Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Who likes complicated and confusing? When I go camping, the "setting up & taking down" of my tent is the part that sucks. Really sucks. This tent is amazing. The day it showed up, I took it out of the box and set it up (just me - no one helping) in under a minute (not counting the stakes)!! You just unfold it, extend the legs, and walk in. How awesome is that? Don't believe me? Check Youtube. Type in "Instant Tent", look for the one with a girl in a bright yellow KOA shirt. That's the video that sold me on this tent. It has LOTS of ventilation. the 2 sides have a large window, the back has a HUGE window. The front has a window in the door, and a window next to the door. Did I mention there are two roof vents? Yup. The roof vents have zippers on them, and a rigid "prop" thing. There's velcro on the top flap, on the top of the prop, and on the bottom of the prop (the bottom of the prop is sewn to the tent as well). You can open the roof vents from the inside by unzipping the screen and raising the prop. To close it you simply lower the prop, and velcro the top flap to the bottom of the prop. I know, that's alot of info for something as trivial as a vent. BUT, I thought it was a very nice feature, and haven't seen it mentioned in any reviews or videos. The windows. HUGE! I mean huge in a HUGE way! You can get plenty of air flow. When you open the windows, it's like having the whole top half of your tent as ventilation. A note about the windows - when you open them, the flap hangs inside your tent. I've read reviews where people complained about this. Well guess what. If you leave each zipper zipped up about four inches, rather than fully open, you create a pocket of sorts, between the mesh and the fabric parts of the windows. Just stuff the flap into this little pocket, and call it good. NO RAINFLY. I sprayed the tent with a garden hose. I mad it "rain" on top of the tent, and it also "rained" sideways all the way around. No leaks. I was concerned about the top vents, but no water got in. When it's time to take down your tent, fold it up as instructed, then roll it, on the ground, just like a sleeping bag. Just keep rolling it until you get the air squeezed out. Not only was it easy to get this tent back in it's storage bag, I was able to put THAT back in the box that it came in! And the carry bag. Even the bag is well planned! It has a full length zipper (think of your standard gym duffel bag, only longer). It's bigger than it needs to be, so it's easy to get the tent back in. And, if you have a hard time getting the air out of it, and CAN'T zip it, there are straps with buckles, so you can strap the top, then cinch down the buckles to tighten the bag enough to zip it up. I chose this tent for 3 reasons: 1) it sets up easily. 2) it's tall (I'm six feet tall). 3) it doesn't cost an arm & a leg. This is my third - or maybe fourth - Coleman tent. I've never had problems with them leaking, never had a zipper fail, never had broken poles. I gave it four stars instead of five for two reasons. If not for these two (albeit rather insignificant) little details, I would give it five stars and then some. FIRST: 2 storage pockets. It's a 6 man tent (in theory). Why only two measly pockets? There is a hook sewn into the peak, to hang a lantern, which is nice. SECOND: the door is square at the bottom, creating a "corner". Since zippers don't like corners, they used two zippers. One zipper goes across the bottom, the other zipper goes across the top & down the side. Well, there's a gap. It's a tiny gap, but how much room do spiders, ants or ticks need? Where I camp, there are plenty of ticks & poisonous spiders. My new tent has a spider-sized doggy-door. All-in-all, I have to give Coleman a thumbs up on this tent. In fact, I've already talked two people into buying this model tent, and I've only had it for 3 days. And to whomever designed the setup assembly, a high-five, hug, and dinner :)