Coleman Family Tent Review: Jenny Lake 8

Spring is here and summer is fast approaching.This is the time of year that my family loves to go camping. We have an annual week long family camping trip to the Smoky Mountains and you never know what other camping trips we may squeeze in.  In fact, I just did a mini camping trip with my son’s Boy Scout troop where he received his rank advancement from Wolf to Bear.  This camping with kids expedition gave me the perfect opportunity to review the Coleman Jenny Lake 8P Fast Pitch Tent with Closet. Thanks so much to Coleman for providing the Coleman family tent for review.

Coleman Tent Review of Jenny Lake 8 Person Fast Pitch Tent with Closet

Looking for family tent reviews? I chose to review the Coleman Jenny Lake™ 8P Fast Pitch™ Cabin with Closet because I wanted a large family tent for with plenty of room for a comfortable week long camping trip. Three of the features that stood out me about the tent besides the size were that it is fast pitch, water-resistant, and that it has a room divider.

8P stands for 8 person tent. Other similar Coleman family tents include the Sunlodge™ 8-Person Camping Tent, Montana™ 8-Person Tent, and the Signature Prairie Breeze™ 9-Person Tent.

Coleman Fast Pitch Tent

So first, let me address the fast pitch feature. This Coleman family tent boasts a 50% faster tent set up time than a comparable Coleman® tent with conventional setup. The Fast Pitch™ system uses pre-attached, color-coded top poles and hub, fast fit feet and snag-free Insta-Clip™ suspension to achieve a 9 minute average set up time.

I have to say that the directions for setting up the tent were very clear even if you have no prior experience. I was able to figure it out in no time. Furthermore, the handy directions are sewn into the tent cover so you don’t lose them! (Plus, the cover case has wheels so you can easily roll it from you parking space to your campsite.)

First I used the stakes to secure the tent to the ground through all the loops. Then, I simply placed the black plastic hub with the pre-attached poles in the center of the tent. This allowed me to quickly snap the poles together. I just followed the color coding to snap into the black tent-attached assembly pieces. There was no sliding of the tent poles through seams because they have simple black clips that easily hook to the poles. Then I just assembled the poles and again used the color coding to know where to place them. I snapped those onto the the “fast fit feet”- little black plastic round pieces that the poles lock onto. Next, we slid the rain fly (just in case of stormy weather) over the top of the tent and secured it to the tent with the velcro attachments.

Fast Pitch Tent vs Instant Tent

The fast pitch tent feature does make it a pretty simple set up. It took me about 14 minutes to set it up but that was my first time. Now that I know what I am doing, I am confident we could get it down to 9 minutes easily. So that is a pretty fast pitch tent! It is quick, easy setup but it is not an instant tent. Instant tents are basically pop up tents with almost instant setup, but less breathable, less water resistant, bulkier, and heavier.

Water-Resistant Tent

If it rains, the Coleman Jenny Lake tent is water-resistant. The WeatherTec™ system with its patented welded floors and inverted seams also helps you stay dry. This feature is so important. You don’t want to sleep with water coming in around you! I can tell you that every year we camp at the Smoky Mountains, it does rain. And the good news is that we have stayed dry each year in our old Coleman family tent. More water-resistant has my vote because even if it doesn’t rain, there is always dew to contend with! You can add waterproof coatings if you are expecting lots of heavy rain.

Tent Room Divider

Having separate tent rooms was important to my husband. Now that our kids are getting older, it will be nice for us all to have a bit more privacy. The room divider is an extra, removable divider that can be hung up in a jiffy to create separate rooms. It has a zipper for easy access between the two areas. I must say however, that it does not provide complete privacy. But then you are in the same tent together so how much do you really expect? But now, I can tell my kids to go clean up their side of the tent!

Tent With Closet

Yes, I am serious. There is a built-in tent with closet, shelves and hanger bar to organize gear and clothes! You can keep the shelves / storage pockets down and have a great place to shove your cooler and bags or you can add the mesh shelves and get organized. My son wanted to use the storage space to organize his stuffed animals!

Extra Coleman Jenny Lake Tent Features:

• Illumiline™ reflective guy lines for greater visibility at night
• 2 doors, 1 hinged, for easy entry from either side of the tent (“Mommy, you go in your side!”)
• Auto-roll mesh windows provide quick and convenient ventilation, huge ceiling mess panels also provide great ventilation (so nice on hot afternoons)
• E-Port makes it easy to bring electrical power inside your tent
• Included rainfly for extra weather protection
• Waterproof floor
• Spacious interior has room for 2 queen airbeds  (13 x 9 ft. with 2 x 2 ft. closet)
• 6 ft. 8 in. center height (My husband will love this, heck, I enjoy not having to bend over too!)
• Wheeled carry bag for easy storage and transport

This Coleman fast pitch tent is a great choice for large windows, large doors, and plenty of floor space. This Coleman cabin tent is also and extremely affordable tent. It is an ideal choice of large families. Tall people need not worry. My husband is 6’4″ and it worked just fine for us!

On top of all that, I just have to include in this review of the 8-Person Coleman Jenny Lake Fast Pitch Tent with Closet that it is one good looking tent!  At the Boy Scout camp out, I had lots of parents asking me about my Coleman family tent and commenting on how much they liked it.  I am quite happy with it and look forward to many more years of camping in this great family tent.

You can view Coleman’s full line of camping gear at coleman.com

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