I have camped out of the back of my 2014 Tacoma for long enough that I stopped counting trips. Most of them are short ones: Clinton Lake, Perry Lake, a few weekends down at the Lake of the Ozarks. My wife Marla comes along when the forecast looks decent, and she sleeps cold, so the tent has to do its part. After a full season with the Coleman Sundome, I can tell you exactly why the dome shape keeps winning for car camping.
A dome tent looks simple, and that is the point. The geometry does the work. Here are the ten reasons I keep reaching for the Coleman Sundome instead of the other tents in my garage.
The dome tent I grab first from the bed of my truck
The Coleman Sundome sets up in about ten minutes, sheds rain, and has held up through a full season of state park weekends. Check today's price on Amazon and see if it fits your campsite.
Amazon Check Today's Price on Amazon →The poles cross in a way that sheds wind instead of fighting it
Wind is the thing that kills most tents. A dome spreads the load across two crossing poles, so a gust pushes against the curve and rolls around it. I had the Sundome up through a night at Perry Lake in late May where the flags were standing straight out and the rain was coming in sideways. The tent never flattened, and nothing inside got wet. The shape does not make wind disappear, but it keeps the tent from acting like a sail.
Rain runs off the sloped sides instead of pooling on top
Flat-topped tents collect water. A dome has no flat spot, so rain runs down the sides and hits the ground. The Coleman Sundome also comes with a rainfly that covers the top and clips on in a couple of minutes. I sat through a steady rain at Clinton Lake one Saturday in June and stayed dry, which is the whole job. The fly shed water all afternoon while we played cards under it.
You can set it up alone in about ten minutes
The poles are color-coded and the sleeves are easy to find. I can have the Sundome standing by myself in under ten minutes, and that matters when you roll in after dark. Marla usually handles the sleeping bags while I do the poles, and we are done before the neighbors finish their second trip from the car. On one trip to Mark Twain National Forest I set it up in the dark with a headlamp and still had it standing before the rain started.
The center height is enough to stand up and change clothes
Nobody wants to crawl around on their knees to get dressed. The 6-foot center height on the 6-person Sundome means I can stand up straight in the middle. Marla, who is shorter than me, has plenty of room. For a car camping tent, that is the difference between a shelter and a place you actually live in for the weekend. I have changed out of wet clothes standing up more times than I can count.
The floor is a bathtub shape that keeps ground water out
The floor comes up the sides a few inches, so water on the ground does not seep in through the seams. I have camped on ground that looked dry and turned out to be holding water underneath. The bathtub floor on the Coleman Sundome kept our sleeping bags dry both times. That is the kind of feature you do not appreciate until you need it, and I needed it twice last season.
The dome shape gives you more usable floor space than it looks like
Because the walls go up instead of sloping in, you can actually use the corners. A cabin tent wastes space where the walls meet the floor. The Sundome's dome shape means two cots fit along the sides with a walkway down the middle. We fit a queen air mattress, a duffel, and still had room to move around. On our Colorado trip last summer we even fit the camp chairs inside when a storm rolled through.
The rainfly stores attached, so you never lose it
The rainfly on the Coleman Sundome stays connected to the tent body. You roll it back on sunny mornings and pull it over when the sky turns gray. I have owned tents where the fly lived in the bottom of the bag and got left at home. This one is always there, which is exactly when you need it. I pulled it over at Perry Lake one afternoon when a squall came up out of nowhere, and it took me about two minutes.
It packs down small enough to leave room for the rest of your gear
Car camping means you bring too much stuff. The Sundome rolls into a bag that fits behind the wheel well in my Tacoma's bed, which leaves room for the cooler, the chairs, and the firewood. When the tent does not eat the whole truck, the trip starts easier. I measured it once out of curiosity: the bag is about 24 inches long and 8 inches around, so it tucks in next to the tool box without a fight.
The dome shape handles a cold night better than you would expect
A smaller volume of air to heat makes a difference when the temperature drops. The dome's curved ceiling keeps the warm air up where it belongs instead of trapping it in dead corners. Marla sleeps cold, so we bring a good sleeping bag and a pad, and the Sundome does its part by keeping the wind off. We have slept comfortably into the low 40s, and one October night at Clinton Lake it got down to 38 and we stayed warm.
It is built to take the abuse of regular car camping
The Coleman Sundome uses a welded floor and inverted seams, which means fewer places for water to find its way in. The poles are fiberglass, and the fabric has held up to a full season of setup and takedown. I have dragged this tent in and out of the truck bed a dozen times and it still looks like it will last several more seasons. The zippers still run smooth, and the stakes have not bent, which is more than I can say for tents I have paid more for.
What I'd Skip
The Sundome is not the tent for everyone. If you are backpacking, the weight will wear you out before the trail does. If you camp in places with serious storms, you will want a tent with sturdier poles and more guylines. And if you want a tent you can stand up in across the whole floor, the dome's center height is the only place that works. For those jobs, look elsewhere. For a weekend at a state park with the truck parked nearby, it is hard to beat.
I sat through a steady rain at Clinton Lake and stayed dry, which is the whole job.
Ready to make your next car camping trip easier?
The Coleman Sundome is the tent I grab first from the bed of my truck. It sets up fast, sheds rain, and has held up through a full season of weekends. Check today's price on Amazon and see if it fits your campsite.
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