Note: This is a photocopy of the same review I gave on another site, going to try and post more of the pictures that I wasn't able to on that site here.
This has to be the best tent that I have had the opportunity to own. I own or have access to Coleman, Wenzel and various other brand tents but only Coleman tents seem to last the best for this class. Heck my last Coleman is now 25-30 years old and it is still usable, though it is now on the small side as that was the tent I grew up in. As for class I mean Family/Car camping tents.
Simple setup and take down. Took only half an hour to put up by myself, only needed a little help with the rainfly. As a side note though I do have to say that users may need to ignore the instructions to raise the poles up to the high or third hole after raising the tent up. At first setup mine was tight enough as it was. Rainfly coverage was excellent, but if there is a high wind and rain, the middle section may have some rain coming in from the screen on the top, the one that is a skylight without the rainfly on. No floor in the screened in area, but thats no big for me. Screens themselves are not no-see-um mesh so keep that in mind. A common comment on last years model was that the tent acted like a wind sock due the the fact the back section had no screen. This years model does have a screen window on the high side of the rear section. Just like the other windows this one can also be zipped shut. Self rolling windows are an interesting idea, though they took me down memory lane and the snap bracelets of the early nineties, mostly cause they function exactly the same way. The biggest difference is that these are not covered in fabric as the bracelets were, so when putting these in only an adult should do it. The supposed injuries due to the bracelets can also occur here but possibly more easily. If you can handle a 1" wide metal tape measure without a problem though I reckon you should be fine. Sleeping accommodations are a little relative, for me I feel this tent can sleep two or three comfortably, with cots or air-beds, a cooler and a chuck-box. If you just want to sleep in it the stated sleeping area is about right, but be prepared for waking everyone up if you have to get up in the middle of the night.
Now the most important part, for me at least, Waterproofness. Can't say how it will handle in a real rainstorm but I will tell you this, it held up good to the settings on my garden hose, with a friend standing inside. To give you an idea what settings I used, one was a fan setting (this puts out an arch that about 90 degrees on a flat plain, I like it cause it creates fairly realistic water droplets at a fairly low pressure). The other was a needle setting (this does just what is says creates a needle of water about the diameter of a wide grip pen, its high pressure). The fan one I used on the sides and the roof at a distance of about 6 feet from the tent for about 2 minutes on each section. Had no leaking issues other that the issue mentioned above were water came in through the middle section on top. Rain-fly worked great as well. The latter I used on the seams. For about thirty seconds to a minute I sprayed each seam to see if any leaks showed up, I thought something had to show up with this setting. To my amazement nothing did. So other than some rain coming in over the middle section there really wasn't an issue.
All in all this is a great all around tent, and in my opinion stays true to the Coleman name. Only time will tell if it holds up to my old Coleman.
Edit as of July 28th 2009: After taking this tent out camping in the Black Hills of South Dakota I have a few things to add to the review. First I was out there for five nights and on each of those nights it rained. For the sake of honesty one leak did pop up and that was in the rear room at the base of the two large windows where the spring ends. Outside of that it performed flawlessly. We even had a few strong wind gusts that would have toppled my old dome tent. One of these rainstorms was strong enough that a mountain not 200-300 yards away could not be seen from the screen room. Also, all this was accomplished using only the original Coleman waterproofing. I haven't had to put any on myself yet. Another note dealing with the poles after all that rain I did find some rust on the poles as I was storing them after striking camp. However, for me I consider this normal wear and tear. Coleman Elite WeatherMaster 6 Tent
A condo, that's what our new tent feels like. Loved the screened porch, the light system and hindged door. We have teased everyone that we bought a new condo. Oh, I almost forgot about the roll-up windows. Took my girlfriend camping for the first time with this tent and I thought the extra features would help to settle her in to camping life and I was right. No fighting during set-up either. We took a few moments to lay out the poles and wow...set-up was a breeze. Everything fit nicely back in the bag too. If you are looking for a camping experience with a few extras, this is the tent for you. - Family Camping Tents - Family Camping'
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