Coleman 8-Person Dark Room Skydome Camping Tent Review

Coleman 8-Person Dark Room Skydome Camping Tent is a beautifully designed freestanding construction that blocks up to 90% of sunlight. This is a very tall, pleasant, easy to use, and affordable family camping tent.

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Key features & benefits

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What type of tent is this Skydome 8

Here you have a dome tent of a particular type, they claim that it offers 20% more headroom than traditional Coleman dome tents, and this is because of its steep and straight walls. It looks practically like a cabin tent, see the picture below where it is shown without the fly.

This feeling of a cabin tent is emphasized by the fact that the tent is very tall for a dome of this size, you have a standing height here with 6 ft 4 inches (193 cm) in the center.

This is a very simple single-room structure with two main poles that create the dome and support the tent. You have one door only and it is equipped with a window which is a double-wall construction that has a mesh and a panel. The brim above the door protects it at least partly so you can keep it with the mesh most of the time.

Note also that this is a fully freestanding tent so you can rotate it and move around even after you add the fly. I would describe the fly as a half-coverage type, so there is no vestibule on the front but it covers most of the rest of the tent. You realize this from the picture below which shows the rear side of the tent.

Dark rest or dark room design

Coleman is well-known for its dark-rest tents, and they have a long list of tents with such a design. So if you are not familiar, just see the picture below. This is all a dark material and they claim that their Dark Room technology blocks 90% of sunlight.

This allows you to sleep in past sunrise. This technology also reduces heat inside the tent and you can have a more comfortable rest during the day. Such a design is particularly convenient if you camp with small kids and they have to take a rest during the day. I have included it in my list of tents with dark rest design.

Ventilation

The tent has a lot of mesh, and as you have seen it is completely dark, so it is cooler inside as compared with tents without this technology. But you still need ventilation, and what I see here is not so impressive.

There are no floor vents here. The same is with the fly but in this case it is less important because of the brim on the front so warm air and vapor from inside can always escape.

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Who is it for

Seasons-wise & climate-wise, this is a summer camping tent and a tent designed to protect you from strong daylight. You have seen how impressive its height is, so it is best to avoid windy areas.

But it comes with all the stakes and guylines to secure it and to fix to the ground, see the picture below. Note also that they claim that the frame is tested to withstand up to 35 mph winds. This sounds very good for such a tent.

Capacity-wise, they claim it is for 8 people, and for this you have the area of 108 ft² (10 m²). This means 13.5 ft² (1.25 m²) per person and this clearly makes no sense. You do not have any storage area around. So downgrade this by half as usual and you will have a great camping shelter.

If this tent is small for you, note that they also have a 10-person extended dome version from the same series, that offers much more space.

Weight-wise, with its 22.1 lb (10 kg) of weight the tent could be described as moderately light. Note that the packed size is 25.5 x 10 x 10 inches (65 x 25 x 25 cm) so all in all, this is for places with a motorized access.

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Materials

The poles

You have fiberglass here and the poles have some nice and unique details. So for example, on the front there are some small pockets on the tent’s base where you store the ends of the poles, see how this all looks:

Note that this is not the same on the back corners. The reason for all this is that you put the ends in those small pockets and then go to the other side and attach the other end in the usual way, while the front pole is kept in place with the tiny pocket. This design is introduced for the first time in some of the latest Kelty’s tents, you can see it in their new Kelty Wireless Tent 6 Person tent.

A few more unique details from the poles’ design you can see in the pictures below. As you see, you have those aluminum segments at places where the poles intersect and where there may be extra pressure, so they have done this nicely.

The fabric

There is not much here, they did not bother to provide any reliable information. All they give is that you have their WeatherTec system with welded corners and inverted seams. This design is used in most of their tents.

But the floor looks very strong and the same feeling I have about the fly and the walls. Other features include several mesh storage pockets on the walls and a gear loft to keep small items organized.

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Specifications

• Weight: 22.1 lb (10 kg).
• Dimensions: 12 x 9 ft (366 x 274 cm).
• Area: 108 ft² (10 m²).
• Area per person: 13.5 ft² (1.25 m²).
• Center height: 6 ft 4 in (193 cm).
• Packed size: 25.5 x 10 x 10 in (65 x 25 x 25 cm).
• Carry bag included.
• 1-Year limited warranty.

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Final thoughts, rating, pros & cons

Please see how I rate this tent, the same criteria are used for all of them here in the site so you can easily compare:

 

BEST PLACE TO BUY:

REI

Backcountry

Bass Pro

Amazon

This is the largest tent in this series, they have it also for 4 and 6 people, just follow the links and you will find them all.  But check also my list of Coleman 8 person camping tents for more tents of the same capacity from the same brand.

Note that they have a parallel series with similar features but without the dark rest design. To see what I mean, check their Coleman 8 Person Skydome Camping Tent. See also their Coleman Skydome 6 Tent with full fly built in the same style but with a full cover.

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