Coleman Weathermaster Tent: Mountain Hardwear Sprite 1 Tent 1-Person 3-Season Review

Average Reviews:
5.0 out of 5 stars

(More customer reviews)I have had this a little over 2 months and i usually go camping about 6-8 times a year. I bought this tent to go backpacking with. This tent has its pros and cons. I will get to that in a few minutes. First time I used it I was with my friends at a campsite and it started to downpour with 30 MPH winds easily (not a fun night). They had their own 3 person tent and I had this one man tent. We all decided to go to bed since it was raining and no fun. I got in mine and it's fairly spacious (this is the only one man tent i have ever owned so i can't compare it to any others). The fly on this goes almost all the way to the ground which i love. I get in there and it rains all night and i stay perfectly dry but my friends don't they have sleeping bags that they ring out with water. I was actually quite glad it rained for the first time i used it because I wanted to test the durability of it and it definitely proved its worth.
I would recommend a footpint to go along with it. Even though an added 35 bucks and a little more weight. it wont get the bottom of your tent all messed up and that can be replaced easily compared to not repairing or replacing your tent.
Even though it did rain a lot i woke up damp. I couldn't tell it it was from the rain or the humidity I think it was a combination of both. The side where the compartment to store stuff had dew all over it which made my gear damp but its not that big of a deal

Pros-
Fairly lightweight

The poles are the strongest i have seen (I've own about 4 other tents) They are made of 100% hardened aluminum pre-bent to fit the shape of the tent so you do bend/damage then we you try to use them.

It breathes very well even in direct sun even though hot inside you will still be able to at least breath

Every seam comes pre-sealed with a plastic lining melted over it.

Has a good side compartment to the left of you to store your backpack

Im 6'1" and I still had enough room to stretch out.

Tall enough to be able to change your shirt while sitting on the ground. Pants are hard to change because it tapers down to the ground

Fly comes all the way down to the ground in most areas so if on a hard surface you don't get rain hitting the ground and bouncing up under the tent still inadvertently getting you wet

If you lay side by side you can actually fit two people in the tent with minimal effort.

all the connections to the poles are snap on so it makes it very easy to tear down and put up (I put my tent up by myself faster than my friends could put up their 3 man tent with 3 people doing that)

The zippers don't leak/they have a flap over it so rain cant get to the zipper.

Cons-
The windows in the fly in useless I don't know why they even bothered to include it because all you can see it about a 4x4 inch section of sky or trees

When all rolled up its fairly bulky the bag it comes with I got rid of and bought a smaller bag. If you pack it right you can get it to about half the size of the original bag. You just have to store the poles somewhere else in you backpack.

There are 2 zippers to get into the tent which i find annoying. One for the fly and then one for the inside of the actual tent.

They way they made it. It does not stand up by itself unless it is staked down which I don't like at all.

It is very awkward to roll up because with all the different angles of fabric and other things on it. As i said earlier if you pack it up right you can save about 50% of space

The main poled that holds it up puts a lot of stress on the fabric in the middle of the tent. Even though it looks very durable I'm still afraid of it ripping somehow and it is then totally useless because that would be very hard spot to repair.Other side notes:
if it is windy place the small end where your feet go facing the wind. It will help your tent not to rock and be damaged
Overall great product it has its flaws but seriously what product doesn't have its flaws. Great against rain. Highly recommendEdit: 8/3/10
I just went on a vacation for 11 days in the Smoky Mountains, This thing did great. It rained 6 out of the 11 days which was a bummer and it held up beautifully. There were only 2 times that it leaked because of rain and both were my fault. The first time I had it in a low area and it started to pour, so all the water pooled around and apparently tents don't float :D. The good thing was this thing is so light I pulled the stakes up and picked it up by the two poles and carried it to higher ground.
The 2nd time was it was a nice day out so I only draped the fly over it and didn't clip it in or stake the fly down. I left camp and it started to rain I came back and there was a pool of water near the feet. Just mopped that up real quick and it was all good.
there are 2 other items I'd like to address. On the under side of the fly there are Velcro straps to Velcro it to the 2 poles. The one Velcro that connects to the smaller silver pole near your feet there is sealant tape that seals all the seams to prevent water. After about 6 uses of this tent the tape is starting to peal off there but only there. Personally I DON'T see this as a big problem because there are no seams around that area to leak and even if it does leak it wont leak much
Also the sealant tape on the inside near the entrances it starting to tear. This is the location that I was weary about when I first bought the tent. It is hard to explain where it's at you just have to see it. But I will try my best. Again right now I don't see this as a problem but this one could become a problem.
below is a picture of the tent showing where the sealant tape inside is tearing in just the slightest bit.
i had to put the dots and slashes in brackets because amazon always removes my links
http(colonslashslash)i12(dot)photobucket(dot)com(slash)albums(slash)a217(slash)nvysel24(slash)31ke6yacexl_sl500_aa280_(dot)jpgEdit 8/16/10
I went on another trip this weekend and as i was packing up the main orange pole snapped. This is severely disappointing it was partially my fault because I was shaking out the tent by lifting up the tent by both of the poles and obviously it is not supposed to do that and it created pressure on the end of the poles. Even though it being my fault I am very disappointed in the tent even though they have a great warranty and even I plan on getting new poles but they should be able to withstand a little torture. O well I would say this brings it down a star. Also I saw one of my friends 1 man tent and he had a 1 pole branch design which was awesome but it definitely wasn't as breathable so i would still say mine is superior

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Product Description:
The Mountain Hardwear Sprite 1 Tent gives solo backpackers comfort that no bivy sack can match without forcing them to go with an overkill two-person tent. This roomy alternative keeps out the bugs, shelters you from rain, and even keeps your boots and pack undercover.

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