CORE tents vs Coleman tents

CORE Company background

CORE is one of the most-popular brands in the market.

Although CORE is well-known for selling tents, they actually sell various other outdoor products including lamps, chairs and even sleeping bags.

The founders are outdoor enthusiasts as well, so you can expect that the range of products offered are suitable for outdoor enthusiasts like yourself.

Coleman Company background

Coleman is a company that was founded since 1900 by William Coffin Coleman. The company started by selling gasoline pressure lamps and was based in Oklahoma.

There was a series of acquisition for the Coleman company before being owned by the current owner, Newell Brands.

The Coleman company has a rich history and has produced a wide variety of camping equipment. Their line of products eventually branched out to manufacturing camping tents.

What CORE specialize in

CORE specializes in producing high-quality camping tents. Their tents are known to be more durable than most tents in the market.  

Every single CORE tent comes with high-end features including CORE’s waterproof technology, properly sealed joints and durable fabric.

Most of the CORE tents are designed to be instant tents / pop-up tents. This means that the poles are pre-attached to the body of the tent, and it also means that the set-up of the tent can be done in 60 seconds.

What Coleman Specializes in

Coleman tents are well-known because they are offer affordable and good quality tents.

The difference is that Coleman tents are more ‘basic’ and does not have all the fancy features which CORE offers.

Although Coleman tents are more affordable, their quality aren’t compromised. Their tents do have decent water and wind protection features, suitable for outdoor camping trips.

Despite being affordable, Coleman tents are not something to sneer at because Coleman tents in actual fact is pretty decent as compared to most tents in the market.

IMPORTANT ASPECTS FOR COMPARISON

1. Price

For instance, let’s compare between the CORE 4 person instant tent and the Coleman Sundome Tent.

Generally, Coleman tents are cheaper than CORE tents.

The Core Instant Dome Tent is an instant tent which is made of 100% polyester and can fit 4 persons. It is equipped with Core H20 block technology and adjustable ground vent. The Core Instant Dome Tent cost $128.99.

While the Core Backpacking Dome Tent can fit 4 people, is equipped with CORE H20 block technology and has adjustable ground vents. The price for this tent is $79.99. The set-up time for this tent is around 10 minutes.

While the Coleman Sundome Tent is a tent similarly made to fit 4 persons. It has welded corners and inverted seems which helps keep water from getting into the tent. However, this tent is not equipped with the instant set-up feature, but it just takes around 10 minutes for setup which is pretty decent. The price for the Coleman Sundome tent is $79.03.

After analysing the market, it is evident that Coleman tents and Core tents are roughly the same price, although Coleman tents tend to be slightly cheaper.

2. Set-up

Both CORE tents and Coleman tents uses instant set-up technology so that you can set up your tent quickly (by just yourself).

Of course, there are some tents offered by CORE and Coleman that does not come with the instant set-up feature, but generally the tents are at least easy to set-up, which usually requires 10 minutes. Instant set-up tents are usually more expensive than easy set up tents.

This means that both brands makes tents that requires almost equal amount of time for set-up, depending on the type of tent you purchase.

3. Features

CORE tents are usually a bit pricier because they are usually equipped with a bit more features than Coleman tents.

CORE tents are usually designed to be waterproof, which makes it perfect for outdoor camping.

CORE Tents – CORE tents commonly features CORE’s H20 water block technology which helps you keep water out of the tent. Furthermore, the tent also comes with well-sealed seams and are made with durable water-resistant fabric.

This makes CORE tents really suitable for camping in extreme weather. 

The roofs for CORE tents consist of more mesh than tent material, which helps keep the inside cool even in really hot weather. Plus, CORE tents usually comes with adjustable ground vents to help keep the insides cool.

Coleman Tents – Coleman tents features their own waterproofing technology called the WeatherTec system.

The Weathertec system is a system that helps keep the inside of your tent dry. The tent will be equipped with tub like floors, patented corner welds and covered seams to help keep water out.

There are some tents that comes with dark room technology that helps block 90% of sunlight coming into the tent. This means you’ll be able to sleep soundly while the sun is up. The dark room technology helps reduce temperature buildup by around 10% as well.

Therefore, there isn’t a really stark difference in the features provided because both brands provide all the necessary features for you to enjoy your outdoor camping trip. Both brands has their own features which make them unique.

In the end, it depends on how much budget you want to spend on a tent and what features do you want to prioritize.   

4. Variety

Notably, both brands do provide a large variety of tent.

It’s just that there are less variety of Core tents available in the market than Coleman Tents.

There is only a small available amount of CORE Tents as compared to Coleman tents.

CORE tend to make a few variety of tents which are extremely stark in terms of usage:

– Core Equipment Core 4 Person Instant Dome Tent – 9′ x 7′, Green

– Core 9 Person Extended Dome Tent

– Core Backpacking-Tents CORE Dome Tent

– CORE 6 Person Dome Tent 11′ x9′

– CORE 10 Person Lighted Instant Cabin Tent

If you are buying a tent from Coleman, you’ll have a wide variety of selections to choose from. Just to give you an idea of the variety of tents you can buy from Coleman, here’s a list of 48 tents out of the total of 92 tents (to-date) which are sold by Coleman.

– Skydome™ Camping Tent (For 2 persons, 4 persons, 6 persons or 8 persons)

– Skylodge™ Camping Tent (For 8 persons, 10 persons or 12 persons)

– Skyshade™ Coleman Sun Shelters

– 7 x 7 Go Shade Backpack Sun Shade (Price: $109.99)

– Skylodge™ Instant Camping Tent, Blackberry (For 8 persons, 10 persons or 12 persons)

– Skylodge™ 4-Person Instant Camping Tent, Blackberry (Price: $209.99)

– Skylodge™ 10-Person Instant Camping Tent With Screen Room, Blue Nights (Price: $379.99)

– Skydome™ 4-Person Camping Tent with Screen Room, Rock Grey (Price: $169.99)

– Skylodge™ 6-Person Instant Camping Tent, Blackberry (Price: $249.99)

– Skyshade™ Large Compact Beach Shade, Tiger Lily (Price: $54.99)

– Skydome™ 6-Person Camping Tent with Screen Room, Rock Grey (Price: $209.99)

– Skylodge™ 8-Person Camping Tent, Blackberry (Price: $249.99)

– Skydome™ 12-Person Camping Tent XL, Blue Nights (Price: $349.99)

– Skydome™ 10-Person Camping Tent XL, Blue Nights (Price: $269.99)

– Sunlodge™ 10-Person Camping Tent, Blue Nights (Price: $329.99)

– Sunlodge™ 12-Person Camping Tent, Blue Nights (Price: $359.99)

– Sunlodge™ 8-Person Camping Tent, Blue Nights (Price: $279.99)

– Skydome™ 4-Person Camping Tent with Full-Fly Vestibule, Evergreen (Price: $139.99)

– Skydome™ 6-Person Camping Tent with Full-Fly Vestibule, Evergreen (Price: $199.99)

– Skylodge™ 12-Person Camping Tent With Screen Room (Price: $369.99)

– Skylodge™ 8-Person Instant Camping Tent (Price: $309.99)

– Skydome™ 8-Person Camping Tent XL, Blue Nights (Price: $199.99)

– Light and Fast 10 x 10 Instant Sun Shelter (Price: $129.99)

– 8-Person Skydome™ Camping Tent (Price: $159.99)

– 3-Person Sundome® Dome Camping Tent (Price: $79.99)

– Signature Prairie Breeze™ 9-Person Tent (Price: $329.99)

– 6-Person Montana™ Cabin Camping Tent with Extended Awning (Price: $149.99)

– 12 x 12 Canopy Sun Shelter with Instant Setup (Price: $239.99)

– Elite Montana™ 8-Person Lighted Tent (Price: $299.99)

– 4-Person Dark Room™ Skydome™ Camping Tent (Price: $119.99)

– Octagon 98 with Half Fly (Price: $249.99)

– Montana™ 8-Person Tent (Price: $219.99)

–  3-Person & 6-Person Connectable Tent Bundle with Fast Pitch Setup, Set of 2, Blue (Price: $379.99)

– DayTripper Beach Shade (Price: $59.99)

– 12 x 10 Back Home™ Screened Canopy Sun Shelter with Instant Setup (Price: $249.99)

– Instant Canopy Sunwall Accessory (Price: $19.99)

– WeatherMaster® 6-Person Tent with Screen Room (Price: $329.99)

– 13 x 13 Canopy Sun Shelter, Khaki (Price: $229.99)

– Kids Wonder Lake™ 2-Person Dome Tent (Price: $49.99)

– Mountain View™ 12 x 12 Screendome Shelter (Price: $209.99)

– 6-Person Skydome™ Camping Tent (Available in: Evergreen, Blue Nights, Blackberry) (Price: $129.99)

– WeatherMaster® 10-Person Tent (Price: $299.99)

– Evanston™ Screened 8 Tent (Price: $249.99)

– Elite WeatherMaster® 6-Person Lighted Tent with Screen Room (Price: $349.99)

– Elite Sundome® 6-Person Lighted Tent (Price: $249.99)

Clearly, Coleman is the winner in terms of having more variety of tents. This is great because you will be able to pick a tent with a design and feature that suits your needs.

5. Zippers

Generally, Coleman tents are considered higher-quality as compared to zippers that come together with CORE tents.

Coleman tents are equipped with special features that prevents the teeth from getting loose, which helps make the zipper much more durable.

Users of CORE tents often complaint that the zippers that comes with CORE tents becomes faulty or loose after several uses.

6. Purpose

The general assumption is that Core tents are made for serious campers, while Coleman tents are made for casual campers. I beg to differ. Coleman tents in itself earn its own right to be classified as being on par with ‘tents alleged made for professional campers’.

If you have the budget, you can purchase higher-end Coleman tents which are no doubt more durable than cheaper tents. You will be getting your money’s worth.

However, it is generally the case that Core tents are built with durability in mind. If you are going for a camping trip where you are going to expose yourself to extreme weather, CORE tents would generally be much suited for you. This is because most CORE tents are made with high-quality fabric such as 68D polyester which is considered to be one of the strongest polyester in the market.

Therefore, Coleman tents are less durable because of the fabric used. But, it doesn’t mean Coleman tents should be discounted because of this.

Are CORE Tents better than Coleman Tents?

So, are CORE Tents really better than Coleman Tents?

Based on the above discussion and analysis, the answer is obvious.

IT DEPENDS.

If you are looking for tents that generally are more durable, CORE tents are more suited for you. If you are looking to choose from a variety of options and find one that’s suited for you and your family, it would be better to search through Coleman’s extensive range of available products.

In my opinion, both brands are well-known brands and you will most probably be getting a decent tent if you purchase from any of these brands.