Coleman Tents on Clearnce at Academy Sports

[SMSP]

I just picked up 2 tents from Academy Sports, which include:

Hooligan 2 Person Tent for $12.50 and a Galileo 4 Person Tent on clearance for $20.

Now, I know these aren’t serious tents for backpacking and to some, they may not be quality tents for car camping. But, I bought the Hooligan for a Christmas present for a nephew who is 11 years-old and who really does not get outside much. He is always glued to his DS game ting-ama-gig. The last time he visited us, we went in the backyard and made S’mores on my backyard campfire ring and he does a little cub scouting. I thought this to be a great idea and way to get him more interested in the outdoors. Perhaps, he and a friend could camp in his backyard or whatever. And hey, if he doesn’t get into it and/or tears up the tent, not a lot of money lost on such an attempt.

I bought the Galileo for myself, my wife and daughter (3 y.o.) for car camping. I figure it will be worth the risk to see what its real value and use will be. It might just turn into a great medium-sized car camping tent. And again, if it doesn’t last, then not a lot of money wasted. One or two uses out of it and I would have gotten my money’s worth. Coleman makes some bold claims about using waterproofing material. The vestibule on this thing is huge. I’m going to put them both up soon for an initial test run.

The last cheap tent I bought was a sidewalk Wal-Mart clearance one about 8-10 years ago. It is a dome tent that houses 6 people and I paid around $30-40 for it. My wife and I used it a few times and it has done great for car camping. And, it is still in great shape. I just put it up a couple months ago in the backyard to check on its condition and it looks good to go. I have never ridden out a serious/significant rain weather event, so its weather durability is still in question.

What do you all think?

Is this a waste of money even at $35 for both?

SMSP

[sheepdog]

sounds like a deal to me

[nufsaid]

Time will tell.

[sherrill]

I just put it up a couple months ago in the backyard to check on its condition and it looks good to go. I have never ridden out a serious/significant rain weather event, so its weather durability is still in question.

Put this and the Galileo up near some flowers or your garden, turn on the sprinkler, and see what happens.

[TheChop]

For the money hell no. I got stuck in a situation where we went car camping and no one had a big tent everyone could sleep in and there was a two tent minimum for each spot. Having a big cheap Coleman would have been ideal.

[gunner76]

Make sure you seal the seams

[Egads]

I wouldn't buy a Coleman tent at any price

[leaftye]

I can't believe Coleman thought the Galileo 4 was a thousand dollar tent. Does it have aluminum poles? Do the side windows close? I hope the windows do close because the fly looks inadequate with any kind of wind.

[SMSP]

The tent was never offerred directly from Coleman, its an Academy Sports exclusive deal. I am pretty sure that price of $999.99 is not correct. It retailed for $70. The poles are fiberglass.

The windows do zip up from the inside. And that is a concern for me as well. I dont see how water can not not get in the tent with that design. I will find out this weekend one way or the other. It looks like a lot of the Coleman tents have this feature too. If the side windows do leak, then it will be returned. No sense in being miserable and having my gear get wet over a $20 tent.

SMSP

[skinewmexico]

What's the worst that can happen? You end up in the car, and walk away from it. I may go check our Academy.

[mudhead]

$20? Worth it even if you only set it up in the yard to let kids play in it.

[leaftye]

The tent was never offerred directly from Coleman, its an Academy Sports exclusive deal. I am pretty sure that price of $999.99 is not correct. It retailed for $70. The poles are fiberglass.

The windows do zip up from the inside. And that is a concern for me as well. I dont see how water can not not get in the tent with that design. I will find out this weekend one way or the other. It looks like a lot of the Coleman tents have this feature too. If the side windows do leak, then it will be returned. No sense in being miserable and having my gear get wet over a $20 tent.

SMSP

This isn't the tent you got?

http://search.coleman.com/cgi-bin/Ms...ord=galileo%20

It's hard for me to say if you got a good deal, but for those prices, it's a small gamble. I want to suggest upgrading the poles, but I recently did that with one of my tents, and let me tell you, it's not cheap.

[SMSP]

This isn't the tent you got?

http://search.coleman.com/cgi-bin/Ms...ord=galileo%20

It's hard for me to say if you got a good deal, but for those prices, it's a small gamble. I want to suggest upgrading the poles, but I recently did that with one of my tents, and let me tell you, it's not cheap.

Yes, that's the tent I got.

I have no plans to upgrade anything except the stakes that I already in my gear box.

SMSP

[SMSP]

Coleman Galileo 4 Update:
We did not get the rain I had hoped for, but I set-up the hose with a high powered sprayer and affixed to a fence post so that the spray would shot straight up in the air and then come down like rain. I would say this is equaled to a light to moderate rain fall. This was done for about 45 minutes. As suspected, the side windows leaked a small amount of water on both sides. The windows did not leak immediately, but about half through the experiment, I checked again and found small drips and puddles of water directly under the side windows. I may end of keeping it for folks that may go camping with us and don’t have a tent or something.

Coleman Hooligan 2
This tent is not free standing. It is basically an A-frame tent with a center pole. All four corners need to be staked out for it to remain up. It has a huge door on the front and a large window on the back. In fact, the window on the back is so big, that one could actually step in/out the rear window. I speculate that the reason this tent is being cleared out is because of the one pole design. The Hooligan 4 design is with two poles. Because the one pole is in the center, the front side and rear side ‘sag’ and ‘drape’ inward. If a second pole was in place (like in a typical ‘dome’ set-up), then the side walls would be supported and create a lot more room. The tent itself is all mesh except for the bath tube floor. The single pole is larger in diameter than most poles on ‘dome’ type tents. I also speculate this was done because it was a single pole and not two poles, and this single pole was heavier as well. It would be interesting to see what this single pole weighed in relation to two smaller diameter poles. I didn’t have time to do all that. The rain fly is nice and comes all the way to the bottom of the tent body. The rain fly has a matching zippered window for the rear mesh window. The vestibule is large enough for a couple of packs and footwear. As mentioned initially, he plan for this tent is a gift for an 11 year-old nephew in an attempt to get him interested in the outdoors and such. I think this will served that purpose just fine.

Was the time I invested in this project a waste?

I don’t think so, its one thing to read about the specifics of something and another thing to experience it first hand. I look back at this and it has helped me to learn what to look for in a tent’s feature. What will work in a tent design and what will not work. I also included my 3 year-old in the process of setting them up and taking them down, so those were some nice memories.

SMSP

[kanga]

I have a huge Coleman 8 person that I got a few yrs ago for car camping and I love it. The top leaks in heavy rain even after seam sealing but I just threw a tarp over it this weekend and it worked beautifully. The sides don't leak at all. I only paid $50 for it at the Coleman outlet and have used it about 8 times. I don't expect it to last another 8 but I feel I've already gotten my money out of it.

[BigFoot2002]

I have a Coleman Inyo2 that I got at an outlet store for my 02 hike.

If I had to spend a night in high winds, I would prefer it over the Big Agnes SL1 I upgraded to in 07.

[SMSP]

I returned the Galileo 4 and still plan to give the Hooligan 2 to my nephew for Christmas.

SMSP

[mister krabs]

Thanks for the review SMSP As you saw in this experiment, it's all about design and materials. It was the design that let you down, not the name. Your nephew will love the hooligan.