Beware of Coleman Tents

[Billiken]

First, apologies if this should not be in the High Adventure Forum.
Second, sorry if this is a bit of a rant.
Moderators: Please move this thread if warranted.

Three years ago I purchased a Coleman Bighorn Tent.
As the name implies, it's big, but I wanted something that I could use.
(I'm 6'5" tall.)

I've had ongoing problems with the fiberglass poles.
(The kind with an elastic cord inside.)

Over this past weekend one the cords in one of the two rain fly poles broke. The pole fell into 8 individual pieces, making for a very difficult set-up. At least it wasn't raining.

I've already replaced 3 poles because they split (length-wise). Now I've got a short wrap of duct tape at each segment end.

Today I called Coleman to order a replacement for the rain fly pole as well as a spare for one of the 3 tent poles. They had the rainfly pole, but no longer make the tent pole (11 sections, 243", 11 mm). Lovely.

"You can call Tent Poles Inc. Mr.Billiken."
Gee. I wonder what that will cost..........

IMHO, Coleman should stick to making stoves and lanterns.

[616kayak]

I dont use coleman gear because its either poor quality or heavy and bulky.
I would suggest getting a tent with aluminum poles and a better quality elastic material. My tent with aluminum poles got ran over by a huge heavy dining fly that another troop forgot to stake down. no poles broken. the two other tents it hit both had broken poles. one was fiberglass the other plastic.

the rouge fly dragged me about 10 feet before other scouts rushed in.

edit: may 12, 2006 4:46pm est
to clarify the above. Coleman gear is ok for heavy camping but I never pack heavy.

[FrankJ]

My Coleman stove is 40+ years old. My coleman kerosene lantern is older than that. My Coleman tent is 13 years old. The elastic is bad in the poles, but it has not bothered me enough to fix it. I have not had a problem with the poles splitting. Admittly it a smaller model with less stress. I lost one of the section & made a replacement out of a hard wood dowel. Coleman stuff tends to be a bit heavy. It is more dump camp than backpacking gear. I guess now it is made with a price point to compete is the mass market.

[PaulSWolf]

Billiken:

I agree Coleman should be able to get you a replacement. Very poor cutomer service policy.

As for a solution, check with Newman Outfitters in Solon. They should be able to replace the pole set for you.

[Billiken]

Thank, Paul.

[Billiken]

I dont use coleman gear because its either poor quality or heavy and bulky.
I would suggest getting a tent with aluminum poles and a better quality elastic material. My tent with aluminum poles got ran over by a huge heavy dining fly that another troop forgot to stake down. no poles broken. the two other tents it hit both had broken poles. one was fiberglass the other plastic.

the rouge fly dragged me about 10 feet before other scouts rushed in.

WOW.
I can picture a parachutist getting dragged across the ground after landing.

Hope nobody got hurt

[deweylure]

you can purchase a pole repair kit for the shock corded poles. It comes with the cord and instructions. Poles can alos be purchased and then cut to length. Most poles are the weak link,aluminum is good but they can dent and bend especially if scouts run and trip over them.

I believe campmoor sells the kit

[Billiken]

Thanks also to you, dewey.

[ThunderingWind]

I am sorry to hear about your poor customer service. I have always received quality service that one would expect from Coleman.

I use their Xponet stoves for backpacking. I never felt safe carrying a bottle of white gas for the MSR stoves.

[deweylure]

Another source of a replacement tent pole would be to measure the length and diameter then call or e-mail some of the manufactures like Eureka. they may bne able to help you out. From what I have seen most dome tents use a pin on the bottom and then the pole is held by a sleeve or clip. Also someof the private name tents are built by the major manufactures.

deweylure

[wagionvigil]

I have an Inyo2 that I have had for 6 years and it is a great tent. No Problems and 20 to 30 nights a year in it.

[Mrw]

Newman Outfiiters in Solon and in Shaker Hts closed about 2 years ago. I used to use them for tent repairs, so if anyone in the Cleveland area knows where I can get some tent zippers repaired, please let me know!

I have a friend who has successfully repaired split fiberglas poles by wrapping them with dental flaoo and then sealing that firmly into place with super glue. He has re-sewn torn duffel bag seams the same way and it holds up very well.

I have had the fiberglass poles in a very large LL Bean tent split the same way. And when I get them fixed this time I will try the duct tape as it is working for you.

[PaulSWolf]

Newman Outfiiters in Solon and in Shaker Hts closed about 2 years ago. I used to use them for tent repairs, so if anyone in the Cleveland area knows where I can get some tent zippers repaired, please let me know!

Bummer! I knew the Shaker store closed, as I live in Univ. Hts. But I didn't realize the Solon store closed, too.

Maybe the Backpacker store in Lakewood?

[Mrw]

Thanks Paul, I will try calling them.

[deweylure]

billiken,thought you would like to know I just came across an add for coleman tents in Bass Pro.they advertise a Montanna BNig Sky with 11 mm pol;es. they also offer the family dome and a Galileo. I would call coleman and ask if one of these poles may work

Dewey

[drkincannon]

I am a Webelos II leader in Edmond Oklahoma. Last year our pack purchased 10 Alps Taurus 2.0 tents for us to use camping. The first few campouts were great. The tents are lightweight and easy for the boys to setup. But when we went to resident camp in the middle of June we started to have problems. It was about 105 in the shade, and even hotter in the tents. As the day progressed the poles started to break. Every tent we had had at least one pole break. Every pole broke at the same point, right at the peak where the fiberglass pole meets the metal end. We ended up using tent stakes as splints, rapping them in duct tape. Since then we have worked with them to replace all the poles.

[wagionvigil]

ALPS is very easy to work with if you have problems

[troop2dad]

From another topic post I found ALPS Mountaineering and why anyone in scouting would not use their products is something I will never understand. From their scoutdirect.com web site you can receive a 45% discount as a result of your scouting membership. We also found that Cabelas offered us a 10% discount when we purchased in store and in uniform.

Concerning Coleman, I would only look at their lanterns and stoves and leave the rest to the specialty suppliers. So much of their stuff is geared toward entry level and infrequent camping users. Way too fragile for our uses in our troop.

All too often too many manufacturers are going to China for manfacturing and loosing out on quality control.

[FrankJ]

Coleman some years went through a bad spot with their corporate owners profiting on their past reputation. They are much better now. I cannot say anything about their tents, but their backpacking sleeping bags are good. They also give scouts a discount on their web site

[Mrw]

Our troop bought some Coleman tents a year or two ago to replace some 10-12 year old Eureka TL-2 and TL-4 tents.

Now they are needing new tents again to replace them. And they are buying new TL-4's as they held up so well for us.