With all that being said, we still highly recommend treating any Coleman tent with a proper DWR treatment as well as beefing up the seams with a brush-on seam sealer. Honestly any tent on the market will benefit from these measures, but because Coleman tents are still budget tents first and foremost, it’s an especially important step before taking your Coleman out in the wilderness. Lastly, all Weathertec tents share seamless welded corners in the floor of the shelter as well as zippers protected with a cuff of water-resistant fabric to minimize seepage. Coleman doesn’t make the flashiest, most sophisticated, or highest performance tents on the market, but few (if any) brands can beat their combination of value, quality, and customer support at this price point. If you’re gonna give your tent a name like “WeatherMaster” it better deliver on the goods. Luckily for us, the folks at Coleman hit the WeatherMaster with the full gamut of their current weatherproofing technologies, and this big ol’ 10 person shelter lives up to its name pretty darn well.
The Cabela’s can even be used for snow camping in less extreme conditions (for designs meant to withstand serious winter weather, check out our article on the best four-season tents). For most three-season trips, any premium tent should do the trick, as long as it’s been properly staked out (and if the wind picks up, take the time to align the tent and guylines to brace against the wind). One tent that’s ACTUALLY worth your money and time is the Coleman 8 Person Instant Tent.
If I were being nitpicky, I would say that there’s a little bit of light seeping in through the gap between the roof and the rainfly, and also from the bathtub flooring at the bottom of the tent. This Coleman 10-Person Instant Tent has a peak height of 73.5 inches, and I can reach the top of the tent very easily by just stretching my arm out. If you’re looking for something even bigger and sturdier, check out the Coleman Weathermaster. Its extra-large floor plan and top-notch weather resistance make for an excellent family shelter that’s sure to last for years to come.
It can be pitched in a much faster time (2 minutes), is much better constructed so it doesn’t break like the Tenaya Lake and still large enough for friends and family. She points out that, when shopping for tents, you will absolutely get what you pay for. Higher-quality tents will have seams already sealed to protect from rain. They will also have a rainfly, which helps when you experience unexpected bouts of rain. She also suggests looking for a family tent that offers good internal storage, like pockets and ceiling loops for water bottles, lanterns and the like.
A 6 person tent is perfect for 4 or 5 people, especially when you factor in the gear that you’ll need to store as well. Most larger tents don’t come with outdoor vestibules, so you’ll likely need to keep your belongings inside the tent with you. Designed with 4-sided ventilation and 3 large mesh windows, the beach tent offers excellent airflow, keeping you cool and comfortable during sunny days. The extended floor of 40 inches provides extra activity room, while the 3 curtains add privacy when needed. The water-repellent fabric design offers temporary shelter during light rain, but it’s advisable to avoid heavy rain conditions.
For pros, I found the Coleman 10-Person Instant Tent much easier to set up than regular 10-person tent, taking anywhere between 30 to 90% less time. However, I wouldn’t say that Coleman has the best instant coleman camping chair tent mechanism, at least for this tent. Sometimes, one of the elbow joints of the poles would jam and won’t prop up properly, and I’d have to fold it back up and try to prop it back up again.
In general, tents with similar sleeping capacities will have similar total floor areas (80 to 90 square feet for a six-person model). For example, the REI Wonderland 6 boasts 83.3 square feet of floor area, the Marmot Limestone 6P has 82.9 square feet, and REI’s Base Camp 6 has 84 square feet. In other words, floor area is an important spec to consider, but it doesn’t tell the whole story and should be looked at in conjunction with peak height and pole structure (outlined below) to determine overall spaciousness. The advertised setup time is a blistering 60 seconds, and we found that this was not an exaggeration—even if you start the clock with the tent still inside its travel bag. The tent is freestanding, so any additional pegging can be accomplished at your leisure (unless wind is a factor).