Coleman Sundome 3-Person Camping Tent

May 4, 2023

The Coleman Sundome 3-Person Camping Tent is a fan favorite for summertime car camping trips. It offers a cozy interior, an affordable price point, and ample ventilation for improved comfort during casual outdoor adventures.

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Comfort and Space

A man, a woman and a dog sit in camping chairs near the green Coleman Sundome 3-Person Camping Tent

When it comes to tents for car camping, comfort and livability are key. Here’s what you need to know about how the 3-Person Sundome performs at the campground.

Floor Space

The Coleman Sundome 3-Person Camping Tent features a square floor layout that measures 7’ (300 cm) by 7’ (300 cm) in size for a total of 49 square feet (4.6 sqm) of floor space. When compared to other similar tents, such as the MSR Mutha Hubba NX 3, which has a 39 square foot (3.6 sq. m) floor space, the Sundome is a spacious abode.

However, while the Sundome is well-sized in comparison to the competition, it’s not overly spacious. Even though it’s suitable for use by up to 3 adult campers, this tent doesn’t offer much interior gear storage space when filled to capacity. As a result, the Sundome is best for campers that plan to store most of their gear outside or in their vehicle overnight.

Head/Shoulder Room

Boasting a 4’4” (132 cm) peak height, the 3-Person Sundome offers a decent mix of durability and comfort. This peak height is tall enough for most campers to sit upright, but it doesn’t offer enough clearance for an average adult to stand in.

While this relatively low peak height might be a disappointment to some campers, it does come with a benefit: this lower peak height provides the dome-shaped Sundome with improved wind resistance. That’s because taller tents are more likely to get blown around in the wind than their more compact counterparts.

Rooms/Vestibules

Coleman 3-Person Sundome is a single-room tent. As such, it has only a single interior space for sleeping and relaxation. Since this tent is designed for use by up to 3 people on relatively short car camping trips, sharing a single room often isn’t a problem. But it’s something to consider before you buy.

It’s worth noting that the Sundome doesn’t come with any vestibules or screen porches. In fact, the closest thing this tent has to a vestibule is a small awning over the door. But this awning isn’t large enough to provide more than just a bit of shade from the sun.

Coleman Sundome 3 Person tent's awning over the door

This lack of a vestibule and screen porch isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker for many campers, though it does mean that you won’t have much gear storage space during your adventures.

Breathability and Ventilation

Despite the 3-Person Sundome’s vestibule and sunroom-related shortcomings, this tent brings its A-game when breathability is a concern.

Coleman Sundome 3 Person tent ventilation

The Sundome’s most important breathability-focused feature is its full mesh canopy. These overhead mesh panels allow for plenty of airflow at night. This is especially if the weather cooperates and you don’t need to use the tent’s rainfly.

Additionally, this tent comes with zippered mesh windows on the door and rear wall. When both are zipped open, they provide a nice cross-breeze on muggy days in the woods. This tent also has an integrated floor vent for improved circulation regardless of the weather conditions.

ALSO SEE: Best Camping Tents with a Hinged Door

Weather Resistance

Coleman crafted the 3-Person Sundome using their proprietary WeatherTec system. This system uses thick bathtub-style floors, welded floor corner joints, and inverted seams to help prevent water from entering your sleeping area during a storm.

However, WeatherTec technology isn’t enough on its own to keep you dry. One of the biggest drawbacks to the Sundome is the fact that it doesn’t have a full-coverage rainfly. For summertime trips in nice weather conditions, this might not be a problem. But this lack of a full-coverage rainfly means this shelter isn’t practical for use in rainy locales.

As far as wind resistance is concerned, the Coleman Sundome 3-Person Camping Tent is a bit of an inconsistent performer.

While this tent’s dome shape does provide it with some natural wind resistance, its fiberglass poles mean that it’s not as sturdy as it could be. Even though Coleman advertises that this tent is rated for use in 35 mph winds, these fiberglass poles likely wouldn’t be able to withstand such conditions for an extended period of time.

Durability

The Coleman Sundome 3-Person Camping Tent is made with relatively durable fabrics that are standard throughout the company’s tent line-up.

This includes 75D polyester taffeta in the rainfly and tent walls and 1000D polyethylene in the floor. Both of these materials are reasonably durable and are crafted to withstand the wear and tear of occasional car camping trips.

Despite the fact that it uses some relatively durable fabrics, the Sundome does have some durability shortcomings.

As this tent uses fiberglass poles, which aren’t as rugged as aluminum poles in the long term, it’s best for use on short roadside adventures. The tent’s extensive use of mesh is also a slight durability concern since mesh is fairly easy to tear. But some extra caution when pitching and packing this tent can reduce the likelihood of these inadvertent tears over time.

Ease of Use

This tent uses Coleman’s conventional pitch system. The company advertises that it takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes to pitch this tent. Most campers will find that this is an accurate estimate after a few tent pitching practice rounds.

The 3-Person Sundome has 2 symmetrical poles for the tent body and 1 smaller pole for the rainfly. To pitch this tent, you need to remove it from its included carry case, lay it flat on the ground, and then stake it down. Each of the 2 symmetrical poles then gets inserted into the tent’s pole sleeves and clipped on using the InstaClip system.

A man and a woman sit in camping chairs near the green Coleman Sundome 3-Person Camping Tent on a lake shore

Assembling the rainfly is fairly straightforward, too. To do so, you simply need to attach the rainfly pole to the rainfly. Then you place the rainfly on the top of the tent and stake everything down to complete the process.

All things considered, pitching this tent isn’t too complicated, though it’s a good idea to practice the process at least once before you head outside. That’s because the rainfly pitching system on this tent is somewhat awkward at first. So it can be nice to figure the process out at home, rather than at the campground.

Packed Size and Weight

Tipping the scales at 8.7 lbs (3.9 kg), the Coleman Sundome 3-Person Camping Tent is a decidedly heavy tent. For car camping purposes, this heavy weight likely isn’t much of a concern as the Sundome is still light enough to carry over short distances.

But the tent’s weight makes it impractical for most backpacking trips. For comparison’s sake, the Naturehike Cloud Up 3 weighs just 4.1 lbs (1.9 kg), which makes it more useful for remote camping trips than the Sundome.

Even though the 3-Person Sundome is very heavy, it’s also surprisingly compact. It can pack down to approximately 23 x 6 x 6” (58 x 15 x 15 cm) in its included stuff sack. This is small enough to toss in the back of a car with relative ease, even if it’s too large to fit in most hiking backpacks.