Skydome 4-Person Tent

I have an old tent I use for car camping that's big, heavy, and cheap. Backpacking gear comes with compromises, no need to suffer through that or put wear/tear on it unless you are testing new gear. Get a cheap Coleman and you won't be worried about your tissue paper backpacking tent being damaged.

Our Troop has been using 4-person and 6-person Coleman Skydome tents for the last several years. The boys are rough on tents, so priorities are cost and ease of repair. Positives: - The tents themselves are quick to set up and pack away. - They are well ventilated. - Inexpensive and reasonably durable. Negatives: - They are not especially light, weighting between 8 and 13 lbs. - Poles are attached to the tent, which makes them easy to pack but could be a problem if a pole needs to be replaced. - Can handle rain when set up correctly, but may allow in water in a severe storm. On that last point, it's hard for me to provide a completely objective assessment because we have had Skydome tents become soggy in very bad weather, but this may be because of boys leaving the vent on the door open rather than issues with the tent itself.

I love my Coleman 4 person. Skydome? I think. Two adults, 45 pound dog. The first one had stitches pull at the zipper. They sent a new one for free, and I think it was made better. We might eventually get a 6 person something, but for $60 on clearance, I couldn't be happier. Never got wet inside, even in more serious thunderstorms. I even winter camped with it.

Funny, I literally just bought a Coleman Skydome 4-person for a camping trip my son and I took. Granted I've only used the tent the one time, and it was dry conditions, but I was pleased with it out of the box. Setup legitimately took less than ten minutes, and I was setting it up myself. Some people have grouched about the pre-attached poles but I had no issue with them. Just snap the two sets of poles together, run them corner-to-corner, and hook the tent itself to them. I found the doorway zipper was pretty easy to use -- it has a flap covering the entire zippered length to prevent insect/water entry, which is a nice feature but you just have to be careful about not getting the zipper snagged. The entire roof is mesh and not very thick mesh either, so I could see it ripping easily if you're not careful. But otherwise, great bit of kit. Lots of airflow, good footprint, easy setup, some internal wall pockets for quick storage. The amount of mesh really helps cut down condensation -- it was a humid night from the weather so we left the rain fly off entirely, was still very comfortable. Hell, I even managed to get the thing back in the carry case without issue. It folds up easily to about 3 foot long.

If you just want a heavy tent just get an $80 Coleman. That's what almost *everyone* does at concert multi-days. It's like the standard dome tent. If you want to hike, then you want to hike and weight matters.

Coleman makes an affordable black tent. After 25 years of avid camping, we are really enjoying the first season with ours! We never wanted or needed one, but I feel like I'm alot less exposed? The dark tent makes us feel cozier, and it's great in the bright mornings. There's less light/shadow figures at night, (think Austin Powers scene) but the main reason we liked this tent is that it has a full fly and covered vestibule. We live in a rainy climate, so this was important And was in our budget. Here's the Canadian Tire link, but we bought ours on sale from a sporting goods store. Coleman Skydome 3-Season, 4-Person Easy Set-Up Camping Dome Tent w/ Rain Fly, Vestibule, E-Port & Carry Bag | Canadian Tire https://share.google/N9zRHwYqXgwz91RLK

That's why I got a 4 person Coleman Skydome though I camp solo. I’m 5’4” and can stand almost straight. Got a beach chair and bucket toilet in there too. Couldn't stand up in my 3 person. Mine has a substantial covered foyer. Not all models have it. This is mine: [https://www.coleman.com/camp-sports/tents-by-size/skydome-4-person-camping-tent-with-full-fly-vestibule-evergreen/SAP\_2206946.html](https://www.coleman.com/camp-sports/tents-by-size/skydome-4-person-camping-tent-with-full-fly-vestibule-evergreen/SAP_2206946.html)

Sure you could use a backpacking tent for car camping. But car camping is kind of "glamping", so if you really want to be comfortable then cots, and other big items don't fit or might damage that backpacking tent. I use a cheap ~$100 Coleman Skydome 4 person tent for car camping, fits 2 people comfortably with 2 cots and all our gear and I don't care that much about the tent. Then for backpacking I have several tents I can choose from depending on my needs or use scenarios.

I love this tent!

We have the 4 person tent for just two of us. It perfectly fit a queen size air mattress with enough room for personal bags and 2 small dogs. We have a 1 year old now, so we’re going to size up. The tent is super easy to set up/tear down. I usually did it by myself. We’ve camped in the rain and woke up dry with just the fly, no additional tarp needed. It’s a great tent.

I bought a 4p sky dome from Walmart and the pole broke after the third time I set it up. I still had the receipt and I contacted Coleman and they gave me an entire new tent for free and let me keep the old one. I replaced the other pole so now I got two tents. Anyway, I think it’s a decent tent for the price and have no other complaints about it.