Coleman Dakota

Large enough for a family of four and dog.

We bought this solely for car camping. Very roomy and with two interior zippered divider, privacy in three sections. Easy enough to set up single-handed within 15 minutes or less. Color coded poles help.

Not great are the fiberglass poles when they age and fray. Few things more frustrating than trying to find and extract fiberglass splinters. If I could redesign the X, I would use carbon fiber poles.

Great family tent! Another reviewer had problems with the poles. I've used mine for several years now and have not had any problems.

My wife and I can set up this tent fairly easily. My kids love the size - even if we just set it up in the backyard for a sleepout in the back yard.

Last summer (2002) was drought conditions most of the summer, so of course, it rained furiously one week while we were camping! :-) Despite the "thunder-boomers" (my young daughter's word for thunder) We stayed warm and dry inside the tent, playing cards with flashlights. (Of course, OUTSIDE of the tent was a different story, as I didn't pack our raingear because of the drought! :-)

For the cost of a few nights in a hotel a family can get a quality tent with this Dakota.

I purchased this tent and set it up in my backyard to get familiar with it prior to a 1-week Yellowstone family trip. During setup one of the fiberglass poles broke. I returned the tent, got a new one, and talked Coleman into sending me 2 spare poles (one of each type). Good thing I did. Once I setup the tent in Yellowstone I had another pole break. I returned the tent today and will research another tent. Overall I like the tent (it had nice vestibules and a superb rainfly) but don't want to deal with the pole issue.