Pop up tents · The basics
What Is a Pop Up Tent? (I’ve Bought 7 of Them)
A tent with its poles permanently threaded through it, folded under tension, so it springs into shape the second you unclip the strap.
- 7 pop up tents tested
- 15 seconds to pop open
- $0 sponsored
- ~6 min read
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The short answer
A tent under spring tension
The poles never come out. They stay bent inside the fabric until you let them go.
How that works ↓15 seconds to pop, 1.5 minutes staked
That’s my Coleman 4-Person. My slowest of the seven still only takes 3.5 minutes.
See all 7 timings ↓Bulk and thin poles
My Coleman 2-Person packs to 2,523 in³, more than twice its Sundome equivalent.
Vs a regular tent ↓I started camping with regular tents over a decade ago. Then, 4 years ago, I discovered pop up tents, and I’ve bought 7 of them since. Here’s everything I’ve learned about how they work and who they actually suit.
Part 1 of 8
What a pop up tent actually is
A pop up tent literally pops open the moment you take it out of the carry case. It’s fully set up, freestanding and functional in about 15 seconds, with no poles to thread and no rainfly to get the wrong way round.
The trick is in the poles. They’re thin fiberglass, and unlike a regular tent’s they never come out. They stay threaded through the tent and get bent right round when you fold it, which stores a lot of tension. An elastic strap across the tent is the only thing holding all that back.
Release the strap and the stored tension does the rest. Camping pop up tents come in a small range of capacities, and the ones I’ve tested run from 1-person to 4-person. There are non-camping ones too, like privacy tents, beach shelters and event canopies, but those are much less heavy duty.
Part 2 of 8
Setting one up, and folding it back down
Unzip the carry bag, take the tent out, pull the strap off and immediately toss the whole thing away from you. That last part matters, because you don’t want it popping open in your face.
Then you just stand there for 5 to 10 seconds while it opens itself.
Worth knowingStaking and guying the Coleman 4-Person out fully adds 1 minute 15 seconds. It has 6 stake loops and 2 pre-attached guylines.
When you actually need the pegs
You don’t always need to peg a pop up tent down. In a gentle breeze of 8 to 12 mph it’ll usually stay put on its own, though pegging it is never a bad idea. Once the wind picks up to a moderate 13 to 18 mph, or a strong 25 to 31 mph, the pegs and guylines aren’t optional anymore.
If the ground won’t take a peg, or you’ve forgotten yours at home, you can still anchor the tent by tying the guylines off to trees, large rocks, logs or sandbags.
Folding it back down
Take the stakes out and unzip the door first, so the air has somewhere to go. Then fold the poles together until the tent looks like a taco.
Stand the taco on one end, grip the middle, reach out to the tip and fold it down towards you while kneeling on the folded end. The rest of the poles form smaller circles, and you push those together until you’re back to one circle.
I’ll be honest, this took me about 5 tries to get the hang of. Once it clicked it became easy every single time, but don’t expect to nail it on your first go in a campground.
How long all 7 of mine actually take
I timed every one of my pop up tents, popping open and packing away, both on their own and with the full staking and guying:
| Pop up tent | Pop up | Full set up | Pack up | Full pack up | I paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coleman 2-Person Pop Up Tent | 0.25 min | 1.5 min | 1 min | 1.75 min | $55 |
| Coleman 4-Person Pop Up Tent | 0.25 min | 1.5 min | 1.25 min | 2 min | $80 |
| Quechua 2 Seconds 2-Person Tent | 0.5 min | 2.5 min | 2 min | 2.5 min | $90 |
| Fresh & Black 2-Person Tent | 1 min | 3 min | 2.5 min | 3 min | $100 |
| Fresh & Black 3-Person Tent | 1 min | 3.5 min | 3 min | 3.5 min | $130 |
| Teton 1-Person Vista Quick Tent | 1.25 min | 2.75 min | 2 min | 2.5 min | $85 |
| Teton 2-Person Vista Quick Tent | 2 min | 3.5 min | 2.5 min | 3 min | $120 |
1.5 minis what my quickest tent, the Coleman 4-Person, takes to fully set up including stakes and guylines.
Part 3 of 8
What they’re made of, and what comes pre-attached
Pop up tents are made from the same materials as regular tents, they’re just thinner. The poles are always fiberglass, because it’s the only material flexible enough to be twisted and folded up. The body and rainfly are polyester with a waterproof coating, and the floor is either polyester or polyethylene.
The thickness of the polyester is given as a Denier rating, and the higher the number, the tougher the fabric. Here’s how my own tents compare:
- Teton Vista Quick Tents75D polyester taffeta.
- Coleman Pop Up Tents68D polyester.
The other thing that defines a pop up tent is how much of it is already attached when you take it out of the bag. Not all of my seven have all of it:
| Pop up tent | Poles | Rainfly | Guylines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teton 1-Person Vista Quick Tent | Yes | No | Yes |
| Teton 2-Person Vista Quick Tent | Yes | No | Yes |
| Quechua 2 Seconds 2-Person Tent | Yes | Yes | No |
| Fresh & Black 2-Person Tent | Yes | Yes | No |
| Fresh & Black 3-Person Tent | Yes | Yes | No |
| Coleman 2-Person Pop Up Tent | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Coleman 4-Person Pop Up Tent | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Pre-attached poles
This is the one feature that isn’t optional. If a tent doesn’t have pre-attached poles, it isn’t a pop up tent. They’re attached one of two ways: hidden inside long pole sleeves, like my Coleman and Quechua tents, or clipped on with pole clips, like my Teton Vista Quick Tents.
Either way it takes set up down from the 5 to 10 minutes a regular tent wants to 1 to 3 minutes.
Pre-attached rainfly
Most popular pop up tents come with the rainfly already on, so there’s nothing to orient when setting up and nothing to remove when packing away. My Quechua tents are a good example. The white outer covering is attached from the moment it leaves the bag.
My Teton Vista Quick Tents are the exception. Their rainfly is separate, which costs about 1 minute at each end, though the corner buckles make it painless.
Pre-attached guylines and tensioners
This one puzzles me a little, because the 2 Seconds tents I bought from Decathlon don’t have them. The guylines come rolled up in a pocket of the carry case instead. Tying them on takes one knot on your first set up, and you can leave them on afterwards.
Guylines usually carry a tensioner partway along. Don’t run it too tight or it damages the tent, and don’t leave it too loose or it won’t hold anything.
Part 4 of 8
What separates a good pop up tent from a bad one
Past the pre-attached features, three things decide whether I actually enjoy using one.
Vestibule
- + Somewhere to leave wet or dirty footwear outside the sleeping area.
- + Only my Teton Vista Quick Tents have them: 1 on the 1-Person, 2 on the 2-Person.
- − None of my Coleman or Quechua pop up tents have one.
Removable rainfly
- + Far more ventilation, so less condensation overnight.
- + You can stargaze through the mesh.
- − My Quechua tents have full-coverage flies that don’t come off.
Rectangular packed size
- + Easier to sling over a shoulder and to store at home.
- + Generally smaller than the circular ones.
- − The circular Coleman packs are bulky and awkward in a car.
The rainfly point isn’t theoretical. I slept in my regular Quechua 2 Seconds with the door shut and it was stuffy all night, and there were a few drops of condensation on the roof in the morning.
My adviceIf you only check one thing before buying, make it the rainfly. A removable one fixes ventilation, condensation and the view in a single feature.
Part 5 of 8
What they cost, and where I bought mine
My 7 pop up tents cost me between $55 and $130 each. Capacity and quality are what move the price. You’ll find them on Amazon, Walmart and Decathlon rather than REI or Backcountry, because they aren’t top-of-the-line gear.
- On a budgetThe Coleman 2-Person or 4-Person Pop Up Tent. I prefer the 4-person version.
- Spending a bit moreThe Quechua 2 Seconds Fresh & Black, or my favorite of the seven, the Teton 2-Person Vista Quick Tent.
- Worth a lookThe Quechua 2 Seconds Easy Tent, which I don’t own yet but which is a big improvement on the existing 2 Seconds.
One to know aboutThe Quechua 2 Seconds 2-Person in my timings table is discontinued, so there’s nothing to click for that one. Its test figures stay because they still tell you how that generation performed.
Part 6 of 8
Who pop up tents are actually for
They aren’t for everyone. Take one mountaineering and the wind will shred it. But there are four groups I’d happily recommend one to.
- Anyone who hates fiddly set upEspecially beginners. No tangled poles, no snaggy sleeves, no rainfly on backwards.
- Backyard campersLess wind than a campground, which suits them, and you aren’t carrying the bulk far.
- Indoor campersUp in seconds. Just keep the more aggressive poppers away from anything breakable.
- Festival and event go-ersThey’re freestanding, so you can lift one whole and move it when you need to shift spot.
Part 7 of 8
How they compare to regular and instant tents
I compared like with like here, Coleman against Coleman, so the brand isn’t doing anything to the numbers. The Sundome is the regular tent.
| Tent | Full set up | Full pack up |
|---|---|---|
| Coleman Pop Up 2-Person | 1.5 min | 1.75 min |
| Coleman Pop Up 4-Person | 1.5 min | 2 min |
| Coleman Sundome 2-Person | 5.5 min | 5 min |
| Coleman Sundome 4-Person | 9 min | 8 min |
What you pay for that speed is bulk. The poles can’t come out, so there’s a hard limit on how small the thing will fold.
| Tent | Packed size | Packed volume |
|---|---|---|
| Coleman Sundome 2-Person | 23 x 8.5 x 6 in | 1,173 in³ |
| Coleman Pop Up 2-Person | 29 x 29 x 3 in | 2,523 in³ |
Durability is the other trade. Pop up poles are always fiberglass and always thin, because they have to fold. Regular tent poles are far thicker even when they’re also fiberglass.
And instant tents aren’t the same thing
All pop up tents are instant tents, but not all instant tents are pop up tents. Two things separate them: an instant tent has no pop up motion, so you lay it flat and extend telescoping poles until they click, and its poles are usually thick steel rather than thin fiberglass, which makes it a lot sturdier.
Part 8 of 8
Can you actually camp in one?
Yes, as long as it’s sold as a camping tent by a brand that makes outdoor gear. For camping I’d stick to Coleman, Teton and Quechua.
In the rain
Better than you’d think. My Quechua 2 Seconds tents are the most waterproof I own, pop up or not. I used the regular one through 3 days of afternoon thunderstorms, roughly 3 hours of rain a day.
It came through almost completely dry. The only water was a few drops at a back corner seam, and that was the factory seam tape degrading with age rather than the tent design. Re-sealing it would have fixed it.
- Flysheet2,000 mm rated PU-coated polyester.
- RainflyFull coverage.
- Groundsheet120 g/sqm polyethylene, bathtub shaped.
- SeamsThermobonded and taped.
In strong wind
This is where pop up tents are weakest, and it comes straight back to those thin fiberglass poles. They flex and bow in a way a regular tent’s don’t.
That said, if you fully stake down and guy out the whole tent, it’ll handle strong breezes of up to 30 mph. The best of mine for wind is the Quechua 2 Seconds, which has 4 stake loops and 7 guy-out points, and is factory tested to 30 mph. None of my others have that many guylines.
The bottom line
A pop up tent buys you a 15-second set up and costs you bulk and pole strength. If that trade suits you, my pick of the seven is the Teton 2-Person Vista Quick Tent. It’s up and down in about 3 minutes, with the vestibules and removable rainfly the others don’t have.
Common questions
Pop up tent FAQs
How long does a pop up tent take to set up?
About 15 seconds to pop open. Adding stakes and guylines takes my quickest, the Coleman 4-Person, to 1.5 minutes and my slowest to 3.5 minutes.
Do pop up tents need pegs?
Not in a gentle breeze of 8 to 12 mph, though it never hurts. At a moderate 13 to 18 mph or a strong 25 to 31 mph they aren’t optional. No ground for pegs? Tie the guylines to trees, rocks, logs or sandbags.
Are pop up tents waterproof?
The good ones are. My Quechua 2 Seconds has a 2,000 mm PU-coated flysheet, a full-coverage rainfly, bathtub polyethylene flooring and taped seams, and it stayed dry through 3 days of thunderstorms.
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All timings, measurements and prices here are from my own tents, bought with my own money. Nothing on this page is sponsored.
