How to Choose Tents for Camping

Spacious, rugged and built to resist wind and rain, the Coleman PEAK1 6-person dome tent is an excellent option for campers looking to get out with the whole crew, no matter the weather.
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Imported.
View all Coleman Camping TentsBest Use | Camping |
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Seasons | 3 - 4-season |
Sleeping Capacity | 6-person |
Minimum Trail Weight | 12 lbs. 12.8 oz. |
Packaged Weight | 15 lbs. 8 oz. |
Packed Size | 27.95 x 9.84 x 9.84 inches |
Floor Dimensions | 120 x 100 inches |
Floor Area | 83.3 square feet |
Peak Height | 72 inches |
Number of Doors | 1 door |
Number of Poles | 3 |
Pole Material | 7000-series aluminum |
Footprint Included | Yes |
Design Type | Freestanding |
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Large tent to fit the whole family. Plenty of room and well thought out. For the price, it has some great features most notably the aluminum poles, stakes and footprint an vented rain fly. The storage pockets in the corners could be larger. I was only able to set it up in the yard but plan to use it soon and may add additional comments. I was able to set it up alone in about 30 minutes. Takes down in about 15 minutes and stores nicely in the storage bag. There are good set up instructions and color coded tie down straps to ease with set up. My only concern is the zippers, they could be a bit sturdier but I will see how they hold up.
This tent was tested over and over, and it passed! Went out camping with the family (my wife and dog) and the tent made a potentially bad camping weekend a lot of fun. We were rained on all night both nights, and not a drop made it through! Generally though, the size was great. We set up a queen size air mattress, a dog bed, a side table, and had a little entry rug (see pic). This was a serious upgrade from my typical 2 person backpacking tent. Being able to stand up and move around, even around the edges, was amazing. The tent itself is not too hard to set up. By myself it took 15 minutes, and with help about half that. I think this tent will make a great backpacking tent for a family of 4. Not too heavy, but very spacious. Overall, a great mix of quality, size, and comfort.
Had the opportunity to use and write my thoughts about the tent. Feel free to read just the last paragraph for criticism for those considering this tent instead of the usual praise. Setup: For laughs and giggles, I decided to setup the tent without watching any youtube videos, blog tutorials, and just trusted my instincts based on what was given to me on the packaging. Keep in mind I did not have any help, so this was a 1 person setup job. The total time to get the tent up (without the rainfly) was 11 minutes. I really appreciated the color coordination from the poles to the clips that correspond to the pole (i.e, orange clip to orange pole, green clip to green pole). The rainfly was the most difficult given that it was a windy day in Boston and the height of the tent was taller than me (I'm 5'10"). After a lot of cursing, I got the rainfly setup in roughly 22 minutes. I highly recommend you get another person to help out with the rainfly, would have cut the time to half. I have owned numerous 6 person tents, and I can confidently say that this is one of the few tents that you can set up yourself while the rest of the family does various camping chores around the campsite. Actual Usage: I camped out in this tent last night in my deck in the middle of a rainstorm (work doesn't allow for camping.. yet). No rain seepage into the ventilated rainfly, no moisture seeping through the ground. Humid, but that's to be expected of new england spring weather. The biggest pet peeve with cheaper tents is the zipper to get out. With my old tent, it would snag and I would have to delicately unzip it without it catching on the nylon. The peak 1 unzips and zips like a breeze. There are four pockets in each corner of the tent, enough to store a nalgene bottle and a phone. There is a mesh storage compartment by the roof, which you can put a lantern or headlamp. A big issue is cleanup and tear down when I go camping. The peak 1 solves this by having a gigantic duffel bag like container where you can -roughly- fold the rainfly, tent, and footprint and stuff it in the bag without caring about folding it exactly how you unfolded it. Order doesn't matter. Put the rainfly, footprint, stakes, poles, tent in any order you want. It will fit in the duffel. It's the details that really stood out to me as folding up the tent was the bane of my existence at any camping trip (imagine delicately folding it in the morning rain). Cost: Coleman is really stepping up their game into the premium market. They are growing from the budget goods that you can find at your various big box stores. At the time of this review, this tent costs $549.99 which puts it against various high end brands. One thing that coleman stands out is the weight. Find one 6 person tent at any price point that is lighter than 12.7 pounds. You can't. It looks expensive, but when you compare this tent with other tents, feature by feature, it starts to become a pretty good deal. You can go with a cheaper 6 person tent such as a Kelty, but you're really paying for the features and quality. My old Kelty tent has poor zippers and horrendous ventilation with the rainfly. The Peak 1 has ventilated rainfly and quality hardware. Cons: This tent requires two people to assemble. Putting the rainfly by yourself in heavy wind was a struggle. The price is also a big deterrence for a lot of buyers in my opinion. Coleman is a well known brand, but not for premium camping goods. Time will tell if this push in the premium market will pay off, but I would be more comfortable going with a competitor. The nylon is a bit thin, but that is reflective of the weight of the tent. I would be careful with the footprint if you are placing it on top of sharp rocks. I would put a layer of cheap tarp, followed by the footprint, then the tent if you want to protect your investment.
The tent had giant holes in the mesh and it was obviously used before
Overall a great tent. Easy to set up, even for one person. Without the fly, it's lovely under clear desert skies. I've used it once in the rain and the tent held up well. No leaks. However, problems arise when it is windy. The back of the fly has a design cut out, like an inverted v along the bottom of the tent. See photo below. In windy conditions this forms an entry spot for the wind, forming a bubble of active air- very noisy. I was not able to control the current of air being caught in that part of the tent. The interior of the tent is almost entirely mesh, so a little air was also circulating inside from that cutout portion. It could be that I had the guy lines set up wrong, but I had everything pulled tight and staked down. Tremendous flapping in that back portion. Next time I will bring along an extra guyline to see if I can rig some kind of windshield back there. I like the canopy but wish they included poles to prop it up. I have a workaround to tie the lines around a tree when possible. Otherwise, great roomy tent for two cots and gear. Wide entry and nice height make it easy to get yourself and gear in and out. Last minor complaint is that the hook used to hold the two poles together at the top doesn't hold them securely. I wish there was a closing mechanism so that the crossed poles would stay in place, making set up for one person easier, especially in windy conditions.
I am so happy with this tent. I wanted to talk for a minute on the features that I am blown away by. I had a tent similar to this design when I was in my early 20s passed down from my parents and I've not seen anything like it. No sleeves, all solid clips. Color coded poles and clips(amazing), huge space, lightweight! It was up in like 4 minutes. The directions are clear, in english, stuck to the bag, and just easy! The tent has a footprint, and a really strong thick fly. Seams are pre-taped. I love that you get max view through the tent without the fly. Like this is why we camp! Fly clips to the tent in seconds. Stakes completely unneeded. I want to call attention again to the color-coded pole to clips and instructions. First time setup was in like 4 minutes. Fly pulls over the top easy and this thing is just roomy...even compared to other 6 man tents that I looked at. Only 3+ season that came close was MSR in features and was almost $200 more.
I went camping all by myself. Due to some life events my other friends couldn’t make it. So the challenge: how can I put up a 6 person tent by myself. Well this one was so easy. I loved having the room also. I would highly recommend this tent. Also it was easy to pack away into the storage bag. It didn’t rain, so I can’t say for certain how rain resistant it is. Happy camping!
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Very good tent. Used it 1 week ago. I slept 4. Me, my wife and my 2 boys during a camping trip. I had a Queen size air bed and a full size airbed on either end of the tent and still had what seemed like 6 feet of space in between, which I used to put my gear. The door is very convenient. It can be tricky to get the velcro to lineup, but not a big deal at all. What I really like about the door is the design. I had zipper issues with a previous tent, because of the tension put on the door. This tent zips very easily, and I can see it lasting much longer!! I got a lot of compliments from the other dads too, which is always a plus!
We've spent almost two weeks in this tent and it's proven to be weather proof and durable. In one heavy rain we stayed competed dry, and last night thunder storms rolled through, dropped at least an inch of rain in about an hour and blew so hard the wall and roof of the tent flexed down and touched me as I was laying on the air mattress. I felt certain the supports were broken but they sprang back up as if nothing had happened. Very happy.
I go camping about 1 per month, so I’ve used the tent regularly on about 2 dozen occasions over the past 2 and half years. The zippers on this tent are cheap plastic and not very durable. The way the tent is stitched together causes too much tension on the zippers. The zipper on the main vestibule failed on the most recent trip when I was camping in the eastern sierras. I wasn’t crazy about this tent to begin with and now that it’s failing on me I’m happy to find something better. But I wasn’t happy trying to keep the bugs and rodents out of my tent when I couldn’t keep the main vestibule closed. Anyway, don’t buy this tent. This is my second Coleman tent and so far it’s been two for two tents that have fallen apart on me. Seriously, my cheap Walmart Ozark Trail tent fared better than the Coleman ones.