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Review of Coleman 14x10 Instant tent
15 years ago
General
I've been doing this long enough where I'd like to think I know a good tent when I see one, I also know what type of beating a tent can take when camping.
In short. And why I'm posting this EVERYWHERE...stay away from this tent. As to why...
Setting this tent up as everyone says is a literal breeze. First time out of the bag it took me maybe 5 minutes without even looking at the instructions. The overall design is solid when it comes to the fold out and extension of the frame. I do take issue with the diminutive nature of the buttons that are holding the poles in place and keeping them extended. WAY to shallow. I would say the buttons stick up less than 2mm. It should be at least 4 and IMHO should have something that goes through the button locking it in place so it can’t be pushed in or something. Say, as an example shaking from the polls being knocked around by wind.
The sole reason I picked up this tent was for its speed of setup. I've lost count the number of times we hunkered down under a quick setup leanto tarp and waited for a break in the rain. Then rushed to assemble the tent and see if we could get it setup before a downpour occurred. In theory this thing could be ready to roll in a couple minutes. IN THEORY. I set this tent up in the back yard and then started examining it in detail. There are so many funky designs choices that Coleman went with all to achieve that 1 minute setup time. Too many.
-The biggest glaring point IMHO is the lack of a bathtub floor. This very much WAS the deal breaker for me and why the tent is on its way back to Amazon. From the pictures I've seen it looked like it had one. And I will be honest. Coleman has a known history of using bathtubs in most if not all of their current tents. So you can understand my complete and total shock at the lack of one in this tent. Obviously it was due to allowing the material to wrap up around the central hub when packed. But whatever the justification I've seen what happens when rain occurs faster then the ground can soak it up and looking at the double folded and stitched seams along the base I simply do not trust this design. Especially in the front by the screened doors on the left side. The tape was pealing about 1" off the ground and could see light from the outside where the pinholes were exposed. Again this does not happen with the washtub design.
The difference is thinking it will be good to go at night and KNOWING. When I go to sleep at night with the wind blowing and the rain really coming down I want to be confident that at 4AM I'm not going to be using my shirts to mop up a leak. This tent I would NEVER be confident in this. Now if you have two people in this thing. Sure more then enough room to move around and stay away from a leak. But if you have 6 people in there???
-Item two are the screen doors with their zip up covers. Now in theory the back of the tent should be more protected, and the front is nothing more than a screen lounge area. However this is advertised as an 8 person tent. So I will assume that lets say 6 people are in this thing. You are smack up against that screen. For ventilation you usually have a screen mesh on top with a rainfly. Due to the design Coleman had to be creative with its design. So overlapping covers are the order of the day with this design. The covers that zip up on the front mesh do not zip all the way around the top. Instead there are keyhole loops that you secure the screen to. The problem is you get even a 15mph gust with rain and it is going to go right up and through that 2.5’ wide flap at top. It’s not that secured and if /when rain comes down that thing it will push in and allow more airflow into the tent. More than you would want if you have more than a couple people hunkered down in the back of the tent which seems more weatherproof. If you have people smacked up or near the front entrance they are going to be some seriously unhappy campers.
-There is also the fact that Coleman tried to create a flap around the base of the tent that should in theory keep water from going under the tent. IN THEORY. That is a great idea. Until you realize that it’s so wide that you could easily have yourself a trough of water that on the screened side goes right up against that stitching. Now to Coleman’s credit that stitching is taped and sealed from the inside. So in theory it should be fine. For year one. But I do not see this tent wearing well. Instead anyone getting this tent, build yourself a homemade foot print and tuck those wings under the tent.
-Next let’s take a look at the side windows. Again in the rear of the tent everything seems solid. However when you start looking at what I call the screened porch. The windows are so dang big even a slight breeze in the back yard with this thing up with causing the windows to sway. Again you get into a 20 mph gust or dare I say 30 mph gust add some rain on top of this things get interesting. The problem is the windows are so damn big. And I believe this is the sole reason why the 2011 model is 2’ shorter. I bet if we compare models the windows are smaller.
-Now let’s look at the rear of the tent. In the main sleeping room as I call it. The rear door and its zippers are well covered on the outside so I doubt there will be any problems there. Coleman was clever to have the zippers meet behind a covered section in a corner that should keep things dry. The windows are all zipped tight and have overhang so even the zippers are covered. Well done Coleman. Other than afore mentioned issues I have with the floor and not being a bathtub design I think the back area of the tent is a solid design. But that front area. I think that is the main reason why Coleman has a ceiling to floor divide between the porch and the sleeping area in the back. To keep the wind and any rain that may dribble in, out. Which is great if you have a couple people sleeping in the back. Anyone out front is going to be very unhappy.
-Next up is the top of the tent. Inspecting it you will find that the seams are well taped. And the seams are nice and tight. Does this negate the need for a rainfly? *shrugs* I depends on how careful you want to be. Again year one I doubt you are going to need it. But the concept of not having a rainfly is downright baffling. Its just not smart.
-And finally there are the stake points around the base of the tent and tie down points. 8 points. Sounds like plenty eh? The problem is on the back of the tent its off to one side about a foot and a half away from a corner stake. I spent 10 minutes looking and looking certain that there had to be a second one there. Nope. WTF?
Then you have the tie down points. Not Nearly enough and frankly there should have been one on the front screen section where the screen doors meet. There is a flap there that you grab to unzip the screen doors. This alone should tell you how flimsy the tent is when you need a patch to hang onto to unzip the tent. Its just too damn bag without enough structure support that you would normally have with internal structure polls.
In summary. If you’re sole purpose is to have a tent that goes up DANG fast, will keep you dry in mild rain showers, and has a boat load of space this is a superb tent.
However if you want a reliable tent that you know can take a beating as you go to sleep. I do not believe this instant tent is what you want. Too many compromises were made to make this thing compact and to allow it to go up instantly. My original intent was to find a tent that goes up dang fast during breaks in a storm. A friend of mine made a dang good point. Would you rather have something go up slow and maybe have to clean up the inside or goes up fast but you find yourself cleaning up a puddle at 4AM, or a collapsed pole. I’ll take the former. Don’t get me wrong. I have several friends who have Coleman tents. They are solid tents by and large. My current tent is a REI Taj 3. It’s a nice little tent and ticked butt and took names when on the radar a storm cell dropped purple on us. It held up like a champ in 40+ MPH winds. Would this thing? I do not believe so. I seriously think compromises were made to make this a large one minute tent. Now it’s very possible they resolved some of these issues in the 2011, models. But sadly I’m not going to find out. I’m going to scope out the Coleman weathermaster series next.
In short. And why I'm posting this EVERYWHERE...stay away from this tent. As to why...
Setting this tent up as everyone says is a literal breeze. First time out of the bag it took me maybe 5 minutes without even looking at the instructions. The overall design is solid when it comes to the fold out and extension of the frame. I do take issue with the diminutive nature of the buttons that are holding the poles in place and keeping them extended. WAY to shallow. I would say the buttons stick up less than 2mm. It should be at least 4 and IMHO should have something that goes through the button locking it in place so it can’t be pushed in or something. Say, as an example shaking from the polls being knocked around by wind.
The sole reason I picked up this tent was for its speed of setup. I've lost count the number of times we hunkered down under a quick setup leanto tarp and waited for a break in the rain. Then rushed to assemble the tent and see if we could get it setup before a downpour occurred. In theory this thing could be ready to roll in a couple minutes. IN THEORY. I set this tent up in the back yard and then started examining it in detail. There are so many funky designs choices that Coleman went with all to achieve that 1 minute setup time. Too many.
-The biggest glaring point IMHO is the lack of a bathtub floor. This very much WAS the deal breaker for me and why the tent is on its way back to Amazon. From the pictures I've seen it looked like it had one. And I will be honest. Coleman has a known history of using bathtubs in most if not all of their current tents. So you can understand my complete and total shock at the lack of one in this tent. Obviously it was due to allowing the material to wrap up around the central hub when packed. But whatever the justification I've seen what happens when rain occurs faster then the ground can soak it up and looking at the double folded and stitched seams along the base I simply do not trust this design. Especially in the front by the screened doors on the left side. The tape was pealing about 1" off the ground and could see light from the outside where the pinholes were exposed. Again this does not happen with the washtub design.
The difference is thinking it will be good to go at night and KNOWING. When I go to sleep at night with the wind blowing and the rain really coming down I want to be confident that at 4AM I'm not going to be using my shirts to mop up a leak. This tent I would NEVER be confident in this. Now if you have two people in this thing. Sure more then enough room to move around and stay away from a leak. But if you have 6 people in there???
-Item two are the screen doors with their zip up covers. Now in theory the back of the tent should be more protected, and the front is nothing more than a screen lounge area. However this is advertised as an 8 person tent. So I will assume that lets say 6 people are in this thing. You are smack up against that screen. For ventilation you usually have a screen mesh on top with a rainfly. Due to the design Coleman had to be creative with its design. So overlapping covers are the order of the day with this design. The covers that zip up on the front mesh do not zip all the way around the top. Instead there are keyhole loops that you secure the screen to. The problem is you get even a 15mph gust with rain and it is going to go right up and through that 2.5’ wide flap at top. It’s not that secured and if /when rain comes down that thing it will push in and allow more airflow into the tent. More than you would want if you have more than a couple people hunkered down in the back of the tent which seems more weatherproof. If you have people smacked up or near the front entrance they are going to be some seriously unhappy campers.
-There is also the fact that Coleman tried to create a flap around the base of the tent that should in theory keep water from going under the tent. IN THEORY. That is a great idea. Until you realize that it’s so wide that you could easily have yourself a trough of water that on the screened side goes right up against that stitching. Now to Coleman’s credit that stitching is taped and sealed from the inside. So in theory it should be fine. For year one. But I do not see this tent wearing well. Instead anyone getting this tent, build yourself a homemade foot print and tuck those wings under the tent.
-Next let’s take a look at the side windows. Again in the rear of the tent everything seems solid. However when you start looking at what I call the screened porch. The windows are so dang big even a slight breeze in the back yard with this thing up with causing the windows to sway. Again you get into a 20 mph gust or dare I say 30 mph gust add some rain on top of this things get interesting. The problem is the windows are so damn big. And I believe this is the sole reason why the 2011 model is 2’ shorter. I bet if we compare models the windows are smaller.
-Now let’s look at the rear of the tent. In the main sleeping room as I call it. The rear door and its zippers are well covered on the outside so I doubt there will be any problems there. Coleman was clever to have the zippers meet behind a covered section in a corner that should keep things dry. The windows are all zipped tight and have overhang so even the zippers are covered. Well done Coleman. Other than afore mentioned issues I have with the floor and not being a bathtub design I think the back area of the tent is a solid design. But that front area. I think that is the main reason why Coleman has a ceiling to floor divide between the porch and the sleeping area in the back. To keep the wind and any rain that may dribble in, out. Which is great if you have a couple people sleeping in the back. Anyone out front is going to be very unhappy.
-Next up is the top of the tent. Inspecting it you will find that the seams are well taped. And the seams are nice and tight. Does this negate the need for a rainfly? *shrugs* I depends on how careful you want to be. Again year one I doubt you are going to need it. But the concept of not having a rainfly is downright baffling. Its just not smart.
-And finally there are the stake points around the base of the tent and tie down points. 8 points. Sounds like plenty eh? The problem is on the back of the tent its off to one side about a foot and a half away from a corner stake. I spent 10 minutes looking and looking certain that there had to be a second one there. Nope. WTF?
Then you have the tie down points. Not Nearly enough and frankly there should have been one on the front screen section where the screen doors meet. There is a flap there that you grab to unzip the screen doors. This alone should tell you how flimsy the tent is when you need a patch to hang onto to unzip the tent. Its just too damn bag without enough structure support that you would normally have with internal structure polls.
In summary. If you’re sole purpose is to have a tent that goes up DANG fast, will keep you dry in mild rain showers, and has a boat load of space this is a superb tent.
However if you want a reliable tent that you know can take a beating as you go to sleep. I do not believe this instant tent is what you want. Too many compromises were made to make this thing compact and to allow it to go up instantly. My original intent was to find a tent that goes up dang fast during breaks in a storm. A friend of mine made a dang good point. Would you rather have something go up slow and maybe have to clean up the inside or goes up fast but you find yourself cleaning up a puddle at 4AM, or a collapsed pole. I’ll take the former. Don’t get me wrong. I have several friends who have Coleman tents. They are solid tents by and large. My current tent is a REI Taj 3. It’s a nice little tent and ticked butt and took names when on the radar a storm cell dropped purple on us. It held up like a champ in 40+ MPH winds. Would this thing? I do not believe so. I seriously think compromises were made to make this a large one minute tent. Now it’s very possible they resolved some of these issues in the 2011, models. But sadly I’m not going to find out. I’m going to scope out the Coleman weathermaster series next.
