |
| Coleman Elite Sundome 6 | ~$250 |
| Coleman Sundome 6 | ~$100 |
| Coleman Sundome Dark Room 6 | ~$100 |
| Coleman Evanston 6 | ~$120 |
| Coleman Carlsbad 4 | ~$120 |
| Coleman Instant Cabin 4 | ~$160 |
| Coleman Skydome 4 | ~$80 |
| Coleman Pop Up 4 | ~$80 |
| Coleman Pop Up 2 | ~$60 |
| Coleman Sundome 2 | ~$50 |
Capacity, features and material quality are what move the price. The Elite Sundome 6 costs twice a regular Sundome 6 purely on features; the Instant Cabins cost more than same-size Colemans for the steel poles and double-thick fabric.
My adviceYou get what you pay for, and sometimes more. A decent 2-person tent for $50, or a decent 8-person for $150 — that’s value for money.
Part 6 of 6
The three things that make yours last
- Use a footprintPolyethylene punctures easily. I skipped the footprint under my Instant 4 — and because its poles are pre-attached, pack-up is fiddlier — and I put holes in the base.
- Wash and dry itClean the base after every trip, and dry it fully. Pack a wet tent away and you get mold, which eventually makes the tent a health hazard.
- Store it ventilatedEspecially for long storage. Airflow is what keeps mold from forming.
The bottom line
A Coleman tent used lightly, dried properly and stored with ventilation will give you at least 5 years. Mine are at 4 and going. The poles fail before the fabric, thin fiberglass rainfly poles fail first of all, and the warranty is only a year — so treat a footprint as compulsory. See which Coleman tent I’d actually buy →
Quick questions
FAQ
Do Coleman tents have a lifetime warranty?
No — 1-year limited on all their products. Teton and ALPS Mountaineering, similarly priced, both warrant their tents for life.
How much wind can a Coleman tent take?
Coleman claims about 35 mph, fully staked and guyed. I haven’t tested that, but mine have all handled breezes of maybe 10 mph without a problem.
What breaks first on a Coleman tent?
Thin fiberglass poles. My Red Canyon 8’s rainfly poles snapped on the first use, and my WeatherMaster 10’s fiberglass D-door pole cracked after 4 years while its steel body poles stayed fine.
Keep going
Where to next
Keep it alive
How to Clean & Maintain a Coleman Tent
The full cleaning, drying and storage routine I use on all 14 of mine.
Every figure on this page comes from the 14 Coleman tents I bought with my own money and used.
