Camping shelters - Coleman or BCF Wanderer/Ray's Boab

Submitted: Thursday, Feb 06, 2014 at 22:53
ThreadID: 106122 Views:28302 Replies:4 FollowUps:2
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Has anyone had any experience with either the Coleman Shade Instant Up Event 14 or the BCF/Wanderer Deluxe Touring Shade (Ray's has an equivalent which is branded Boab rather than Wanderer, but appears identical in all other respects)?

I'm looking at getting some shaded/rain shelter that's a bit more user-friendly than the old tarp with poles and ropes. My sister and family have the OzTrail (or similar) 3x3m gazebo but when I went to visit BCF this evening, I was impressed by the packed-down size of each of these units compared to the OzTrail gazebo - the gazebo virtually requires a trailer (or roof bars) while the Coleman shelter will fit easily in the car - and the Wanderer/Boab packed-down is not much bigger than a 3 person dome!

Unfortunately BCF didn't have either of them set up (and didn't seem to want to - understandably) and Google has been unable to find me many reviews online anywhere.
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Reply By: Andrew S5 - Friday, Feb 07, 2014 at 10:20

Friday, Feb 07, 2014 at 10:20
Hey mate,

I checked these out over the Australia Day weekend (The coleman ones have popped up everywhere!) as I was thinking about getting one.

I like them, but still wouldn’t get one. They solve a lot of the problems of the cheap Gazebos. They can bend so will be much stronger in wind ($180 Gazebos CANNNOT withstand a storm people!!) and are MUCH smaller packed up.

However they block almost no heat, no more than a tent would, which is a major downfall for me, and still are nowhere near the strength of a tarp.

As much as I would love to not have to keep putting tarps up, They still haven’t come up with anything that can complete for heat reflection, strength and portability. PLUS, if you DO break something on a Gazebo or shade shelter, you have to replace the whole thing. With a tarp you are just up for the cost to replace a pole e.t.c (not that I’ve EVER seen a steel pole break, don’t think I ever will). An extra 20 minutes at setup time is well worth it for all those benefits.

Happy camping!
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Reply By: Shaker - Friday, Feb 07, 2014 at 17:00

Friday, Feb 07, 2014 at 17:00
I just bought the Coleman Instant Up Screen House, its very easy to put up & down.

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Reply By: Member - escapesilv - Friday, Feb 07, 2014 at 20:10

Friday, Feb 07, 2014 at 20:10
Hi Tim-C

We have the Event 14, and are very happy with it, have had it set up with very strong winds and sheltering ten grown-ups, it did a great job.

good luck. Rob
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Reply By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Saturday, Feb 08, 2014 at 16:55

Saturday, Feb 08, 2014 at 16:55
We use a Coleman Event 14 for shelter out in the desert for survey work in the winter.
It is strong, stands up to the wind very well and keeps sun out nicely if you buy one or two extra side walls (about $25 each).

Downside....like most camping gear, its a real struggle to get it back into the original bag - so it now goes easily into 2 bags! It takes a bit of effort to put up but like anything the more you do it, the slicker you get. Takes us about 10 minutes to put up or take down. The steel poles and material have been durable so far. And we bought some long steel pegs for our use in the desert.
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Follow Up By: tim_c - Sunday, Feb 09, 2014 at 20:57

Sunday, Feb 09, 2014 at 20:57
Thanks for the reply Phil, I was actually looking at the Instant Up version of the tent pictured -Coleman reckons you can put it up in 1 minute. I might reconsider the shade tent like you have though if it only takes 10min to put up/down - I was under the impression it was more like 20min+
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Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Sunday, Feb 09, 2014 at 23:16

Sunday, Feb 09, 2014 at 23:16
10 mins for 2 people who have done it a few times before!
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