ColemanHooligan Backpacking Tent

This small, simple, inexpensive tent is the second one I have owned, and it has never let me down. I've owned many tents, but this one is the best. I've woken up to a foot of heavy, wet snow all around me, but not crushing my shelter due to the simple, 1-pole design. On nice night, Ive left the rain fly off and slept under the starry sky, the only reminder that the tent was there being the absence of bugs. And on a rainy night at a festival the ended up cancelled due to brutal, heavy rainfall, I slept soundly while everyone around me woke up to sloppy, wet sleeping bags, in puddles inside their $500+ tents. As the festival-goers packed up their muddy messes, I went back to sleep, with 12" of dry grass surrounding my tent in every direction beneath the rain fly, til 2pm. Tearing it down is as easy as setting it up and, while it sleeps 2 comfortably, 1 person can easily set it up or take it down in minutes. If you're not needing a big tent for glamping, then this one is a gem that's well worth the price tag and outperforms every comparable competitor I've tried.

The packaging for this tent claims that it's great for backpacking. Like many other reviewers, I would tend to disagree with that statement -- for real backcountry pack trips on foot, it's a bit bulky and heavy.However, for loaded bicycle touring -- that is, camping by bike -- it's a fantastic option. While other tents may pack smaller, the Coleman Hooligan 2 excels at keeping you out of the elements. It's easy to set up and break down and it offers an optimal balance between reasonable weight (around 5 pounds), ease of setup, and performance.I received my tent the night before my trip began, so I didn't have time to add any waterproofing. I was a little concerned about the size and weight of the package -- a rectangular zippered bag -- but realized that removing the cardboard liner reduced the weight significantly (replacing the included aluminum pole with a fiberglass one would also help, there). Meanwhile, when lashed crosswise to my rack, across the tops of my panniers, it turned out to be a perfect fit.At the first night's campsite, I staked down the main portion of the tent by its corners, assembled and inserted the pole, then raised it: easy as pie. I consulted the instructions briefly before tossing the fly over. Turns out that the fly fits well enough that you don't absolutely have to guy it out if you're expecting fair weather and low winds -- but I decided to guy mine out anyway, just in case.An unexpected downpour at 1 AM confirmed the wisdom of that decision. I awoke to the sound of torrential rain pounding down on my drum-tight rainfly -- but not so much as a single drop made it into the tent. Even my shoes, parked out in the vestibule, stayed perfectly dry.In the morning, my tent was the only one that had not admitted any water at all. At least one tent costing twice as much as partly flooded. The Hooligan 2's deep bathtub bottom and a rainfly that only touches the mesh of the main tent along the ridgeline ensured that everything stayed dry. There was no moisture-transfer through the fabric as one might expect with a standard dome tent.As we prepared to strike camp and move on, I swiped some of the remaining water off the surface of my tent's rainfly. It beaded up and rolled right off, leaving a dry fly ready to pack. What little moisture remained evaporated almost immediately once I had set up at the second night's campsite.Setup, overall, took about 10 - 15 minutes the first time (subsequently, I got it done in about 5). There's a slight learning curve involved if you're used to two-pole dome tents, but taking it slowly(ish) the first time takes care of that.That said, there are a couple minor drawbacks to this tent. First, it's not a freestanding tent. It would be hard (though not impossible) to set up where you can't stake it down. Second, the stakes that come with it are a tad on the chintzy side. That said, they (in combination with a set of aluminum stakes I used to peg out the corners) did just fine for guying out the rain fly and holding the vestibule.I won't knock a star off for either of those -- the first is a function of the design, and I think the design works very well; the second is typical of almost every tent on the market.I plan to use this tent solo, but it's certainly roomy enough to hold two cyclists (even not-terribly-skinny cyclists!) and their stuff. My Camelbak (one of the 2-liter military-issue models with lots of pockets and big, comfy straps) and a bunch of random stuff that I didn't leave in my panniers overnight stayed in my tent with me and I still had lots of room to spare. The bike, of course, stayed outside.One last point: in considering the weight of this tent, please remember that many of the tents rated at two to three pounds are quoting weight without the rainfly, which is often sold separately. This full-mesh tent comes with the rainfly, which is included in the cited weight. In the right weather, you could leave the rainfly at home and shave some weight -- but, frankly, for bike camping, it makes more sense to shave a little weight somewhere else (in my case, to pack a sleeping bag that doesn't weigh over five pounds) and bring this tent because it works so darned well.

I needed a tent for solo camping on a weekend trip. I bought it with keeping cool in mind, so I liked that it's essentially a mosquito net without the rain fly. Unfortunately, I really needed the rain fly because it rained all weekend.Pros:-inexpensive. Under a $100 is a steal for the quality of this tent.-nice, durable bottom tub. I set up my Coleman Hooligan tent on a gravel surface, with a ground tarp underneath it. No tears or holes and it stayed dry.-condensation. I think because it's essentially a net with a rain tarp, it really does minimize condensation. It was a very rainy, humid weekend and I did not get much or any condensation inside the tent. The tent itself has a window you can open as well as a wide door for cross ventilation. The rain fly also opens wide for ventilation and has a large window as well.-sturdiness. Because it makes use of guy lines for the rain fly as well as stakes for the tent and rain fly, I had no issue with the tent during several rain storms throughout my trip. The rain fly also has Velcro attachment points to the tent's lone tent pole. The pin and loop system to keep the tent pole in position seemed to work well.-water resistance. Had several rain storms during the weekend and the interior stayed dry. Definitely use a ground tarp underneath.-carrying bag. I like that it isn't a nylon sack and the bag has some room for the tent and stakes. I do wish it had two zippers.-rain fly vestibule. After setting up the rain fly, the front two stakes create a vestibule for shoes and other gear you wish to keep out of the tent and also out of the elements. This worked great because it rained during my camp trip and I needed to keep my dirty shoes outside but also dry. There's a decent amount of room in the vestibule area.Cons--setup. Not the easiest, especially the rain fly. After a long day at work, a few hours drive to the site and some other adversity I had to deal with, I was looking for a quick, stress free setup. Unfortunately, the directions are sparse and the rain fly took some trial and error to set up. It's not a quick setup because it takes a while to set up the guy lines, unless you're experienced using them. Perhaps with two people, it could have gone quicker, but.-This is not a backpacking tent. The packed up size is heavy and two big to, I would imagine, lug around on your back while hiking or whatever. Perfect for car camping, though.- tear down. It's just not easy at all to tear down, fold and pack away. I had to do it after a rain storm, so the equipment was wet. I needed a good hour or so at home to dry the tent, fold it and stow it away in it's bag.-interior size. it's large enough for my cot and tall enough to sit up in. There's room for a few bags. Because the tent itself is really just a large net, the sides aren't rigid and can drop on you, but it's not a big deal.Durability could be an issue moving forward but as along as you take care of it, it ought to last you long enough to get value out of your purchase.If I could do something different, it would be to incorporate a shelter in front of the tent for when the weather turns. The way the tent is set up, it's hard to get into the tent and keep the interior dry as you do so, unless the rain or weather is coming at a different direction.I am eager to try it out in good weather so I can sleep under the stars.