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

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!

I just bought the Coleman Instant Up Screen House, its very easy to put up & down.

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

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.