Coleman 8 Person Red Canyon Tent Review

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Are you looking to take a trip with a large sized group or family? If the answer to that question is ‘yes,’ then it’s time to break free of the cramped four to five person tents and move on to an eight-person tent. My Coleman 8 Person Red Canyon Tent review is a good place to start. Though this tent looked promising with its sheer size and bells and whistles, it didn’t fetch a decent rating.

Our Rating:

Pros

Spacious tent interior, lots of living space
Incredibly water resistant tent
Comes with two dividers, which can create three rooms
Lots of window surface area, good ventilation

Cons

Lack of privacy; side windows can’t be zipped up
Major quality control issues
Ceiling height is inadequate
Complex setup

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Key Features

“Bells and Whistles”

When you go camping, the idea is to make your campsite a home away from home. The Red Canyon Tent has a number of extra features that accomplish just that, all without adding too much complexity to the internal or external design.

One of the most impressive extra features of the Red Canyon Tent is the addition of two dividers that can be hung up on the left and right sides of the tent. This effectively creates three rooms in the interior, which can certainly make the tent seem even bigger than it is. Considering the fact that many eight person tents are just one giant living area, it certainly makes the Red Canyon Tent look more intriguing.

Another cool feature about this tent is that it comes with a lantern hook. There are few things worse during camping than trying to operate in a tent with a lantern on the floor! It gets in the way and can cause injuries if it is tripped over.

Another notable feature for the Red Canyon Tent is that it includes a small plastic floor mat. It’s not much, and it certainly won’t improve your tent’s performance, but it’s a small touch that seems to make the tent feel more like home.

Large Side Windows

If you are looking for a summer tent, you need a tent that is well ventilated. The Coleman Red Canyon Tent definitely fits the bill of being a very well ventilated tent. It boasts two large, mesh windows that work their way up the sides to form an impressive skylight in the middle of the tent. This adds a secondary benefit of being able to gaze at the stars on clear nights with no risk of rain.

Additionally, there is a half window on the door flap of the tent and a small window on the back of the tent. Both of these windows can be zipped up if rain starts to fall. Due to the small size of the front and rear windows, you will have the best luck getting the most ventilation by orienting your tent such that the front and back are facing any obstructions that may exist, leaving the sides to face any available open areas.

Another great benefit of the Red Canyon Tent is that the large side windows are covered by a lifted tarp. This means that the side windows can stay open even when it is raining, so that ventilation is only slightly reduced when the front and rear windows must be closed. Many tents lose much of their capacity to cool when the rainstorms start, which is a problem that the Red Canyon Tent will not have to deal with.

Bathtub Floor

A prominent Achilles heel of many tents, regardless of size, is a poor ability to keep out rain and dew from the interior of the tent. Fortunately, the Red Canyon Tent has no such issues with water resistance, and the reason can be mostly attributed to its bathtub floors.

A bathtub floor means that the floor of the tent reaches upwards over the sides, a few inches off the ground. There are therefore no seams on the bottom of the tent floor, which is where a good deal of moisture tends to seep through in other tents.

If you have no desire to wake up in the morning with a damp sleeping bag, then the Red Canyon Tent is a very solid option. With the bathtub floor combined with the tent’s weather protector, the Red Canyon tent is a very high performer in water resistance.

Detailed Review

Size - 4.5/5

If you’re looking into a tent that is rated to be six person or greater, there’s a solid chance that you’re looking for a tent that will house a large number of people without cramming them nose to nose. In that regard, the Red Canyon Tent is a fantastic performer.

One of the greatest advantages of the Red Canyon Tent is its sheer size. It’s one of the bigger tents I’ve had the chance to review, when footprint is considered. The tent is an impressive 17 feet by 10 feet at its largest span.

Most tents are guilty of “size inflation” when it comes to the number of people the tent can fit. The Red Canyon tent is much less guilty of this than its competition; the tent can comfortably fit six adults, or two queen sized mattresses.

One knock to the size of the Red Canyon tent is that it is a dome tent, which means that the size tapers near the edges and the ceiling height rapidly diminishes away from the tent’s center. Regardless, if you are planning to take trips with large amounts of people, this tent will suit your needs perfectly.

Hot Weather Usage - 5/5

The Red Canyon is a great tent for you if you plan to mostly use it during the summer and spring seasons. The large side windows will allow a large amount of air to pass through the tent and cool it down. The front and rear windows are small, but in the summer months, every bit of mesh ventilation on a tent is useful.

One disclaimer is that you should not use this tent in areas where a large amount of dust can be kicked up during wind storms. The side windows of the Red Canyon tent can’t be closed, which will allow dirt to pass almost freely through the interior of the tent.

Cold Weather Usage - 0/5

If you’re looking for a cold weather tent, look elsewhere. This tent is advertised as a three season tent, and should therefore not be used during the wintertime. The side windows do not close, which would mean that all body heat that builds up in the night will exit the tent immediately.

The Red Canyon Tent takes a huge knock to its overall rating due to its seasonal inflexibility. Any temperature experienced below human comfort level will be experienced within the tent; you could sleep in the free air and be just as warm.

Durability - 1/5

The Coleman Red Canyon Tent has major issues with quality control and thus durability. The seams on the tent are poorly made, which results in tearing and fraying during setup and repeated use, decreasing the aggregate water resistance of the tent.

The zippers on the tent are not made of metal but are single-knotted lace instead. These zippers will have problems with repeated use and may cause issues with closing the door as time goes on.

The most crucial quality you should want in a tent is reliability. You want a tent that will stand up to repeated abuse from setup and weather, a tent you can trust. The Red Canyon Tent is not a tent that you would be able to confidently rely on. Instead, it seems like a tent that would always be at risk of a catastrophic breakdown.

Overall Score:

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How Does It Compare To Others?

Wenzel 9 Person Kodiak Tent

What’s impressive about the 8 person Red Canyon Tent is that it has a larger footprint than even the 9 person Kodiak Tent. Despite this, the Kodiak Tent has more size consistency. It is not a dome tent, so its size and height does not taper as you near the edges of the tent.

The Red Canyon Tent is far more weather resistant than the Kodiak tent, though the amount of ventilation on both tents is comparable. The Kodiak Tent would be best for you if you have a large party that mostly takes day trips, with most of the vacation’s activity occurring within the tent. On the other hand, the Red Canyon Tent is most likely best for you if you have a larger party that plans to only use the tent to sleep.

NTK Texas GT 7 Person Tent

The Texas GT Tent is a much more complicated tent to set up than the Red Canyon Tent. For this complication, however, the Texas GT provides a greater deal of versatility than its counterpart. Most notably, the the Texas GT has an extensive awning that can be set up, which can give you a convenient place to stow camping gear without fear of losing it to rain damage.

The Texas GT is also more portable than the Red Canyon Tent, which makes it perfect for you and a medium sized group to carry the tent to a more distant campsite. The Red Canyon Tent, which is considerably bigger in size and storage, would be best for you if you desire to stay close to the car during your camping experience and would like to house more people under one roof.

Timber Ridge 8 Person Tent

The Timber Ridge Tent is a product that is very guilty of size inflation. You’d most likely be able to fit a maximum of four people in this tent, though those four wouldn’t complain about a lack of space. The Timber Ridge comes with one divider that can split the tent into two sections, one less section than the Red Canyon Tent provides.

The innovative feature that the Timber Ridge Tent has that the Red Canyon lacks is its double door design. The Timber Ridge allows entry into each of its divided rooms separately, making it perfect for you if you are travelling with small parties of light sleepers. You won’t have to climb over numerous people in your party to get to the door.

Conversely, the Red Canyon Tent is more suited to your needs if you have a larger group of well acquainted campers, and are willing to sacrifice the convenience of exiting the tent for sheer size.

Should you buy?

The Coleman 8 Person Red Canyon Tent is a tent that looks like one of the best tents on the market, but only on paper. Its combination of massive size, rainwater resistance, and hot weather performance might seem to make this tent worth its value, but its major quality issues, paired with its lack of privacy and lack of cool weather resistance make this tent a major disappointment.

If you’re a camper that views durability and reliability as paramount qualities for a tent, look elsewhere when buying. If you only want a summer tent with massive size and top of the line rainwater protection, be prepared to roll the dice with the Red Canyon Tent.