Another Kelty tent to have on your radar is their Tallboy 6. It’s a step up in price from the Discovery above at $230, but you do get a number of upgrades, including a lighter weight (14 lbs. 1 oz.), taller peak height (72 in.), and smaller packed size. The Kelty uses slightly higher-quality materials than the Sundome, but we find it hard to justify spending more for less space and similar overall performance. With practice, this tent could easily be put together in a little more than half that time, and this feat can definitely be accomplished by only one person. Although sleeves do make it easier for one person to erect the tent, they tend to wear out with age. The poles lock into the corners using a pin-and-ring setup.
If you’ve never been camping before but want to give it a go, looking for your first tent can be intimidating. Finding a low-cost, reliable tent with a simple design can be a challenge for newbie campers. We’ll email you once we’ve issued a store credit or a refund – typically within business days after we receive your package. After Gear.com issues a refund, it may take up to 3 additional weeks for your bank to refund your payment. Thank you for your patience as we process returns as quickly as possible.
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. I really wanted to recommend this as an affordable entry level tent. Outside of dry weather campouts in the backyard, there are better alternatives to be found. Trailspace’s community of gear reviewers has field-tested and rated the top three-season tents. 5) This style dome does have the sleeves (2) which you must walk back and slowly feed the dome poles through during set up. The Coleman sundome can be set up by one camper – even one without any experience.
Coleman tents are tested in winds up to 35 miles per hour to ensure they will stand up to mild winds. This is helped in part by the 11mm shock-corded fiberglass tent poles. They are thicker than poles designed for backpacking which are usually around 8.5mm. The Coleman sundome would have been a GREAT option for a trip I recently took.
The E-port makes it easy to bring your electronics with you by allowing space for an extension cord to enter the tent. You can also improve the durability of your tent floor by laying a tarp or a tent footprint before pitching to offer added protection. Some users also found issues with the protective polyethylene (PE) flooring being damaged within a few uses. This was not an issue we found was consistent across online reviews.
As a result, the headroom drops off dramatically if you’re standing anywhere but in the center of the tent. Most campers will find themselves hunching over when traversing much of this tent. There are four rather simple pockets lining coleman screen tent the inside of the tent, which is far from ample but still double what you’ll get from Coleman’s Instant Tent 6. There’s also a bit of ventilation thanks to a ground vent at the back that you’ll need to stake for it to remain open.
However, we did find a couple of things that piqued our interest. One thing we also found particularly interesting about this tent is the number of versions available. First off, the price on the Coleman Sundome 2 is hard to beat.
This may not seem like a big issue as your car likely will be parked nearby, but we appreciate a good vestibule and it’s an unfortunate omission here. The exclusive WeatherTec system is guaranteed to keep you dry. Inner tent has a mesh vent for increased ventilation as well as a rugged floor with inverted seams.
You can push the poles through the sleeves when doing both, it just adds time. The metal tips clipped to each corner were easy to insert into the base of the tent poles. The storage bags for the poles, stakes, and tent are all great. I like the make of the storage bag, it is zippered instead of being made like a stuff sack with a draw string. With the zipper open it is easy to fit the tent, poles and stakes back inside. This is a decent 3-season tent, it’s not great, but it’s not bad either.
Two poles run diagonally between corners to give the body of the tent it’s dome-shape. This means any camping gear or equipment has to be stored inside the main body of the tent, cutting down on space for campers to sleep. From the netting to the poles to the rainfly, many of the main components of this tent are not built to last. For example, the string that connects the pole sections together broke on our first pitch. Long story short, if you do decide to go with the Sundome, just be sure to have a pole patch kit available. Sundome® 3-Person Camping Tent – Spruce GreenMeet the Sundome® tents designed to make your next camping trip even better than before.