16 Pros and Cons of Pop Up Tents (From 3 Years of Testing)

Over the past 3 years, since 2019, I’ve bought, used and thoroughly tested 7 different pop up tents. They have plenty of pros. They also have a fair number of cons, and I’d rather you knew both before you spend anything.

Here’s every timing and price I recorded across the seven, in one place. The rest of this article is what those numbers actually mean.

Pop up tent	Pops open in	Full set up	Full pack up	I paid
Coleman 2-Person Pop Up Tent	0.25 min	1.5 min	1.75 min	$55
Coleman 4-Person Pop Up Tent	0.25 min	1.5 min	2 min	$80
Quechua 2 Seconds 2-Person Tent	0.5 min	2.5 min	2.5 min	$90
Fresh & Black 2-Person Tent	1 min	3 min	3 min	$100
Fresh & Black 3-Person Tent	1 min	3.5 min	3.5 min	$130
Teton 1-Person Vista Quick Tent	1.25 min	2.75 min	2.5 min	$85
Teton 2-Person Vista Quick Tent	2 min	3.5 min	3 min	$120

Part 1 of 16

Pro 1: Pops open in 15 sec

Most pop up tents open in about 15 seconds, basically the moment they leave the carry case. Take the tent out, pull the strap off, toss it away from you.

Not all of them are that quick, though. My Quechua tents take 30 seconds to 1 minute because of a few extra buckles, and my Teton Quick Tents take the longest at 1.25 to 2 minutes, because their rainfly isn’t pre-attached and I have to buckle it on myself.

Part 2 of 16

Pro 2: Full set up under 3.5 min

Every single one of mine is fully set up in under 3.5 minutes, and that includes staking down every stake loop and guying out every guyline.

My Coleman tents are quickest at 1.5 minutes, because there are only 2 guylines and 6 stake loops. The Fresh & Black 3-Person is slowest at 3.5 minutes, because it has a whopping 7 guy-out points plus 2 large vents to stake down.

General ruleThe more features a tent has, the longer it takes to set up. More guylines, stake loops and vents all cost you time.

Part 3 of 16

Pro 3: Poles pre-attached

This is the reason all of the above is possible. Nothing to thread through a pole sleeve, nothing to work out. It takes set up from the 5 to 10 minutes a regular tent wants down to 1 to 3 minutes.

There are two ways they do it. Coleman and Quechua bury the poles inside long sleeves. My Teton Quick Tents leave them visible and attach them with pole clips instead.

Part 4 of 16

Pro 4: Rainfly pre-attached

Most popular pop up tents also arrive with the rainfly already on, which saves the fiddly part of working out which way round it goes.

Not all of them, mind. My Teton Vista Quick Tents don’t, which costs about 1 minute at each end.

Part 5 of 16

Pro 5: Packs up under 3.5 min

All of mine pack away in at most 3.5 minutes. No poles to push out of sleeves, no separate pole bag, no rainfly to fold separately.

Given those timings include pulling every stake and un-staking every guyline, 1.75 to 3.5 minutes is genuinely good going.

Part 6 of 16

Pro 6: Beginner and kid friendly

I’d recommend one to any beginner or kid who wants a quick set up. No tangled poles, no snaggy sleeves, no rainfly on backwards.

There’s a real caveat though. A pop up tent can spring open into your face, and all that pole tension hurts. Always toss it away from you the moment you release the strap.

My adviceBecause that pop can be a bit dangerous around children, I’d point them at the Quechua 2 Seconds instead. There’s no scary popping action, the set up is gentler and more guided.

Part 7 of 16

Pro 7: Suits many occasions

They’re great for backyard camping, living room camping, festivals and standing in line. Over the pandemic I did a lot of the first two, and the ease of set up and take down is exactly why.

They’re also all freestanding, so you can pick one up whole and carry it to a new spot without unstaking anything.

Part 8 of 16

Pro 8: Generally affordable

Pop up tents are generally affordable, because the materials aren’t expensive. Cheap ones run $50 to $100, sometimes less. The higher quality ones go a bit past $100, and that’s the range I’d point you at.

• Cheapest of mineThe Coleman 2-Person at $55, and the Coleman 4-Person at $80. Lower quality, but they work.
• Worth the extraThe Teton 2-Person Vista Quick Tent at $120, or the Fresh & Black 3-Person at $130. Both noticeably better made.

You do get what you pay for. I found the Coleman tents a little lower quality, and the Teton and Quechua ones better but pricier.

Part 9 of 16

Con 1: Packing takes practice

Not all of them pack the same way. My higher quality tents guide you through it. The cheaper Coleman ones leave you fighting the pole tension yourself, and the first few times you’ll lose your grip and watch the whole thing spring back open.

It took me about 5 goes to get the hang of the Colemans, and because I was kneeling on the poles to stop them popping back, I ended up with a bruised knee.

It does get easy once it clicks. Just don’t expect that to happen on your first try.

Part 10 of 16

Con 2: Extremely bulky

This is the biggest problem with pop up tents. The poles stay in, and there’s a limit to how far they bend, so the packed size is enormous.

Most of them pack into big circles too, which is awkward to store at home and might not even fit in the trunk of a small car. My Teton Quick Tents are the exception, packing rectangular and much more sensibly.

Part 11 of 16

Con 3: No good for backpacking

They’re simply too big. Most are too large to strap to the outside of a pack, let alone fit inside one.

You might manage a short trip with a Teton Vista Quick Tent strapped to the outside, but honestly I’d just get a backpacking tent, or even a regular camping tent that actually fits in the pack.

Part 12 of 16

Con 4: Rainfly not always removable

The flip side of Pro 4. If the rainfly is fixed and the tent doesn’t have enough vents, you get condensation.

That’s exactly what happened with my regular Quechua 2 Seconds. Full-coverage rainfly, effectively impossible to remove, and no vents beyond one tiny rear one that I doubt did anything. The air was always staler inside than out, and there was condensation most mornings.

My adviceThe fix is to buy the Fresh & Black version instead. It has 2 large side vents you can leave open overnight and even in the rain, and I had no condensation issues in it at all.

Part 13 of 16

Con 5: Nothing above 4-person

The largest I own is the Coleman 4-Person, and it isn’t really a 4-person tent. I could fit 3 sleeping pads in it, not 4.

If you need something biggerLook at instant tents rather than pop up tents. They also have pre-attached poles, but you telescope them up instead of letting the tent spring open, and that lets them come in much larger capacities.

Part 14 of 16

Con 6: Not sturdy in wind

All 7 of mine use fiberglass poles, because fiberglass is flexible and that flexibility is what lets the tent fold back into its case at all.

The problem is that the same flexibility lets the poles bend and twist in strong wind. No number of guy-out points changes that, because the material itself is the limit.

Part 15 of 16

Con 7: Thinner poles

On top of being fiberglass, the poles are also thin, because thinner means more flexible.

That thinness is what lets me bend the whole tent back into its bag. It also means the poles won’t last as long as thicker ones, which leads straight into the last con.

Part 16 of 16

Con 8: Shorter lifespan

Pop up tents don’t last as long as regular tents, for three reasons that all compound:

• Thin fiberglass polesChosen for flexibility, not strength.
• Constant tensionThe poles are under load the entire time the tent is folded, not just when it is up.
• No replacementsIf a pole goes, you buy a new tent. There are no replacement poles for pop up tents.

A regular tent may also use fiberglass, but the poles are thicker, they aren’t held under tension in storage, and if one breaks you can ask the manufacturer for a replacement.

So, worth it?

The verdict

Despite all eight cons, I’d still recommend a pop up tent if the ease of set up and take down is what you’re after, and especially if you’re a beginner or your kids want one of their own.

With proper care, and without asking it to survive weather it was never built for, a pop up tent should give you a few years of light use. That’s exactly what mine have done.

Common questions

Pop up tent FAQs

Are pop up tents worth it?

If set up speed is what you care about, yes. All 7 of mine are fully pitched in under 3.5 minutes including stakes and guylines. If you need wind resistance, a small packed size or more than 4-person capacity, buy a regular tent.

Are pop up tents easy to set up and fold up?

Setting up is genuinely easy, about 15 seconds to pop open. Folding takes practice: it took me around 5 attempts on my Coleman tents before it clicked, and I bruised a knee learning.

How long do pop up tents last?

A few years of light use. The thin fiberglass poles sit under tension permanently and can’t be replaced, so a broken pole usually means a new tent.

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Every timing, measurement and price here is from my own tents, bought with my own money. Nothing on this page is sponsored.