Coleman sent us over their Coleman Rocky Mountain family tent for us to test and review, find out what we thought! Was it the best 4 Person Tent?
Before we had children, camping was our staple weekend away…all we needed to do was throw a tent and some sleeping bags in the car and we were away! Camping with children however, requires a little more forward planning and it’s only relatively recently we have felt brave enough to camp again as a family.
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The Coleman Rocky Mountain 5 is a spacious and comfortable tunnel tent which utlilises fiberglass poles and is advertised as ‘easy to pitch’ and a ‘home from home on the campsite for all the family’. We wanted to try the tent out at the Just So Festival but as this was a new tent to us, decided to have a quick go at pitching it at home before we left, just to make sure we were familiar with our new home for the weekend!
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Our first impressions were that it packed down into a relatively small bag. Unlike our other family tent, I could actually lift it, so we were off to a good start! The instructions are attached to the bag (no chance of losing them!) and we quickly worked out what we needed to do and had a quick practice putting the tent up. We even managed to get the tent back in the bag first time, things were looking good so far!
We headed off to the Just So Festival (trying hard to ignore the looming black clouds) and arrived in the field. We learnt from last year that there was absolutely no point carting loads of kit across the field until you had established a base and put the tent up. We quickly and easily grabbed the tent and headed off to find a pitch. Unlike last year when we had to drag the tent bag across the mud, the light and easy to carry tent made a big difference and we found a space in minutes and got ready to pitch our home for the weekend.
The Coleman website states that the Rocky Mountain 5’s ‘simple yet stable tunnel construction means that it can easily be set up in minutes.’ Having a toddler with us, it was inevitable that one adult needed to keep an eye on him, which leaves the tent to be put up by an adult and a 7-year-old. I have to agree (and my husband seconds this!) the tent was really quick and easy to put up. This was all the more important as some very loud and impressive thunder started just as we began to put the tent up and by the time the rain arrived, we were safely inside the tent taking advantage of the it’s ‘guaranteed wet weather protection’! So far so good on the Best 4 Person Tent test.
Once the tent is erected, there is a large living area which easily accommodates a table and chairs for 4 and several PVC windows with an option to cover them over to give a balance of both light and privacy. We quickly gathered our belongings and set up in the tent before heading into the festival, easily finding space for everyone in the sleeping area and enough space to put all our belongings in the living area. The tent has an integral ground sheet, something we didn’t have with our previous tent and we couldn’t believe what a difference this made to our warmth and cosiness. In fact, the construction and waterproofing of the upper and sewn-in groundsheet was so good, that when we tried to pack it away with the door zipped shut, it inflated like a balloon and we couldn’t get the air out!
After a busy afternoon at the festival, we were ready to head back to the tent for a good night’s sleep. My absolute musts for camping with the family are a place to go to the toilet and a good night’s sleep! I was really interested to see how the children (and us!) slept in this new tent.
When camping, one of the frustrating things for us is the early morning waking! Not only do we wake up early, but so does everyone else… When at Just So, we like to keep the children up a little later to take full advantage of all the activities on offer. A late night followed by an early morning wake up, as any parent knows, is a recipe for disaster!
The Coleman Rocky Mountain 5 offers ‘a large Black-Out Bedroom complete with removable room divider for sleeping flexibility’. We noticed quite quickly the difference the blackout area (and double sewn-in groundsheets) made not only to the amount of light being let into the area, but also the warmth of the sleeping area. We had 4 sleeping mats and felt quite happy with the amount of space we had. We put a child at each end of the sleeping area and felt there was enough space between them so they wouldn’t disturb each other.
Miraculously, we woke up the next morning at 7.30am! Now this was a huge lie in for the toddler and meant that we had all had a good night’s sleep. Admittedly, the lie in could be due to the late night but both my husband and I had been aware of other tents waking up from around 6am and were thrilled both our children had managed to sleep in! We also noticed how dark the sleeping area had remained. The blackout sleeping area was a huge hit!
We enthusiastically and energetically entered into the second day of the festival, heading back to the tent for a little quiet time in the middle of the day. The tent offers multiple entrances, which is particularly useful at a festival such as Just So when you pitch in a large space and return to find you are penned in by other tents, we still had a clear entrance! There are also reflective guylines to reduce the risk of tripping, however we found we still needed to add some glow sticks to stop children from other tents close by repeatedly tripping over them! We also noticed another difference when comparing this tent to our normal tent; there are zipper stops on the tent doors which ensure that the zippers are always in easy reach. This would be particularly important in the case of an emergency (or just in the dark of the black-out bedroom!) and a feature we hadn’t realised we were missing till now!
Our second night in the tent again passed by peacefully with the children sleeping in till 8am the following morning! The blackout area really was a big success!
Our final day at the festival again passed by happily with children (and adults!) who were well rested and we sent Daddy off to pack down the tent himself so we could enjoy the festival till the last possible minute. He reported that the tent packed down with ease and again, was easy to put back into the bag!
I think it’s safe to say we are converts to this tent, and even Daddy, hugely attached to our other family tent which we have used for the last 10 years, is convinced.This is the Best 4 Person Tent! In fact, this weekend it was the family camp at Attingham Park and guess which tent he took? The Coleman Rocky Mountain 5! High praise indeed!
The Coleman Rocky Mountain 5 is available on Amazon for £299.
Coleman Rocky Mountain 5 Pl...Shop on Amazon
NB: We were sent the Coleman Rocky Mountain 5 in order to review but all views and opinions that this is the Best 4 Person Tent are my own.
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Rachel lives in Telford in Shropshire and is Mum to her little girl aged 7 and little boy aged 2.