You shouldn’t expect this tent to last forever – after all, it’s a low-cost option. But there are some nifty extra features to help extend the life of this high-value tent. Investing in some waterproofing sealer is DEFINITELY a good idea – not even just for this model, but lower budget tents in general. However heavy rain in bad weather might cause the tent to leak. Although there might not be much extra space for fitting bigger families in, for a couple and one child this tent would be a great starter tent. The biggest drawback was that it leaked in the corners when we water tested.
The can be set up by one camper – even one without any experience. As always though – we recommend you practice setting the tent up at home before you head out on your trip. It helps you feel more confident in your ability and will speed things up considerably. Whilst the tent does come with two storage pockets (which is an improvement on the smaller models), there is still no vestibule with the Sundome.
In practice, we almost always recommend sizing up your tent, and we think the Sundome 6 work bests with groups of three to four people. Coleman also offers the Sundome 4, which we think is ideal for two campers and a dog. Regarding weight and packability – the coleman instant tent is more lightweight than the Skydome tent. The Sundome weighs 7.4 pounds, while the Skydome weighs 12.2 pounds.
It should have 4 structural guy out loops about half way up the rainfly, 1 loop on each pole. Of course if I were to replace the fiberglass poles with aluminum poles this would strengthen the structure considerably. My one complaint in this area is the flimsy fiberglass tent poles.
So if you are car camping, you will appreciate the packability. However, you will want to go for the lighter option for backpacking. Weight is essential if you carry other gear, such as trekking poles, camping mats and pads, and camping stoves. If you are camping with your SUV, you’ll have fewer worries about the weight. For SUV campers, look at our guide to SUV tents and awnings. The Coleman Sundome and Skydome tent offers excellent durability.
For any exclusions you will be contacted for additional shipping. To save a bit more time with set up and pack down, you could also consider the Pop-Up tents. I really wanted to recommend this as an affordable entry level tent. Outside of dry weather campouts in the backyard, there are better alternatives to be found.
Keep in mind that as you size down in capacity, you do lose a significant amount of headroom. The Sundome 2, for example, has a maximum peak height of just 4 feet compared to 6 on the Sundome 6, and that’s a very significant difference. As with most budget-oriented products, there are bound to be shortcomings, and the Sundome 6 is very limited in terms of storage.