New in Coleman’s 2021 collection are the Meadowood Blackout tents. Gearlimits put out to the test the Coleman Meadowood 4L for a weekend. The 4L is the middle of the three, other variants are the 4- and 6-persons, and is suitable for 4 people. As the L suggests, the 4L has a larger living space than the 4-person tent. It is a very practical tent and the BlackOut sleeping cabins ensure pleasantly dark and comfortable nights.
The tent has fully taped seams and a welded PE groundsheet. The groundsheet has raised edges to keep water and bugs out of the tent and to prevent leakage. The inner tent is made of breathable polyester with no-see-um insect screen, which stops even the smallest mosquitoes. The sleeping cabins in this tent are BlackOut bedrooms. These extra dark sleeping cabins block 99% of the daylight, so that you do not wake up early in the morning from the light and so that the sleeping area remains up to 5 degrees cooler than the rest of the tent during the day. Because the solar energy is stored in the surface of the fabric and released at night, it is 1 degree warmer in the sleeping area during the night than in the tent itself.
Specifications
- outer tent material: polyester PU coated, fire retardant
- sleeping cabin material: breathable polyester, no-see-um mosquito net
- frame material: fiberglass
- groundsheet: PU-welded
- water column: 4000mm
- BlackOut sleeping area: size 140 x 210 cm (x 2)
- floor area: more than 18 m2 (300 x 625 cm)
- water column: 4000 mm
- weight: 22.5kg
Test conditions
In the Netherlands, during a stormy, wet, sunny and fuggy summer weekend. Despite the fact that the tent is suitable for 4 people, it was only used with two.
Setting up
Setting up the tent is easy. You have to be with two people, you can’t do this on your own. There is a video about setting up on Coleman’s site. The poles and tunnels have a matching color. It took us half an hour. Pretty quick for such a large tent. With the help of straps on the outside of the tent and the guylines you can pull it tight. The guy ropes reflect on the front and back, which is very useful in the dark.
Living space
The living area is spacious: 270 x 300cm. We could easily place 4 garden chairs and a table here. All windows are equipped with a cover with a zipper, so that you can determine how much light and privacy you want. The door at the front has a barrier-free entrance, which prevents tripping. In case of rain, and to keep out bugs, you can zip the brim shut. The ventilation openings are easy to open or close and are placed in such a way rain cannot get in.
There is an extra door on the side. Very handy if the wind is on the front and you still want to ventilate. At the side of the tent there’s zipper for an electric wire.
During our camping weekend it was about 24 degrees and sunny. Despite the fact that we had unzipped the doors, it became very hot in the tent in no time as soon as the sun came through. The vents didn’t really cool and opening both doors didn’t help either. Inside it got 6 degrees warmer than outside! A similar blackout or sun-reflecting top would have been a lot more pleasant or a large vent at one of the windows. In any case, it kept us constantly going from the inside out and back again as soon as the weather changed (and it did just about every half hour that weekend).
The canopy at the front is 130 cm deep; big enough to keep the entrance dry and store things you don’t want to keep in the tent, such as a garbage can
Sleeping area
The sleeping area consists of an inner tent of 280 x 210. You can split it into 2 cabins by using a room divider. A disadvantage of the divider is the pull-string closures instead of a zipper. As a result, there are openings on all sides to the other sleeping area. That means that if one person has not zipped up the screen, the other also has mosquitoes.
The inner tent has loops and pockets to hang lights and to store some small items, such as keys.
There is a ventilation opening in the upper centre that cannot be closed. We were not bothered by this, despite the storm at night. The upper part of the doors of the sleeping area can be opened for ventilation, the lower part will still remain cool and dark.
The bedrooms were indeed cooler than the rest of the tent after a hot day. At night it was pleasantly warmer than in the front area. Several brands already have blackout tents in their range for years. We are big fans, but this is not very innovative.
Pros
- canopy front
- BlackOut sleeping cabin
- barrier-free entrance
- side door
Cons
- divider with pull-string closures
- very warm living space
Final verdict
The tent is quickly set up, is spacious and very light, has a sufficient supply of fresh air through the ventilation openings on all sides, but heats up very quickly as soon as the sun comes out. The blackout sleeping cabin is nice and helps getting a pleasant night’s sleep, but cannot be completely separated into 2 parts. The suggested retail price of €599 is comparable for similar tents.
