For 2 years now I've gone camping at a lake in NY with my BIL.  Last night I was in Target getting school supplies for the kids when I see a Coleman 4 person tent with darkroom technology for $89.99.  Now I've seen videos about these tents so I'm intrigued and with the trip coming up in 3 weeks I decide to go for it and get the tent.

Out of curiosity I set the tent up this AM in my basement to see just how legit these "darkroom" claims are and I can verify, it is extremely dark inside of this tent.  My basement is well lit, with 2 windows and 10 directional canister lights (all pointed at the tent) and I can say, upon entering the tent and zipping it shut, it is almost pitch black.  So dark, in fact, that you really can't see anything until you give your pupils time to adjust.  Once the eyes adjust I would compare it to being outside at night with a full moon.  Laying with my eyes shut it was exactly like laying in bed at night - pitch black.

Coleman claims that this tent blocks out 90% of the sunlight, while staying cooler than other conventional tents.  I can't make any claims about staying cooler but I can say that this tent successfully blocks out light, with the most light leakage coming through the plastic zipper material, and through the mesh panels on the ceiling.

This weekend I'm going to set it up outside to see how it performs under real world conditions and to see if it becomes a steam bath like most tents.

If you're like me and get woken up by the slightest bit of sunlight regardless of how late you drunkenly collapsed into unconsciousness, and you don't need an expedition grade tent, maybe you would find the 'darkroom' technology beneficial.

I'll post more this weekend, after sleeping in it, if anyone is interested.

Awesome!! When I saw these with coleman i was like YESSSSSS.  We use a 6 person ozark trails for car camping right now so this will be its replacment.

Yep, I was using an ozark trails 10 person tent, which is great for family trips but too big for just me.   It is shocking just how dark this tent is inside.  Makes me wonder  how exaclty they achieved this. Vantablack?  I'll post pics when its set up outside.

Thanks for posting all this OP

All right.  I set the tent up in my back yard knowing that the chances of rain are high this weekend.  Here's the tent set up.

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These are pics I took yesterday at noon when it was full sun.  I set the tent up in the shade of 2 small trees so it was mostly in the shade but had some spots of sunlight hitting it.  The temperature outside was 86 degrees and it was 82 degrees in the tent.
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Today it is absolutely pouring outside.  I sealed the seams previously and just ran home to see how it is doing and it is completely dry inside.

So far, I'm happy.  I plan on sleeping in it tonight as it should rain constantly for the next few days.

Awesome

I’m interested to see how it does.
My wife picked one up for $80 at Costco based upon your initial info.

In for AAR.

A final follow up.  I had set the tent up knowing it would rain.  But friday it dumped 3 inches an hour for 4 hours.  And then it continued to rain through saturday and sunday.  There were 2 small puddles in the rear corners of the tent.  I dont think any seams leaked but rather, the nylon was so saturated that water managed to seap through the material.  I did not treat the entire tent, only the seams.

I have since used the tent twice and love it.  Its great for 2 people and is really dark inside, perfect for sleeping in, in the mornings.

Basically, if given the option to buy this tent, or an alternative tent that was similar in size and cost, i don't know why one wouldn't opt for this tent.

Ill buy another if anything ever happens to this one.

I have a friend who recently bought one of those. They said it was awesome.........dark as hell inside the tent, even in the mid day sun.

Debated on this tent all summer, but think I will putt the trigger on one now..