Another thing to consider is how flexible your camping plans typically are. If you make reservations six months in advance and stick to them, even if Hurricane Tentzilla is bearing down on you, this might not be your tent. On the other hand, if you find yourself watching the weather and altering your camping plans to avoid wet weekends in the woods, the Instant Tent will treat you right. At the time of publishing, the price started at $94. Ditto the last two reviews — the tent is great but Coleman NEEDS to re-engineer the crappy plastic corner pieces. A 10 cent aluminum die cast piece would be far superior to what they currently have.
This spacious cabin tent can fit up to two queen-size airbeds that’s perfect for a group trip or for a spacious endeavor into the wild on your own. Our main issue with the integrated rainfly is that we lose all ventilation (and views of the outside) coleman cooler when there’s risk of rain, but there is a slight solution to this. For an additional $28, Coleman offers a secondary rainfly accessory made of Polyguard 2X that straps to the top and allows you to have open vents without getting your stuff soaked.
The pre-attached poles are thicker and heavier than the poles used on a regular tent. And the fabric used on the tent is 150D, making it twice as thick as standard tent fabric. You simply unfold the tent, set the bend at the roof edge, extend the poles until the easy-to-use push buttons click, and secure the tent with pegs and guy lines.
Admittedly we were skeptical when we read the claim on the storage bag, Instant setup in 60 seconds or less. When you put the words Instant Tent in your title, you’re setting a high bar for yourself. The only variable factor in set-up time is how fast you feel like walking around the tent unfolding the poles and pulling them to their full length. The rain fly might take another couple of minutes, but it’s also a very simple set of buckles that even one person can handle with ease. If you’ve always had a more traditional tent, you’ll find yourself laughing at how quick and easy the Instant Tent 6 goes up. The Coleman Instant Tent 6 has average dimensions for a 6-person tent, at 10’x9’ (90sqft).
Is it possible to setup the tent in one minute or less? The answer is yes, it can easily be setup in the time Coleman claims but most likely on the third or fourth attempt (in our experience). But if you take into account the time it takes to setup all the ground stakes provided, you are looking at close to six minutes of total setup time in which you have a fully erected and stable tent. During our camping trip, we used the ground stakes for the base of the poles, and did not bother with the attached ropes. The Instant Tent 6 is set up pretty well for windy conditions.
If you’re already reaching for your credit card, just itching to get your hands on the Instant Tent 6, you might want to skip this section. The biggest issue we had with this tent is its severely inadequate rain fly. It really only covers the top of the tent, venturing meagerly down coleman camping chair the sides, and leaving most of the walls vulnerable to the elements. Windows or a door on all sides, pop-out vents on the top, and a ground vent in the back keep the air moving and temperatures reasonable inside the tent. One feature that is noticeably absent is a vestibule.