Core Tents vs Coleman Tents – Which are the Best?

When looking for the best camping tent, most people get stuck at Core tents vs Coleman tents, which is better? Both companies offer lots of unique features that play a vital role in enhancing your camping experience. Below, we have a detailed comparison of features, the pros and cons of tents from both companies.

By the end, you will have a complete idea, which will be a perfect option. This will be going to a complete unbiased discussion, and we will also compare the top-performing tents from their line-up. So, you just need to invest your next ten minutes reading this article not to miss any important information.

Core Tents vs Coleman Tents

Core Tents – Features

  • H20 Water Block Technology

You will find Core’s H20 water block technology in almost all their tents. This technology plays a vital role in preventing the water from getting inside the tent during a downpour. The company has engineered this technology to provide the best camping experience to the customers, even in the rainfall. The seams of the tent are heat-sealed. This prevents the water from entering the tent.

Same as the company’s active bead technology also works in the same direction to keep the water outside. Apart from that, you will also find water repellant fabrics are used in most of their tents. These water-repellent fabrics prevent water from seeping through the walls of the tent.

These technologies – H20 water block technology, active bead technology, and water-repellant fabrics- create a great waterproof experience for the campers. That’s why most of the Core 12 person tent users are not afraid of a downpour while camping.

  • Instant Setup

Are instant tents really good? Yes! Another great feature that most of the camping enthusiasts love about using Core tents is their instant setup. The company has given this instant setup feature in almost all their tents. The poles are pre-attached to the walls of the tent. You don’t need to waste your lots of time just aligning the poles then pitching the tent.

With Core tents, you will mostly enjoy camping instead of pitching your tent. You just need to unfold your tent, then extend and pitch your tent. This instant setup mechanism helps a lot in making the camping trip more productive. You can spend your time in other activities and objectives instead of spending a couple of minutes installing your tent.

This instant setup technology of Core tents becomes essential for the beginners who are just new to camping or trying to find out whether camping is right for them. Even if you are on a family camping trip, you must have a tent that can be set up quickly and easily. You are not alone, and you have kids with you. Therefore, you can enjoy with your kids instead of wasting your time in installing the tent.

Apart from that, the disassembling Core tent is as easy as pitching the tent. Therefore, if you want to change your location on the campsite, then you don’t need to spend much effort on the procedure.

  • Mesh Ceiling

Mesh ceiling is another advantageous feature you get with Core tents. You will find that the ceiling of Core tents is more mesh then the tent fabric. There are several sub-advantages of having mesh ceiling on Core tent. The first and very important is that you will never feel any ventilation and air circulation issues while in a tent. Even if your Core tent is fully packed with camping members, no one will face any issues with air ventilation.

The mesh ceiling will work as a way to pass out the inside hot air of the tent. The windows will allow the fresh air to get inside the tent, and the hot air will pass out through the mesh ceiling. Apart from that, if you are on a camping or music festival where there are hundreds of people around you, you will need some privacy. Hence, you can close all the windows to enhance privacy while the mesh ceiling will work to maintain air circulation.

Mesh ceiling contributes to enhancing the air circulation throughout the tent, but it also promotes stargazing. We all miss the blinking sea of stars in urban cities. But, you can enjoy viewing the stars while staying inside your tent. You will get lots of viewing angles to observe the constellations of the stars. You can also check HERE our list of top 10 best tents for stargazing.

Moreover, you don’t need to worry about getting disturbed by blood-sucking mosquitoes and uninvited flies. The mesh ceiling will restrict them from entering your tent. You can also check out HERE our top 10 tips to keep mosquitoes away while camping.

However, there is one issue with the mesh ceiling: it doesn’t benefit in the winter. You cannot use a Core tent with a mesh ceiling in winters because the mesh ceiling will release the hot air outside the tent, and your tent will not stay warm. Apart from that, you will need to apply the rainfly over the tent to prevent water from getting inside through the ceiling during the downpour.

  • Adjustable Ground Vents

You will also find adjustable ground vents in the Core tents. Believe me! This is an essential feature that your tent must-have. The ground vent will work as a medium to get cool air from the ground to your tent’s interior. Therefore, the adjustable ground vents will contribute to enhancing the air circulation throughout the tent.

You can also close or open the ground vents as per your requirement. As we already said, the adjustable ground vents will enter the cool air inside, and the mesh ceiling will release the warm air outside. The warm air gets up as compared to cool or healthy air. Therefore, we can say that if you plan to camp during summers, then the adjustable ground vents feature will help you a lot.

  • Vestibules

The Core has also given vestibules in some of their tent models. This is also an advantageous feature. The vestibules are the front porch of your tent. Therefore, if you have a few more people, your tent can accommodate, and you don’t have much space to store your camping bags, then you can store your stuff in the vestibules.

It gets even more beneficial when your tent offers more than one vestibule. You can also keep your dirty shoes under the vestibules so that the sleeping area stays clean. However, keep in mind that your stuff may get wet under vestibule during the downpour.

  • Proper Ventilation

The main highlight of Core tents is that they maintain proper ventilation throughout the tent. You will find mesh ceiling, large and several windows, and adjustable ground vents in the Core tents. These all features combine to offer and maintain excellent ventilation throughout the tent.

Another point that you must never ignore is that proper ventilation means there will be no condensation build-up. The proper air circulation throughout your tent will prevent the condensation from the build on the tent walls.

  • Room Dividers

The large Core tent models also offer room dividers in the tent. This is a precious and advantageous feature because you can maintain proper privacy and have separate inside the same tent. These room dividers are a great option when two couples or two small families are camping together.

Apart from that, room dividers can also be used to create different room spaces for different purposes. For example, the side rooms can be used for sleeping, whereas the center room can be used as a living room. These room dividers give you home-like experience while enjoying the camping site and gives you a quite comfortable and luxury feel.

Core Tents – Drawback

  • Core Tent Zippers

Most of the Core tent users have reported about the bad quality zippers. There are numerous Core tent reviews available online, but one bad thing common is that people complain about the quality of zippers. Core tent users are not satisfied with the zippers in the tent. People have complained that zippers get stuck in the fabric frequently.

Core Tents – Pros and Cons

Pros
  • Excellent ventilation

  • Several sizes of tent available from six-person to twelve-person

  • Adjustable ground vents

  • Core H20 water block technology

  • Water repellant fabrics

  • Mesh ceiling

  • Room dividers

  • Instant setup

Cons
  • Bad quality zippers in all Core tents

Coleman Tents – Features

  • WeatherTec Technology

Having a tent without any protection from rainwater is a complete waste of money. Rainfall and camping have a deep relationship. It is essential to always ready in advance for any sudden downpour. In this way, Coleman also features a water protection feature in its tents. They call it WeatherTec technology. You can read the user’s reviews about how much they are satisfied with it.

The WeatherTec technology includes welded corners and tub style floor. Therefore, Coleman’s tents are not only protected from the sudden light rainwater but also the groundwater. These features combine to create the so-called WeatherTec technology and give you protection from the immediate downpour. The WeatherTec technology can be found in almost all of their family tents. Moreover, having rainwater protection is always recommended and right when you have a family with you on the camping ground.

  • Tub Style Floor

The tub-style floor is a part of Coleman’s WeatherTec technology. We mentioned it above, but it needs a more detailed discussion. The material used in the Coleman tent floors is the same heavy-duty as used in the tarps. The floor is quite durable and heavy-duty to protect the tent from groundwater.

Apart from that, this material runs up the tent’s bottom walls and creates a tube-like floor structure. Therefore, this tub style construction in Coleman tents keeps the water outside of the tent. Hence, you don’t need to worry about any groundwater will enter inside the Coleman tent.

  • Darkroom Technology

Darkroom technology is among the most exciting feature that makes the Coleman tents quite popular. The unique dark fabric is engineered to restrict up to around 90% to 95% of the sunlight. So, there will be two great advantages of Coleman’s darkroom technology.

The first advantage is that you will quickly notice the difference between the tent’s inner temperature and the outer temperature of the surroundings. Therefore, it will be very beneficial to have Coleman’s tent with darkroom technology in the summers.

The second advantage is for those who love to take an afternoon nap every day. You don’t need to worry about the bright rays of the sun. The darkroom technology will resist the sun rays and will give you a quite darker and more refreshing environment inside the tent for sleeping comfortably.

  • Vestibules

Some of Coleman’s tents also have vestibules the same as Core tents. There are several advantages to having vestibules in your tent. We are not be going to discuss them again as we already discussed them above. A vestibule will give you the same advantages you are getting with Core tents.

  • Affordability

The Coleman tents are quite affordable as compared to the Core tents. The Coleman tents are designed for budget seekers or those who don’t want to spend much on a tent. The company offers users a great variety of Coleman tents to choose from at affordable rates. You can select a great family Coleman tent for around $150. Their family tents are available at reasonable price points.

  • Dome Style Tents

You will also find some Coleman tents with instant set up the same as Core tents. The instant setup will allow you to pitch the tent in just a few seconds to a few minutes. There are some great models from Coleman are available, and they come with instant setup mechanism.

However, some Coleman tents are dome-style tents, and they require users to align and connect the poles then slipped them with the frame. This procedure needs handwork and may take some time. If you are not familiar with it or you don’t have an instant setup tent, then it is always recommended to practice the tent set up before heading the camping site.

On the other hand, there are some advantages to dome style tents. The dome style offers an aerodynamic structure to the tent. Therefore, the tent will be able to withstand in a bit strong winds. Moreover, this dome-style structure also plays a vital role in run-off water. These things work oppositely with cabin-style tents. The cabin-style tents have broad walls, and they are quite vulnerable to strong winds and heavy rain.

  • Massive Variety of Tents

The Coleman’s tents are also known for their vast variety of tents. The company has introduced several types of tents with different sizes. If you are a solo camper or you like to enjoying camping with your friends, then they have a vast variety of tents to offer. Moreover, if you need a large tent for your family, you will also find some great deals from Coleman tents.

This vast variety of tents also offers various price ranges to choose from. The company also introduces numerous newly developed models in the market every year.

Coleman Tents – Drawback

Quality Issues: Most of the users have reported quality issues with Coleman tents. It is like Coleman tents are either excellent or wrong type of brand. There are several cases about bad material quality used in the Coleman tents. Even the common creates new tents then puts them in the market as fast as possible. The Coleman tents are quite affordable as compared to Core, but they lack engineering and quality.

Coleman Tents – Pros and Cons

Pros
  • Affordable

  • Darkroom technology

  • Coleman’s WeatherTec technology

  • Vestibules

  • Tub style floors

  • Great dome-style tents

  • Huge variety to choose from

Cons
  • Some users reported quality issues

Core Tents vs. Coleman Tents – Best Tent Reviews

1. Core 9 Person Instant Cabin Tent

Core 9 Person Instant Cabin Tent

This Core 9 person instant cabin tent is among the best instant setup tents available in the market. This tent is a good option for family camping or camping with a group of up to nine. The Core 9 person tent comes with instant setup. The frame is pre-attached to the tent, and its main six poles are telescopic. You just need to unfold the tent and extend its telescopic poles until you hear a ticking sound, and the button appears on the pole, which means that the telescopic pole is fully extended.

The tent setup procedure is so easy and quick that you can easily set up the tent in just one minute. Therefore, it will also be a good option for the first time camping with your family in summer vacations.

It is a tall cabin style tent with a freestanding structure. Thus, you can move the tent-like any box and rotate its direction as well accordingly. It has huge vertical steep walls and looks like a big box. Two doors come with zippers. All doors are with factory sealed seams. Inside the tent, the vertical poles are connected to the roof poles.

You can easily add the rainfly on the roof when required. The peak height of the tent is 78 inches, which is around 1.98 m. Therefore, campers can comfortably stand inside of the tent. You can enjoy the outer scenery from the huge windows. Apart from that, there is an adjustable air intake vent inside the tent, and it is located close to the ground floor. It comes with a mesh ceiling. Therefore, adding rainfly is necessary for rainy conditions.

Its floor dimensions measure as 14 ft x 19 ft. The Core 9 person instant cabin tent offers 126 sq. Ft. tent floor area. There is also a room divider available, which can be used to get separate a large spacious room into two rooms. One room can be used as a sleeping quarter, and one can be used to store bags, camping gears, or as a living room such that if a fewer person is camping together.

The Core 9P instant cabin tent comes with water repellent fabrics that ensure the water beads up and rolls right off quickly and easily. Not only that, but the seams are all entirely sealed, and all seals, including the doors and windows, are entirely rain-resistant. This tent has H20 block technology such that for faster run-off, water repellent fabric is used here.

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2. Core 12 Person Instant Cabin Tent

Core 12 Person Instant Cabin Tent

The Core 12 person tent comes with instant setup. The frame is pre-attached to the tent, and it has telescopic poles. You just need to unfold the tent and extend its telescopic poles until you hear a ticking sound, and the button appears on the pole, which means that the telescopic pole is fully extended. The tent setup procedure is so easy and quickly such that one person can easily set up the tent in just two minutes.
It has a massive double door at the front that comes with an inverted T-shaped zipper. Inside the tent, the eight vertical poles are connected to the roof poles, and it attains the structure like a giant spider. On the tent’s highest point, the roof poles converge to the center, and it features a hub structure.

There is another D-shaped door with a window parallel to it. When you look around, you find seven huge windows all around the tent, and two-room dividers are also present. These two-room dividers give the tent a three-room structure. When you roll the room dividers to the sides, you get a huge space inside the tent.

Apart from that, two adjustable air intake vents are also available on both sides of the tent, and they are located close to the tent floor. You can easily add the rainfly on the roof when required. The peak height of the tent is 80 inches, which is around 2.03 m. The campers can quickly move inside the tent.

This cabin-style tent is for up to 12 people, and the declared person capacity of the tent from the manufacturer side is also twelve people. The dimensions of the floor measure as 18 ft x 10 ft, and it offers 16.7 sq. m. tent floor area. Therefore, you get 15 sq. ft, which is 1. 39 sq. m. of floor area per person. This tent offers a three-room structure. We can pretty much say that both side rooms can be used as sleeping rooms, and the central room can be used as a living area when the room dividers are being used.

It also has two adjustable air intake vents on both sides of the tent and located close to the floor. These vents help to insert cool air from outside and flow out the hot air through the mesh ceiling.

The Core 12P cabin family tent has H20 block technology for faster water run-off, water repellent fabric with active bead technology is used here. The tent floor is standard polyethylene that makes it waterproof. Moreover, there are sealed seams and rain-resistant seals.

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3. Coleman 8 Person Instant Cabin Tent

Coleman 8 Person Instant Cabin Tent

The floor dimensions of Coleman 8 person instant cabin tent measure as 4.3 m x 3 m. The declared person accommodation of this tent is up to eight-person. It offers 140 sq. Ft. i.e., 12.9 sq. m. of tent floor area. Therefore, you get 1.61 sq. m. of floor area per person. The peak height of the tent is 6 ft 5 in which is around 1.96 m. Therefore, campers can comfortably stand inside of this cabin style family instant setup tent.

Apart from that, it has a room divider that becomes very useful when you have to separate a large, spacious room into two different rooms. The room divider attaches to the side walls through some toggles and loops. It has a central zipper and can be rolled up and fixed on the ceiling.

The Coleman 8-person cabin tent has seven huge windows for the proper air circulation throughout the tent. It becomes very beneficial when you are camping in summers. The windows are with mesh panels that ensure prevention from insects, mosquitoes, and other outer elements.

There are two doors also available which you can keep open to enhance the proper ventilation throughout the tent. There are two vents available that allow proper breathing and constant flow of fresh air.

There are rain protection panels from inside on all the windows. The mess layer is on the outer side, and zippers are available on the panels. At the outside parts, flaps are given as well. The vertical and horizontal flaps are good enough to resist rain and winds.

Don’t forget that this is a tall tent. The tent walls are almost two meters long. Therefore, it will act as a hurdle against the horizontal winds. This tent is not suitable for heavy winds. This tent floor comes with WeatherTec patented system, which means welded floors. Therefore, you can understand how durable the floor seals are.

The Coleman eight-person is an instant setup tent. Therefore, the frame is pre-attached to the tent, and the main poles are telescopic. The tent setup procedure is so easy and quick that few people can set up this tent in two minutes. It also has two small mesh pockets. They are useful for keeping small camping stuff or other belongings.

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4. Coleman Carlsbad 6 Person Tent with Screen Room

Coleman Carlsbad 6 Person Tent with Screen Room

This dome-style tent comes with a screen room. The screen room is useful when you want to sit comfortably and explore the outer wilderness aesthetics without leaving the tent. The tent setup is not complicated, and it can be pitched in approximately seven minutes because it comes with fast-pitch technology. The tent floor dimensions measure as 14 ft x 10 ft from which 10 ft x 5 ft area goes for the screen room. The interior surface area is quiet enough that you can fit two queen size air-beds. The peak height or center height of the tent is 5 ft 8 in.

This tent is featured with Coleman’s darkroom technology. This technology benefits a lot when you want to take a nap or a good sleep in the day because it blocks 98% of the sunlight from getting inside of the tent. Moreover, this technology prevents the tent from heating up and maintains low inner tent temperature compared to outside. It reduces heat by 11%.

The screen room is an excellent space to observe the wilderness without leaving the tent. The screen room walls are mesh. They will protect you from mosquitos, insects, bugs, and other outer elements. The screen also plays a vital role in the excellent ventilation throughout the tent. Therefore, you can sleep comfortably on a warm night.

Another good thing is that it comes with Coleman’s WeatherTec system. This technology ensured no water leakage inside the tent because of the inverted seams and patented welded corners. But keep in mind that the screen room is not waterproof. The rainfly also offers extra weather protection. This tent also features E-port to take advantage of electricity whenever available at the camping place.

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Conclusion

So, which one is better Core tents or Coleman tents? Based on the above discussion, the answer is very straightforward. Both of them have their unique features, the pros, and cons. The main thing is your preference. The Core tents offer great features and design, but you have to pay more.

On the other hand, the Coleman tents offer a huge variety of tents to choose from at affordable prices. You can comment below your valuable thoughts. Stay tuned with us for the regular updates.

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