If you’re like me, the most annoying part about camping is putting up and taking down the Tent.  So rather than fumble with all those poles and pegs, I decided to streamline my camping experience and buy a “pop-up tent”.  The idea here is to have a tent that can be set up and taken down in a matter of seconds, leaving you more free time to sit by the fire and drink whiskey.

There are tons of pop-up tents on the market, just look through Amazon and you see more than you care to.  But after a lot of online research I settled on one pop-up tent in particular and I thought I’d share it with you because its been such a good purchase…the Coleman Pop Up tent!  I should note that though I am promoting a certain brand (which I usually don’t do), this is NOT a paid post…just my experience with the tent.  However I will link to it here so you can pick one up if you want.

The Coleman Pop-Up Tent on Amazon

POP-UP TENTS….WHAT’S GOOD, WHAT’S BAD:

Pop Up tents usually pack up as large flat disks, rather than the typical cylinder shape of most traditional tents.  As a result, they are almost never good for backpacking.  I bought mine exclusively for “car camping” and have a different tent for backpacking.  They tend to fit 2 to 6 people and can be set up in a matter of a few seconds and taken down in a comparable about of time (maybe half a minute).  That being said, the trouble most people have is taking them down, since the folding of the tent is not necessarily intuitive.  For that reason, I’ve listed out the steps for putting up and taking down the Coleman Pop-Up Tent….since that’s the one I have.

SETTING UP THE COLEMAN POP-UP TENT:

The Coleman Pop-Up tent, like most pop-up tents, comes packed up as a large round disk.  To set up the tent, simply un-zip the carrying case, pull out the tent and remove the strap.  From here, just literally throw the un-strapped disk into the air and it will unfold and expand into its full size.  After that, just peg it down and you’re all set!

TAKING DOWN THE COLEMAN POP-UP TENT:

Taking down the Coleman Pop-Up tent is where most people have trouble.  The goal here is to fold the tent back into its original disk-shape.  Here are the steps with photos:

- Fold up the top part of the tent like you are closing an accordion.
- Now you have a taco-shaped tent.
- Grab the top of the tent and fold it forward two times
- Now you should have two circle shapes, side by side
- Push the two circles together
- If you have pieces protruding out, simply push everything into one large circle.
- Wrap the strap around the single circle.
- Put it back into the carrying case.
- You are finished!

Okay, that’s it.  Hopefully that helps you pack up the Coleman Pop-Up tent.  At first it can be tricky but after a couple of tries you’ll have it down.