TENTS | Coleman Mackenzie 4 Blackout The Ideal Medium Sized Family Tent – Review

May 31, 2019 Shell Robshaw-Bryan

Family Camping, Homepage Feature, Reviews, Sponsored Product/Stay, Tent Reviews

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What is it?

Coleman Mackenzie 4 Blackout Tent RRP: £500 + Free Camping and Caravanning Club membership worth £45*

*Free Camping and Caravanning Club membership when you buy any Coleman® MacKenzie BlackOut Bedroom or Valdes Air tent from selected Tent Partners which include Winfields Outdoors and Camping World. Find out more here.

Stockists

Features

Sleeps 4 people
Pitch-in-one set up
Cabin/tunnel tent style
Steel poles
Groundsheet PE, welded, fully integrated
Outer fabric Polyester PU coated/
Fire retardant
Breathable Polyester
Polyester PU coated
No-see-um mesh
Taped seams
Carry bag Included
Pack size: 80 x 40 x 35 cm
Weight: 25.4kg
Hydrostatic head 4500mm

First Impressions

Although this is only a 4-person tent it’s quite heavy with a fairly large pack size. Most of the weight however is down to the fact that the tent uses rigid steel poles instead of lighter flexible poles.

Rigid poles are of course much stronger and more durable, but the downside is that they add weight, and the total pack weight comes in at a hefty 25.4kg, a load heavy enough to require 2 people to carry safely, meaning this tent is strictly reserved for car campers as you really wouldn’t want to carry this any real distance.

With a standing height of 2.17m and a generous 4.8m x 3.2m footprint, it means that this tent does take up a fair bit of space, whilst still being small enough to only require a standard tent pitch.

Pitching The Tent

When the tent arrived I immediately set about putting it up in the garden ahead of a camping trip the following weekend, but the footprint of the tent was bigger than I’d anticipated, and too large to test pitch in my small garden.

Once on site however the tent was fast and largely intuitive to pitch for two of us, with 3 colour coded poles that easily slot into each other, big chunky pole clips and standard guy ropes, it took us about 20 minutes in total.

The only thing that caught us out were two of the steel poles which had holes in them, and we weren’t sure why, so we popped both at the front of the tent.

We soon found out that actually the poles with the holes in are required at the front and in the middle to hold the flexible pole that keeps the canopy on the side door in place, so we had to swap over a couple of the pole sections making us realise we probably should have at least taken a cursory glance at the instructions before getting stuck in!

Looks & Styling

I always think that Coleman tents look fresh and modern and I really like the bright green and grey colourway of this tent. I also really liked that there’s the option of opening up the big front door, or opting to use the smaller side door (which has a canopy).

The tent uses standard orange guy ropes, and comes with the usual basic thin steel tent pegs which aren’t really fit for purpose in a tent of this size, so we’d definitely recommend upgrading to power pegs or similar.

We’ve camped several times in the Coleman Rocky Mountain 5 which also has blackout bedrooms, so we knew what to expect from the Mackenzie 4 and Inside the bedroom area it’s a bit like a cave!

The blackout material is particularly effective at keeping the 2 double bedroom compartments nice and dark, which means this tent would be ideal for those with kids who wake up far too early when camping.

Interior Space & Features

It’s very rare that we come across tents that present a realistic berth rating, but the Mackenzie 4 Blackout really does provide enough space for a family or group of 4.

Head height is very generous, at a lofty 2.17m high, it makes the tent feel really spacious so would make a great buy for tall people.

Although for our short weekend away we only took the bare basics with us and didn’t take our usual camp kitchen and table set up, there is ample space for a kitchen unit, table and chairs in the front.

There is an easily removable divider in the bedroom area allowing you to create two double bedrooms (both of which are big enough to accommodate a double air mattress), or you can unclip the divider to create one large bedroom space.

There’s the usuable ladder style storage pockets running from the top to the bottom of the tent, and as well as the large front and side door, in the living area there’s also a large window.

Performance

The most recent bank holiday couldn’t have provided more perfect conditions to test the tent in. It went from blazing hot sunshine to torrential downpours lasting a couple of hours in the blink on an eye, before going back to being sunny, oh and there were high winds thrown in for good measure too!

Coleman Mackenzie 4 Blackout Tent 2019 Review — *Tough rigid colour coded steel tent poles*

The taped seams and 4500mm water column of the tent coped well with no leaks, though because it was initially so warm we had unzipped the bedroom vents to let air in, and had to make a mad dash back to the tent to close them up when the rain rain started.

Oversized tent bags are always something I am relieved to see. There’s nothing more irksome than tiny bags that are only really fit for purpose when a tent is factory packed as they just don’t perform in a real-world setting.

The Coleman Mackenzie 4 tent however fits back into the generously sized bag with ease, and we found it quick and easy to take down and pack up.

The Verdict

Our Rating

Quality 4/5

Practicality 3.5/5

Looks 4/5

Value 3.5/5

Overall Rating (4 / 5)

This is a good quality, spacious tent that’s ideal for family campers who want something that’s big enough to feel like they’re not living on top of each other, but still small enough that it won’t take up too much space in the car.

That said, the pack size of 80 x 40 x 35 cm is relatively large for a 4 person tent, and it’s heavy too, but most of that weight is in the steel poles. The flip side of course is that those steel poles make the tent strong and it will stay put in high winds, with no need to worry about snapped poles.

Due to the price point, it would have been nice to see upgraded guy ropes and something other than the usual flimsy plastic guy sliders and spindly tent pegs, but these are minor gripes, but if the price tag of the Mackensize 4 puts you off, then you might want to consider the Coleman Rocky Mountain 5 which retails for around £280 or the Coleman Galileo 4 which retails for around £195.

This is a tent that looks good, offers a great amount of usable space, it has excellent quality steel poles and provides good levels of waterproofing too, making it an ideal medium-sized family camping tent.

Free Camping & Caravanning Club Membership Worth £45

Don’t forget, if you purchase this tent from selected retail partners which include Winfields Outdoors and Camping World you’ll also get FREE Camping and Caravanning Club membership!

DISCLOSURE | Thank you to coleman who supplied the featured product. 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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