Coleman Carlsbad 6 Person Tent – Fast Pitch Dark Rest With Screen Room

Coleman Carlsbad 6 Person Tent includes many great features like the fast pitch, dome style, and dark rest design, a nice screen room, and a great price tag.

---

Key features & benefits

---

What is in the name

The tent has been under the name used in the title. But they have renamed it recently and it is now on Amazon under the name Coleman Dome Tent for Camping. This makes no much sense because they have them many under such a name.

---

What type of tent is this

You have seen most of it already in the key features above, so here a few words more.

Screened room or screened porch?

The tent is an extended dome structure and this extension is one of the best parts of it – this is the screened room mentioned above. I guess it would be more appropriate to call it a screened porch but they use the word “room”. Namely, this part is without the sealed floor, but the floor exists and you can keep the area clean, and this is not the dirt room. So this part is an ideal area for cooking and for sitting, even for sleeping as they write in the tent’s description, but only as long as the weather is fine.

The screen area is in principle with a full protection from bugs, but the screen is without panels, and the area is only partly covered. So the rainwater can come in, it is not sealed from the sides, and you have openings on the floor so that it can get out, see how it looks in the picture below.

Note that I have included this tent on my list of screened room tents, so have a look if you are in search of such a type.

Fast pitch

The meaning of this phrase is the following:

• The shock-corded poles are permanently attached to the hub element which you have on the top. This is behind the words ‘fast pitch’ in the name.
• Having the hub, you do not have sleeves. Some people are annoyed with passing the poles through the sleeves, so here you have the hub that makes the poles freestanding as soon as you attach them to the tent’s corners. Instead of sleeves you only have clips.
• There is also a smart design in the corners; the attachment of the poles is not the usual pin and ring, or with grommets. They have added a short tube and you simply put the end of the pole in it. This is what they call the fast fit feet system.

Please see more in this video by Coleman, they use this system in several of their tent from the Fast Pitch series. You can see it also in their Steel Creek 6 tent and in the Tenaya lake 6 tent.

Dark rest tent

This tent is built with the Dark Room technology. In the specifications, they claim that it blocks 98% of sunlight. The materials are dark and the inner area is darker than the usual tents. Because of the reflected sunlight, they also claim that the heat is reduced by up to 11%. The most important role in this plays the fly. I have included this tent on my list of dark rest tents.

Please see how it works in their short promotion video. This technology is used in several of their tents, see for example this Coleman Valdes tent.

Not freestanding

Note that this tent is not fully freestanding although it is a dome structure. This is because of the extra pole above the screen area and the entrance which is through this area. To have it fully functional, the canopy must be staked to the ground, only then the roof becomes tensioned and it gets its proper shape and height.

---

Coleman Carlsbad 6 vs Coleman Steel Creek Fast Pitch 6 vs Coleman Evanston 6

I have seen the questions being asked about the differences (and similarities) between these tents. So here is the summary:

• The Coleman Steel Creek Fast Pitch 6 is what its name says, the fast pitch tent.
• The Coleman Evanston 6 is a dark rest tent, but not the fast pitch.
• So you realize now – the Carlsbad 6 tent incorporates the features of these two tents; it is both dark rest and fast pitch.
• The dimensions of all tents are the same.

---

Who is it for

The declared capacity is 6 people. So when you take into account that the total area is 40 ft² (13 m²) this looks quite good as the total room per person is 23.3 ft² (2.17 m²).

But the screen room is not fully protected and in the case of a long period with rain, the only true area is the inner room where you have 10 x 9 ft (3.05 x 2.74 m). This can accommodate 6 pads on the ground but you would be cramped. So either use this tent in areas without much rain, for summer camping only, or downgrade the capacity to maximum of 4 people.

Regarding the claim that it fits queen airbeds, it is best to check this bed from the same brand, the Coleman Queen Size bed. It would be very difficult to use the two of them in this space, but it is probably doable.

Seasons-wise, as you realize you have a lot of mesh in the inner tent, so this is good for ventilation but not if you are camping in a cold area. For a cooler environment and lots of rain, better check this list. This Carlsbad 6 tent is for summer camping, so 1 to 1.5 seasons. You will see this tent mentioned in my separate text about best family tents for hot weather camping.

---

More about the structure and materials

You have one entry door which is in the screen room, and inside yet another which leads to the inner dark room. There are 2 side windows in the inner room, both with mesh against insects and panels for privacy and protection. The fly creates awnings above them so you can keep them, open all the time, see the picture above.

The inner door is also with a window so you can have enough views from the inner room.

The fabric

The fly is partial coverage and it covers the main room, and the screen room only partly. The mesh on the screen room is not protected. The fabric is a polyester taffeta 75D, there is no info about waterproofness rating.

The floor is a durable structure with the bathtub design. They use their own patented corner welds and inverted seams design, this is what they call the WeatherTec system and Polyguard fabric.

There are 4 poles; 2 create the dome and one is used for the screen room. Yet another is a ridge pole that creates the mentioned awnings. This is fiberglass, not particularly durable.

Other features 

You have an e-port for a cable, and there are a couple of rather small pockets on the walls. Note that this is a dome style tent and therefore quite low, 68 inches (173 cm).

---

Specifications

• Weight: 22 lb (9.98 kg).
• Total dimensions: 14 x 10 ft (4.27 x 3.05 m).
  – Inner room: 10 x 9 ft (3.05 x 2.74 m).
  – Screen room: 10 x 5 ft (3.05 x 1.52 m).
• Total area: 140 ft² (13 m²; 8.36 + 4.64 m²).
• Total area per person: 23.3 ft² (2.17 m²).
• The inner area per person: 15 ft² (1.4 m²).
• Peak height: 5 ft 8 in (68 in; 173 cm).
• Packed size: 26 x 11 x 11 in (66 x 28 x 28 cm).
• 1-year limited warranty.

---

Final thoughts, rating, pros & cons

There are hundreds of reports by users and rating is very high. See how I rate it:

Note that they also have a smaller version with the same features, the Coleman Carlsbad 4-Person Dome Tent with Screen Room. If you need something different, just look around, this site is all about large camping tents, so you will find something for you. Check in the Categories above.

Thank you for reading. Please use the comment box below in the case of questions or comments. Have a nice day.