Sara Baird checks out a Tent Designed to Make Tent Camping Easier: the Coleman Skylodge 4-person Tent.
Earlier this year I wrote about my husband and I deciding to pull out our tent and go tent camping after five years of camping in a camper. That was a great tent that we had for years. It was extremely easy to set up and had plenty of space even when our kids were young and camped with us. We discovered the tent was ready to be retired when it started storming shortly after we set up. It was raining almost as hard inside the tent as it was outside the tent.
Shortly after that trip, Prepared Bee asked if I would like to choose one of their many Coleman products to try out and review. They had a great selection of products but I narrowed it down to a tent pretty quickly. Even then I had six different tents to choose from. I eventually selected the Coleman Skylodge Four-Person Tent because of the promised ease of setup and the size. The tent arrived just a few days after I shared my selection. I was impressed with how quickly it was shipped.
The Coleman Skylodge 4-Person Tent
The Coleman Skylodge Four-Person Tent comes with telescoping pre-attached poles and advertises set up in about one minute. The tent’s corners are welded and the seams are inverted and taped seams to keep the rain from getting inside. The frame has been tested to withstand winds up to 35 miles per hour. The door also has a large awning for additional weather protection as well as airflow. The tent is 7.5 x 7.5 feet and the center height is 5.4 ft. It also comes with a 1-year warranty.
The tent is designed for ease of use, it is large enough to fit a queen size air bed and the door is designed to make loading the air bed and your gear easy. It has mesh pockets to keep your gest organized, and an E-port so you can easily run an extension cord inside to power up your electronics or devices. The Stuff-and-Roll carry bag allows you to roll up and pack your tent away easily.
Testing Out The Tent
I received the tent in October and was looking forward to using it for a couple of fall camping trips but my plans were foiled by a pesky virus and bad weather. Instead, I set it up in my backyard to see how easy it was to set up and take down and to make sure it held up to a few days of rain and cold. This worked out well and led to a few interesting conversations with neighbors who were concerned that I was sleeping outside.
I read the instructions and headed outside thinking this tent would be a piece of cake to set up. Our leaky tent had a system that allowed us to pop it in the air and secure the poles, it only took a few minutes to set up. This tent was not as easy to figure out. It took me about 35 minutes to set it up for the first time as I tried to figure out how it worked.
I was glad that I was not trying to set it up at a campsite as bad weather rolled in or night was falling. It could be that I just struggled that day to understand the directions but I had to take a few attempts at getting the poles to set up just right. Once I got it up and staked down in the right spots, I missed lining up the rainfly in the correct direction and had to take it off and adjust it when it would not fit. It was a chilly cold day when I set it up and my hands were painfully cold by the time I got it up.
Once I got the tent up I was struck by how pretty it was, the colors are beautiful together, they are bold but also muted so they won’t clash with nature. I enjoyed how the tent looked with the fall leaves. The tent held up well and kept out water in the rain. Taking it down was much easier than putting it up. It still took me about 20 minutes. I struggled to get it folded the right way to stuff in the pack.
My husband had no issues getting it in the bag when he tried. I set it up and took it down a second time and found that it still took me about 15 minutes to set up the tent by myself and about the same time to take it down. I think this would have gone much faster if I had a helper.
My Review
This is a beautifully designed tent, from the quality of the build to the colors, the tent stands out. I would not hesitate to take this on a car camping trip. It is also compact and easy to pack. We are considering taking a road trip with a tent instead of a camper next summer and I would bring this tent in a heartbeat.
While the tent took much longer than 1-minute to set up and take down, I have always struggled with tents. Some tents have even left me in tears as I’ve tried to pack them up. This tent was much easier to set up than the average tent, even though it was not as easy as the previous tent we owned. I’m sure it will go much faster every time I set it up from now on. I also appreciated that it was still easy to set up alone.
The tent is roomy, even with an air mattress inside of it there is still over 2.5 feet of space left over in width. It would be easy to store your gear in the tent in addition to the air mattress. If you use a small camping pad instead you will have plenty of room for additional people or gear inside. I appreciate how wide the door is and how well it is built. The zipper appears to be sturdy and not at risk of breaking.
I recommend that you check out the Coleman Skylodge Four-Person Tent if you are in the market for a new tent for a new tent that won’t make your head hurt. If you need a larger tent it also comes as a 10-person tent. You can check out the tent here at Prepared Bee https://preparedbee.com/collections/coleman-outdoor-camping-gear-equipment
Reader comments
What are your experiences of tents in the outdoors? Anything like the Coleman Skylodge Four-Person Tent? Please share your thoughts in the comments below or check out Sara Baird’s previous tent review here if you are needing something even larger.
Sara Baird
I am an adventurer at heart, always looking for the next opportunity to learn something new. I spend my winter days working with high school students to explore their interests and develop passions.
I spend my evenings and summers developing new hobbies and being outdoors as much as possible. I enjoy camping, hiking, cross country skiing, and biking.
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