Coleman Instant 4 Tent Reviews and Details Page 2

Tent Reviews: Coleman Instant 4

Tent and Awning Reviews Index > Coleman > Instant 4 Reviews

Current Model?
Berths:
Weight:
RRP on date added:
Bedroom inners:
Living area groundsheet:
Pitching Style:

Yes
4 (more 4 berth tents)
19.50 KG
Ł350.00
1
Fully Sewn-in
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Average User Rating:

5.24/10 from 21 reviews

Viewed: 69866 times

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21 Reviews of the Instant 4 Showing 11 to 20 Page: 1 2 3

By: Viv11 Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2012 Rating: 7 from 10

Hoping for third time lucky with our tent! The first two, bought from Amazon, had tears in the groundsheet.

Returned without any problem to Amazon. Since receiving tent #3, it's hardly stopped raining, so not got further than the back garden as yet. (Until the school holidays have passed, we're staying put). It went up in about 10 minutes (I'm 63 and hubby is 73). I'm not 100% confident now after reading the reviews, that we bought the right tent. It IS easy to erect, but it weighs a ton and is quite large to transport. The groundsheet quality is a concern. I do hope, after it's first official trip, that it doesn't let us down.

2 from 3 people found this review helpful, was it helpful to you?

By: Happydave Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2012 Rating: 1 from 10

I thought I would provide an update to my previous good reviews of the Coleman Instant 4 - Unfortunately, this tent let us and itself down! For no apparent reason we developed a twisted frame, then broken elbow joints and eventually a total collapse - Had to pack up and go home - The very same problems that Alan c-1 and TJ 106 discribe - Nice while it lasted but go buy something else.

3 from 3 people found this review helpful, was it helpful to you?

By: Dome Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2012 Rating: 7 from 10

What a great conception a few issues to sort out but I reckon that the next model out will be a winner, IF Colemans take notice of peoples reviews. My 1ST outing with my tent was going well as I was erecting it on my own and I am a 70 year old lady, but as I was putting the last leg up it came away in my hand and the pin holding the elbow in,. Was bent on the floor.I took this tent back to Attwools who were terrific and they replaced straight away. I then went away for a week with the new tent and the side seam under the middle leg parted company with the ground sheet about 4inches in length I sewed this up with strong thread and proceeded with my holiday, by the end of the week I had a large yellowish hallo around the top of the front door above the stable door, I also had the same mark all along the inside at the bottom of the white stable door, I have now returned this to Attwools and am awaiting the delivery of a new tent (different model) My suggestion for Colemans is that you do not need a open window in a door that already opens, but it would be a good idea! to have a side door or a zip opening on side windows,or at least a mesh window. As I said when these things are ironed out you have got a winner! I await the new design.

1 from 1 people found this review helpful, was it helpful to you?

By: Alan-c1 Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2012 Rating: 1 from 10

I bought this tent for weekends following some favourable technical reviews and the tent design is indeed ingenious; oh but the appalling construction quality! Unlike most of my other recent tents, this was not made in China but Bangladesh, where it seems quality control is at best patchy if not non existent. On arrival at it's 1st outing in Robin Hoods Bay, it was as usual windy but nothing extraordinary, having camped here many times before in several other tents. The 'Instant 4' however seemed anything but; erecting it in even moderate winds (and with other campers successfully pitching up even as we struggled) it flexed and bent its poles into all manner of alarming shapes, inspiring no confidence whatsoever! After a PROLONGED struggle we finally had the tent pitched and guyed out, only for a rivet and pole to snap collapsing the entire tent within 2 minutes. This was preceded seconds earlier by a snapped corner 'anchoring' tab to further hinder our efforts at once again containing it in moderate winds; this time to collapse and repack it! Subsequently the weekend was spent (expensively) in a last minute B&B booking which was not the cheap 'back to basics' weekend we had planned and wanted, but an expensive and unplanned major expense. The tent was purchased from World of Camping who I cannot fault; it was returned and I received a no quibble refund. As for the tent though, absolute rubbish! I certainly wouldn't be tempted into another Coleman tent, and reading other reviews my experience isn't untypical. Don't be tempted!

4 from 4 people found this review helpful, was it helpful to you?

By: Chrisbex Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2012 Rating: 8 from 10

We have just returned from using our new tent straight from the box ! for a 2 night break, It has rained heavily for about 28 hours non stop on the tent , we (2 adults and 2 collies) have had a comfortable time in the tent, setting up speed was fantastic :) ( which is the main reason we bought it ) there are condensation issues (I did cook in the tent !) vents must be used and kept open, but considering that we were on a hill top with a raging thunderstorm there was no major leaks ( mainly condensation drips) Love this tent :) as we can set up camp so fast we can use it for just one night breaks and be comfortable. I hope this helps :)

1 from 1 people found this review helpful, was it helpful to you?

By: Big Wend Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2012 Rating: 8 from 10

Have just had two nights away in this tent in very wet and windy weather. This tent was so easy to pitch for two women with a lively two year old running round. It was up and pegged in about 15 mins in pouring rain and very strong winds. Loved the 'stable door' effect in the front door which enabled you to open the window completely.

The tent stood up very well in the strong winds and hardly seemed to move, although one of the straps holding the tent to the frame did snap off.

A real negative with the tent is in very wet weather the zips round the door and where the electricity cable comes in did leak and we had quite a pool inside by the door. I felt that the tent needed a canopy over the door.

Even with this negative, I love this tent. So easy to put up and take down. Brilliant for weekend camping.

3 from 3 people found this review helpful, was it helpful to you?

By: TJ 106 Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2012 Rating: 2 from 10

This is a review of the Coleman INSTANT 4 tent (not to be confused with the INSTANT 4 TOURER which is the smaller version). The design of the tent is a brilliant concept; it features a 6 legged telescopic frame which remains attached to the outside of the tent by means of plastic hooks on short strap-loops sewn into the seams of the tent. Each leg has a plastic elbow joint joining the roof pole to the leg pole. The six roof poles pivot at a central hub and the lower ends of the telescopic leg poles attach to plastic fittings sewn at six points around the sewn-in groundsheet. Four of the six roof poles are also telescopic.

Coleman advertises that this tent can be erected in under a minute, and with a little practice this is quite easily achieved. The tent arrives folded rather like an umbrella and erecting it is quite straightforward; after unfolding the legs and pulling the groundsheet corners outwards the four roof poles are extended then the six leg poles are extended then the sewn-in groundsheet is pegged down. Each telescopic pole has a button which clicks out when the pole is extended just like putting up an umbrella; the button is pressed in to collapse the pole. The frame relies upon the tension of the tent fabric to maintain its shape.

We chose this tent because we believe Coleman have a good reputation for quality products and this particular tent can be erected quickly without the need to feed bendy poles through sleeves etc.

We have now had two of these tents fail due to badly stitched seams. We bought the first tent from Amazon.Co.Uk in May 2012 and used it for one weekend without a problem. The second time we used the tent it was quite windy and when we returned to the campsite on the second day we found the frame was broken and the tent had collapsed. One of the plastic elbow joints had snapped and one of the plastic hooks complete with its strap had been ripped out of the tent seam. Some friends helped out by binding up the broken elbow with string and tape and put up a central supporting pole inside to keep the roof up. An examination of the tent revealed that the stitching was poor where the hook and strap had been ripped out. Ours was the only tent on the site which had collapsed. We cannot fault Amazon’s customer service; they offered a no quibble refund or replacement straight away.

We opted for a replacement tent which arrived promptly, and fortunately we decided to erect the tent in the garden before embarking on another weekend away. Whilst erecting the tent, we got to the stage of extending the six leg poles before the problems started. We had extended four of the legs but as we began extending the last two we heard a popping sound. A quick investigation revealed the seam had started ripping between the groundsheet and tent sidewall midway along one long side right where the leg pole attaches to the groundsheet. There was a gaping tear in the seam about four inches long and a distinct risk of it getting worse if we hadn’t have collapsed the frame immediately. A thorough examination of the tent again revealed that the stitching was poor particularly on a few of the hook straps which hadn’t been caught fully in the seam. These are points where the tension is high and therefore should be very strong. Badly sewn seams at these points are guaranteed to fail. Again Amazon agreed a full refund without argument.

We have decided not to get another of these tents after these problems and think that Coleman have a quality problem where they are manufactured in the far east, which is a shame because the idea is great, they are quick and easy to erect but the stitching needs to be stronger. We cannot fault Amazon for their customer service.

4 from 4 people found this review helpful, was it helpful to you?

By: Happydave Reason: I've used one Made in: 2012 Rating: 9 from 10

We have just returned from a wonderful weekend away at Freshwater Beach in Dorset - This was our first camping trip using our new Coleman Instant 4 - The weather was dry, sunny and warm but at times very windy - The tent coped very well in the wind and provided the four of us (Two adults and two small children) with plenty of room - The good points were - Very quick to erect and take down - Great head height in all the rooms - Dark good sized bedrooms - Very light living area with large windows - Coped well in strong winds - Bad points - The three front door zips were a bit fiddly and it did get very hot during the day - The air vents could be bigger - Otherwise a very good tent which I would highly recommend.

1 from 1 people found this review helpful, was it helpful to you?

By: Happydave Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2012 Rating: 9 from 10

I have not used this tent yet but I agree with most of what WobblyBob has to say - Luckily my tent arrived with no rips or tears and for Ł242 it appears to be a very good buy - With young children - I wanted a family sized tent that I could put up on my own - On a fine sunny day with light winds this tent almost erected itself! - Went up very easily and was up and pegged out in less than 5 mins - It came down and packed away just as quickly - Very impressed. The two large bedrooms each take a 140cm air bed and the living area is spacious and light with good head height - My only gripe is that because the external poles are some distance away from the tent fabric - it is almost impossible to find any fixing points to hang or attach things like lights or cables etc - Apart from this minor glitch I cannot fault this tent - But as I said - I have yet to use it.

2 from 2 people found this review helpful, was it helpful to you?

By: WobblyBob2012 Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2012 Rating: 8 from 10

This is an additional comment to those I have made above. Given that this is a tent review. I rate it as an 8. It's a superb concept. Some have noted that my tent had faults (which it did), but I'm putting that down to bad luck - surely not every Coleman tent has issues. I watched the tent in the wind yesterday. It was a sturdy as it needs to be - far sturdier than my fibre glass poled Waterfall 5.

Given that a picture paints a thousand words, here's a link to a quick iphone walk around that I did.

Http://www.Youtube.Com/watch?v=m17cEB3H4kw

The moral of my story is check everything before you take it anywhere (as you would expect) and replace the tent pegs (as you might not if you'd just paid a few hundred quid for a tent). If you order on line, make yourself aware of the cost of returning an item - even if it's because of a manufacturing error.

3 from 3 people found this review helpful, was it helpful to you?

21 User Reviews of the Instant 4 - Showing 11 to 20 Page: 1 2 3

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Manufacturer's Description

Instant Tent™ 4
The Coleman® Instant Tent™ introduces a revolutionary technology with sturdy steel poles already connected to the tent. This spider-like structure helps to make pitching extremely fast: the tent is up in just 1 minute!
Besides spacious dark bedrooms the Instant Tent™ size 4 provides a large protected living area, large (selfrolling) windows and high quality fabrics with super-strong weather proofing.

Steel poles
• 1 min Pitch-in-one
• Sewn-in groundsheet
• 3000 mm fabric
• Rain protection peak
• Wind and rain tested
• Pack size 125 x 31 cm
• Weight: 19.5 kg

... there may be more info on their website

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