Coleman Evanston Screened Tent

We camped with this tent in the Shenandoahs, overall an excellent car camping tent. Specifically, Great ventilation, 4 sided sheltered ventilation that prevents feeling stuffy and capture and funnels available wind without letting in rain. Nice vestibule, it's wonderful having a mudroom. The vestibule has it's screen drains on the outer edges. Most ground isn't perfectly flat, so just remember that portion should be the lowest. Yes, the vestibule is not covered completely by the tarp, so it will be wet in a rainstorm, but it's purpose is really to provide you a bug free area to take off your shoes and de-mud yourself prior to entering the tent Roomy. We had two inflatable queen sized air mattresses and this provided enough room for the air mattresses plus several feet at the bottom of the mattresses for bags, clothes, etc. and room between the mattresses as well. Simple to setup. One person can do it in maybe 10 - 15 minutes, pounding in stakes, etc. I did. It basically is the same dome tent you've all had before, with an extra loop for the vestibule. if you don't know, stake down the corners after you have unfolded the tent and prior to erecting it. Nice rainfly. I like it when when a rainfly has good attachments, which this does, attaching to the poles with Velcro and hooks to the rings. I'd like a bit bigger rings to attach more easily, but overall not bad. It has also several lines that allow it to be held out for better ventilation and security. A dry experience. We had a moderately heavy rain and the tent was dry inside, with good ventilation. It does store away well. Remember how it comes from the factory and fold it in from the sides till you have a very long, skinny section the width of the bag. Then roll it carefully up, taking your time to ensure the air is removed as you roll it tightly. I haven't had any issues with repacking it and I've done it several times. oh, get some real tent stakes and dont use the tiny ones that come with it.

So I finally got to put the tent to use this weekend. Just wanted to share that it was everything we needed it to be. Having grown up with standard dome tents, I had it out of the box and up, by myself, in about 10-15 minutes. Would be about 5-10 minutes now that I've done it. The size turned out to be perfect, not too huge, but definitely big enough for a queen, and two child sized airbeds. Could definitely fit two queens. The screen room was everything I hoped it would be. It adds a ton of flexibility to the tent. Some people had complained that it was a bit small, but they were mostly commenting on the Evanston 6, which is smaller in general. Because the 8 is bigger all around, the screen room is just about perfect. It makes for a great place to throw gear without having to constantly go in-out of the sleeping area. For example, you can stage gear just by throwing it into the screen room. Then when you have your shoes off, you can move gear back and forth to the clean areas. When we woke up this morning the world was wet with morning condensation, but the inside of the tent was dry. It has very good ventilation, and lots of large windows to control that aspect. However, those that have mentioned that this is a warm weather tent are correct. The increased ventilation definitely means that you won't be trapping as much warmth during the night. So take that into account when planning bags, blankets, etc. I was nervous to go with Coleman, because frankly their tent reviews in the last few years have been slipping, especially on their other styles. But I chose this one because the reviews were much better, and because I wanted to stick with a standard dome configuration. We had a great time, and the tent performed well in every aspect. The floor is well crafted and of good material. The seams and zips were all well placed and well done. No complaints. Unless one of our kids damages the tent, there is no reason we shouldn't get quite a few good seasons from it.

Excelente casa, quede muy a gusto con ella y en verdad esta bastante amplia, los materiales son bastantes resistentes y por el precio que vale no hay que pensarlo dos veces si se necesita una casa para camping. En cuanto al envío fue excelente llego de un día para el otro y en excelentes condiciones. - La zona de la casa que tiene malla esta bastante grande como para poner cosas que siempre necesites a la mano o por si llevas muchas cosas es excelente. - Lo unico que hay que cambiarle a la casa son los ganchos para anclar la casa y es que son un poco delgados y se doblan con facilidad al momento de pegarles para sumirlos en el terreno (siempre que compro una casa bienen con ese detalle asi que no es problema de esta casa, ganchos muy delgados). En fin estoy muy contento con esta compra y con mi casa!!!

First things first, this is a Coleman tent, ok? In case you don’t understand what that means, let me explain it for you by telling you what it is NOT. This is not Mountain Hardwear, Marmot, North Face or any big name, high performance brand. It’s Coleman. You buy these at Walmart or Target, not REI. So understand that you make certain sacrifices in quality right off the bat with this tent and to complain about it is like buying a Chevy and getting upset that it doesn’t have the features, craftsmanship, or design of a BMW. That being said, let’s talk about this tent. Here’s what I like: It sets up quickly, tears down just as fast, and you can still get everything back in the carrying bag it came with without giving yourself a hernia from overexerting. With the rainfly off, you get decent (although not great) ventilation for those hot summer nights. It’s roomy. I love the screen porch as an entry to kick shoes off in that greatly minimizes the amount of sand and dirt that ends up inside the tent itself and therefore inside my sleeping bag. The price. For $130, you can’t go wrong. Here’s what doesn’t thrill me: As other reviews mention, the rainfly does jack squat to protect anything in the screened porch from moisture in the event of rain. It will get wet. And the floor will get wet too and will probably pool up water. Which you will likely step in unknowingly in an early morning pre-dawn, coffeeless haze and slip and fall and completely soak yourself when all you were trying to do was to drain your middle aged bladder that can’t make it through one complete night in the flipping woods without waking you up. I mean, maybe you won’t. But someone could. Or did. But definitely not me. But hypothetically, I bet that would suck. Also, the back panel is a completely open screen. With the rainfly on, it provides no additional ventilation and seems pointless. With the fly off, it allows for ventilation but cannot be closed so there is no option for privacy. Then again, you’re in an 8-person tent. You gave up on the concept of privacy the moment you zippered yourself inside this nylon castle with a gaggle of other campers. Oh, and about the 8-person thing: that’s relative. Sure, 8 people if you’re cramming them in. Then again, why stop there? I bet the whole Thai soccer team could fit in this thing. But for us normal, slightly overweight Americans, 8-people is pushing it. I’d say 6 at best, and even then you’ll have to get creative. But I easily fit two queen-sized air mattresses for my four kids and had plenty of room for myself and all of our gear. There would’ve been room for their mother to join us too if she hadn’t run off with her bass player. But I digress... “8-person” is a bit generous. So there you have it. All things considered, this is a pretty good tent. If it got too close to the fire and completely melted, or if a tree fell on it and rendered it useless, I’d buy it again. Probably.

8ight person Coleman Evanston Tent, $109.99). Purchase and Delivery of the tent was October 2022. As I type, I’ve only set up the tent as a test and have not tested overnight. If necessary, I will update this review after my next campout in two weeks. Everything arrived in good shape and setup fine with no visible flaws. I was not certain the dimensions of this 8-person tent based on specifications provided. To clarify: The Main Cabin alone is 12’ wide x 10’ deep with the door into the main cabin along the 12' section. The attached Porch is12’ wide where it meets the main cabin and tapers down to 8’6” wide at front of the porch. The porch is 5’ deep. In total, the tent is 12’ wide (again, it tapers down to 8’6” wide at the front of the porch) and 15’ deep. If you prefer to use a tarp under the tent, a 12’ x 16’ tarp is the common size you’d need. What I Like: -Price. $109.99. You can’t beat this price for an 8ight-person tent from Coleman. Compared to the SIX-person model for $135.99, which I believe was also already a good deal. -Headroom. The specifications indicate 6’ interior height. I’m 6’3 and was able to stand in the center of the cabin area without crouching. -Easy. The instructions are straight forward, and simple to understand. I made a couple of small mistakes during assembly that I should easily avoid the 2nd time around. Otherwise, it was easy enough to assemble alone. Note, I have one remaining question regarding assembly/design, described later. -Cary Bag. I took the time to neatly fold and repack the tent. With that, it was easy to fit everything back into the included carry bag. I also packed an additional rainfly (will use to help cover the porch if rain is expected). I don’t expect this bag will outlive the tent. For now, however, it’s nice to have a bag that even with the extra rainfly and steaks I’ve packed, everything fits relatively easily without having to fight it to close. Note, check the bottom of the bag to release extra space in the bag. -Zippers and Quality. Throughout the tent, the zippers stood out to be a slightly better quality than what I’ve experienced from Coleman in the past. This is specifically true for the three zippers on the front porch where it will receive heavy use. The overall quality appears to be in line with what I've experienced from Coleman in the past. Things I don’t love: (While considering the following, these observations would not deter me from recommending this product or making the same purchase again. However, I wanted to share my observations and hope they help you make a good decision for your next tent.) -Entire Back Wall. It’s difficult to see from the pictures provided online, but from about 2 feet from the ground and up, the entire back wall is all mesh, without a zip-up privacy window. It’s the only section within the main cabin that does not include a zip up privacy window. I’ve included a picture for this. My concerns: 1) If you are not using the rainfly, you will not have privacy from that back end of the tent. Privacy is restored after the rainfly is added. 2) With the rainfly added, at the bottom there is space between the mesh and the rainfly along the back wall. Picture is included with my hand as a guide where the mesh sits v.s the Rainfly. That gap will result in quicker heat loss within the cabin on a colder night/morning. Add to that, while the rainfly naturally ends a few inches below the mesh, if a stronger wind/rain blows directly in toward that back wall, a draft and even some water splatter could blow up and back into the cabin. I don’t suspect the water will be any major issue, but it is something of concern. 3) If any portion of the mesh were to rip there, beyond a repair, there would be no way to prevent bugs from entering the cabin. -Floor Material Stepping into the Cabin. When moving from the porch into the cabin, the flooring (tub) material does not sit flat on the ground. It feels a bit awkward when stepping closer to the door. Picture included. To be fair, it’s likely designed this way to help shed water away from the cabin. Over time, stepping too close to the door could cause excess stretching to those surrounding components. If it’s bothersome or a trip hazard for someone with a shorter stride, when steaking out the tent, consider not pulling the last three steaks as taught at the front of the porch. This should allow the tub to sit a bit flatter in that area by the door. -Door Walking into the Main Cabin. The door from the outside walking into the Porch feels comfortable. It’s large and centered. However, the door walking into the Cabin feels a bit cramped and awkward. It is smaller by comparison to the porch door and then offset to the right. This causes (another) somewhat awkward step moving through the porch and into the cabin. -Water on the Porch. Water will pass through the mesh on the porch. It’s the way this tent is designed. Consider bringing an extra towel to dry the area as necessary. The good news… I was able to cover the porch without too much trouble. Get creative here to find your own solution. I was originally considering a 10’x10’ beach tent. Or steak out a tarp. In the end, and I'm sure I'm not the 1st person to try this, I used the rainfly from my previous 6 person Coleman dome tent (still in good condition). It is blue/white in the pictures. It seems like this will be a good solution without much work, additional cost, or additional items to pack (as mentioned, the rainfly fits easily into the carry bag along with the rest of this tent). I used an adjustable 5’6” pole to hold up the center of that entry area. And I used 2 extra steaks for guy lines on either side. Water could still get in around the edges, but in a light rain with good drainage away from the tent, the area should stay relatively dry. I also expect this solution will be quiet vs. a tarp moving in the breeze. I’ve included a few pictures illustrating how I made this work. COLEMAN should sell an accessory for this. -Assembly Instructions not 100% Clear. As I hinted earlier in "What I Like - Easy...", from the outside, there are two loops halfway down each corner of the front porch. I expect they are intended for additional Guy Lines, but no instructions or additional guy lines are provided to specify the design here. (Note, the loops are near but separate from the Porch-door-loop-and-toggle-hold-back-system). In my initial setup I assumed they were intended to pass the guy lines through into a single point. I’ve included a picture for this, where I am pointing. I think this setup could have worked fine. However, after reviewing online pictures, the guy lines don't pass through those loops. Again, I'd guess they are for two additional guy lines but that also might be excessive. Maybe I'll use them to hang glow sticks to show the way in the dark. - No Extension Cord Port. It’s worth noting before you purchase, if this is important to you: There is not a port for an extension cord. However, I believe you could easily run a line through the bottom/center of the front porch where those three zippers meet. From there run the line into the cabin from the bottom corner of the front door. You’d need to keep the two zippers closed at that bottom corner and it would become a trip hazard, but you could make it work without letting the bugs in. I hope this helps. Best of luck!