Coleman WeatherMaster 6 Person Screened Tent Review – Comfort & Space

This Coleman WeatherMaster 6 Person Screened Tent Review is about an incredibly comfortable non-freestanding 3-season family camping tent that comes with an equally incredible and affordable price.

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Key features & benefits

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What type of tent is this

The Coleman Weathermaster 6 is in the group of cabin-type tents, which implies that it is very tall (over 2 meters) and with almost vertical walls, with many large windows, and in general a very livable tent. Please see more about cabin tents in my separate text.

This is also a typical 3-season tent, designed to be used in mild weather conditions, without a lot of rain and in areas without strong winds.

I would perhaps put it also in the group of tunnel-type tents in view of its roof profile with several loops that make the tunnel-type structure, see the picture with the tent without the fly:

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Who is it for

Being a 3-season tent, this implies the following:

• You have a lot of mesh here, the ceiling is nothing but the mesh.
• Huge windows are with mesh and waterproof panels.
• The fly is minimal in design, and it only covers the ceiling and creates small awnings on the two sides.

Such a structure does not keep the warmth, so clearly you should use it for family camping in relatively warm areas. Note that I have included it on my list of best 6-person family camping tents.

Regarding the capacity, it has enough floor area for the declared capacity of 6 people, and you also have 54 ft² (6.7 m²) in the screened room for some gear (though the fly does not cover it completely, bear this in mind). If this is about families, it is perfect for young couples with two small kids.

The packed size is less impressive, it is a bundle of 41 x 10 inches (104 x 25 cm), so clearly, this tent needs a car for transportation to your camping place. The total weight is 32 pounds (14.5 kg), and I think this is not so bad at all in view of the space which this tent provides, and the sturdy materials which you have here; the poles are still.

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Overview of the most important features

The screen room/porch

This is a big space, with 54 ft² (6.7 m²) of floor area. There is no tarp on the floor, so this is fine, you do not have to take care of the floor if you use some chairs and tables.

The door between the screen room and the main tent is with two layers. So you have a mesh with a zipper, which makes the interior completely safe from insects of any kind. In addition, you still have the waterproof and non-transparent panel with the zipper. This panel can be rolled to the sides and fixed to the walls, so you will have an open huge area which is 17 feet (5.2 m) of the total length, very impressive.

The external walls of the screen rooms are just a mesh on all the sides and on the ceiling (note, the ceiling is covered by the fly, see the pictures), so you have a full protection from flying bugs. Those bugs that are on the ground, cannot get into the inner tent in any case.

On the front of the screen is a central vertical zipper, so you can get in the screen room and in the tent from this side too. This compensates nicely the single external door which you have on the inner tent.

So this screen room is a truly great bonus of this tent, a pleasant place to sit and enjoy the day, and to store a lot of stuff. I have included it in my list of best family camping tents with a screen porch.

The hinged door

This is a peculiar hinged door design where you have two separate fiberglass poles that run along the perimeter of the door. So it looks like an ordinary door at home, and it swings on the vertical pole. Below you can see the zoomed detail of the area where those two poles converge:

You add these poles easily, they are in the sleeves with zippers that run around. This is a very clever and nice design. More tents with such a design you can see here.

The fly

The fly is minimal by design, not full coverage, see the picture, but this is what you would expect to have in a tent with so huge windows. You want unobstructed views with such a design.

The fly creates small awnings above the door and above the big window on the opposite side, see the picture which shows the back side of the tent where you have two windows with mesh and waterproof panels.

The fly is attached to the poles through Velcro tabs, through metal hooks, and through plastic clips. You also have 4 guylines on each side to secure it against winds. So the fly is high above the ground but it is well-secured and it does the job.

The awnings are created by separate fiberglass poles, so they are very tight and you will not have flapping and noise in the wind. See the part of one of them in this picture:

The poles

You have them many here, and of the very different kind:

• You have 4 straight steel long poles with red marking, 19 mm each. These are telescopic poles with popup click buttons which fix them to the desired length.
• You also have 4 shorter straight steel poles, 19 mm each.
• 2 curved ridge poles, steel with red marking, 19 mm.
• 2 curved ridge pole, steel, 19 mm.
• 2 awning poles, black, fiberglass, with metal tips, 6.3 mm.
• Long door pole, fiberglass, with rubber tips 6.3 mm.
• Vertical door pole, fiberglass, with rubber tips 6.3 mm.

The inner space

With so many large windows, the inner space is very pleasant. There is a removable divider so you can effectively have two separate rooms inside.

They missed the opportunity to make it far more livable, I miss pockets around, there is plenty of space where they could have added them.

As you realize from the specifications, the ceiling is really high, it is at 80 inches (203 cm) in the central area, and it is very high everywhere. It is completely mesh, so ventilation should not be an issue in particular if you keep some of the windows or the screen room door open (I mean with mesh only).

Weather resistance

I love the name of this tent, yet this does not prevent me from stressing that I am not

convinced that it is a weather master in the full sense.

The fly is minimal and it does not protect windows completely. This holds in particular for the back window which you can see in the pictures; it has the waterproof panel, of course, so you can keep it closed if you have the rain and back winds combined.

They do not provide details about waterproofness rating, this is typical for Coleman’s tents. But they write about their patented WeatherTec system. It includes welded floors and inverted seams.

If you are not familiar, this is the best possible type of sealing which creates seals that are normally stronger than the surrounding material. The inverted seams are also known as French seams, a clever technic where the pieces are seamed and folded in on itself so that the seams are protected. You have this also in the Coleman 6 Person Instant Tent.

Note that the floor is bathtub type, see a bit more about this technology in my separate text.

In this video you can see a bit more inside the tent:

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Setup

The claimed setup time is 20 minutes, but this will depend on how familiar you are with the tent. I have seen some claiming they needed one hour, but this is far too much. You should be able to set it up in less than half an hour even if you do this alone.

These are the major steps:

• Unfold the tent and spread it out, and then stake it down to the ground.
• Put the 4 curved roof poles into the sleeves, and then attach them to the 8 side poles.
• Put the side poles in the upright position and put the pins on the sides into the poles’ ends.
• Fix the poles and tent together through the plastic hooks at sides and at the corners of the tent.
• Stretch the telescopic poles into the desired length and this will raise the tent up.
• Add the fly and use all the attachment elements to fix it to the poles and to the ground.

I suggest seeing this time-lapse video, you can set it on slower speed if you wish. They do it a bit incorrectly but it does not matter, they managed it:

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Specifications

• Type: 3-season, non-freestanding family camping tent.
• Capacity: 6 people.
• Weight: 32 lb (14.5 kg).
• Dimensions: 11 x 9 ft (3.35 x 2.74 m).
• Floor area: 99 ft² (9.2 m²).
• Screen room dimensions: 9 x 6 ft (2.74 x 1.83 m).
• Screen room area: 54 ft² (5 m²).
• Total area per person: 26 ft² (2.37 m²).
• Peak height: 6 ft. 8 in (80 in; 203 cm) – this is from Coleman directly, slightly different from the number on Amazon.
• Packed size (L x D): 41 x 10 in (104 x 25 cm).
• 1-year limited warranty.
• E-Port for electrical power.
• Expandable carry bag lets you tear away the rip strip for easy packing.
• Durable Polyguard fabric.
• Screen room for bug-free lounging.
• WeatherTec patented system.
• Hinged door.

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Possible accessories

This is a large tent so the space should not be an issue in general, but you can still make it more livable by using some cots instead of sleeping on the ground. In such a case, you have lots of space underneath the cots for the storage of gear.

It can accommodate 2 queen size beds, but you might also want to consider some bunk beds as well, they will occupy far less floor area, and they can also be used as two separate beds. There are models both for adults and for kids. So see some options here: 

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Final thoughts, rating, pros & cons

This is an incredibly popular tent with over 1700 reports on Amazon alone, and the rating is very high. Please see how I rate this tent:

Note that they also have the Elite version of this tent with an integrated LED light system and also a 10-person version without the screen room, the Coleman WeatherMaster Tent 10 Person.

If you are still undecided, please just look around, this site is only about family camping tents, so you will surely find something for you. Please check this Coleman Evanston 6 tent in the same style or Coleman Steel Creek Fast Pitch 6 tent.

Thank you for reading. In the case of questions or comments, please use the comment box below. I wish you a nice day.