Camping season has begun for us already, we have just come back from our second camping trip of the year and it was a great one. I shall be bringing you up to date on the sites we have stayed at very soon and the four, yes FOUR tents we have used but for now, I want to tell you about the Coleman Oak Canyon 6 Family Tent.
After a fun-filled year of camping with Coleman tents last year, we were delighted to be asked to review their poled tents this year. The question is, would we love them as much as we love the Valdes 6XL Fast-pitch?
Coleman Oak Canyon 6 Family Tent
The Oak Canyon 6 is a hybrid poled tent designed with families in mind. It has a similar, albeit slightly smaller, floor plan to the Valdes 6XL but for those who still aren’t convinced by inflatables, this is a great alternative.
Steel poles across the central section of the tent make the Oak Canyon very sturdy indeed, we had one very windy night and the tent didn’t move. The hybrid pole design keeps the pack size smaller which was a welcome sight meaning we didn’t need to take our trailer with us.
First Pitch
Before we left for our camping trip I watched a short video online to see how to pitch the Oak Canyon and felt confident from the outset. We unrolled the tent and positioned it on our pitch pegging down the back two corners. The fibreglass poles have a coloured section which makes it easy to see which pole sleeve it needs to go into as the sleeves are colour coded to match.
Starting at the back and working our way forwards took less than 15 minutes to insert all poles, it then took a further 5-10 minutes to peg out the guy ropes. It did take us a little longer for the first pitch as the bedrooms were not already attached but when we took the tent down we left them in for ease of pitching next time.
Accessibility
There are two doors, a large front door which is perfect on a hot summer’s day to bring the outside in and a side door. Both doors have a mesh door as well as the outer door so you can see the outside whilst keeping the bugs at bay. There are two front PVC windows and one large side window, all of which have covers for privacy.
Living Area
There is a large living area which provides ample space for a family of 6 as well as camping equipment. We rarely travel light so we like lots of storage space. We used our double width Royal camping cupboard on one side to store our clothes and toiletries and our smaller storage cupboard on the other side to store our food and crockery with space on the top for our water container, kettle and toaster. This left space for our kitchen box and refrigerator. The central space easily accommodated our 6 chairs or our table and benches for mealtimes.
Blackout Bedrooms
If you haven’t slept in Coleman’s blackout bedroom, you haven’t have slept in a blackout bedroom! Coleman’s revolutionary Blackout Bedroom technology blocks out 99% of the light which means you can go to bed early or sleep in late and not have to worry about light. Unfortunately, they can’t guarantee it will be quiet on your campsite but you can’t have everything! It also helps to regulate the temperature so you are as much as 5°C cooler in the heat and 1°C warmer at night.
The XXL design bedrooms offer lots of space too so you don’t need to disturb your sleeping partner when climbing in and out of bed. We use camp beds and can easily fit two beds into each bedroom with space in between to move freely.
The smaller of the two-bedroom compartments can be removed to provide further space for storage.
All Round Weather Protection
The high-performance flysheet provides excellent wet weather protection and is treated with Coleman’s UVGuard™ with SPF50 protection from the sun’s damaging rays.
Safety First
The fabrics used in the Coleman Oak Canyon 6 are fire retardant.
In the event of an emergency, the zipper stoppers on the doors are positioned within easy reach for adults and children.
Optional Extras
- Front Extension – dependant upon the type of camping you like to do, there are a few optional extras you can purchase for the Oak Canyon 6. The Oak Canyon Front Extension will give you more living space, storage and extend your shelter. This could be ideal for longer camping holidays when you need to take more with you.
- Carpet – adding a carpet to our camping has been a game-changer for us. It is so much warmer and more comfortable. We make sure that we remove our shoes so as not to dirty the carpet which means the tent stays cleaner as a whole.
- Footprint – this is the second game-changer for us. Putting a footprint under the tent improves not only the insulation under the tent but it makes it much cleaner when packing away and (we feel) adds to the lifetime of the tent by protecting the groundsheet.
It’s been a long time since I last went camping but I’d happily go again with that tent!
It’s lovely isn’t it, so quick and easy to pitch and put away 🙂
We are trying to erect our tent for the first time but are a bit baffled with it – have looked on youtube but it’s not the clearest.
Oh no, what are you struggling with? We always start by pegging the two back corners and then put in the fibreglass pole into the back which matches the coloured tape on the end of the sleeve (can’t remember which it is off the top of my head) and then the two steel poles in the middle. We always put the arch through first and then work as a pair to add the legs and lift into position before pegging and moving onto the next steel pole doing the same. As you have inserted each pole, peg the guys forwards a little to keep it upright as you move onto the next until you reach the shortest front pole which slots into the holes halfway down the front pole. Then straighten out all the guys and secure them x
This looks like such a great tent but what I really love is the black out bedrooms…our tent does not have this and you can guess what time little humans end up getting up in the morning as a result!
The blackout bedrooms have been a real game-changer for us, it really is so dark even in daylight.
It looks fab! We camp about 4 times a year and upgraded to a 5 metre bell tent 2 years ago. Bell tents are brilliant, but sooo heavy! This looks great, so spacious and I love the separate sleeping compartments.
It’s hard when tents are so heavy for transporting, isn’t it? I couldn’t believe how small the bag was for a tent of this size, perfect even for a small family car.
This looks like a really good sized tent for a big family. Plenty of room and great to have blacked out rooms for those early sunrises. Sounds easy to put up too.
It’s so easy to put up. We had to pop it up in the garden when we got home because it was torrential rain when we packed it away and it was even faster the second time 🙂
What a fab looking tent! I can’t quite believe the size of it! Now that’s how you go camping in style!
Exactly, I’m one of those people who like space so it’s perfect for a large family x
I love the space in this tent, it certainly wouldn’t be cramped. I also love that the bedrooms are blackout, this would help our children get a good night sleep and not wake too early.
Space is a big selling point, especially in the bedrooms (no trapped fingers between beds) and the blackout rooms are the best!
I can’t believe how small it looks on the outside compared to the size inside.
I love the idea of blackout bedrooms as well, now if they could just make my children sleep past 6 I’d be able to get the full blackout benefit!
Hope you have many wonderful adventures in this tent x x
Yes, it’s the Tardis of the tent world. You’d be surprised when you go camping how much better the children sleep. Our boys at pre-6am risers at home but all that outdoor play and fresh air really wipes them out. Ours easily sleep until 8 am xx
You’ve got me sold!
It’s a fabulous tent, you would not be disappointed.
Oh wow, That was a huge tent. That was really perfect for a big family who wants to try camping. Honestly, I never tried camping with my kids but when we had a chance I would buy this.
A tent like this makes the family camping experience so much easier and enjoyable. Camping nowadays is so much better than it used to be.
Firstly, I can’t believe how compact this packs up. It looks absolutely brilliant for bigger families or simple those who want more space.
The pack size is brilliant, with a family of 6 we often struggle for space when packing so this has been a welcome surprise. This year we want to try to reduce the size of our bedding whilst still retaining the warmth!
Such a nice article about Coleman Oak Canyon 6 Family Tent. I love that the bedrooms are blackout, this would help our children get a good night sleep and not wake too early. I love this tent because of blackout.
The blackout is amazing and has revolutionised our sleep when we go camping but there are so many great things we love about this tent.
I finally bought this tent now that the price has dropped. Go Outdoors have it on for 325 atm! Footprint and carpet are on sale too. but i bought a cheaper universal carpet as am on a budget.
My question is would you manage to put it up on your own. You seemed to have had help
i have this tent its great, very large and takes me 50 minutes to put up on my own. but only after 3 times of practice. i paid 330 pounds for it.
It is a great tent, this is the one we tend to use for festivals when we are living a little more basic 🙂
We have found the back of the tent a bit flimsy in the wind, all guid ropes out too. Any suggestions to help it more sturdy in the wind?
Oh no, the only bad weather I have had in this tent is rain so I can’t comment on the wind with the Oak Canyon. We had bad winds in the Valdes and just added extra guys across the back and double pegged which seemed to help.