While there are other, cheaper options on the market, the Coleman Skylodge is still a well-priced tent. With the 4-person model running under $250, you’ll be smart to splurge on this. You’ll spend less time figuring out complicated tent poles and more time enjoying the great outdoors. While I am a writer on Reviewed’s parenting team, I’m also an avid outdoors woman with nearly 30 years of camping experience. I own a somewhat embarrassingly large collection of tents for camping—some from my backpacking days, while some are from when I switched to family car camping.
In terms of space, this is a 6 person shelter and you will have about 184 ft² (17.1 m²). The comfort of camping is not only about space itself, but also about the internal organization due to the large number of rooms and the possibility of having them in different numbers. Last year I bought a Coleman 8 Man Instant Tent, since I usually camp coleman camping chair alone it looked like a good product. I spent three weeks going up the Arkansas river valley in Colorado from Salida to Leadville prospecting for gold. The first day I set the tent up the wind blew it over while I was setting it up, 3 “Knuckle” joints broke instantly, they are a part of the tent poles that allow the tent to “pop up”.
At only 56 sq ft, this will be tight quarters, and should the rain come, spending a full day in this tent will test everyone’s strength. The Cabin is the perfect kids’ tent, parent tent, or gear tent, but you only get to choose one. In addition to stale air, the sealed tent holds moisture in like a sponge. We awoke in the morning to a ceiling patterned with dew, the respiration-induced droplets threatening to rain down if an arm but glanced off the taut Coleman walls.
The Coleman Skylodge blew the competition away and offered not only a quick and easy one-person set up, it offered the most comfortable wilderness lodging of all the tents we tried. The Cabin has three large windows, easy access vents in the ceiling (these are accessible from inside the tent thanks to zippers in the ceiling), and two storage pockets. The only ding on the windows is that they have no ties or way to secure them once opened, so they are left to simply dangle.
A 10 cent aluminum die cast piece would be far superior to what they currently have. In other words I would get the part after I came back from camping vacation. Damn Chinese made crap needs to be re-engineered and made in the U.S. I cannot recomend this tent, the ease of putting coleman cooler the tent up stops as soon as these crucial parts break which happens almost instantly. I may just end up making my own parts out of aluminum or steel. Have used it roughly once each year and I use it by myself or with only one other person, so not under heavy repeated use.
Choose from instant tents, lighted tents, dome tents, cabin tents and more. Functionality is the number one concern, but we also have Coleman tents in a variety of cool colors. Therefore, this model is designed for camping during 4 seasons. Although this is one of the longest setups in the Coleman lineup, you will literally have your own forest fortress, which means the effort will be worth it.