If you are planning a family or a group camping then the best advice to Set up a home base with some extra sleeping space with the Coleman Elite Montana 8 Person Tent. Whereas a beefy but rather manageable rectangle to toss in your vehicle and haul around camp, then the Coleman Elite Montana 8 person unfolds into quite a behemoth tent, with a couple of generations-worth capacity of campers inside.
Unfortunately to say, but, there’s only one door, and views of nature are almost non-existent whereas windows are at an exclusive premium. Thus, as a large, singular space for everyone to stack into after dark to really improve the sense of togetherness, this is really your tent.
Moreover, from a fixed-to-the-ceiling light that runs to a genuine light switch, a true and old-fashion experience in a modern modesty vest.
Our Exclusive Analysis and Test Results
Undoubtedly, The largest tent in our review, the Coleman Elite Montana 8 person is far from the elite in our book. However, it does a reasonable impersonation of the huge state of Montana, if Montana was fully enclosed by walls.
There’s no question this has royal place in the state of budget-friendly, family-style tents. Â
But with nearly zero views and only one door for up to eight people, its place might turn out to be in the back-at-home dinner table myths about excursion where everybody either had “the best time” or caught “cabin fever”.
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Comfortability and Expansion of Space
The only thing “elite” about Coleman Elite Montana 8 person is the size of its cavernous space. It contains a handy, battery-powered, ceiling-mounted LED light that runs to a real light switch by the door. That’s why it’s obviously elite — simply to keep it from getting confused with the “normal” Montana 8, which just doesn’t come with a light.
Now we back to the size — at 16′ x 7′ inside, it looks like the Superdome of family tents. The only difference is that while both are capable of large capacities, at least you can see the sky in Coleman Elite Montana 8 person tent.
And this makes it feel a little cramped while making us question why Coleman couldn’t figure out how to put a few windows in the sidewalls. The windows are on the two far ends and then one on the door. In another way, views are simply skyward through the net, which makes up almost the whole ceiling.
So, while you can fit a number of massive air mattresses or furniture or people inside, it’s going to feel like entering and exiting a major sporting event at a stadium where you line up in a crowd to influence through a tiny security checkpoint.
Weather counteraction
To this end, our testing model of the Coleman Elite Montana 8 person tent held up well under several conditions. When staked out properly. The few windows it does have are in effect angled downward to prevent rain from getting in, and the thick bathtub-style floor is no fun. Generally, Coleman uses a bonny polyethylene on many of its tent floors, and it takes abuse well.
The rainfly is a cute thing to wrangle, especially solo, but once up, it provides suitable coverage over the rooftop net. But please note, you will also have to put a pole in the vestibule and get that staked out as it’s part of the fly.
Its main job is to provide shelter for going out the door. So whereas more than enough against most spring through fall elements, the Coleman Elite Montana 8 person tent isn’t something you will want to take out in anything resembling winter.
Easiness for setting up
Although One person can get this set up with enough practice, hey, you’ve obviously got at least six helpers, so why not make it a full family occurrence? It will go up in much less time. There aren’t many tricks, but it does require some attention to get this up properly and with the least amount of struggle.
Unfortunately, things are not color-coded. It has four black poles that are almost the accurate same length and diameter, leading to possible anarchy of what goes where.
Moreover, If you put a bit shorter poles that hold up the two ends into the main section in the middle, you’ll verbally come up short on getting this thing set. It takes a minute or two, To avoid this, we suggest marking the two individual sets of poles to help maintain your happy Camping Experience.
One point of semi-alarm is that the patented Coleman pin and ring system is not only something to master but, in this design, a horrible lot depends on it. At various points, there are a number of poles and items that attach all in one place, making these points crowded.
Coleman Elite Montana 8-Person Tent Compare, Features & Others
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Constancy
As above-mentioned, Coleman puts serviceable materials into their tents (particularly the floors), but craftsmanship can be suspect due to their budget-friendly assemble. Coleman uses fiberglass poles, and they sound a little creaky sometimes. Fiberglass can’t bend nearly as much as aluminum without coming to a full crack fail point, so don’t go too hard on these.
Packed magnitudity
After all, it’s unfurled size and glory, Coleman Elite Montana 8 person tent packs down to a dignified size and fits into a tough rectangular case that manages to have enough room for everything.
Value
Value is what Coleman does best. Their style is to provide squarely middle-of-the-road products like the Coleman Elite Montana 8 person tent that offer fewer advantages for less price. And we’re satisfied with that.
Key Features
- With Polyester taffeta 75D flysheet
- 16 ft. x 7 ft., fits eight people airbeds, 6 ft. 2 in. height, room is comfortable to stand and move
- Sets up in no more than 15 minutes
- Provides LED tent light with 3 settings high, low, nightlight
- With hinged door for easy entry and exit
- 4 Poles shaped dome design with color-coded pole sleeves and poles
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FAQ’s
1. What is the difference between the Elite and “regular” Coleman Montana Tent?
Ans: The difference is floor vents for ventilation, auto-roll windows, and led lighting. They are the same height in the center. Moreover, the Coleman Elite Montana 8 person tent has a 7-foot center height whereas the “regular” Montana Tent is 6 ft. 2 in. center height.
2. How big is the tent packaged?
Ans: It’s packaged the same as most tents it’s size. Easy to set up.
3. How good is the ventilation? Seems like 2 small windows on the ends wouldn’t give enough cross ventilation during hot summer camping. True or not?
Ans: 2 side windows are large enough to provide good ventilation. We have to close them at night when the temp dropped down.
Conclusion
Neither truly resembling anything to do with Coleman Elite Montana 8 person. The Elite Montana 8 is an excellent-sized, budget-friendly, fairly durable, fringe-less, window-devoid, log-cabin-style fortress that can be the basecamp for your whole extended group.
It includes a light that doesn’t make up for all its shortcomings but is cool nonetheless.
Last update on 2023-12-03 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API