When Coleman introduced their first Instant Tent to the world back in 2013 I was a little skeptical it was smaller than similar tents and quite a lot more money. The original Instant 8 has over the years has become an all time favorite along with the more recent Instant Cabin coleman tents both have huge followings with great ratings. The tent is very affordable and dome-shaped, note that there is an extra loop pole for the vestibule support, and these are fiberglass poles. The tent weighs 9 lb 5.4 oz (8.77 kg), and its peak height is 72 inches (183 cm).
The reason is that they build them separately for the EU market and for the US market. So the former are huge and they typically can accommodate far more than 6 people. The Mineral King 3 and the Tungsten 4 have similar tent-body profiles and are nearly identical in setup, except that the Tungsten 4 uses two brow poles instead of one to support its fly. Like the Mineral King 3, the Tungsten is a largely mesh dome tent with a tape-seamed polyester bathtub floor, which is highly water resistant. Neither tent experienced any ground leaks during testing, either under rainy conditions or when we soaked the tents and the ground underneath them with a garden hose. Beyond their general size, the tents in our test group were very different from one another, with a wide array of pole configurations and window, door, and roof designs.
To evaluate the small tents in real-world situations, we took them first to Greggs Hideout, on the Arizona side of Lake Mead. During our tests in this area, temperatures reached upwards of 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and at night, as the sands cooled, whipping windstorms kicked up around us. It got so hot one afternoon that we spent the day taking shifts in the car, cooling our photography equipment while monitoring coleman tents ourselves for signs of heatstroke and dehydration. If tents can withstand those conditions, they’ll withstand just about anything. We also wanted self-standing tents, which stay up on their own before you stake them down. Even with a self-standing tent, ideally you should stake down each corner securely; in some crowded campgrounds, however, finding a flat spot with soil soft enough to do that can be difficult.
In the 2018 update, the Base Camp 6’s base changed from a rectangular shape to a nearly square design, which adds even more stability. If you’re willing to spend top dollar for a tent that will stand up to the elements and keep you comfortable in rain and mud—as well as offer privacy at a crowded campground—the REI Co-op Base Camp 4 and Base Camp 6 are the clear choices. That mesh also keeps the tent feeling more airy and cool in hot climates. But it’s one of the least expensive tents we found that will truly cover all the bases for three-season car-camping in most conditions you’re likely to encounter.
But in sudden, violent storms, car campers always have the easy (if perhaps pathetic) option of collapsing their tents and retreating to their cars. Weighing 2 pounds, 8 ounces, this backpacking tent by Big Agnes is an ultra-lightweight option for long hiking trips. It’s easy to pitch, with reflective guylines and color-coded webbing for nighttime set-up, and is made from solution-dyed fabric that’ll hold color longer and resist fading from UV rays. It’s a three-season tent, meaning its ripstop nylon/polyester mesh fabric won’t necessarily hold up in winter weather, but it’s still a durable and spacious option for backpacking beginners. This 3-person rooftop tent is designed to fit on top of most vehicles with a roof rack.