Great in theory but once poles stick, it has to be binned!
Bought the Instant 4 in 2013 and have put it up once maybe twice per year since. Just tried putting it up for the first time this year and two of the roof poles that are supposed to slide out of each other have stuck. I've had a few blokes stronger than me try and extend them but to no avail. There is no obvious sign of damage on either, but without them working then the whole tent is useless.
The few times I did use it prove that the concept was good, and indeed it appeared to be a well made item.
Anyone want to buy my model for spares?
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Incredible tent
This tent is incredible! It's lightweight, inexpensive and easy to set up! I have camped using this tent for two years now. During this time I have found myself in two storms. The tent did not leak and withstood the windy conditions. Not a single drop of water got through and the rain was bucketing down during both storms.
During warmer weather if the widows are open it's not too bad and during colder weather, zero degrees and below, it does gets a little cold but that's to be expected so snug up.
The tent is just as easy to take down. I love this tent and would definitely buy it again!
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3.7(21)LavinGoulburn Valley, VIC
- 2 reviews
Great setup time
Wow, I am impressed with the setup time, so quick and easy, I love it, but, it is not very stable when standing solo unroped compared to other tents I have owned, it twists at the top elbows... now that's a break waiting to happen. I highly recommend two ropes on each corner at right angles to aid in stability. I have big concerns about the twisting when unroped.
I had this tent pitched and the fly on, but not roped down. We had heaps of rain over a couple of days and it appears to have only leaked a little bit, about half a cup of water inside, which is excellent.
1 comment
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The KramersGold Coast, Queensland
Value for Money, easy to put together and was still standing after a cyclone!
I waited to write a review on this tent until we had used it many times, over more than a year. And here is what we have to say...
Like all tents when you first buy them, put it up once or twice in the backyard to get the hang of it before erecting it for the first time when you arrive to your campground. We did two trial runs in the backyard before our first use, and it takes us about 10 minutes for it to go up, that includes fitting the additional rainguard over the top of the tent and pounding in all tent pegs and guide ropes (time taken...Read more
includes two people erecting the tent and placing rain guard on top of tent and one person doing all tent pegs and guide ropes) Put it simply, we love, love, love this tent. Value for money, light to carry and compact when in bag, saving space. One person can easily put it up and take it back down, the tent goes up in 3 minutes with the rain guard and tent pegs taking maybe an extra 5-10 minutes tops . We have now used our tent on several trips, most recently we got caught in at cyclone whilst beach camping on Bribie Island (QLD) and the tent performed better than we could have hoped for. We were in a very exposed location in the sand dunes, the wind whipping of the ocean was gail force, and the wind tore our gazebo out of the ground and 10 feet into the trees. One tip we have found with strong wind or exposed locations is to buy additional, quality pegs suitable for the soil/terrain to secure the rain gaurd down on all points, it might seem like overkill, but this will help with wind lift under the rainguard itself. As for the rain guard that came with our tent, it has never let us down, every during torrential rain, not a drop inside the tent. As for things that could be better, the quality of the tent pegs and absence of suitable pegs for the rain guard itself. We primarily camp in sandy, beach side locations in SE QLD, so we invested in additional good quality sand pegs for both the tent, all guide ropes and the rain guard. The tent bag is still kicking, but we can see in the future that it will need replacing. As for the tent floor, it could be better quality, but hasn't torn or leaked but could be better under foot. \ We got out tent and rain for less than $300 during a sale from Tent City in Browns Plains QLD, so for what we paid, we couldn't be happier.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
Dee
- 3 reviews
- 9 likes
- Instant Up 8
- Verified purchase
Instant tent ....just a marketing hype
I had been camping for years, and have a couple of coleman tents. I found the old one to very very strong and reliable hence I thought its a good idea to invest in the new model, an Instant up tent.
I have seen the youtube videos on how to set it up beforehand and it was the main reason for buying this tent. One my first camping trip there it was raining and slow winds of 10kph. The tent was good as it kept us warm and dry for most part. But the side where there you have the walls have ventilation, the water have dripped in and inside the te...Read more
nt through the fly on the zipper connection. Although the water was minimal (200ml), we thought we can let it pass, as this is the first time we setup a tent for 30 minutes that was the best part. On our second trip to Mallacoota, We setup the tent as usual and pegged everything as we were expecting strong winds of 40kph sustained. The setup tooks us 15 minutes this time.....claim of 3 mins setup is just marketing lie... We were shocked that the tent is actually that strong and it didn't move with the strong wind. With the past tents we owned, You can feel the wind blowing and the tent would actually sway or dance with the wind but his one is quite sturdy but this is a disaster waiting to happen. The not so flexible fibreglass frame would cause it to eventually snapped. This tent is weathertec rated 100kph, I'm not sure how they do their tests. I'm sending it back to coleman and back to my old but reliable coleman tent. Update: Jan 2017Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
Sue ddLogan
- 3 reviews
- 1 like
Good for overnighters
Very easily set up and take down. Stayed dry during wet weather. Needs a fly for heat and light transfer. Very hot during the day and very bright during the night under camp ground lighting. Great for long journeys where you want a minimum of set up time for overnight stays. Would like to obtain a fly that also extended into an awning for longer stays.
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Rob W
- 2 reviews
- 2 likes
Good Value 3 Season Family Tent
I own both the 4 and 8 man versions of this tent, with both having been used extensively over the last 3 years, in all sorts of weather conditions. It goes up fast and even if I do it myself it takes no longer than 5 minutes including staking and fully guying out the fly. Taking it down can be a little painful - it's a lot of tent to fold and whilst I've always gotten it back into the bag, there's usually a fair bit of the old "sit on the suitcase" action to accomplish this.
Aside from that, my only real gripe is the easily caught zips, but...Read more
the convenience of arriving at camp and being set up within minutes far outweighs the inconvenience of having to take a little extra care going in and out. You do need to bear in mind that this is a 3 season tent - it isn't built for extreme conditions. As with any tent, you need to consider your site selection and prevailing wind direction when locating it. And make sure you guy it out if the wind does start to get up. Ours have withstood 30-40kmh winds which I would consider very good for this sort of tent.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
Robert
- 10 reviews
- 15 likes
OK except for poles.
This tent is ok except for the poles...used it twice, on the second occasion the poles wouldn't lock into place or they kept collapsing. Made some mods with a hammer. If it wasn't for the rubbish poles I'd recommend it.
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LukeCollinsMelbourne
- 14 reviews
- 1 like
Brilliant value for money and easy set up!
Easy set up and for under 300 dollars a bargain. Used this tent 6 times now for upto a week no issues. Easy set up and take down and always remain dry in torrential rain. Ive seen countless instant up tents not pegged down at all or incorrectly and literally falling apart and breaking on windy nights. People blame the tent when its their own stupidity. This is a consequence when ppl who cant setup a tent properly and think an instant up tent will solve their problems. This tent is up and down in 5 minutes. Brilliant value for money and would recommend to anyone. Invest in better pegs thats it. Thanks Coleman for making a tent accessible to the everyday Australian.
1 comment
Just had the tent set up for 2 weeks over Christmas and it poured rain. Performed very well. Great Value for money. Just a reminder this tent needs to be pegged out properly or it will collapse. Invest in quality pegs and its a great purchase.
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Great quality tent!
Made from quality materials, this tent is very easy to set up and to take down when finished. Either way, it only takes minutes. It packs away neatly without the need of an origami expert. Attractive price, very good value for money.
Highly recommended.
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keishaHervey Bay
read instructions first
the first night using this tent we had big winds in goodiwindi and an hour after putting it up, a tent pole snapped and ripped a massive hole down the side of the tent, the whole tent fell down. In the instructions it says not to use this tent in windy conditions
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MichaelHelensvale
- 5 reviews
- 9 likes
Great tent
We have camped Moreton Island, North Stradbroke, Teewah and other beach camp sites where we have had driving rain and gale force winds. As long as the tent is pegged down properly we have had no issues. We do use long sand pegs. We erect the tent over shade cloth which extends out the front and helps to keep sand out. The only issue is the awning which fills with water in heavy rain. Solution was to put a brass cringle in the middle and the water runs out. We don't sit out there in the rain anyway.
We looked at the more expensive tents and...Read more
canvas in particular. Hard to put away when wet and leaks, grows mould and rots. Take up a huge amount of space in the 4WD too. The 30/40 kg versions that have to go on a roof and get wet and covered in dust are just a pain. Takes longer to get them on and off the roof than to put up and take the tent down and you get a hernia to boot. We don't buy tents to keep forever and the synthetic tents suit us fine. Overall the Instant Up 6 has been a great investment. And when it wears out we will just buy another. Maybe after our planned Cape York trip! One issue though is the bag. We put the main tent into the original bag and the fly and pegs into another bag. The bag is too small and too much of a hassle to try and squeeze everything into when packing up. As usual the metal pegs that come with tents are useless and proper pegs are essential. For pegging out the tent we use green plastic covered gardening pegs bought cheaply from Bunnings. Dirt cheap and longer than most metal tent pegs. Also use them to peg out the shade cloth both under the tent and under our pop up canopy.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
SP
- 7 reviews
It's ok, but not robust and still takes time to fully set up.
We used one of these tents for an outback trip to western Qld. Was a bit concerned when the wind blew up a bit.Didn't experience any structural failure on the framework, but a tie down flap did tear and had to make some running repairs. Takes more than 2 minutes to completely set it up. (Allow 20 to 25 minutes ...) Found it difficult to pack up, but after some friendly debate from my partner, her suggestion ended up been correct and was ok after that. There are some youtube videos also. I agree the floor is very thin, and we used a tarp underne...Read more
ath as well as 'gigsaw' foam mats inside. Reasonable tent for it's price, but I'd keep looking if you intend using it in windy areas, or a demanding road trip. I was dissapointed learning from other reviews that wind damage is not covered by warranty.On some good notes, it would make an excellent ocasional weekender tent. We also chose it because you can stand up in it and has nice almost vertical walls. This makes it very spacious inside.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
RamexisesSydney, NSW
- 3 reviews
- Instant Up 8
- Verified purchase
Good tent if there is no wind, otherwise it breaks.
I bought this tent from Kangaroo Tent City, Chatswood, on the advice of the sales rep and was told that Coleman had excellent warranty on their products.
The tent was for camping with 2 Adults and 2 young children.
Great space, tall and open area.
Instant Up is very quick to get up, and down.
After our first camping trip with it we raved about it and 3 sets of friends bought one.
However, on our second trip, there was some wind, and even though we had everything pegged out and secured, 2 of the Hub pole inserts broke and 2 poles broke at ...Read more
2 comments
Coleman have confirmed that wind damage is not covered under Warranty.
I have now purchased a Black Wolf Tuff Dome Twin to replace it for Australia Day long weekend camping.
Replacement Hubs are still... Read more
Update: January 2018. Our friends took their identical model tent out for it's second trip out in December 2017.
After two nights camping it was a right off due to broken Hub and poles.
They were goi... Read more
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Adequate for ease of use and basic sites
Have owned the 6UP model for four years. Has been used from Cairns to Adelaide and everywhere in between including trips to the Flinders Ranges. It certainly is very easy to setup and we have had no trouble with setting up in good conditions over the years. It has always packed away easy and never had trouble getting it back in the bag. I've seen reviews here and elsewhere that people have trouble packing it away and have seen another Coleman user in a campground struggle. There is a technique with packing it that involves pulling up and out th...Read more
e ground sheet like petals once all poles are collapsed around the central coloumn that seems to work for me. Another reviewer noted problems with the awning collecting rain, we have the same issue and it is more than a pain in the tropics. The door zipper getting stuck is another problem we have encountered and is really just a careless design issue. This tent is certainly not a warm one and the open mesh roof below the fly will lose all your heat, so good in moist tropics, not so good in the Snowys. As another reviewer notes, this tent is truly a monster in the wind. We haven't managed to break it as yet but have certainly come close. A windy comical evening at Merimbula later and I now know how to add my own extra support and Guy ropes to keep it secure-ish. 30+ days camping in this model. It's time is nearly up and despite serving us well, it has some basic design issues that won't have us repurchasing.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
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JohnMelbourne
- 4 reviews
- 4 likes
Easy to setup and tear down - a well designed tent
So easy to setup - that my son says that its cheating. We tested it at a Warburton camping site. It was raining and we were tired - so, very happy to be able to put it up in 2 minutes. Even with the rain, we were kept dry in the tent. For a 6 person tent, we recommend to sleep up to 4 comfortably with enough room for your bags. If its a windy place, make sure that you peg all the guy ropes just to be safe.
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BomberMelbourne
- 11 reviews
- 22 likes
Brilliant tent, does the job just fine.
Bought this tent because we were sick of the effort putting a supposed four man tent (that barely had floor space for two) which had the flexible dome poles and was a PITA to erect and even worse to un-erect.
This truly does go up in about one minute, about another five to get fly over and straight. Putting the pegs in is extra but depends on ground hardness of course. Packing it up is a challenge, takes a little longer to actually dismantle but it takes some time to compress it enough to get it in the carry bag.
I'd give this 4.5 stars...Read more
if that was an option. It's not perfect enough to rate as 5, we have two gripes: - guy rope "tension lockers" are flimsy, hard to tighten and sometimes come lose. - one of the tent peg spots is missing (from new, built that way) the plastic lug on it, making it hard to clip the fly and peg it all down on that corner. Of course the first time we used it was 1200km from home so we couldn't prove it for warranty purposes when we got home 6 weeks later. Get the full fly version, it gives the sides much better rain protection.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
Peter ButtgeGladstone, Qld, 4680
Replacement for Macpac Olympus
Senior citizen dedicated to camping needed headroom. Good tent easy to put up. Put cable ties through zippers for quick grip. Recommend extra ground sheet. Bit of a battle to get all back into carry bag
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Broke on first use.
Found all the reviews fantastic for the six person and got a great deal on it so we bought it. Took it down for it's first use on the weekend to great ocean road and we were amazed how quickly it did set up. We had no idea the night was going to be windy until 2am in the morning when all the poles collapsed on top of us!!! We kept clicking the poles back into place and they kept falling down, eventually one pole gave in and broke in half so the tent was useless and we slept in the car the rest of the night. Not happy.
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JadeSydney, NSW
- 19 reviews
Quick and easy to set up
Easy to pop up. Start with top arms and then extend legs. Up in 1 minute or less, however still need to put on fly and peg out. So allow 15 minutes. The awning is a decent size, but water pools on it. No way I could see to create a water flow. The pegs are small, but worked ok for my 1 trip so far. Best to get extra guy ropes and pegs in case of strong winds, as this model has 6, corners and middle. Need 2 on corners for high winds. We got a little condensation on ceiling from rain/cold weather, so will be getting a tarp next time. Great size f...Read more
or 2 adults. Not an 8 person tent unless you like hugging. We had a queen matress fit no problem and plenty of room for stuff. There is a divider if you want, but only one door, so not especially useful. Plenty of pockets, windows open up for air flow and there is a power cord zipper. Finally, packing up is tricky first couple of times. Just need to really squish it down. Why don't they provide bigger bags? Overall very happy at this stage.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
Questions & Answers
Cathasked
This only the third time I have used this tent. Experienced showers for 22 hours on and off and the fly is leaking onto outside wall of tent.
I would expect that the fly would stop water from striking through to tent. How can I fix this problem. I’m worried if heavy rain the tent may leak.
1 answer
Hi Cath, have not used tent in constant rain. BCF sell a waterproofing spray for about $15 which is very good. Maybe a good spray with that will fix the problem. Peter
Soulhavenasked
Used twice and very happy with it (10 person tent). However, locking button on rear leg of frame refuses to work at all.
How to fix it?
Is it fixed under warranty?
2 answers
good luck with warranty claims Colman seem not to care about the stuff once they have off loaded it. See the retailer and hold them accountable. Try a squire of WD40 and see if that does not loosen the thing up.
That is a very disappointing assessment of Coleman. One wonders that they do not appear to want to lift their game.
The suggestion to try WD40 seems pretty obvious but worth another try in the circumstances.
Brendan.Dasked
Hi everyone, looking to get a great tent for the weeker with rain and sub zeros is this the tent for me?
2 answers
I’d be really careful before you buy this tent. It says it’s not suitable for high winds but I’ve been in this tent with the frame collapsing when my weather app displays winds at 20kmh. Frankly it’s not worth the risk unless moving to the car at 1am is an option. I’d be selling mine but I can’t bare passing this problem on to another unsuspecting family. Coleman should recall this tent.
and given my experience no warranty that is worth anything, think twice about buying this brand. Buyers beware.
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Lavin
I neglected to mention ours is not the full fly, it's the partial fly. Took the tent out for a night in May 2017. It was 10 degrees Celsius overnight. Setup time is fantastic. Held well with all ropes... Read more
supplied. I think it rained overnight as I heard it sprinkle and in the morning the roads were very wet, so if it rained I never heard a thing. The tent really held up well no water inside but I got a couple of drips from moisture on my face. Tent fly was really wet. Due to the slope on the fly at the door, it is a bit difficult getting the fly door open from the bottom without getting your clothes wet, this would be a pain in the rain I think, but this area is a great place to store your shoes. I can't say for certain but shoes might need to be covered with plastic just in case they get wet inside off the fly. Placing a tarp over the tent would add extra protection too. I don't have a D-door on my tent, it has a zipper on the bottom and one down the side so the overflat gets caught sometimes.