Despite its inexpensive price tag and overall lack of features, the coleman instant tent is a highly durable camping tent that should have no problem standing up to years of use. The bathtub floor is made of a thick, tarp-like material, and the body and mesh don’t feel in the least bit fragile. Although the seams may lack sealing of any kind, the stitching itself is free of defects and looks neat in general.
With the rain fly off, it will be difficult to maintain privacy since those mesh areas will not be covered. A family of four will fit in this tent, but it is going to be tight with only 63 sq ft of floor space and no vestibule. We fit a full and twin air mattress with a little room to spare, but that didn’t leave us much extra space for bags and storage. And with only one interior pocket, be prepared for someone to lose their keys or phone. A classic dome structure, single door, and vented roof make pitching this tent relatively easy, though we had issues with the rainfly. The floor is also cheap polyethylene material — you will basically be sleeping on a tarp — and we had some pole malfunction right out of the gate.
The sundome 4 person tent from Coleman is an excellent tent for beginners thanks to its low-cost and easy setup design. Being so reasonably priced means that the tent is also a good choice for more experienced campers looking for a new tent that won’t break the bank. The generously proportioned sleeping area has good head height to make camping comfortable and the peaked porch over the large D-door provides protection whilst entering and exiting the tent.
Even with the added privacy vent, I find ventilation for this tent to be a little less than impressive. The front and rear windows are fairly small, only covering the top portion of the tent. There is good size ventilation mesh on the ends of the tent, but once the rain cover is in place those are also covered.
The rain fly on this tent only uses one pole down the center making it easier to set up and less parts that could potentially break. All the poles that came with this tent are available as replacements at any sporting goods store that sells Coleman camping gear or online. With the and Skydome tents, you’ll be sure to stay comfortable, safe, and secure while out in the wild.
From browsing online right through to receiving, using and reviewing your camping gear – we’re with you all the way. Even after we figured in the size of the air mattress, we still had plenty of room to store our gear off to the sides plus the little bed for our dog Lily. This is a free-standing tent with the structure based on an X-shaped pole construction. Having a free-standing tent is important as it can be pitched on any ground. Now even with those cons I’ve mentioned this is still a worthy tent and I am pleased with my purchase and the tent’s performance so far.