Coleman Skydome Tent With 5 Minute Setup

Last year I decided I wanted to start camping. I had not been camping since I was a teen w/my parents decades ago. I wanted to get into the hobby cheap, but not so cheap as to ruin the experience. Just to see if I really would enjoy it or if the nostalgia would wear off fast.

I used this tent several times this year and don’t regret it one bit.

In the pros column:
* Plenty of space for a single person. I was able to fit a camping cot, my camping chair, and a 25 gallon bin (as a nightstand) in the tent with enough room to move around. It was snug, but comfortable.
* The tent held up to moderate rain on two of my trips – no water got inside. Though there was little wind to drive the rain.
* The mostly netting body with the rain fly providing privacy meant that the tent remained relatively cool. But it was still comfortable down into the mid-30s F.

And the cons:
* The provided stakes were not of the best quality and were a challenge to use in the very rocky sites I went to in the West.
* While the tent could remain cool, in direct sunlight on a desert day, it would not. The lone window on the front door meant there was little chance of a cross breeze helping matters much.
* Setting up as a solo camper did take some time – definitely not the 5 minutes as advertised. Closer to 15 minutes.
* The domed walls do cut down on the usable floor space inside the tent when not sleeping/resting directly on the ground.
* Trying to get the tent to fit into the original, machine packed bag, is an exercise in futility. I simply bought a 25 gal. tote to carry the tent, rain fly and ground tarp in.

Honestly, for a year’s worth of usage to see if I really was going to keep camping, this was the ideal tent. A lot of the negatives on the list are more due to the style of camping I intended to use vs. the style of camping the tent targets. This is more of a heavier, multi-person, backpacking tent whereas I set out to car-camp as a solo person.

I have since replaced this tent with a far more expensive, far heavier, and roomier tent for my 2nd season. But this tent fulfilled it’s purpose. It let me know camping is something I am enjoying for the hobby it is, and not the nostalgia of years past.

We have this one and the dark technology one. This one is nice becuase it does let light in so you can see better in the tent. I am 6’-1” and can stand easily in the tent . I love the extra head room. It is a quick setup that my wife and I complete in 10 minutes or less. The fooor space is large as well. Plenty of room.

I have had this tent set up for 29 days and during this time it has gone through 1 day of hard torrential rain and later about 7 days of consistent rain. During the seven day soaking spree there were two heavy nights of continuous soaking that it didn’t do so well… i had drips wake me up but the amount of water was strangely low like i was expecting a puddle the mornings after the breach but none could be found and no soaking damp sheets… Only the noise of the drip hitting the sleeping bag and the alarm of what was happening was annoying and woke me up increasing stress levels. So maybe less than a table spoon as Coleman claims for their design tests. This drip phenomenon has not happened since though the September rain continues. I am imagining for year two that I will need to reapply waterproofing and seam sealer just to be safe and enjoy the same kind of experience I have so far enjoyed for year 1.

The shorter fly is great for fair weather letting a breeze in through the three netted sides and or door window but not so perfect for the colder nights near the end of summer and fall as it is now getting colder in late September at night. Earlier in August on clear warm nights I was able to flip up the fly on one corner to look up and enjoy the stars in bed which was an experience.

The alternating seam door weather proofing feature is great for using as a cat door. I am able to zipper just passed the mid section crossover and allow only the corner of the door to stay unzipped to allow the cat to get in and out without him engineering a second cat door using his claws. (So far so good) Yet still it keeps the water out by overlapping the fabric like a shingle.

Also I trailed an electrical cable up the corner post and into the door at the same spot which might allow me to keep track of the zipper spot slightly better.

Other thoughts:
1. I placed the door facing to the direction that gets least angle of rain because there isn’t a great deal of rain protection from the arch above it from the fly. (we get most of our rain angled from the south side where i live)
2. It is nice to be able to have room to stand up in a tent.
3. The two nights with a few drops was alarming, annoying… but not a total failure. I thought it would get worse but it hasn’t happened again.
4. This tent is probably not cat proof but has managed well so far, I did put a Coleman ground rug on the tub floor to protect it from the kitty claws.
5. Cat really likes it, he spends more time resting in it during the day than I do.
6. This tent is listed as an 8 person tent but realistically would have to be sleeping low to use use the floor space properly since there is a large angle to the tent walls as with most dome tents.
7. There was a tent reviewer who gave the 6 person version of this tent a 4.6 out of 10 which he claimed was slightly below average, but an average large tent that might not have all the features of another tent can still offer a great experience for value that it costs, it is all about what you need and what you could put up with.
8. For a bit higher cost Coleman selling this exact same tent design with “Dark room technology fabric”.
9. I had a great experience with this tent over these past 29 days and appreciated the price point especially since I was worried about the kitty claws making a new door…. but it hasn’t happened yet.
10. Will have to invest in seam sealer and water resistant guard to continue the performance and have the confidence for next year weather.

Fits my queen air mattress and has lots of room to keep all our other belongings.
Set up was easy but would be much easier with a 2nd person helping.
My first time setting it up took me about 30 minutes.
Take down and packing was very fast and the carry bag expands so you can shove everything in.
I also like how the poles are pre attached so there is no guess work involved.
I bought water proofing spray which I used as most tents and very water proof out of the box so I cannot speak about the quality of factory waterproofing. We did have rain and the waterproofing I did worked well.

We use it for very light duty, kind of a playhouse for grandkids, easy to assemble, keeps the rain and sun off, or if you want lets you look at the night sky without being bothered by mosquitoes. Heck of a deal for the price.

We bought this as a tent for our children when we camp. We have a pop-up but as they get older, they want to bring friends along and this gives us extra space.
Our 12 year old can put this up on her own, so that makes it helpful. The poles remain attached. She struggles to pack it away when we are done camping, so that does require adult assistance, but I am sure that will improve over time.
There is a small piece of tarp to act as a door mat outside, but there are only two spots for pegs to hold that down, so if it is windy, it will fold in half and not do much good.