The questions presented here are actual questions that people ask about blackout tents for camping or dark rest tents, so I have decided to write answers and to keep this text as a reference.
Dark rest tents are becoming more and more popular season after season, and there are now quite a number of brands that build them. So here are the questions and my answers, given in no particular order, please have a look.
What is a dark rest tent and what is a blackout tent?
The terms dark rest tent, dark room tent, darkroom tent, blackout tent, lights out tent, nightfall tent all have more or less the same meaning. This is about tents with reduced daylight.
The Core brand uses the phrase Block Out, one example is their CORE 6 Person Tent with Block Out Technology shown in the picture:
How much is the daylight really reduced? This depends on the manufacturer and on the tent. The best examples of Coleman dark rest tents block 98-99% of daylight. This can be in the bedroom only or in the tent as a whole. The Core tent shown above officially blocks up to 90% of sunlight.
What is the darkest tent?
As of the moment of writing this text, Coleman builds the darkest tents on the market. One example is the Coleman Mosedale 5 Family 5 Person Tent shown in the picture below. Here you have an inner tent built from a dark material, and it blocks 99% of daylight.
There are more tents of the same brand with such a rating, you will find them in the category dark rest tents here in the site.
Are blackout tents worth it?
The answer is yes, with a good blackout design you have daylight considerably reduced in the sleeping area or in the whole tent. So you will not wake up too early in the morning, and you can also take a nap during the day.
This is also convenient for family camping with babies who must sleep during the day. We have a grandchild right now and he sleeps every three hours.
Do dark room tents work?
Yes, dark room tents do work, there is no doubt about this. Dependent on the manufacturer and on the deign, you have various levels of reduced light in the tent. As mentioned above, in the case if Coleman, some of their tents reduce daylight up to 99%.
Do dark tents stay cooler?
Some dark rest tents have a reflective outer layer so they do stay cooler during the day. If you check some of Coleman blackout tents you will see statements that they are up to 5 degrees cooler. You can see such an example in their Coleman Valdes Deluxe 6 XL Air BlackOut Bedroom Family Tent shown in the picture below.
How do you blackout a tent bedroom?
This is about inner tents, you have many examples of that type among tunnel tents. In this case, the inner tent is attached to the shell, and this inner tent is built of a dark material.
So the dark rest effect is only due to the inner tent fabric, and the living room which is under the shell is not a dark rest part. The tent shown above is such an example.
How do you blackout a tent?
This is related to the previous question. So this can be due to the inner tent only. But there are many dark rest tents that are cabin type, and they have no inner tent. In this case the whole tent is built of a dark material. Typical examples are the tents from Ozark Trail brand. The tent shown in the picture is of that type.
Which Vango tents have midnight bedrooms?
In fact, as far as I have seen, Vango brand uses the term lights out to describe this design. But quite generally, their tents of this type are far less dark than the other dark rest tents.
Want to see some examples? You have this in their Vango Skye 500 5 Person Tent, Vango Tyneham Tent 500, Vango Ringstead Air Adult Mixed Inflatable Tent, and in many more.
How do you make a tent darker for a baby?
You do not have to make this yourself. There are many brands that make such tents, and you have seen some great examples here.
How do you set up a Coleman darkroom tent?
This will depend on the tent’s basic design. In the case of Coleman, they have dark rest tents in all shapes. You have seen already some examples above that are tunnel-type. So the setup procedure is the same as for any other tent of this type, the dark rest design does not affect this.
They also have dome style dark rest tents, so here is one example, the Coleman 8-Person Dark Room Skydome Camping Tent which blocks 90% of the daylight. So here you do what you normally do with any dome tent.
But they also have instant setup tents that are cabin-type, you can see this in their popular Coleman Cabin Tent with Instant Setup that can be up in 60 seconds.
Which is the best blackout tent?
There is no simple answer to this question. This depends on factors like, the best with respect to ease of use, waterproof rating, overall space, livability, ventilation, the level of reduced light, weight, packed size, the materials used, etc.
But if this is about the dark rest features and price combination, this is usually Coleman. So check their tents if you are on a budget and want to have the highest possible blocking of the light.
What is a nightfall tent?
This question is addressed in the beginning of the text. The term nightfall is the same as the dark rest and other terms used for tents with reduced lights inside.
So thank you for reading. This list of questions about blackout tents for camping or dark rest tents will never be finished, I shall be adding questions and answers as they appear. This is why you might want to bookmark this text and keep it as a reference for yourself. Please chare it with people who might need it.
If you have any specific question related to this dark rest design and it is not answered in the text, please use the comment box below. Have a nice day.
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