Coleman - Skydome 2-Person

Annoyingly, they are holding back on the useful spec. Which might be concerning. Anyway. For its price, it's a great starter tent. We all start with a starter tent, learn what it lacks and then upgrade at some point. It's not designed for storms, and most people are not like me and purposefully camp during a storm. If I were you, I'd buy it. Hey, when you have your first camp, post pictures and I hope you have an amazing time.

My parents got me a two-person Coleman tent when I was 10 and I used it for 18 years until I outgrew it, still have it in the garage!

You won’t get “totally wet” The fly does a great job of sloughed the main water onto the sides, and the rest of the fabric is waterproof anyways. Seams have held for me in downpours, and the bottom is tarp so you won’t get wet through it. Just make sure like always that you don’t have sleeping bags touching the inside walls and you’ll stay dry!

I'm sorry that you were let down! I have had great luck with Colemans. High end companies need full flys because they have more mesh to be lighter, and they are able to withstand harsher conditions longer. No, I wouldn't take this tent backpacking for weeks on end. But it does the job on overnights.

I haven't ran into this problem with the 2-person model.

For a kid I'd get a Coleman 2-person.

Agreed. Coleman dome tents are a great starting point for family camping. If you end up going more frequently or decide you want specific features (weight/temperature ratings/etc), you can always upgrade later. I love my Coleman Skydome tent. It's a little more expensive than the standard dome, but still affordable. It sets up quick, is a little more square shaped to give more headroom, and has large mesh panels that are great for airflow or watching the night sky when the rainfly is off.

I love my Skydome. There are fancier tents out there, but it was affordable and has stood up to rain and wind, as well as being pretty breathable on hot nights. On clear nights (and in less crowded campgrounds) you can remove the rain fly and look at the stars through the fully mesh top.

We have the skydome...we are returning it. Leaked in moderate rain and ruined our week. I think the issue is at the manufacturing level. About half the reviews I've read are good and half say they leak or otherwise tear/rip at seams. So you are gambling with the quality.

A Sundome or Skydome is still easier to set up and a lot more waterproof. The fact that they added an extra sold separately rainfly to the Instant shows it’s bad.

Coleman Sundome and Skydome are both super easy

Coleman Sundome or Skydome. Check out an Ollie’s if you have one. The other Coleman tents will probably be just fine too. But I would avoid the instant up - sets up fast but leaks so badly they made an additional rainfly for it.

Try a Coleman Sundome or Skydome from Ollie’s, blackout if you can get it. I’ve bought both to festivals with multiple severe thunderstorms and was much dryer than people who brought much more expensive tents. The bathtub floor will be much better in bad weather than this tent. Sometimes you can get a dud Coleman that leaks in one spot, but that’s only happened to me once. Just set it up and test it in rain before your event. I will say avoid the instant tent, that thing is so bad they sell an aftermarket rainfly to fix it.

I didn’t bother to buy it after testing the instant tent in the rain. But my Sundome and Skydome are great in bad weather

Poor design. The Sundome and Skydome don’t leak like that

I had an older version of the skydome and didn’t particularly care for it. The porch ceiling was low and it offered nearly no rain protection so you couldn’t keep gear there.

I actually own BOTH of these exact tents. AMA. The Skydome is way tougher than it looks. I have camped in in the summer and literally on a mountainside in a blizzard. Survived all. Lots of people don't know that it's CRITICAL for a tent to properly stay dry and drain water away from you, nothing should be touching the sides of the tent. if you follow this rule you will love it. I dare call this a 3 season tent. cabin: a fun summery light tent to see the stars. gigantic. have leant it to a couple families. fits a king bed. Is absolute dog crap in the wind. It's also nice in rain. I did an extended rainy weekend in this one and we were able to sit under the little porch area and stay dry and enjoy the rain I've never put a tarp over either of these and just used the included rainfly. Again, not touching the sides of the tent is key to stay dry. Always used a tarp underneath.

Several recommendations for the Coleman tents. Of the two models mentioned, Sundome and Skydome, the Skydome is the far better tent in my opinion. The Skydome has an all clip suspension, while the Sundome has partial pole sleeves. An all clip suspension tent is much easier to pitch solo than a tent that uses sleeves. Stake the corners, assemble the poles, insert poles in the corners. Unzip the door, take off your shoes, step into middle of tent, clip the top clip over both poles. Attach the rest of the clips and add the fly. The Sundome, you'll have to raise the tent body as you insert the poles in the corners. That adds weight and resistance. Lastly, the Skydome has a full coverage rainfly, while the Sundome only comes down halfway. Spend a little more and get the superior tent.