Coleman Skylodge 12-Person Camping Tent with Screen Room Evergreen

First of all, I’m Korean. I’ve always admired how Americans tow large RV camping vehicles and go on camping trips. While owning an RV wasn’t feasible for me, I decided at least to buy a large tent—and that’s how I ended up purchasing this one.Let me start with the personal downsides I’ve experienced. I wish the floor material was a bit thicker. One time, a sharp rock punctured a hole in the bottom, and on a rainy day, water seeped through that small hole. However, this can be easily fixed with tent repair tape sold on Amazon. There’s also a bit of seepage through the fabric, but that can be resolved with waterproof spray. These are just minor inconveniences.Since the tent is large, it’s definitely better to set it up with at least two people. In particular, on windy days, you need to be careful after inserting the upper support poles to make sure the tent doesn’t get pushed by the wind and cause the poles to snap. A large tent catches a lot of wind, which puts strong pressure on the support poles. One of mine did break once, but I was able to fix it with a repair kit.That sums up the downsides and the one incident of damage I’ve experienced. Other than that, everything about this tent is great.It held up strongly even during a heavy storm in Florida. (Of course, I secured it to the ground by tying down all the guy lines from the support poles.) As you can see, the space is more than big enough. When we lay out a queen-sized air mattress, there’s still plenty of room for my two young daughters to jump and play.I'm planning to try winter camping as well. Based on a review from a buyer in Alaska, it seems that with some basic winter gear and clothing, this tent can be used comfortably even in the winter.I’ve probably gone camping more than ten times with this tent. I think I paid around \$300, and I’d say I’ve more than gotten my money’s worth. As long as you clear sharp rocks from the ground before setting it up and occasionally spray the support poles with lubricant to prevent rust, I think it could last well over ten years. It’s a great tent.

I asked my wife what it would take to get her to go camping and she said she needed a BIG tent. I spent months looking at tents online and reading reviews before finally deciding to buy this one. Why this one? Because the brand with the biggest tents (IYKYK) has so many mixed reviews on waterproofing and durability, so I was worried about spending $300-500 on a tent that may or may not work. I have always used Coleman tents and have yet to have any issues. So I took a chance on this one, hoping the brand was still up to par. I either got lucky, or they remain one of the best brands.I set this up over a weekend, on a day when it was slightly windy, maybe 10mph breezes. So there was a little challenge with keeping things where I needed them until I was staked down, but the tent itself is heavy enough that it didn't budge. Only my tarps and the fly had issue with the wind. Regardless, I got it about 90% put together myself, and then needed help from one other person to raise it and get the first couple poles in place before I could finish the rest by myself. I don't know if I could have gotten it up without ANY help, but maybe if I did it a certain way...who knows. The fly definitely needed a second person to help pull it over the top, but I also waited until I had the whole tent up to deal with the fly. I staked the whole thing down, and then staked the guy lines. All of them.The second night the tent was up, we had rain. The next morning when I went out and checked, there wasn't a single drop on the inside, while the entire outside had water beaded up all over it. I left the tent up for something like a week and a half, and during that time, we had two or three storms roll through with a ton of rain and winds. The tent held up to all of it, still not a single drop inside, on the walls or the floor, and the winds didn't break anything. I am super impressed with the performance of this tent under those conditions, and I will certainly trust it on a camping trip after all that. I ended up taking it down on an evening when it was already pretty windy and calling for even worse winds and storms. I didn't want to push my luck. Although the already fierce wind gust were pushing the sides of the tent around, the poles and guy lines weren't budging one bit. That's testament to why those guy lines are SO important, in addition to staking the tent itself.My only possible complaint is that this tent is pretty difficult to pack in a way that can fit everything back into the tote bag. Yes, I was rushing and dealing with winds, but I only managed to get the tent and fly back into the bag. I have the poles in their own bag, outside of the tote. I did also have to tear the seam on the bottom of the tote, which gives it some extra play for stuffing the tent in. But even still, I couldn't fit the poles in with it. I may try to unpack it and see if I can pack it more neatly, but it's not the end of the world, for sure. It's not a big enough complaint to lower my overall rating.Oh, and I had a king-sized air mattress set up in there...I had it on the back end of the tent, there was space on both sides to walk around the bed, AND it only took up half the tent, lengthwise. Plus you get the extra space in the front screen room, which can be either completely open view, partially open view, or completely closed off as a second private area. The fly is even designed to roll up on the front sides, so you can have it even more open for airflow. This thing is just huge and roomy. I can't wait to get it out and do some real camping with it!

It seems like a very well-made tent. We did a practice run for setting it up and are eager to use it.