Although some smaller tents go for a lower price, this very affordable tent is economical for its size. And it offers some unique features that make it one of the top instant tents. Dual ground vents provide cross-ventilation and keep the air fresh inside this freestanding cabin tent, which is a must when you have eight people sleeping in an enclosed space. Six-person tents are great for family camping or for fewer people who want to store more gear. Two doors and six windows with mesh make it breezy inside, which keeps things cool and smelling fresh.
There is no need to lay out the poles, put them in pole sleeves or clip them to a frame. All you have to do is lay out the entire tent bring up the roof, extend the poles and you are done. Last year I bought a Coleman 8 Man Instant Tent, since I usually camp 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.
It’s a good idea to set the tent up in your backyard before heading out if you are going to be pitching it alone. You don’t want to get to your campsite and realize that you’re too short to attach the rainfly. While the delicate nature of the poles is understandable—it makes the tent lighter and easier to remain instant—it’s best to take extra care when handling the pre-attached poles. If you’re planning to head out in storms and torrential rain, you’ll need something that offers extra weather protection. The pocket isn’t too large but could easily house some phones, a tablet, a lunch box, glasses, a book, a torch, and some minor camping gear.
It is a three-season tent that is best suited to fair-weather camping throughout summer and in the milder months of fall and spring. Unfortunately, that seems to be the case with the Coleman Instant Cabin. Campers sometimes found themselves waking up to a damp tent when the rainfly coleman instant tent was used. It is a bit of a disappointment that this tent doesn’t come with a vestibule. Vestibules are great for storing gear or equipment outside the main body of the tent. They’re great for keeping stinky boots dry and safe without having to bring them into where you’re sleeping.
The Instant Tent 4 will no doubt find fans in car campers who hold setup convenience as a No. 1 trait. Anyone who knows tents will be disappointed in the clammy and poorly-designed Coleman camp shelter. Unzip a window and you expose the screens, which are angled toward the sky, to the rain falling down. But the walls, which are made of fabric that’s “twice as thick” as standard tent fabric, according to Coleman, make for a stuffy place to sleep.
So you do not have to stake it out, but stakes and guylines are included and do not miss doing this whenever possible. Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. We try our best to keep things fair and balanced, in order to help you make the best choice for you.
All of these perks make it one of the best instant pop-up tents on this list. And despite its feathery weight, the Ayamaya Pop-Up Tent unfolds to provide a nice spacious interior with over 106 square feet of space. With a removable coleman screen tent gear loft at the top of the tent, two storage pockets on the side, and four pouches mounted on the wall, there are plenty of places to stash belongings. There’s also quite a bit of available storage space in this tent.
Read our guides on the best tent waterproofing spray and how to waterproof a tent. Plus, the rainfly covers the whole tent instead of just the top like a typical rainfly. It also has an awning that extends over the entryway, adding further protection against the rain. And nothing ruins a camping trip quite like rain paired with a leaky tent. We’ve all had the experience of waking up in a wet sleeping bag.
They are not only easy to set up and put away but they last for years and years. I occasionally even use my instant tent as a place to store my RV camping gear when it’s raining outside. When something is easy to set up like this the usability goes up and you can find lots of little uses every day. Something more extensive, like a 10-person instant cabin tent, is easier to set up if another person is lifting from the other side. When attending a festival, I look for a slightly different set of tent features from the average instant tent for family camping trips.
And when there aren’t mosquitoes around, you can roll up the mesh doors to easily come and go. And, let me tell you, a multi-room cabin tent can feel like a luxurious palace if you’re used to small dome tents and tunnel tents. A cramped tent is no fun and this tent size provides a lot of space without getting into the complexity of a multi-room cabin tent. When set up, this tent has a tubular shape with just under a three-foot center height.