Coleman Northstar Instant Up 4 Lighted DarkRoom Tent

A fantastic family sized tent

By: Asher on 9 February 2019

This is one of the best good value for money vs features tent I could find. Bought it after reading up every review I could find online. I used it two night for the Australia day weekend. Some of the best features I can vouch for- The tent is super easy to put up. Easiest and quickest setup is a 2 person job taking a realistic 15-20 minutes from opening the bag to fully pegging down the fly. Very uncomplicated to pack up as well. It easily fits in the supplied canvas bag along with the fly. Its heavy at about 30 kilos but that's because the floor canvas is thick and durable. I would pack/carry the awning poles and pegs separately after first use to keep the weight down and prevent any tears to the fabric. The supplied pegs (60 pegs or so) are suitable but are highly susceptible to bending if hammered in with too much force or into hard soil/rock. Makes sense to get at least 10 heavier pegs for the primary anchor points. I got 20 plastic 300mm sand pegs (Thanks to Great Escape Camping!) that are a boon if you are pitching on soft soil. The fly is light and built well with multiple awning setup options. I particularly like the colors used, it gives off a rugged look. The collapsible metal/fiber poles are strong and sturdy providing a stable load bearing frame to the entire setup. Overall the fabrics, zips, stitches and seals look well made and durable. The dark room feature is really awesome. It keeps the tent cooler in daylight and warm at night. You will require internal lights if used with the fly closed. The 2 rooms on either side of the tent are air sealed if you need it to be so. The middle section is not air sealed since the inner roof is just a see through net. So if you plan to sleep in that section then u need to beware of cold/windy nights. Some tips- A practice run or watching videos of how to put up the tent goes a long way to speed things up/ avoiding mistakes The fly has one front facing side thats meant to go over the side of the tent you chose to enter/exit/setup the awnings. So orient the fly accordingly before you drape it over the frame. I spray insect repellent before packing away the tent just in case some creepy crawlies are left behind. Unzip all the zippers in the inner shell before packing down the tent. This helps prevent damage to the zipper teeth when the tent is tightly rolled away for storage. You dont have to do this with the fly because it packs away fairly loosely so there is no tension on the zips.

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Rod Abraham

By: Rod on 9 January 2019

It's a great tent to set up, it's darrrk inside .middle room has no where to hang a light from. no access to weather flaps on windows from inside tent eg nightime rain. needs all vents open for air flow .great strong tent would recommend

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