Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Coleman 8-Person Tent for Camping

Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2023

Color: GreenStyle: 8-personVerified Purchase

After the first set up is figured out, it's really easy to put together!
I use my tents for working at renaissance fairs and this week we got hammered by some rough heat followed by one heck of a thunderstorm! The tent held up great! There was one tiny leak in a corner, but considering how much rain we got all night, I'm still impressed. It was very spacious and comfortable, held up great to some rough winds and was pretty simple to figure out how to assemble solo after the first set up a week prior.
Though I camp alone and needed the space to store merchandise and whatnot, there was plenty of room if you wanted to have 2 queen size blow up mattresses in there. Maybe even a twin between them. But I like my space for my writing desk and storage lol
::CONS::
-The door didn't exactly stick shut on the velcro like it was supposed to, but it didn't bug me too much.
-The strings on the zippers got sorta confusing (there's several in one spot for the door, a second door zipper, and 2 for the door window) so I attached a Keychain to one of the door zipper strings so I'm not grabbing the wrong one constantly.
-I really wish there were more windows. Unless you know which direction the wind will be coming so you can aim the windows towards it for a cross breeze, you really don't get much fresh air in there with the top on it. Granted there's a window on the door, but I wish there was a window across from the door. Even a small one would've been nice lol
- The door mat was kind of designed.... weird. Though it was helpful to wipe your feet when coming in the tent, the stakes you attach are on the long-end sides instead of the corners, so it would sometimes fold over when you use it. I plan to alter mine so the stakes are thru the corners.

::PROS::
- I'm 5'7" and had Plenty Of head room in the center of the tent, which is a huge plus when you need to get dressed
- The floor seemed pretty thick. There were a lot of acorns on the ground and it was still pretty tolerable.
- Speaking of acorns, it was like acorn Armageddon when the wind picked up. I swear the squirrels were chucking them at us at full force at night! They'd hit the top of the tent with such force that they'd bounce off and fly several feet. It didn't seem to cause any sort of damage or bother to the tent though, even during high winds. Can't say the same for my car hood though....
- The tent overhang over the door is super helpful during storms. It was really nice that I could angle the side flaps so I wasn't getting hit with rain the second I stepped out the door and could take shelter there and stay mostly dry.
- Plenty of anchor points! If you anchor them all down, it's VERY sturdy during high winds and rain. Definitely was a help to be able to anchor at all areas where some tents don't seem to have enough for stability in winds.
-Easy fold up! It looks like it would be pretty complicated but after you fold it in half, it folds up really easy. The top fly is a little harder though lol and I recommend you fold it inside the fold of the tent or it doesn't fit in the bag.

All in all, I loved the tent and would definitely buy again.
I do plan to spray it with water resistant tent solution to make it more durable, though honestly it seemed fine without it.
But better safe than.. well, wet lol

49 people found this helpful

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Carla A

Great for first time campers

Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2018

Color: BlueStyle: 8-personVerified Purchase

This is the first family tent that I've bought other than a backyard pop-up.

Size: it fits four people well with air mattresses at either end. I can see fitting 6 people in a row lengthwise, but it's hard to see how 8 people could fit unless no one used air mattresses and you were side by side like sardines.

Interior space: The center has a good amount of head space, if you put the sleeping bags at either end, it makes a comfortable space. There is a side pocket on either end to store things and a light hook at each end and in the center.

The zip opening for an electric cord is handing, although it would be nice to have one on the other side as you either have to orient the tent towards the outlet or have a long extension cord. I really like the structure to the door.

Set up and take down: it's easy to put up once you know where everything goes. There were a couple of steps on the instructions that were a little confusing, basically everything connects to the silver rings. Once you understand that, it's easy.

The take down only takes about 5 minutes. The hard part is folding it to get back in the case. The first time we used it, I was able to get the tent back into the case, but there is no way the rain fly was going back in. The second time, I couldn't even get the tent in and zipped. There must be a trick to getting all the air out and it flat enough, but I haven't figured it out yet.

Weathering the elements: We've used this twice. The first time, it stood up under very windy conditions. The tents of people around us were collapsing, but this little tent held up to the winds. We haven't used it in rain yet.

Edited May 2018: We took this out on a trip in some Houston rains and I didn't notice any leaking at all. Packing up, I asked another camper the trick to getting a tent rolled up tight enough to get it back in the case.

The trick is the tent poles.

Lay down your tent pole bag at the end of the tent and fold the tent in thirds so that the folded tent is no wider than the tent pole bag.

Then place your pole bag at the end of the tent and begin to slowly roll up the tent, allowing the weight of the poles to push the air out of the tent. The experienced camper told me it was important to go slow and not force the air out or it could damage the tent.

Since the tent is a rectangular dome, there will be more tent in the center, so you have to be sure to keep folding in the extra as you roll up to it.

The trick is when you come to the other end. Since it has a tub bottom, all the air will be pushed ballooning up that waterproof (and airproof) area. There will be no place for the air to escape.

To get the last bit of air out, roll back the end you've been rolling over the stakes until you come to the end wall window. Next roll up the end you've been trying to reach, which is ballooned up.

So the pole end is just unrolled to the window and the opposite end is rolling TO the window, pushing out all the trapped air. Unroll the end with the poles to the opposite end again. If there is still too much air, repeat until the whole thing will roll flat. I had to do this three times, but in the end everything fit.

I was able to fit everything back into the case completely with room to spare.

42 people found this helpful

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E. Miller

Great 2-3 season family tent!

Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2015

Color: BlueStyle: 8-personVerified Purchase

As an adult who has just recently returned to the world of camping (I am a leader in my son's cub scout pack), I looked at LOTS of tent options before choosing the Coleman Montana 8 person tent. I checked out reviews on Amazon and CampMor, and talked to as many camping enthusiast friends as I could. My first year in scouting, I borrowed a Eureka 2-person tent from our local boy scout troop, which came up to (maybe) my waist, and just barely fit my full-sized air mattress. After struggling to change clothing while lying down (I could barely kneel, let alone stand), and suffering through a fairly sleepless/stuffy night in the Eureka tent, I decided that the following features were necessary for comfortable camping:

1. The ability to stand up fully. This meant that any tent I chose had to have a center height of at least 72", preferably more (my husband is 6 feet tall, and if I ever want him to join us camping, the tent needs to work for him too. The Montana 8 has a center height of 84" (7 feet).

2. Room for gear and at least two full/queen sized air mattresses. Although the Montana 8 states that there's room for 8 people, the diagram shows these 8 people sleeping in mummy bags very close together. From a comfort perspective, this tent will hold 4-5 people (and their gear) at a maximum, without feeling overly crowded. For the three of us, this fits the bill nicely.

3. Intuitive and easy to set up and take down. While I like camping, I am not an avid camper. Finding a tent that can be set up (and taken down) with only help from a 9 year old was key, and this fits the bill nicely.

4. Good cross-ventilation. After sleeping in a stuffy tent once, I didn't want to repeat the experience. Three windows (the two side windows and the door window) can be rolled down to allow for good air flow and ventilation. We rolled the windows down 1/3 of the way, which provided a very comfortable cross-breeze while sleeping.

5. Waterproof with a bathtub floor. Many of the reviewers stated that they had no problems with leaks along the seams without using any waterproofing sealant. After talking with others and reading some recommendations, I used the Kiwi Camp Dry Heavy Duty Water Repellent to spray the seams prior to our first use, as added protection. We had some light rain during the evening, and much heavier rain the next morning, and the inside of the tent stayed bone dry.

6. Quality. I wanted a tent that would stand up to occasional car camping trips, without having to be replaced on a regular basis. Coleman is a recognized brand, and after talking with folks who own Coleman tents and reading the reviews, I was convinced that this tent would be a good one for our family. So far, I'm pleased!

6. Price. Given that we don't do a lot of camping, I didn't want to spend hundreds on a tent. I purchased the Montana 8 in Blue (not the Elite) from Amazon in mid-May 2015, and paid $136.48; a surprisingly low price for this particular tent model/size.

Some nice features that this tent offers (that weren't on my list of must-haves):

1. A port for electrical/extension cords. While this tent does not have electricity, it does include a port near the door that allows campers to run an extension cord into the tent (for use with lanterns, fans, etc.)

2. A covered entry area. I looked at tents that had screened in areas, but opted for this one instead, choosing to have the extra room inside the tent rather than in a screened area. I had two camp chairs outside - in the evening, when it started to rain, I placed the camp chairs under the front rain fly "awning", on either side of the door. Despite the rain, the chairs stayed mostly dry, with only a few drops of water on them.

3. A "D door". This door has a pole that threads around the D curve, and another one at the hinge axis, which means that the door can function as a real door in terms of opening/closing, rather than a door that must be zipped open and closed. While there are Velcro closures around the D curve, we found that to keep insects from getting in we still had to zip it shut. However, we liked the easy entry!

All in all, my family and I are very pleased with our new tent, and look forward to many years of use!

70 people found this helpful

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Cinnamon toast girl

A great family car camping tent, and the door is awesome.

Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2014

Color: GreenStyle: 8-personVerified Purchase

The thing about tents....when they say they sleep a certain number of people, them mean that if you sleep in sleeping bags crammed together like sardines, that many people could physically sleep in the tent. For comfortable camping with a little personal space and room for gear and air mattresses, half the number the tent says it will sleep. We bought this large tent for our family of three, plus a dog. It worked quite well for that. We are coming from a Big Agnes tent that was just too cramped with the dog, so that is the tent quality that we are used to. This tent took us about 30 min to set up, it was not confusing or difficult, but there were a lot of steps/ instructions to follow. We bought a tarp to use as a ground cloth and we bought sturdier tent stakes to go with. The door is my favorite thing about this tent; being able to swing the door open and shut easily like a "real" door is awesome, especially when you have a small child who wants to go in and out of the tent every five seconds. I also liked the roominess, the height, and it seems very well constructed. We took this tent on a 3-night camping trip. We had one day on our trip where it rained solidly all day; the tent stayed dry inside. We did keep gear away from the walls so that water would not "wick" into the tent. There was a bit of pooling of water on the white parts of the rainfly; from the inside of the tent I would hit those areas so the water could drain off. The rainfly sat enough off of the roof of the tent that despite this pooling, the tent did not get wet. One thing I wish this tent had was more pockets and loops inside to put items in/hang things from. the only loop is in the very center of the ceiling, and there are only two very small gear pockets. I would like more pockets on the walls to put small items like your cell phone and wallet and headlamp as you sleep. We found the ventilation in this tent to be adequate; the rainfly does not fit tight over the mesh top of the tent, so there is always some ventilation, even if you close the windows. The door has a mesh panel on the top half, like a screen door, which helps with ventilation. We put a queen mattress on one end of the tent for my husband and I, had a inflatable sleeping pad with a sleeping bag on the other end for our child, and had a dog bed and all of our gear in the middle. There was plenty of room to move around, dress, and play family board games in the tent (while it rained outside). For the deeply discounted price, this is a great choice for a family car camping tent. Also, it didn't take up as much space in the car as you would think; in fact, this tent in it's bag is about the same size as our 4-person Big Agnes tent. huh. For storage of the tent I did buy a canvas laundry bag with a top drawstring, a carry strap and an outside pocket from the college "back to school" section at a local discount store; I was able to fit the tent in it's bag, the tent poles and stakes outside of the tent bag, and the tent's ground cloth (a tarp) in that larger bag. The tent was a big of a project to get back into it's original storage bag, but we were able to do so.

13 people found this helpful

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Van Edward

Camping

Reviewed in the United States on February 29, 2024

Color: BlueStyle: 8-personVerified Purchase

Con/pro...didn't come with instructions for putting up, but took about 35 mins to do it. Roomy, easily put in four cots two in each side and center was open. Liked the door installed and did well with wind and rain, no issues. Replaced the spikes with longer ones into ground which made more stable and sturdy.

3 people found this helpful

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Sarah Lee

This is a good tent for a family of four.

Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2014

Color: GreenStyle: 8-personVerified Purchase

This item is exactly as described, for those writing reviews that it wasn't authentic Coleman make sure you are ordering from a legit seller on Amazon. The one I got is definitely authentic as I've seen a few other tents that people bought at other stores and it matches up exactly.

The first time putting it up took us awhile, maybe 30-40 minutes with two adults a teenager and a kid. It would have probably gone faster but the only one of us who had ever set up a tent was myself who was told to stand back and read them the instructions. The three of them insisted they wanted to learn how to set it up and take it down on their own. So I read them instructions and showed them parts and held onto things as needed and the three of them got it up just fine. They didn't feel that it was too hard and feel that in the future with more practice they will get it up faster and easier each time. Also take down was quicker, and this time since it was just a reverse of before I wasn't even needed there for instructions. They had me sit back while they took it down, again so that they could learn. I also challenged them to get EVERYTHING that came out of the main bag to go back into the main bag. And snap if they weren't able to do it! It did slow them down because they had to slow down and make sure they were getting air pushed out of it to get it rolled up as tight as possible. I don't know that on every occasion it will fit back into the bag but, hey challenge accepted this time and they did do it!

We didn't have any rain, dew or moisture as it was a hot California Indian summer...yeah it is October and that day temps were in the low 90's! Yikes! That meant at night we were able to leave the windows open for a nice breeze and most of the night we slept on our sleeping bags with nothing, or a light blanket in the early morning cooler hours. So that means I can't say how good it does against rain, but in the future when I find out I will update this review.

It was calm all afternoon and evening, but early morning while we were asleep the wind started to blow. You could hear it howling and it was going fast and hard out there...rattled our tent but everything stayed secured. Even our rainfly, which surprised us we expected it to blow towards the side we secured it on and possibly to the ground. We only secured it with the hooks that go near the poles and velcro, only using the guylines on the front to help support the entry way. We did not secure any guylines on the sides or back. The winds were strong enough to knock over our chairs and stuff off the table, so it wasn't just a light breeze! Woke my son up and startled him a bit.

The one thing that I did notice that matched up with other reviews is on the door. It was hard to get the pole in, you have to do it in the right order or you risk tearing the tent...I thought my hubby was going to, it was close! However it didn't, he pulled things back apart tried again in a different order and they all went in easily. Also we mostly used the zipper to keep the door closed because velcro didn't line up 100% or if it did fabric would get in the way. You had to slid your finger along to keep the fabric out of the way and wiggle the door around to get the velcro to line up. It was doable, but it seemed to take just as long as zipping it. One piece lined up well so if you trusted that one piece to secure and keep bugs out then you were okay. We were worried because we had a high number of flies in our area sow e wanted to keep them out completely and felt the zipper did a better job. I did like the D shape though, I remember many times as a kid getting my hair caught or tangled in the zipper while trying to duck through the V opening with the zipper pull at the top.

Ours even included a zippered slot near the front left corner that you could run a power cord through as needed. It had a window in the door and a window on each side of the tent. It had one pocket about half way up the tent on each side as well. Good for those of us that wear glasses to safely stash them without worry of someone rolling over on them and breaking them.

This tent could sleep a full 8 people if they were all not huge people and didn't mind touching. The two kids settled down on one side of the tent and me and hubby on the other side of the tent. My son as some point in the night come over and snuggled up to his down (maybe due to the wind spooking him) and later when his teen sister realized she was alone she came over and squished in next to me. We all did fit along the one side, however we were touching edges and didn't mine if our bodies touched, legs slung over each other ect. Four grown men who would want to keep space between them would not fit, so size just depends on how much room you really feel you need. It is a good sized tent for a family of four.

13 people found this helpful

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Jonathan Wayne Lopez

Damaged bag (awesome customer support)

Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2024

Color: BlueStyle: 8-personVerified Purchase

Update:
I called Coleman just yesterday and today a new replacement tent is coming in. They notified me that I can't get just a bag sent to me, so they decided to send everything to me and said I don't have to ship back my current bag and tent. Wow!
The least I can say is they have awesome and fast support! Just reaffirms my love for this company! They went above and beyond what I was expecting. Thanks, Coleman!

Original review:
I received my tent and was going to open it all up and put it together over the weekend so see if I needed to seal anything after running the hose on it. Well, I didn't get that far before I noticed the bag was torn on the bottom. I really just need a replacement carry bag, but so far haven't been able to reach anyone.
I love my Coleman tent that I've had for 8 years, so I'm hoping I can get a replacement bag for my new tent, rather than returning it and having to look elsewhere since the sale is over. When trying to just exchange it, it only lets me do it for another color, which I didn't want the green one.

I'll update the review if fixed.

2 people found this helpful

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Karen

Spacious, but I'm not happy with the poor quality of the poles and the velcro door.

Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2023

Color: GreenStyle: 8-personVerified Purchase

*Update: I contacted Coleman's customer service and was told that the tent was under warranty for a year and they would send new tent poles. I just received three tent pole repair kits in the mail. After reading the instructions, I am not satisfied with this solution. I do not have super glue or a hacksaw to customize these tent poles. The kit comes with several parts (minus glue and a hacksaw) but you are expected to thread the elastic into the posts and ultimately determine the proper length. To fix a faulty part I should not have to go buy these additional supplies to do so. (See attached photo for tent pole repair kit directions.) Coleman requested very detailed information regarding my purchase including the make and model of the tent. I provided every detail that they requested. Because of this I assumed that they would be sending the exact parts, not repair kits. I won't be buying another Coleman tent in the future after this experience and I will be returning this one.
*One final tip: Be aware that if you decide to return this tent, you will not be able to fit it back in the box that it came in. I had to pay $15 for a box to return this because the original product is basically shrink wrapped to fit in the bag that it comes in. Once you open the box and then the bag, there is a slit on the bottom side of the bag that you cut and remove to expand the bag so it all fits. This allows you to fit it all in the bag, but you will not be able to put the bag and all the contents back in the box that it ships in.

Bought this tent bc we wanted to upgrade size and I liked the concept of the door. The velcro doesn't even come close to lining up for the door, so unless you sew or glue additional Velcro to it, it doesn't serve its function. We did the best we could and bugs were getting in like crazy. Useless.

The size of this tent is absolutely perfect for two cots, a large dog cot, and all of our stuff that we didn't want to leave outside for raccoons. Plenty of room to move around and had it rained during our trip we probably just would have hung out in here comfortably and not needed an outdoor canopy to protect us.

It rained a bit overnight everything inside stayed dry. It was a very light rain though with no wind so I can't speak for that. We took everything home and then reassembled it to air it out the next day and one of the poles completely shredded moments after we put it up. No clue how this happened, other than poor quality to begin with. The other poles seem to be slightly bent in areas too, so it has me wondering if this tent was used by someone else before, and then returned because they definitely didn't feel like they were brand new. Just contacted Coleman for customer support to receive new poles and this will determine if we keep the tent or not.

Overall the tent is okay, but I wish there was more storage inside, like a canopy to hang things and possibly some lower vents. The cover is huge and having to add a pole to it doesn't make it easy to set it aside during the day if you don't want it and then just add it if you need it for rain. It takes up way too much space. It's not the most convenient design.

I was really hoping that this would be our go-to tent for small camping trips but the broken pole and the velcro door not working the way it should is frustrating.

19 people found this helpful

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Jps621

Huge

Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2024

Color: BlueStyle: 8-personVerified Purchase

We were looking for a tent that would comfortably hold our family all sleeping on cots and air mattresses and having suitcases and all the things that come with a week long camping trip. We found it. The picture shows just how big it is inside. I am standing at one end and my son is at the other. It's also tall. My 6 foot husband can stand up comfortably in the middle of the tent and only has to duck a bit at the ends.

My one concern is windows. There are windows on the 2 ends, but otherwise all the air flow is supposed to come in from the top of the tent. I am the type of person who likes to be prepared and so I usually always have the rain fly on the tent. If I do that I will block the majority of our air flow. So, I bought a rechargeable fan that I plan on hanging in the middle of the tent to help facilitate some air flow.

We practiced setting it up and tearing it down. It did take us some extra paracord tied around the tent to wrestle it back into the tent bag. But the setup was pretty easy and quick so that is a big win.
Just watch the pole sizes, we put the wrong one in the wrong place at first.
We are taking larger triangle shaped tent spikes, it comes with the standard, round spikes like every tent does.

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Justin

Get Better Tent Poles!

Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2023

Color: GreenStyle: 8-personVerified Purchase

So this is the second one I've owned. The first one, I set it up in my garage, to ensure everything was good to go. Unfortunately, after it was up for about 4 hours, one of the tent poles snapped and made a small tear in the pole sleeve, so the tent itself wasn't compromised. It would still function and hold up just as normal.
So I then applied for a replacement. Got the replacement and just as last time, I set it up in my garage. This time, I had it up for about 3-4 days. It held up fine. I then took it camping and on the second day, a pole snapped. Same side pole and again made a small tear in the sleeve the pole enters/slides through. The tent wasn't compromised and was still functional. I put some duct tape around it, to prevent any of the sharp edges of the fiberglass pole from creating any more tears. It held up just fine for the remainder of my time camping.

When I got home from the camping trip, I was going to apply for a refund (so I could purchase a different tent, or at least get the same tent and also buy better poles for it), but my refund/replacement window was closed by just ONE day! So my only option was to hit up Coleman for their warranty process. I called them up and their customer service rep answered after I answered the prompts to the correct department. No waiting for 5-30 mins! I explained my issue and all he had me do was submit some photos (it's easier if you take the photos with your phone and upload them, to the warranty link they provide via email, through the web browser from your phone), and he took a quick look at them and said, "ok, that is sufficient enough. I'll process your claim and here are your three options for a replacement". They gave me three completely different tents (one was similar, but not the same model) to choose from, to replace my current one. One of them was an upgrade over the one I originally purchased, at least in my eyes. I'm pretty sure they base your options based on the price of the tent from THEIR website, NOT based on the price you paid from other websites, like Amazon. I didn't have to send the old tent back and I didn't have to destroy it for the warranty process to continue through. Say what you want about Coleman, but their customer service and warranty were top-notch!

I have received the new tent, but have yet to set it up to ensure quality.

TLDR;
So if you are purchasing this tent, the Montana tent, then I STRONGLY advise that you purchase two new tent poles (14ft, 8.7in each) to replace the two poles that are on the ends of the tent. They are the grey poles, which snap/break pretty often, based on my experience and from some of the reviews here. The main body tent poles (black) seem to hold up pretty well, but if you're worried, I guess you can replace those as well. I don't have the measurements for those, as I didn't have an issue with them and didn't measure them to replace them. This is a good tent that is just plagued by two bad tent poles. Replace the poles and this tent is great!

4 people found this helpful

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