Coleman Red Canyon Tent Review – How Good is it?

Whether you’re one large family, two small families, or a large group of friends – the Coleman Canyon tent is the perfect choice.

This goes without saying, for any and every tent, if eight people were to fit inside as suggested then there wouldn’t be much space for all of your gear. So, just remember to keep this in mind. In my case, six people were able to fit inside, comfortably, and with all of our gear inside with us.

I’ve found this tent to be one of the best, given the size and all of its amazing features, hence why I’ve decided to create this Coleman Red Canyon review for you.

Coleman Red Canyon 8-Person Tent

The Coleman Red Canyon 8-person tent is available in three colors: red, blue, or black. This is great because you get to choose whichever one is more appealing to you. I can’t choose a favorite one because I like the look of all three of them, but I opted for the red one because it is, after all, called the red canyon tent and I just couldn’t resist.

Perfect for families of eight, or less, because this tent offers something that smaller sized tents don’t – privacy. Whether you’re going hiking and backpacking, staying overnight at a beach for a lovely BBQ, or maybe you’re just spending the night in your garden… whatever the circumstance you’ll be grateful to have this one with you.

Let’s get into all the things that make this tent great.

The Set Up

Setting up this tent is really easy and simple, and it does come with instructions that are straightforward. It can even be done by just one person, although it may take some time due to the size and the fact that the guy lines take a while to attach (at least in my case).

Depending on how experienced you are as a camper and with setting up tents, this should only take around 10-20 minutes to have it pitched.

It has something called a ‘Fast Pitch’ design, which just means that it uses color-coded and shock-corded pre-attached poles and hubs so that it is 50% faster to set up this tent than others.

The Coleman Red Canyon 8 person tent instructions are so simple that mostly all you need to do is unfold the tent and extend it and then secure it down with the stakes.

Make sure that you secure it properly with the stakes and use all of the guy lines, to ensure that your tent remains stable even if the wind picks up.

There are no instructions for take down though, so once you open up this tent you should take a mental note of how everything was packed. Or just wing it, as I did – either work.

Just to show you how easy it is to pitch this tent; I’m going to give you a rundown of it.

The first and most important step when pitching a tent is deciding which direction you want the door to face. If you’re unaware, this is because in the case that it does rain you want your door to be in the opposite direction of the wind so that the wind doesn’t blow rain in through the mesh of your door.

Once you’ve decided and unzipped the door, you can stake the corners down securely. Then, interlock the four shock corded poles to assemble the frame, and put the poles through the sleeves. At the center of the axis, the poles will form an X shape.

Next, you need to put pins at the ends of the poles, connect the frame clips, and stake the loops.

And voila, the only thing remaining is the rainfly if you choose to put it on.

For the rain fly, you just need to insert the poles into the sleeves of the fly, drape it over the tent and use the S hooks to connect the loops and put the ends of the poles into the grommets.

See, I told you it’s easy.

The Material & Performance

These Red Canyon Tents are made with inverted seams so as to hide any needle holes and therefore improve weather resistance.

It has been built with welding-inspired technology that strengthens the tent’s floor, and even the zipper cuffs are made with water resistant fabric – adding even more protection on the door.

Also, just to prove to us that their tents are weather resistant, Coleman go ahead and test their tents against rain and wind before putting them on the market.

For the wind test, the tent is placed on a rotating platform while strong fans blow winds of over 35MPH, and the tent is then checked for pole damage and tears.

During the rain test, over 35 gallons of water rain over the tent in their rain room. It starts from a light drizzle at first, and then slowly increases to a very heavy downpour. After ten minutes the tent is checked for any leakage, and if over two tablespoons of water are found inside that would mean the tent has failed the test.

I can vouch for the rain and wind tests, as I ended up having one of my own while camping thanks to the sudden storm.

This tent is durable enough to last you for years to come, no matter how many times you use it.

Tent Specifications

It has an interior of 17 x 10 feet and a center height of 72 inches, so plenty of people can fit inside with their gear and space left over.

It has a more or less full-coverage rainfly that protects some of the door and all of the windows. The reason I say more or less is because I think the fly should have been made so that the door is completely covered and protected.

Three standard queen-sized air mattresses can fit inside, provided that everyone doesn’t have too much gear.

The frame has been engineered to be stronger and more wind-responsive than ever before because of the redesigned poles and guy-out triangles.

There’s a rear ground vent that can even double as a little doggy door, which I think is brilliant and clever. Also, any hot air that comes in through the vent rises and escapes through the mesh on the ceiling.

Included

Two removable divider sheets come with the tent so that you can create three separate rooms, and there is an integrated and adjustable venting system so you can adjust the airflow depending on the temperature, and even access your gear.

There are two storage pockets that are sewn into the tent’s walls, for you to keep small items like glasses, keys, phones, flashlights, and whatever else, organized in one place. I really like this because I hate clutter all over the floor and it’s easy to lose track of where everything is. Besides, I think it encourages everyone to stop using their phones for a while by keeping them here.

It does come with a carry bag, making it very easy to take this tent around with you just about anywhere.

The tent has an attachable gear loft on the ceiling, which can come in useful because just two storage pockets for so many people is not enough.

You have steel stakes that you’ll need to set up the tent included, so you have everything that you need.

My favorite feature is the detachable welcome mat. Firstly, I love having a mud mat for everyone to keep their shoes outside of the tent because removing them beforehand minimizes the amount of dirt coming inside the tent. The fact that it’s detachable is an incredible feat because I can simply remove it when it’s getting dirty, shake it off, and put it back nice and clean.

A footprint is NOT included. I feel that it’s necessary to mention this because footprints are quite important. This is because the bottom of your tent can get torn from sharp rocks on the ground that you might not have noticed and removed before placement. Secondly, a footprint helps to protect the tent when the ground is wet.

So, if you don’t have a footprint already, I’d recommend getting one elsewhere because footprints can really help with maintaining the tent and making sure that it lasts long.

Pros and Cons

You should make sure to shake any dirt out of the tent before you fold it up and put it away. Otherwise, any dirt remaining inside can act like sandpaper and eventually cause the fabric to wear and tear.

Before you pack up your tent and return home, it’s important to let it completely dry first because otherwise, mildew can build up. Worst case scenario, in the long run, a musty smell can develop, as well as holes if you pack up the tent before letting it dry completely.

If you have no choice but to pack up the tent before letting it dry, then make sure that you air it out as soon as you arrive back home.

Another small note is that the side windows can’t be closed. It’s not a huge issue, but having the option there would be nice in case privacy is needed.

Also, I realized later on that there really isn’t any way to go from one room to another, other than removing the sheet which kind of defeats the point of having a room divider.

Something that you could do in order to preserve and extend the life of the zippers, is you could just simply rub a bar of soap along the zipper’s teeth. It’s something really handy, because who doesn’t have a bar of soap at home, and the reason this helps is because soap is made with wax and acts as a lubricant, ensuring that your zippers last a long time.

Another drawback is that there’s only one door. This can be a bit irritating if you’ve got the room dividers up, considering how you can make three rooms then you’d have thought there would be two or three doors rather than just one.

Additionally, if you’re sure that it won’t rain and you don’t need the rainfly then definitely keep it off. Ventilation is so much better without it, and you’re able to enjoy the surrounding nature from inside of the tent, and you can even stargaze at night while still being protected from any insects.

And lastly, I have to say that this tent is not completely, 100% waterproof (to be fair no tent is), despite how good it goes against rain, I’d still recommend using a seal seamer before your camping trip just in case.

Coleman Red Canyon Tent Review – Conclusion

To sum up, the Coleman Red Canyon Tent is a great choice. Clearly made with great materials and spacious enough for a large group of people – the room dividers are especially useful for this reason.

Easy and quick to set up, you should receive poles that are color-coded so that even a first-time camper could get this tent up without any difficulty. Although one person can manage, it doesn’t hurt if two people are available to pitch – but this is only because of its size, not difficulty.

Coleman’s tents are always very reliable against the elements, and in the case of a storm this tent will definitely stay staked down securely while the rain fly keeps everyone dry inside.

Even in the hotter months, this tent is perfect. There’s enough fresh air coming in that you won’t get too hot, and the more ventilation you have means that there won’t be moisture build up overnight and therefore no condensation – or rather, only just a slight amount.

Every tent has its downsides but the ones that this tent has are very minor ones and not at all a big issue.

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