TENTS | Coleman Aspen 4 Family Pole Tent – Review

December 17, 2022 Shell Robshaw-Bryan

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In late Autumn we had a last minute long weekend camping trip at a fabulous little campsite in Shropshire and we took along the Coleman Aspen 4 tent. Find out what we thought of it in our latest tent review…

What is it?

Coleman Aspen 4 Tent
Expect to pay: £250 – £370

Overall Rating (4.5 / 5)

Stockists

Specification

Pitch as one, tunnel tent
Tent size 3.0 x 4.7 x 2.0 m
Pack size 66 x 30 x 28 cm
Packed tent weight 15.3 kg
4000 mm water column
Outer fabric Polyester, PU coated, Fire retardant
Sewn in groundsheet
190 cm full standing height
5.9 m² sleeping area size
Fibreglass poles and taped seams

What we thought

I immediately loved this little tent, though referring to it as ‘little’ is probably doing it a bit of a disservice, as for the 2 of us it provided more than enough space. For a small family, particularly a family with young kids, this would be an ideal choice.

My first proper tent (that wasn’t a tiny 2-person dome) came from our other favourite family tent brand and was very similar to this one in size and style so it gave me a truly nostalgic feel.

That’s not to say the Coleman Aspen 4 is in any way outdated, it isn’t but it’s a good while since I’ve camped in a tent like this and I loved the experience.

Having mainly used bell tents or AirBeam tents in recent years, going back to a pole tent felt a bit old school, but it’s a great way of keeping both cost and bulk down, and the pack size of this tent is really impressive, ideal if you only have a small car or don’t want your tent to take up half of your packing space.

Pitching The Tent

Getting the tent up was super easy. I never look at instructions and always believe a tent should be intuitive to pitch. The 3 poles are colour coded so it’s straightforward to pitch and with 2 of us, it took about 10 minutes.

We did have to faff a bit to get the front canopy to look straight, but we just about managed it before we gave up and decided camping bloggers or not, it would do.

Practicality

We have a gigantic double camp bed and other tents have struggled with it. I wasn’t sure whether it would fit, but with the middle divider removed, it fitted!

We concluded that 4 regular single-size SIMs would definitely fit side by side inside the sleeping compartment, though bags etc. would have to be kept in the living area.

There were 3 lantern hanging points in strategic locations throughout the tent which were very useful. My husband is over 6 feet tall and reported good standing head space throughout the tent.

We like that in the bedroom compartment there’s additional ventilation, and although we didn’t need to use all the guy ropes on our trip which was completely breeze free, there are plenty and all of those that we did use felt strong and capable.

Although we didn’t use the smaller side door, it does provide extra layout flexibility and also added light, to what is already a very light and airy feeling tent interior.

Tent Features

One big difference to the other brand tent similar in size and style, is that the Coleman Aspen 4 felt much more premium, though as is always the case, it does come with a pretty basic set of tent pegs, which are only really useful for very good weather, so investing in more heavy-duty tent pegs would be recommended.

We very much like that the doors zip fully around all sides and can be easily rolled up, and the additional layer of bug mesh too, makes the tent feel more premium.

Despite us not pitching the tent particularly well, leading to tension at the front, the zips were strong and capable and the sewn-in groundsheet makes the tent a good choice for the changeable British weather.

Pros

Relatively small pack size and quite light for such a big tent
Spacious and airy interior
Font and side door options
The built in canopy is really handy during rain showers
It’s quick and intuitive to pitch
The bedrooms are pretty dark despite not being full blackout bedrooms
I personally really liked the colour, a shade of dark jade green with vibrant lime green
The 4000mm HH did a good job of keeping us dry during some quite heavy downpours

Cons

More built-in internal storage pockets would be useful

The verdict

Our Rating

Quality 4.5/5

Practicality 4.5/5

Looks 4/5

Value 5/5

Overall Rating (4.5 / 5)

The Coleman Aspen 4 is an excellent value family tent that feels more premium than the very reasonable price tag would suggest. The built in canopy is extremely useful, providing shade during the summer and protection from the elements during downpours.

It’s compact when packed down yet spacious inside with generous standing head height throughout and it makes a great tent choice for couples who like a bit of space or for small families.

DISCLOSURE | Thank you to Coleman who supplied the featured product for us to tent to test in return for our honest opinion. We were not paid to write this review.

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Shell Robshaw-Bryan

Editor & Owner at Camping with Style

Shell loves all things travel and outdoors and is a nature-loving, comfy-camping kinda girl. Shell started the Camping with Style blog after a serious snowboarding accident which left her with a broken back. Despite this she used the outdoors and healing power of nature to aid her recovery and she continues to spend time outdoors whenever she can.

From open water swimming, snowboarding and kayaking to hill walks and meditation, Shell shares her travels and microadventures here on the blog and in various publications she's written for, Shell has a particular interest in promoting wellbeing and the many benefits of nature therapy.

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