Coleman - 10-Person Dark Room Instant Cabin

Good buy! Man I had a dark rest tent for a while and freaking loved that thing

Are you saying there's no point in camping if you don't want to be up with the sun?

So you've kind of answered your own question. It doesn't make sense to you so don't buy one. I've been camping for going on 30 years and we bought one and it's fabulous. I don't find that it adds any extra bulk or weight, it wasn't really more expensive, and we enjoy the extra sleep in. Don't buy one if you don't want one but leave everybody else alone about it if they do.

Then it isn't a good one. My dark rest tent does not let any light in whatsoever except a few specks where the zippers are.

I love the Coleman 6 person dome tents. I use them for my Girl Scout troop. If you want to use them in colder temps, I recommend the Darkroom over the Sundome. The rainfly goes lower and provides more insulation.

I love my darkroom tent. It really makes a difference.

We've had the Coleman due about 6 years, last model before they added the lighting into the fly. It's had a lot of use including high winds, storms and days of heavy rain on end, without any issues - just need to peg the thing out properly.  It's held up so well, the colour has faded a little but otherwise its in great condition. The blackout, which I thought was a bit of a gimmick, is a game changer, especially with kids.  The Black Wolf looks great and it sometimes gives me tent envy, love the look of the front awning, but they also look like quite a bit more effort to erect.  The Coleman has lasted longer than expected, so a new tent still is not on the shopping list. 

I have two kids, 5 and 3, and have a Colman 10p dark room tent. We got the dark room to make sure the kids could have a mid day nap when they were younger, but now the youngest has dropped the nap. The darkroom is a sweat box as soon as the sun hits it in the summer, but it stays a nice temp in autumn. I've also got a 23 zero bandit swag that I hoped to take the eldest with away as setting up the 10p tent when he was 4 was a lot of effort while trying to keep him entertained. So far we have only used it in the backyard. If I had my time again I would probably grab a oztent rv5 to go with the swag and our gazebo, because normally our trips are very short, 2-3 nights. So I want to keep the setup time to a minimum to make sure it is worthwhile. Most of our holiday time is spent visiting family interstate and overseas. I'd consider what type of camping you are doing? Are you staying in one spot for a while, or touring etc? Maybe with having 2 extra kids, a second hand soft floor trailer tent would be the go if you are doing 1-2 week trips.

I have the coleman version of the first tent, not blackout. I have used it to take little kids camping and it works well. Just mind the fact the footprint of such a large tent may be hard to fit into sites.

Love my Coleman Darkroom for car camping. I need to use a lantern to see during daylight hours with the rain fly on. I've had it for about 5 years with no major issues.

I don’t have this specific tent but a similar 10 person Coleman and it’s great for 2 adults and 2 kids, with a good amount of space between beds so we can have luggage or hang out if it’s raining. If it’s just two people it’s a really big tent but if you want a lot of extra room, it’s great. Our setup was done with 1 person and it went up in about 15 mins.

I recently bought a Coleman 10 person dark tent I recommend it for families who are car camping like you describe. Lets the kids sleep in more. I have pics of it in my profile in one of my posts. For my kids I just use a reflective heat pad thing under their sleeping bag and then bring a lot of extra blankets in case people get cold. Bring fun little dollar store activities like glow bracelets or those little whistling slingshot helicopter things you shoot in the air. Main issue will be if the 2 year old requires a lot of attention at night. Some are good sleepers and some wake up screaming. I’ve gone through both situations and when it goes bad it can be very tiring but you know what your kids can handle. Not sure what else to say but I’ve taken my young kids camping every year multiple times for many years so if you have specific questions I can try to answer. I think it’s super good for them to do it even when it’s hard for the parents. Edit: white noise app on a phone hooked up to a battery overnight can help a lot with the quiet/random loud sounds at campgrounds. I recommend that too.

I have the Coleman 10P Darkroom Cabin, and it's by far the largest tent I've ever used. I quite enjoy the experience once it's set up, and as long as things go the way they're meant to, setup and teardown are rather simple and easy. The darkroom aspect is also super nice.