Coleman Instant Up 4P Lighted Northstar Darkroom Tent - How to setup & pack away

[@sharronevans5820]

I have just erected my new tent. So easy! Being a small stated female , I place the fly on top before extending the legs. Just pray it is keeps the rain out. Happy camping everyone!

[@SnowysOutdoors]

Thanks sharon, glad you love your new tent ~ Lauren

[@saltydog996]

Thanks a lot. I bought this tent for independence, to camp alone. This video gave me more confidence

[@SnowysOutdoors]

Enjoy! ~ Lauren

[@kingy002]

A superb demonstration video with excellent commentary. Cheers for you efforts.

[@SnowysOutdoors]

Thanks Kingy002 ~ Lauren

[@oldmal60]

I really like this tent. Best 4P I have seen. I car camp one person so the room is great.

[@SnowysOutdoors]

Perfect roomy tent for one person car camping, oldmal60. ~ Ben

[@jendannguyen7798]

I bought one, they are really good and easy for set-up... Thank you

[@SnowysOutdoors]

You're welcome, JenDan. ~ Ben

[@pointbreakfish]

Just bought one on the strength of this video 👍🏼🤞🏽

[@SnowysOutdoors]

Hope you love it! ~ Lauren

[@VanHelsingBoombox]

Truly a tent I'd love to have, hope I can get it in the US one day! Thanks for the vids!

[@SnowysOutdoors]

We get a lot of calls for this tent in the US, we only ship within Australia sorry and I'm not sure what Coleman's plans are regarding these in America. ~ Ben

[@VanHelsingBoombox]

@@SnowysOutdoors totally understandable no worries! Maybe Coleman will think about it someday lol

[@tritonoffr1918]

gonna get one for this easter holiday, thanks mate

[@SnowysOutdoors]

Enjoy! ~ Lauren

[@macca462]

Pro tip: If you put the fly on and get it close to position before erecting the tent you will avoid the 'cast net' style throw and then you don't have to do that comedic one man tug-o-war with the fly from corner to corner.

[@SnowysOutdoors]

Yeah, good tip, Macca46, drag the fly over before the legs are extended at least. ~ Ben

[@newgabe09]

Great, thanks for a full set up vid as well as the review.

[@SnowysOutdoors]

You're welcome, Gabriel. Happy camping! ~ Ben

[@Accretion-Ranch]

There will be no sleeping-in during wet weather. When you zip this up for the night, and the weather is wet, to keep this weather tight means this turns into nothing short of an oven come sunrise.The tent inner needs roof vents, but instead there is only ground level venting, without gussets on the windows (meaning they must remain zipped closed during inclimate weather) there is minimal air flow and no place for hot air to evacuate. Black wolf has the right idea to allow venting the inner at the top of the tent. Add a vent at roof level and window gussets and it’s winner. As it is, it’s a sauna.

[@SnowysOutdoors]

I'm sorry you've been sleeping hot in your tent, Scott. The three windows can be opened internally to allow ventilation from the inner to the zone between the inner and flysheet, from there there should be ample ventilation from air movement coming in under the flysheet. Of course, this won't help if there is little to no breeze, in which case you should be able to peg the window awnings out a little for extra ventilation. I hope you can find some way to make things more comfortable inside your tent. ~ Ben

[@Accretion-Ranch]

Snowys Outdoors thanks Ben. The tent is great and does a great job of blocking light, which is the primary purpose of the design. You’re right, there are plenty of vent options, sadly, during rain and bad weather, half those options must be closed off, as we found out, without window gussets, rain ingress is still valid concern if the side panel windows are pegged out (blackwolf has the right idea for window design and ventilation during bad weather). Floor level venting is a great idea, but without a circulatory exit point at the top of the tent, they only impact marginally. Great tent either way, lightweight and water proof, just not great at venting when zipped up. Leaving windows open for ventilation kinda makes the blackout feature redundant. It truly only needs inner tent roof vents to allow circulation between inner and fly, gussets on the windows and it would be nigh perfect. Still a highly recommended tent tho.

[@Cyfkycdrycvkb]

@@Accretion-Ranch Hi Scott I'm thinking about getting this tent but concerned about humidity after reading your review. Are you speaking from experience with this tent? Or are your concerns hypothetical based on looking at the tent design?

[@missingMBR]

@@Cyfkycdrycvkb the tent does get hot if there's no breeze. I found myself lying as close to the floor vents to find any kind of relief in the stagnant heat. I haven't had any issues with condensation yet camping in summer or winter. I think the tent would benefit from root vents like the Black Wolf but to be fair, I can't see it helping too much in conditions with no breeze because the hot air would still be trapped by the fly. I haven't seen Black Wolf tents with the darkroom option which is a massive benefit with the Coleman tent, especially if you want that extra sleep in.

[@Elfangorlanzhou]

@@Accretion-Ranch Thanks for that comment. I tend to sometimes camp in hot and wet places and if the Coleman tent had window gussets like Black wolf tents, I think it would be perfect esp for the price.

[@JimCabbage]

Very useful.. thank you 👍

[@SnowysOutdoors]

You're welcome. ~ Ben

[@mosaicmuse9797]

I love the ease of putting this tent up. I don't have one myself. But I am an early morning person anyway. Half the fun of camping is those early morning swims or walks. I'll be looking for a similar tent to this one but without the blockout feature. Plus it would be nice to find one a bit. *Prettier looking. Yeah I'm a female 😏🤔

[@SnowysOutdoors]

I agree about the early morning wake ups when you're camping @mosaic muse - there is the standard gold and silver evo versions or this tent, which don't have the light suppression technology. ~ Lauren

[@DNAblue2112]

There is actually another velcro loop on the other side of the knuckle. so you end up with one velcro on each side of the knuckle. also, the flysheet has one red tab on one corner and so does the tent to make sure you put it the correct way around, although that doesn't seem to be in your version of the tent so maybe both of these have been added in newer revisions.

[@SnowysOutdoors]

These are being updated all the time, Benjamin, the tent you have may be a newer version. I haven't had a chance to look at our most current stock. ~ Ben

[@TheWW101]

Great video. I would have liked to see the interior but I understand the point of the vid was to show how to erect and pull down the tent. My only negative comment that I make to improve future vids was that towards the end when you were putting the tent into the bag, the camera moved around like I was on a boat and made me nauseated :)

[@SnowysOutdoors]

Thanks for your feedback @TheWW101, this video is a few years old now so I reckon we've improved. If you want to see the inside of the tent, check out the Features video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqSviJiZbNulbsU ~ Lauren

[@MerlinMan1579]

Bit of an oversight from Coleman to have to drop the stayed door to make it dark, why not make the inner tent dark and the fly a lighter more reflective material to aid with heat reduction…..seems more logical in my mind.

[@SnowysOutdoors]

Bummer @Fernando C. ~ Lauren

[@georginahu]

My favourite part was when he set up the “vegetable” part of the tent. 5:11

[@SnowysOutdoors]

That made me giggle @Georgina Hu...gets me everytime he says it. ~ Lauren

[@hhhs001]

Omg that’s my fav part as well!!

[@ParadigmImagesVideoPhotography]

one silver pin spring loaded is missing, can that be fixed ?

[@SnowysOutdoors]

If you're handy, absolutely. Its probably still inside the pole. And old wire coat hanger straightened out can be your best friend in these situations. ~ Lauren

[@justjamie72]

I just spent my first weekend away in this tent and it was a huge hit with some of the other questions. I think I’ve sold two! Very easy to put up and put away, thanks to your good instructions Ben. It’s a fantastic tent and I love it. I was wondering, is there anything you could recommend to create a bit of extra annexed space & shade, that tags onto the front of the tent so I can set up a camp kitchen, or would you recommend a separate item? I noticed the Velcro strip on mine, and I’ve seen in other models that there are attachments. Thanks heaps

[@SnowysOutdoors]

I'm glad you like your Instant Up Tent, Jamie. Regarding the extra annex space, you'd either need to customise something yourself or add a gazebo to your setup. The Coleman 3x3 gazebo is best as it has a full length Velcro strip that the strip on your tent attaches to, but other brands have Velcro that would work too. There is a Shade awning attachment for the Evo series but this won't work with the Darkroom series on account of the larger vestibule. ~ Ben

[@villeteague5148]

On the one i have, i have 4 little straps on the fly how do i work that its the same tent as this.

[@SnowysOutdoors]

I'm not quite sure what you are referring to sorry, Ville. Whereabouts on the flysheet are the straps you are referring to? ~ Ben

[@AnakinSkywalker-2g]

Hi Ben, do you know if you could have one of those shipped to nz?

[@SnowysOutdoors]

We only ship within Australia sorry. ~ Ben

[@gavinbaker100]

They are available at Tent Town and Land and Sea in Auckland and most probably other stockist. I have a Dive Bag so pack the fly, a ground sheet and pegs in the dive bag and the tent and poles in the original bag. Two lighter bags make for easier handling and keeps the dry inner seperate from the "wetter" fly and ground sheet.

[@stephanthomson4804]

Does the rear door also have brass eyelets, so we can have two awnings, one front and one back (with the purchase of extra poles)? Ta :)

[@SnowysOutdoors]

There's no rear door on the 4P version, Stephanie. The versions that do have rear doors do have brass eyelets so you can set them up as awnings though. ~ Ben

[@stephanthomson4804]

@@SnowysOutdoors Thanks, sorry, I'm thinking of the 6P version. Another retailer just told me that the 6P rear door does NOT have eyelets, sadly.

[@SnowysOutdoors]

@@stephanthomson4804 I think they may be wrong, see our video here - kzbin.info/www/bejne/mWK9gHmYjNmpsMk. ~ Ben

[@stephanthomson4804]

@@SnowysOutdoors Yes, I see those! Thank you Ben. Do you supply spare sets of awning poles (with spigots) and guy ropes?

[@SnowysOutdoors]

@@stephanthomson4804 we don't sell the same Coleman poles but we have plenty of other options, all of which will fit the eyelets in the Coleman tents. Check out our range here - www.snowys.com.au/tent-accessories#?type=118,70. Steel poles are affordable but if your budget allows then I'd suggest the Supa Peg Big Foot Aluminium poles - www.snowys.com.au/big-foot-aluminium-tent-poles. Any guy ropes will od the trick but these ones from Oztnet are good - www.snowys.com.au/orange-guy-rope. ~ Ben

[@carriepc1980]

Could you pack it away with the fly attached?

[@SnowysOutdoors]

You wont be able to @carriepc1980. The frame collapses and folds in on itself, you wouldn't be be able to access the components on the frame with the fly in place, and its at risk of pinching getting torn. ~ Lauren

[@fightinglady52]

Is this tent available today??? Where can I purchase?

[@SnowysOutdoors]

Check out the link to our website in the video description @fightinglady52 ~ Lauren

[@tamarajade7137]

Do I need to season this tent with water?

[@SnowysOutdoors]

No seasoning needed as this is a synthetic tent, Tamara. ~ Ben

[@tamarajade7137]

@@SnowysOutdoors Awesome thank you. :) hopefully i get to take my son out on his first camping trip on the weekend but Brisbane is in a 3 day lockdown. Fingers crossed.

[@geminirhythmspirit2573]

Is there a uk distributor for this tent

[@SnowysOutdoors]

I'm not sure sorry, Gemini, Coleman is available around the world but the products vary from country to country. Google is probably the best place to start searching. ~ Ben

[@stephanthomson4804]

Fantastic, thanks - though skipping over how to fold the #$%^&ing fly was really mean ;( I have the 6P version of this tent (love it) and cannot for the life of me find any way to fold the fly, especially with limited indoor space. (Can't be done outdoors due to wet dirty ground.)

[@SnowysOutdoors]

This is great feedback thanks, Stephanie, we might create a video on folding flysheets., they are difficult given their 3 dimensional shape, but I have a process I've used for years that seems to work. I'll add this idea on our to do list, keep an eye on our channel and we'll see if we can get something done soon. In the meantime, my hot tip would be to start by folding it in half lengthways. Then line up all the points along the bottom and flatten it as best you can. Then start folding so you create a regular shape making sure you work your way towards the bottom so all the air can escape as you fold. ~ Ben

[@stephanthomson4804]

Thanks! :)

[@joelmcivor7674]

Dude wheres the interior and lighting system??

[@SnowysOutdoors]

G’day Joel, That’s all in our ‘Features’ video, see here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqSviJiZbNulbsU Cheers, Laine

[@airronimpreza6485]

เก่งมาก

[@SnowysOutdoors]

Cheers, airron impreza! Laine

[@muzaffarmohamed2854]

Not for strong windy... pole at the front not strong enough for strong wind

[@SnowysOutdoors]

They go okay with upgraded pegs & trace springs on the guy ropes. Excellent additions for any tent in wind. Hope that helps! ~ Lauren

[@motog1115]

Real Nice tent but no way im paying $450 for a tent.. thats half the price of a used enclosed trailer

[@SnowysOutdoors]

If that's your style of camping then I see your point, trailer is much more useful when it comes to landscaping on the weekend too. ~ Ben

[@Burden05]

“Instant” yeah, ok.

[@SnowysOutdoors]

There is really only one element of any instant, quick or 30-second tent, Brendan. By the time you add in all the pegs and guy ropes, most of them come out at about the same setup time. ~ Ben