Coleman Weathermaster 8XL Air Tent Review: Our 6-Year Experience

We first used our Coleman Weathermaster 8XL Air Tent back in 2020, and six years later, it is still the tent we use for our main family camping holidays. Over the years, we’ve pitched it in everything from glorious sunshine to heavy rain and strong winds, using it for longer family holidays as well as shorter camping breaks. That means this review is no longer based on just a weekend of testing – it reflects six years of actually living with the tent, packing it away, pitching it again and relying on it as a family.

Disclosure: We originally received the Coleman Weathermaster 8XL Air Tent for the purpose of this review in 2020. We have continued to use the same tent for our family camping holidays ever since. All opinions and long-term experiences shared in this updated review are our own.

Updated August 2026: I originally wrote this review after our first camping trip with the Coleman Weathermaster 8XL in 2020. We still own and regularly use the same tent for our main family camping holidays, so I’ve updated this review to include our experience after six years of ownership.

Our Coleman Weathermaster 8XL: 6 years later

The biggest endorsement I can give the Coleman Weathermaster 8XL is that, six years after we first pitched it, we still choose it for our main family camping holidays. We’ve owned and tested other family tents over the years, but when we want plenty of living space, comfortable bedrooms and a tent we know works well for a longer stay, this is the one we return to.

Later in this review, I’ll share how it has held up over the years, what we still love about it and anything we’ve discovered through long-term use.

Coleman Weathermaster 8XL: our quick verdict

Best for: Larger families and longer camping holidays
What we love most: The huge living space, enclosed porch and BlackOut Bedrooms
Biggest downside: The packed size and weight
Can I pitch it alone? Yes – I’ve done it several times, including twice in pouring rain
Would we buy it again? Absolutely
Our experience: Six years of family camping since 2020

Coleman Weathermaster 8XL pros and cons

Pros

• Huge amount of living space for a family
• Enclosed porch creates a genuinely useful additional living area
• BlackOut Bedrooms make sleeping more comfortable
• Air poles make such a large tent surprisingly straightforward to pitch
• Can be pitched by one person if necessary
• Flexible sleeping arrangements for up to eight people
• Plenty of ventilation, storage and practical family-friendly features
• Has stood up well to years of family camping and British weather
• Oversized wheeled bag makes packing away easier

Cons

• Large and heavy when packed
• Much easier to move with two people or older children helping
• Its large footprint means you need to make sure your campsite pitch can accommodate it
• Probably more tent than you need for short breaks or festivals

Is the Coleman Weathermaster 8XL still worth buying?

If you’re considering a Coleman Weathermaster 8XL for family camping, our experience with the tent has been overwhelmingly positive. Six years of regular use has given us far more confidence in recommending it than I had when I originally wrote this review after our first trip.

For me, the deciding factor would be how you plan to camp. If you want a spacious tent for longer family holidays, appreciate having separate living and sleeping areas and have enough room in the car to transport a large tent, the Weathermaster 8XL has a lot to offer.

If you’re mainly looking for something for occasional weekends, festivals or trips where you need to travel light, I would choose a smaller tent instead. We specifically keep the Weathermaster 8XL for our main camping holidays because that’s where all that additional space really earns its place.

Who is the Coleman Weathermaster 8XL best for?

Based on six years of using ours, I think the Coleman Weathermaster 8XL is best suited to families who enjoy longer camping holidays and want their tent to feel more like a comfortable home from home.

I’d particularly recommend it if:

• You’re a larger family or have older children who appreciate having more space.
• You regularly camp for a week or longer rather than just a night or two.
• You want separate sleeping, living and dining areas.
• You value darker bedrooms for better sleep.
• You want enough indoor space to cope comfortably with rainy days.
• You usually camp somewhere you can park reasonably close to your pitch.
• You have at least one other person who can help move the packed tent.

For our family, it’s the tent we choose when camping is the holiday itself. For festivals, very short breaks or trips where we need to pack light, I would choose something smaller.

Coleman Weathermaster 8XL Air Tent

The Coleman Weathermaster 8XL Air Tent is a large inflatable family tent designed to sleep up to eight people. I first spotted it at the Camping, Caravan & Motorhome Show in February 2020 and immediately loved the layout. At the time, it seemed to tick virtually every box on my family camping wish list: plenty of living space, generous bedrooms, an enclosed porch and inflatable poles to make pitching easier.

Six years of family camping later, many of those features are exactly why we still choose it for our longer camping holidays.

Key features:

• Sleeps up to eight people across four double sleeping areas
• Coleman BlackOut Bedrooms, designed to block up to 99% of daylight
• FastPitch Air inflatable poles for easier family camping setup
• Large 32 m² overall footprint with separate sleeping, living and porch areas
• Enclosed integrated front porch which can be opened in different configurations
• 4,500 mm hydrostatic head WeatherTec waterproof fabric
• UVGuard fabric with SPF50 protection
• Storm straps at the front and rear for additional stability in windy conditions
• Integrated groundsheet
• Full standing height throughout much of the tent
• Large windows with privacy covers
• Ventilation throughout the tent to help reduce condensation
• Wheeled storage bag for transporting and packing away the tent

Pitching the Tent

When we first used the Coleman Weathermaster 8XL in 2020, we hadn’t even managed a practice pitch at home, so our first attempt was at the campsite. Despite its size, I was pleasantly surprised by how straightforward it was. The tent uses six inflatable air poles, each with its own valve, rather than traditional tent poles. We inflated them individually using the supplied pump, and the tent quickly began to take shape.

Once the poles were inflated, the bedrooms were already in place, eliminating the risk of condensation during setup. The tent’s sturdy storm straps and high-vis guys ensured that the structure remained secure even in extreme wind conditions.

I always like to pitch the tent as much on my own as possible so that when I take the children away in the Summer with my Mum I can do it. On this occasion, you can see that the very excitable children wanted to have a go, too, and it was pretty windy on the top of the hill, so I needed a little help with the guys. This time it took us 20 minutes but I know that I will be able to do it quicker next time as I will know where everything is.

How easy is the Coleman Weathermaster 8XL to pitch?

Six years later, this is still my favourite tent by far, and pitching it has become second nature. I’ve even put the Weathermaster 8XL up completely on my own in pouring rain on two occasions, which says a lot about how manageable it is for such a large family tent.

Now that the kids are older, they can properly help with pitching and packing away too, and it goes up and away like a dream. Once you know where everything goes and have your own routine, the inflatable poles make the whole process surprisingly straightforward for a tent of this size.

Living Space

For us, one of the biggest advantages of the Weathermaster 8XL is the amount of usable living space it gives a family, particularly on longer camping holidays. The large integrated front porch can be fully enclosed, partially opened or opened right up, so we’ve been able to adapt it depending on the weather.

We usually keep our table and chairs in the porch, which means they don’t need to be moved every time the weather changes and leaves the main living area free for everyone to spread out. When you’re camping as a family for more than a couple of nights, having separate spaces for eating, relaxing, sleeping and storing all the inevitable camping gear makes a huge difference.

Before the Weathermaster 8XL, our Coleman Valdes 6XL was the family tent I loved most. I genuinely didn’t think I would find another tent I preferred, but the additional space and enclosed porch of the Weathermaster eventually won me over. Six years later, it is still my favourite.

I never thought I would find a Coleman tent which I would love as much as I do the Valdes 6XL but the Weathermaster 8XL pips it at the post. Having the option to close the front porch made it an extremely versatile space. In the past, we would position our table and chairs in the open porch when the weather was dry and warm but if it was cold we would move it into the living area.

Sleeping Area

The sleeping area is another reason the Weathermaster 8XL has worked so well for us as the kids have grown. The BlackOut Bedrooms are more generous than some of the family tents we’ve used, with enough space for larger double air beds, and having separate sleeping areas gives everyone a little more privacy – something that has become increasingly important now that we’re camping with teenagers rather than small children.

There is also an additional detachable double sleeping pod which can be added to the main living area when you need the full eight-person capacity. This gives you flexibility to change the sleeping arrangements depending on who is coming on the trip, rather than permanently sacrificing that extra living space.

It’s not called the Coleman Weathermaster 8XL for nothing. A fourth double sleeping pod can be attached inside the main living area when you need the additional sleeping space. It can be positioned to the left or right of the doorway into the porch, making the tent particularly flexible for larger families or if extended family members are joining you.

When we don’t need the fourth bedroom, we can simply leave it out and enjoy the additional living space instead. That flexibility has become one of the benefits of owning such a large tent as our family’s camping needs have changed over the years.

Blackout Bedrooms

After six years of using them, Coleman’s BlackOut Bedrooms are still one of my favourite features of the Weathermaster 8XL. They made a huge difference to our family camping holidays when the kids were younger, particularly during the summer when it can still be light long after you want children to settle down for the night.

They also help to prevent the whole family waking as soon as daylight starts streaming through the tent in the early morning. Even now the kids are older, we still appreciate having darker bedrooms – especially when we want a lie-in on holiday.

According to Coleman, its BlackOut Bedroom technology blocks up to 99% of daylight and can keep the bedroom up to 5°C cooler during the day and up to 1°C warmer at night. In our experience, the biggest difference is simply how much darker and more comfortable the bedrooms feel compared with conventional tent bedrooms.

Porch Area

The enclosed porch remains one of my favourite features of the Weathermaster 8XL. The front can be fully closed, partially opened or opened right up, so we can adapt the space to whatever the British weather decides to throw at us.

Over the years, we’ve used it as our dining area, somewhere to sit and relax, and a useful buffer between the outdoors and the main living area of the tent. Being able to close it up when the weather turns is particularly useful on longer family camping holidays because we don’t suddenly have to move everything inside.

On our very first trip with the tent in the Peak District, I remember sitting in the porch looking through the large window towards the rolling hills and watching a thunderstorm coming towards us. Six years later, it’s still one of my favourite places to sit when we’re camping.

Weather Protection

After six years of family camping, we’ve experienced our fair share of typical British weather in the Weathermaster 8XL – including heavy rain and strong winds – and it has continued to give us the confidence to use it for our main camping holidays. I’ve even pitched it by myself in pouring rain, so good weather protection isn’t just something I look for on a specification sheet.

According to Coleman, the Weathermaster 8XL uses WeatherTec waterproof fabric with a hydrostatic head of 4,500 mm. In simple terms, the higher the hydrostatic head, the more water pressure the fabric is designed to withstand before water can penetrate it. The tent also has inflatable air poles and adjustable storm straps to help provide stability in windy conditions, while the outer fabric incorporates Coleman’s UVGuard technology for protection from UV rays.

From our own experience, the important thing is that we’ve been able to rely on the tent when the weather has turned. When you’re camping with the family for a week rather than simply heading away for one night, knowing your main living and sleeping space can cope with bad weather makes a huge difference.

Tent Safety

There are a few thoughtful safety features built into the Weathermaster 8XL that I’ve appreciated when camping as a family. According to Coleman, the tent fabric is fire retardant and designed to self-extinguish if exposed to a flame, giving occupants additional time to leave the tent.

The doors also have zip stops positioned so that children can reach them, while the side entrance has a RainSafe canopy to help prevent rainwater running directly into the tent when the door is opened.

As with any family tent, we are still careful about where we position cooking equipment, heaters and electrical cables, and we never rely on the tent’s safety features as a substitute for sensible camping precautions.

Additional features we loved

Sometimes it’s the smaller details that make the biggest difference when you’re actually living in a tent for a week. Over the years, there are several features of the Weathermaster 8XL that we’ve found particularly useful:

• Drop-down door access – useful for avoiding a raised trip hazard at the entrance and easier for pushchairs or wheelchairs.
• High and low ventilation – helps keep air moving through such a large tent, particularly during warmer weather.
• Zipped window covers – useful when you want privacy or need to make the living area feel cosier in the evening.
• Storage pockets – invaluable for keeping all those smaller camping essentials from disappearing around the tent.
• Bedroom cable entry points and light hooks – useful when we’re on an electric hook-up and for keeping lighting organised.
• Hanging loops on the air poles – handy for lights and other lightweight camping accessories.
• Internal mesh door – allows us to increase airflow while helping to keep insects outside.
• Rain skirts – help direct rainwater away from the tent.
• Manual pump included – everything needed to inflate the air poles is ready to go.
• Oversized wheeled storage bag – one of my favourite practical features because this is a big, heavy family tent and the wheels make transporting it much easier.

The oversized wheeled storage bag has proved to be far more useful than I initially realised. The Weathermaster 8XL is a big, heavy tent, so I certainly wouldn’t want to carry it any distance, but the wheels make moving it around much easier.

I also love that Coleman hasn’t made the bag so tight that packing the tent away becomes a wrestling match. We’ve developed our own method over the years: we roll the tent towards the open bag, place the bag over the rolled tent and then roll the whole thing over so we can pull the zips closed. Now that the kids are older and can help, taking the tent down and packing it away goes like a dream.

Tent Accessories

There are two accessories I would particularly recommend for the Coleman Weathermaster 8XL: a footprint and tent carpet. Neither is essential for using the tent, but for us they make longer family camping holidays more comfortable and help protect the tent.

Coleman Weathermaster 8XL footprint

We use a footprint underneath the tent to provide an extra layer between the integrated groundsheet and the pitch. This is particularly useful when camping on ground with stones, sticks, roots or pine cones, which can be surprisingly difficult to spot when you’re preparing such a large pitch.

We’ve camped in woodland in the past and found that even when you clear the area carefully, sharp objects can still find their way underneath the tent. For that reason alone, I think a footprint is a worthwhile addition when you want a tent to last for many years.

Tent carpet

We’ve used tent carpets for years because they make a noticeable difference to how warm and comfortable a tent feels underfoot. We use a carpet in the main living area and have also added carpets to the bedrooms for extra warmth and comfort.

For a tent that we use as our home for longer family holidays, those little additions help make the Weathermaster feel much more comfortable to live in.

What are the downsides of the Coleman Weathermaster 8XL?

After six years of using the tent, there honestly isn’t much I dislike about it. The one slight negative is simply its size and weight. This is a substantial family tent and, at around 44.4 kg packed, it’s not something I find particularly easy to move around on my own.

Thankfully, my boys are getting older and stronger and can now help me with the heavier lifting. That’s particularly useful on the camping trips I take without Simon, when I would otherwise struggle to move the packed tent by myself.

For me, that’s a compromise I’m happy to make because the size that makes the Weathermaster heavy to transport is also what gives us so much space once it’s pitched. However, if you regularly camp alone or know you’ll need to carry your tent any distance between your car and your pitch, the packed weight is definitely something I would consider before buying.

Would I recommend the Coleman Weathermaster 8XL after 6 years?

Absolutely. Six years after our first camping trip with the Coleman Weathermaster 8XL, it is still my favourite tent by far and the one we choose for our main family camping holidays.

We’ve used it through different stages of family life, from camping with younger children to holidays with teenagers who can now help pitch and pack it away. I’ve put it up completely on my own in pouring rain, we’ve relied on it through some very British weather, and we’ve spent enough time living in it to know which features genuinely make a difference.

For us, the BlackOut Bedrooms, huge living space and enclosed porch are still the standout features. I particularly love having enough room that a rainy day doesn’t mean everyone is suddenly sitting on top of each other inside the tent.

Its size and weight are the only real drawbacks for me, particularly when I’m camping without Simon, but that’s the trade-off for having such a spacious family tent.

If ours needed replacing, I wouldn’t hesitate to choose the Coleman Weathermaster 8XL again. After six years of family camping, I think that’s probably the strongest recommendation I can give it.

More family camping advice

Camping has been a huge part of our family life for many years, and we’ve tried plenty of tents, equipment and different ways of making family camping easier and more comfortable along the way. You can find more of our family camping tips, tent reviews and camping gear recommendations in our Camping section.

Coleman Weathermaster 8XL FAQs