We were fortunate enough to have amazing, dry weather so we didn’t get to test it out in the rain. This tent features WeatherTec System which is supposed to keep you dry and there is no need for a rain fly. I would definitely recommend that people bring along two tarps. One in case it starts to rain since this tent does not come with a rain fly and the other tarp should be used underneath the tent before setting up the Coleman Instant Tent. The tarp beneath the tent will spare you the dusty and dirty mess we had to deal with when taking the tent down.
While many tents of this size include some form of vestibule to keep your shoes or other gear out of the tent, but also out of the elements, the Instant 6, does not. Leaks in moderate to heavy rain and tent corners break easily. If someone could make them out of metal it would be a great tent. Unlike traditional tents, the Coleman Instant Tents come with pre-attached poles which extend and snap into place, making the entire setup process a lot quicker compared to your standard tent. Of course, this is also the reason why it weighs a lot more.
Easy to set up and break down, the Coleman Instant 6-Person Cabin Tent with Rainfly allows for efficient time use on your camping trip. The ground vent allows increased ventilation perfect for those hot and humid days. For intense rain, the included rainfly offers extra protection to keep your shelter and essentials dry.
If you prefer to take your time, you’ll probably take more like 60 seconds. But wait, they must have made the rest of it waterproof to compensate, right? Coleman’s patented and much ballyhooed WeatherTec technology only uses a weather-resistant, coated polyester fabric. This means that any part of the tent not covered by the rain fly will get wet and leak in moderate to heavy or consistent rain.
During the course of camping all 6 of these joints broke and I used duct tape to hold the poles together (which was far superior to the cheap brittle plastic joints that came with the tent). The Instant Tent 6 is also lacking a couple of other features that would help it compete with several similar tents. There’s also no room divider, but this was less of a priority given the lack of coleman instant tent entryways. Our other main issue was the lack of a vestibule, which means that in the case of a sudden rainstorm, there will be no dry area to store your wet clothes before entering the tent. And although we did like the two deployable vents on the roof, you’ll want to make sure to keep those closed if the weather is at all questionable since they are liable to let rain into the tent.
This is a single skin tent featuring a Weathertec Polyester flysheet with taped seams providing 3000mm hydrostatic head waterproof protection. The polyethylene groundsheet is sewn to the flysheet to create a fully sealed unit. Coleman has a very European approach to the design of their tents as they sell to all major European countries. They place great emphasis on quality features which means that while Coleman Tents may not always be the cheapest tents, they certainly manufacture quality tents.
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 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.
To their credit, the floor of the Instant Tent is tarpaulin. Even then, it stops right at the edges and doesn’t run up the sides even a few inches to further guard against ground wetness. As long as the weather cooperates, you won’t have a problem, but if the forecast calls for much rain, you’ll want to look elsewhere for either a tent or a drier place to go camping. But the only problem is the plastic joints break and are hard to replace. I had one joint break which happened to be a corner joint and no parts were available and that they would be back orders for over a month.
But, before you can wake up to the variegated foliage on a crisp autumn morning, you need to make sure that your camping gear is up to par. Browse Coleman’s top-rated tents and shelters and more.