Can it really fit 4 people? Let's find out...queue in the music! "The Coleman Sundome 4-person tent". This highly-rated tent by Coleman measures in at 9 feet wide by 7 feet deep with a ceiling height of just under 5 feet. It comes with a detachable rainfly, 3 poles and 10 stakes for securing things down. Everything is stored in this handy dandy carrying case and as far as price, I purchased this from Amazon for $60 as of February 2016.
All right, let's unbox and lay everything out. Oh look, instructions...and it says "Enlist the help of at least one other person to assist you when it is time to assemble the tent". Hahaha...nonsense. I will do this by myself Mr Instructions. Anyway, here we have the tent, the rainfly, poles, stakes and a welcome mat (that comes with the tent by the way). Make sure you lay the tent down on a flat surface with the door facing in the desired direction. We start off by assembling the poles, as you can see they are held together by elastic bands (pretty cool). Just pull a section straight out then fit it together going down the line until the entire pole is assembled. Next, push one pole through one of the sleeves on the top of the tent then do the same for the other side.
On each corner of the tent, there are pins that the poles will slide into. Start off with one side of one pole, then to the other side, then do the same on the last pole. As you do this, make sure to stretch the sleeves on top so that they don't get bunched up. The tent finally takes shape by snapping a total of 8 hooks to the poles (2 per corner). For the rainfly, flip it upside down then slide one end of the pole into its pocket. Secure it with the attached velcro tab then repeat the procedure on the other side. Next, drape it over the top of the tent with the pole facing front to back. Secure it down by hooking all 4 corners to a metal ring on all corners of the tent. That's it! Now, let's talk about features. Wait...did you say ventilation? Why yes, this tent has mesh panels all over. The top half of the left and right side walls are open mesh while the front and rear can be opened by unzipping the solid panel (ohai!). There is also an open mesh section at the bottom of the back wall protected by a rain flap on the outside.
Might be a good idea to sleep near this panel if you are sharing this tent with someone who just had a huge burrito for dinner (I'm just sayin'). As for other features, on both the left and right walls are convenient pockets for storing your small belongings and if you need to hang things like a shoe or a lantern, there is a ring on the ceiling for just that. There are other nice conveniences such as loops for securing the front and rear panels plus a small zippered opening for inserting things like an extension cord, cell phone, a pocket knife or a baby carrot.
So, now the big question...can it fit 4 people? Well, let's see, if I clone myself and lay on the floor...you can see that 4 of us can fit, but it'll will be a tight squeeze especially when you factor in sleeping bags and other gear. I'm 5'10" and 180lbs by the way. I'd say this is a 2-3 person tent with sufficient room for equipment. To break it down, unhook the rainfly from each corner then slip out the poles from the pins. Now, don't do like what I did here and try to pull the poles out from the start...be sure to push it out first as far as you can, then pull it out the rest of the way otherwise the pole will snag on the sleeves. Lastly, dissasemble the poles, roll up the tent and the rainfly then try and smash everything back into the carrying case.
Be careful when closing the bag. You don't want the zipper to pinch and tear the tent or the rainfly. All in all this is a good tent. It's too heavy for backpacking and during the cold winter months, the copius amount of ventilation might be a bad thing. I have also read some reviews online stating that this tent does hold up to heavy rains. There are some reviewers who say the opposite, that it holds up just fine. In any case, I would recommend treating the tent with seam sealer that you can purchase online or find at your local sporting goods store and that should take care of any issues with rain. "I'm happy in this tent because I don't have to pay the rent"
As found on Youtube
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