Coleman 4-Person Sundome Tent, Palm Green

This is our first camping experience and glad we got the Coleman sundome 4 person tent. It was very easy to setup, spacious for a family of 3. It had good ventilation and comfortable base.

This Coleman 4 person tent kept us warm and dry on our camping trip this Memorial Day weekend. This was my very first time setting up a tent and camping out with 2 kids and 2 dogs in tow, and it took me just 15 minutes to set up the tent.

Set up took 15 minutes from start to finish for a tent newbie like me with some help from one kid. Based on forum advice I got some tent pegs that were easy to drive into the ground so I did not use the ones that come with the tent, so I had a very easy time setting it up. The poles were already connected by a string and I had to thread them through and clip them on with the attached clips. I also got a heavy duty tarp for the bottom of the tent based on advice on some reviews posted here. I had to fold it slightly to make sure it stayed under the tent. then once the tent was all straightened out I drove in the pegs into the ground. The rain fly was easy to install too and the included cords helps make sure the rain fly is stretched out away from the vents.

The 4 person tent is 9ft by 7ft and it fitted an Intex Queen Mattress that I inflated in 15 min with a handpump. There was a little room on all sides of the tent after fitting in the mattress. If you push it to one side then there was place for one small person. We had 1 adult and 2 teenagers in the tent and our 75 lb lab and we were pretty comfortable with room to turn while sleeping. There was not really room for more than one small duffel bag after packing in 3 people and a dog, so if you’re using this as a backpacking tent and plan to store your gear you can only fit in 2 people. I was glad that I had got this size compared to the 3 person tent (7ft X 7 ft) as it would have only fitted in a queen mattress and no more, and we ended up needing more room. I think the 4 person is a great size for 2 people to sleep in comfortably and have a bit more room to bring in a kid if needed.

I had carried a seam sealer but reviews advised not to use it as the tent remains dry. There was no rain that night, just a little moisture in the air. The tent is very well ventilated so it got cold and airy in the tent in the night. Next time I may carry something to cover the vent on one side or maybe a warmer sleeping bag as the night got colder than we had anticipated. This would be a great tent for warmer summer evenings.

The white walls of the tent reflect light well and there are 2 pockets on the side where you can put a flashlight facing upward to illuminate the whole tent. Another feature I liked was that the bottom of the tent comes up all around about 4 inches which helps keep dirt and water out. It’s also advisable to pitch the tent on higher ground slightly sloping downwards so that the water flows downward away from you.

The pull down was just as easy as the put up. It was easy to bring down and fold up the poles. However, I could not fit it back inside the bag. How did they manage to fit it inside that tiny bag in the first place is a mystery. I put the pegs, poles and my extra tarp inside and will find another bag for the tent itself.

Now that I’ve learned that’s it’s not too hard to set up a tent, I plan to go camping more often with this Coleman Sundome tent.

Update 7/9/2015 –
The 4 person tent held up well and has been put up and taken down about 5-6 times already. It takes just 15 minutes to set up and is very comfortable in 45 degrees plus weather with a warm sleeping bag. For colder temperatures, I wouldn’t recommend this tent. It’s very airy and the 2 side windows that zip down made it comfortable even in 70 degree weather. For even warmer days you can leave the rain fly off if there is no chance of rain. I figured out finally how to roll it back tightly so it fits back inside the bag with all accessories. You just need to make sure you have the door and window unzipped so you can let all the air out and then it rolls up tight.

I also purchased the Coleman 3 person tent, it is about 7 ft by 7 ft inside and just about fits an Intex Queen size air mattress. On a recent camping trip the 3 person tent worked for 2 teenagers and a dog inside the tent. It is a compact tent for 2 people, you can fit in 2 adults but there won’t be any room for bags. It’s not the lightest tent I’ve seen, but it’s fairly small and fits back easily into the bag it comes in. We set up this one about 4 times and took it down in different camping grounds. The pegs did not hold up well in hard ground but I’d purchased a set of better pegs from Amazon.

I am really pleased with both the tents and will be using them for many more camping trips.

Update 9/29/16 – This tent is still going strong, I had my daughter put it up by herself and took a time lapse video. With a little help, it’s even easier to put up, but she wanted to demonstrate putting it up with no help. It took her about 20 minutes, if there is someone to hold and align the poles it takes less time. It rained for hours in the night and the next day on our last day – this was a trip to Glacier National Park. We were both warm and dry in our 4 person and 3 person tent and it was kind of fun to hear the rain beat hard against the tent. I had not applied any seam glue to either of the tents, but might do so in the future. Unfortunately, on a subsequent trip in late fall, the tent pole snapped as the person setting it up with my daughter did not have much experience and went too hard. I now have to figure out how to get a replacement pole.

This tent saved my boyfriend and I on a camping trip that went completely awry. For info, this was the first time for both of us camping on our own, first time using this tent, and we camped in June at Bennett Spring, MO for 3 nights. It is very compact for travel (2 1/2′ x 5″), and I was able to get it back in the bag upon take down. Setting the first time took about 15-20 minutes, take down less than 10. I was surprised to find such a cheap tent with Coleman’s name on it, and it was worth every penny.

I’ll start with the not so great things. First and foremost, the style of the tent has the corners pulled SO taught when it is set that there are teeny tiny needle point-sized holes in the corners. It lets in nothing but rain, but even then it’s not that much. I’ll touch on that when I get to the good things. Also, the zipper protector is completely necessary and helpful, it can just be a huge pain because it gets snagged and caught in the zipper a lot. I was able to stand up almost completely in the center of the tent (I’m a little more than 5′) but my boyfriend could not. We did not use an air mattress, but there was plenty of room still with the pool floaties we slept on, a huge sterilite container, our box fan, and more. Speaking of our box fan, the weather was complete garbage on our trip. It was HOT; the heat index got up to 110. This tent has tons of ventilation- even a little vent in the bottom on the back. We definitely needed the box fan any time we spent more than 2-3 minutes in the tent, and it was going all night. One of the nights did get down to 60, and I was shivering. So it’s safe to say that this is not a flaw of the tent, just more of a tip for fellow campers. When it’s hot, it’s hot!

I will now begin raving about this tent. Our first night, we got severe thunderstorms and torrential downpour for almost eight hours straight. We stayed completely dry!! I was convinced that it was going to leak or at least start seeping through the walls eventually, but it didn’t! Some water did get through the aforementioned corners, but I was able to use a hand towel to dry it up and the towel was still mostly dry. Very impressive. The next day, the tent had a few hours to dry in the sun before more severe weather came through. After the previous night, we didn’t want to be around for it, so we left camp for the afternoon. More torrential downpour, this time tornadic weather, so there was a LOT of very strong winds. In all seriousness, this storm literally took down a tree and several branches on the campground campus, but not our tent!!! Out of 7 steaks, all but one was torn out of the ground, and the tent had been shoved forward about 1 foot and was leaning about 65 degrees forward. The tent was easy to set up (we did do a full trial run before leaving), but the very rocky Missouri soil made it extremely difficult to get the steaks in well at the campsite. The one steak that was in the ground still was the one we were actually able to get in well, so I can’t say if the steaks were ripped out strictly because of wind, or if they were set more poorly than we thought. I would still recommend different, stronger steaks, because the ones that come with are flimsy. I purchased 4 MSR Groundhog steaks that we used on our tarp underneath and they were unphased by the storms. Needless to say, all our stuff inside was safe and dry!!!!!! The corners did their infamous leak again, but I dried it up just the same as last time (and then we reset the tent in the dark by flashlight!). No poles broken, nothing ripped, no leaks that weren’t the corners. I will add that we used those interlocking foam mats on the floor of our tent to make it a little more comfy, and upon pulling them up when we were leaving, there was moisture that we are assuming was from the corners, but don’t know for sure. We were on a very slight downhill, and the moisture was only under a small portion of the front three mats. Thinking it was just the water from the corners rolling forward. Everything else was fine and dry.

I have photos of it set, but have to post them later. I am including a video of the storm from inside during the first night. I know that being in a tent amplifies how rain sounds, but it was truly as bad as it sounds in the video.

Edit to add: we did no waterproofing on our tent.