Do you have a similar tent and would you like to share your experience with us? But when you pick up the Sundome for ONE THIRD the price of the slightly larger Tetragon 9, you can put up with a lot of little bothers.
Coleman tents are tested in winds up to 35 miles per hour to ensure they will stand up to mild winds. This is helped in part by the 11mm shock-corded fiberglass tent poles. They are thicker than poles designed for backpacking which are usually around 8.5mm. I’m a lifelong camper — I practically lived in forts when I was a kid — and these days, I spend more time tent camping than ever since I test gear for Kampgrounds of America. And because I’m no longer a kid who has all the time in the world, I appreciate a tent I can construct in 10 minutes or less. My standards for what constitutes a good night’s sleep have also skyrocketed, and of the many tents I’ve tried, I keep coming back to my trusty coleman screen tent Camping Tent.
The carry bag boasts a ten-minute setup, but it only took me a little over eight. The rain fly on this tent only uses one pole down the center making it easier to set up and less parts that could potentially break. All the poles that came with this tent are available as replacements at any sporting goods store that sells Coleman camping gear or online. I bought this tent for “just in case” events and also for the infrequent times we go camping. I was thinking about a two-person tent for my wife and I, but after reading a ton of reviews, decided something bigger was the better decision. Reading back through this review, I seem to view the tent in a negative light.
The dark fabric also helps keep the tent cooler, which is a nice plus in the hot summer months. Cost-wise, the Dark Room will set you back approximately $30 more (depending on current sale prices) compared with the regular Sundome. With a double-wall design and generous use of mesh on two sides and the ceiling, the Coleman Sundome 6 offers very good ventilation. Adding to the breezy feel is its partial rainfly, which when guyed out allows for a significant amount of airflow on warm summer nights. You also get a zippered mesh door and back wall along with a floor vent located at the back of the tent. We had mixed feelings about the overall durability of this tent.
I also don’t use the supplied stakes; I have those good nail spikes with the orange top. Another con in my opinion would be the lack of structural guy outs. There is one guy out loop sewn into the bottom seam of the rainfly on each side for a total of two that are really used to hold the rainfly out over the mesh panel.
This was not an issue we found was consistent across online reviews. However, the Sundome doesn’t come with Coleman’s Dark Room Technology like some other Coleman tents which would make this dome-shaped tent even better in the summer. The center height reaches 4’11” which might be too small for some campers. We’ve looked at every size of this tent in detail as well as some other popular tents from Coleman to give you as well-rounded an analysis as possible. But before you buy anything, I highly recommend that you read this blog post where I compare not just the Sundome Tent, but also the Skydome Tent, against more than 10 other Coleman tents. After I opened the door, the water on the roof of the tent just dripped right into the tent when the door is open, which is kind of silly.
The use of weaker materials like cheap plastic clips, elastic connection points, fiberglass poles, and the tarp floor is where the Sundome could fail after harsh use. A classic dome structure, single door, and vented roof make pitching this tent relatively easy, though we had issues with the rainfly. The floor is also cheap polyethylene material — you will basically be sleeping on a tarp — and we had some pole malfunction right out of the gate. However, coming in at 9.8 lbs with 63 sq ft of tent space, a family of four can certainly make due. The coleman instant tent is a basic dome tent, not intended for camping in extreme weather conditions.
For carrying, the included rectangular bag for the Sundome is simple in nature, but the full-length zipper and well-placed handles get the job done. We would have loved to see internal dividers like those found on the REI Kingdom bags, but those likely would have raised the price of the Coleman. However, like the Sundome the mesh windows in this tent mean that without the rain fly on, users lose all sense of privacy. The floor is also best used with a footprint or trap underneath to make sure it isn’t damaged. The fiberglass poles’ sleek design means they are less likely to catch on the sleeve during setup and breakdown, which makes this a frustration-free setup. Because of the basic setup, you also won’t have to struggle with poles or the rainfly in the hot sun for long stretches of time.