The Coleman Montana 8 person tent is an excellent option for families traveling together. It’s an almost straight wall tent, meaning you’ll have more head space and room to move around. The tent is airy, thanks to its windows and full mesh ceiling.
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Are you traveling with your family and wondering if the Coleman Montana 8 person tent is suitable?
Whether you’re traveling in a large group or value your living space, investing in a large tent, like the Montana, is a great idea.
And you’ve come to the right place. I’m doing a comprehensive Coleman Montana 8 person tent review to see if this model is worth your time. Soon you’ll know all the features, benefits and drawbacks. So let’s get started.
What We Like
- Cabin-like design.
- Weatherproof.
- Easy set-up.
- Welded floors.
- Mesh ceiling.
- Hinged door.
- Specially designed windows.
- E-port.
- Door awning.
- Detachable rainfly.
- Tall ceiling.
What We Don’t Like
- Poles are not as durable as hoped.
- The cabin isn’t as roomy as advertised.
- Not fully waterproof—may leak in heavy rain.
Bottom Line
The Coleman Montana 8 person tent is an excellent solution for adults camping with kids. It has a spacious interior, although you would be stretching it with eight adults.
Still, it comes with several features that’ll come in handy while out camping, like its detachable rainfly and mesh ceiling. The Montana is also no exception to Coleman’s WeatherTec system, which includes a waterproof floor.
The setup and takedown are two other points deserving some praise. Coleman includes another exclusive system that helps this process go as smoothly as possible.
However, it isn’t perfect, and depending on where you’re camping, it might not be sufficient at keeping you dry and warm.
Overview
As it’s now time to go further into my Coleman Montana 8 person tent review, I’ll note that this is, again, a decent family accommodation.
While I don’t recommend it for eight adults, it’s perfect for a set of parents with kids. You can easily fit two air beds as well as a few sleeping bags and gear.
The 8 person Montana tent has a lot to offer campers who remain in the same campground. Because of the sheer size, I wouldn’t recommend it for backpackers—perhaps for those traveling on bikes or cars.
The tent comes with several good-to-have features that will keep you comfortable during your trip. Although it’s better suited for summer outings, you may get away with using it into late fall—just bring blankets and a ground tarp.
However, it does have its fair share of shortcomings.
For instance, the poles are prone to snapping if you’re a little too rough with them. Because of this, it’s essential to take care when setting up the tent. Rushing too much may cause you to apply excessive pressure, thus, breaking the poles.
Of course, the best way to avoid this is to invest in new poles before your trip. If so, ensure that they’re compatible with the Montana tent.
Still, the tent has more than a few positives. But before we get to that, it’s time for some specifications.
Specs
The Coleman Montana 8 person tent is an almost straight wall tent. With its cabin-like design and 6 feet 2-inch ceiling, it offers plenty of room to stand. The tent weighs roughly 22.3 pounds.
The Montana supposedly feels like a house on the campsite, measuring 16 feet by 7 feet, providing ample elbow room for its occupants. With its specially angled windows, it allows sunlight and fresh air to enter while preventing rain from seeping in.
Additionally, Coleman includes its Insta-Clip pole attachments, which are capable of withstanding high winds. Then there’s the WeatherTec System, consisting of a waterproof floor and inverted seams to keep you dry.
The set-up should be effortless, thanks to Coleman’s snag-free continuous pole sleeves. These enable you to feed the poles only once, which should reduce the time.
The ceiling consists of mesh, which acts as a ventilation point. But, included is also a rainfly that you attach when the weather turns for the worse.
The tent comes with one large D-shaped door. Additionally, it offers a few sewn-in mesh pockets as well as an E-port near the door.
Features and Benefits
Weight
The Coleman Montana 8 person tent weighs roughly 22.3 pounds. It’s quite heavy, and wouldn’t be ideal for those traveling on foot between campsites.
But for a family traveling by car or bike, it’s an excellent weight considering the size.
Floor Space
One of the Montana tent’s significant attributes is its floor space. With 16 feet by 7 feet, you can’t complain much.
There’s ample room for two queen-sized air beds, sleeping bags and gear. Or you can also go with three queen-sized air beds and still have enough room to spare for gear.
That said, trying to fit eight people might make it too cramped. It would be better with four adults and kids.
Unpacked Dimensions
Once it’s out of the bag, you can imagine it takes up some room with its 16 feet by 7 feet floor space. Because of this, I highly recommend that you stay organized. Otherwise, it might take you more than the advertised 15 minutes to get it up.
Doors
Another significant space-saver is the door design. Coleman includes a hinged D-shaped door, which makes it easier for campers to get in and out.
Over the door, there’s an awning keeping the sun and rain away. The canopy is quite large, and with the sun in the right place, it could even serve as a small patio area.
Storage
Despite the size of this tent, it’s missing some storage options. It does have some sewn-in mesh pockets for small items, like a flashlight, books and your devices.
However, there aren’t any gear lofts or vestibules for larger items.
Fortunately, if you aren’t trying to squeeze eight people into the tent, you will have spare floor space for gear. This should suffice for large bags and perhaps even a small table.
Highest Point
Another area where we’ll see the Montana tent flourish is with head space.
It has an impressive 6 foot 2-inch center height, which is ample for most people to stand upright. This is also where we notice the benefits of its cabin-like design. Because the walls are almost straight, you have plenty of headroom, even out toward the sides.
Ventilation
The Montana tent is perfect for warm summers. It comes with a full mesh ceiling, where air can enter and ventilate the space. Additionally, there are mesh windows with zipper coverings for when it’s cold out.
Other Features
In addition to the ones above, the Coleman Montana also includes a few additional features.
For starters, it comes with an E-port, located near the door. It features a small zipper that you can close when not in use.
Additionally, the tent includes Coleman’s WeatherTec system. This is a comprehensive weather-protective, consisting of a welded floor, inverted seams and a rainfly. It prevents water from entering to keep you dry.
However, some people say that it isn’t as good as it should be. So, you may want to bring reinforcements if you know you’ll experience heavy downpours.
Seasons Rated
The Coleman Montana is rated as a three-season tent. It’s not suitable for cold months as there’s little to no insulation.
Scenarios
To help you get a better idea of how the Montana tent performs, I’ve included some camper scenarios based on real reviews.
Chilly Camping Trip
Our first scenario is a camper who took a weekend away in Minnesota.
There were two adults and a kid traveling. And even with two full-size air mattresses, there was still ample space for a table or another bed.
During the trip, the temperature dropped, and it became quite chilly. The windows did a good job, preventing cold air from entering, but it did cause some condensation.
During the night, it also rained, which caused one end of the tent to leak enough to soak the bed—not nice to wake up to. But other than that, the tent held up quite nicely.
Rainy Trip
On a trip with a family of four and a large dog, the tent could easily fit everyone plus two queen air mattresses.
The campers decided to leave the rainfly off during the night but quickly opted to bring it up again as it got frigid. On the third day of the trip, it began to rain quite severely—enough that puddles collected on the tarp and below the tent.
Fortunately, no water entered, and the inside remained dry. However, it does collect condensation, so remember to let it air dry during the day by removing the rainfly.
Alternative
Although the Coleman Montana 8 person tent is great, it isn’t for everyone. Because of this, I’ve found an alternative worth checking out:
Wenzel 8 Person Klondike Tent
The Wenzel 8 person Klondike tent is another suitable option for families traveling.
In contrast to the Coleman Montana, this tent features a convertible screen room, fitted with an inverted T-style door. This divides the tent up into two parts, providing more privacy to the campers.
It’s light and airy with plenty of windows and ceiling vents. The tent also comes with Weather Armour fabric, which keeps the interior dry.
The Takeaway
In my Coleman Montana 8 person tent review, we got a closer look at what seems to be a fantastic family tent. It has a large living surface, with room for three big air beds and gear.
It also has a mesh ceiling, which allows air and light to enter, freshening up the interior.
However, it may not be large enough to accommodate eight adults comfortably. And despite the mesh ceiling, it can get quite hot in the summer, so find a shaded spot.
Still, for families camping by the lake, it’s a fantastic tent.
