That been said campers love this tent and the larger versions, and seem quite happy to pay extra for the convenience it offers. Both are sold without a rain fly, which you will need to purchase. To test the family-size tents, we planned a series of weekend camping trips with a total of 12 California families, all with kids between the ages of 9 months and 9 years.
On the other hand, Coleman has them many, and they launch new models very frequently. Personally, having camped through some pretty nasty rain storms, a full rainfly is extremely important to me. Likewise, a covered vestibule coleman sleeping bags area before entering my tent is valuable to dry off before entering. Coleman has purpose-built a tent testing facility where they can simulate all sorts of weather conditions in a controlled and repeatable environment.
The best-selling Coleman Sundome 6-Person Tent has a footprint similar to that of our top-pick tent for families, but it feels significantly smaller because it has a dome-style rather than cabin-style design. Nevertheless, it still comfortably accommodates four, and it’s a roomy choice for two. This no-nonsense, single-door tent is intuitive to set up, has sufficient windows, includes a partial rain fly that’s easy to put on and stake out, and is cheery-feeling inside and out.
The reason is that they build them separately for the EU market and for the US market. So the former are huge and they typically can accommodate far more than 6 people. The Mineral King 3 and the Tungsten 4 have similar tent-body profiles and are nearly identical in setup, except that the Tungsten 4 uses two brow poles instead of one to support its fly. Like the Mineral King 3, the Tungsten is a largely mesh dome tent coleman tents with a tape-seamed polyester bathtub floor, which is highly water resistant. Neither tent experienced any ground leaks during testing, either under rainy conditions or when we soaked the tents and the ground underneath them with a garden hose. Beyond their general size, the tents in our test group were very different from one another, with a wide array of pole configurations and window, door, and roof designs.
So, to keep the overall cost down, Coleman tents are usually supplied with these type of tent poles. If you expect a tent to be waterproof but doesn’t have taped seems, a high waterproof rating, or a full coverage rainfly, it’s going to leak. The massive tent was able to house our mountain bikes, riding gear, camping equipment, and sleeping area comfortably. Surprisingly, the tent was able to weather a bit of rain and wind gusts with zero issues.
The first was an early February trip to Indian Cove Campground, in Joshua Tree National Park, where daytime temperatures in the high 70s plunged to the mid-30s at night. (A later check of the weather at nearby Point Mugu Naval Air Station confirmed that the recorded winds had topped 40 miles per hour.) A third trip brought us to Wheeler Gorge Campground, outside coleman tents Ojai, California, in April 2016. A year later, in early April 2017, we took another group trip to Point Mugu, in an effort to evaluate three additional family tents. Families who regularly pitch their tent in rainy locales need a wind-fighting tent with a good-size vestibule for storing wet shoes and gear, as well as a full rain fly for added weather protection.