Setting up a tent in the rain is quite a chore. That’s when having the best waterproof pop-up tent comes in handy!
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With these tents, you can just take them out of a bag and set them up in only a few minutes. They’re made to save your time and allow you to start camping as soon as possible.
The waterproof varieties are even better and great for hiking or mountaineering. When a sudden shower hits, you’ll have a roof over your head in no time at all.
Today, we’ll take a closer look at some of the most popular pop-up tents right now and tell you what we think about them. Let’s get going!
Contents
Top Waterproof Pop-up Tents
Coleman 2-Person Pop-Up Tent
Ah, Coleman, a tried and true tent brand that’s been going for a long time and shows no signs of stopping. Most campers have at least heard of them, and plenty have used their products.
They’re well-known for making quality products and this tent more than lives up to that reputation.
It’s able to assemble itself in less than 10 seconds once you take it out and carrying it until then is not a problem – it weighs only around 6 pounds. However, de-assembling it and getting it back into the bag can be tough at times.
The waterproofing holds up magnificently. The floor has taped seams, and nothing leaks through it. The rainfly is also completely impervious, and it can be repositioned to suit your current needs.
It’s a spacious tent as well, being around 7 feet and 6 inches by 4 feet and 5 inches. There’s not a lot of vertical space – only 2 feet and 11 inches at the highest point – but it’s mostly enough.
The tent is also fire resistant if the need arises – it probably won’t, but you can never be safe enough.
Toogh 2-3 Person Automatic Instant Pop Up Tent
This is not a tent from a well-known company, but despite that, it still has some great upsides and a surprising level of quality.
Overall, this is a fine tent – it’s got two doors for good ventilation, it weighs little when packed up and doesn’t take up too much space. Setting it up is also a breeze, as it should be, and there don’t seem to be problems with packing it back up.
The waterproofing, for the most part, is good. Water certainly won’t get in through the top or the walls. However, you might have some issues with the floor – there’s a seam running straight through the middle. If you secure that, it should all be fine.
However, there are a few issues with it. The zippers and stakes are quite poor – the stakes can be replaced, but the zippers will snag and be difficult to manage.
It’s also a bit on the smaller side. Two people can barely fit inside it, let alone three. It offers plenty of vertical space, but the floor space is limited.
Coleman 4-Person Pop-Up Tent
Here’s another decent offering from Coleman – this time, for more people than is common for pop-up tents.
Like most tents, it doesn’t quite have enough space to house the number of people that are listed in the product description. Three people – maybe – but four is a stretch.
However, it’s still roomier than most pop-up tents and has quite a lot of vertical space too. It’s 9 feet and 2 inches by 6 feet and 6 inches with a center height of 3 feet and 4 inches.
The waterproofing is top-notch, as expected, and the rainfly can be repositioned to your liking.
Sadly, it is plagued by the same issue that most pop-up tents have – it’s difficult to put back into the bag. The large size makes that problem even worse than usual though, and you might need two people to disassemble it, so it’s risky to use it solo.
The zippers are also cheap and difficult to close or open without snagging or breaking. It’s a shame.
Malamoo Mega 3 Second 4 Person Waterproof Tent
One of the major problems with most pop-up tents is a terrible lack of ventilation – you’ll be sweating like a pig in there!
With this tent from Malamoo, that doesn’t seem to be much of an issue – with three large windows and a huge door, it provides plenty of ventilation, even when it’s raining.
There’s plenty of room inside it as well – it’s 12 by 8 feet if you count the canopy at the front. Four adults can realistically fit inside it, even though it would be a bit crowded. However, that’s more than you can say for most tents that claim to be made for four people.
It has a few niggling issues, however. Carrying it can be a chore since it’s packed like a large disk – it won’t fit on your back.
The window flaps are great, but they can only be closed from the outside. When they’re open, the rain can get in, and that’s not what you want, but you need to get wet to close them. It’s inconvenient, to say the least.
Korotus 3-Person Family Camping Dome
The main upside of this tent is how roomy it is, while still being relatively easy to carry. It’s got 79 by 79 inches of floor space with the highest point of the roof being 53 inches. Your whole family can fit inside it for sure – if it’s relatively small, that is.
Ventilation is also not a problem since it has two large doors and the waterproofing mostly holds up, but more about that later.
Unlike most pop-up tents, folding it up and putting it back in the bag is easy. Perhaps a bit easier than it should be, which causes one of its largest problems.
In heavy winds, the tent will just fold itself flat onto your head. Sadly, it’s not stable at all, and you will have to be careful when camping inside of it.
Needless to say, you’ll get all wet when that happens, and that’s just a bad time overall. It’s good for light summer and spring showers, but not much more than that.
Quechua Waterproof Pop Up Camping Tent
This is a tent from a lesser known, which sometimes spells trouble, but let’s see if it proves to be worth your time.
For a start, it’s definitely easy to set up, and it takes little to no time at all. Packing it up is also not too difficult once you get the hang of it, so that’s a definite plus.
Carrying it is not too hard either, and it takes up relatively little space when it’s completely folded up. It’s a bit on the heavier side due to its size, but it’s not too much of a problem.
What is a problem is the lack of vertical space. It’s an incredibly flat tent, and it’s mostly intended for sleeping. Even sitting in it can be difficult and don’t even think about standing up straight!
Ventilation and waterproofing hold up fine though, but the construction can rattle a lot in windy weather. It won’t fall down, but it will make a lot of noise and sleeping can get a bit difficult, which is a shame since this is mostly a sleeping tent.
Wnnideo Instant Family Tent
For a pop-up tent, this one from Wnnideo is absolutely huge. It claims to be able to fit 5 to 6 people, but 4 is more realistic. Still, that’s more than most pop-up tents can manage, so it’s an achievement to be celebrated.
Even though it’s so large, the price is still more than affordable and better than lots of other pop-up tents.
The set-up process is easy overall, and it all looks great when it’s standing up. There’s plenty of ventilation with the two large doors on each side and the windows on each of the other sides.
Waterproofing holds up to, and it can stand even in some heavier winds.
The issue is the overall durability of the materials used to make it. If you’re not careful when disassembling it, you might break a thing or two. The fabric is also surprisingly easy to rip up if you’re not careful.
You get what you pay for at a price this low.
Zenph Family Camping Tent
When you get a pop-up tent, you expect that taking it down is going to be a chore, but here it’s not – it’s almost as easy as putting it up. It’s a refreshing thing to see.
While this is supposed to be a 4-person tent by the description, that’s hardly true – it’s more like a 2-person tent. It’s roomy, though, and has plenty of vertical space which is good. It’s not just a sleeping tent – you can spend some time in it.
The outside canopy can also be set up separately from the main tent and used as protecting from the sun during the summer months. However, even with the full tent set up, the ventilation is great.
While waterproofing won’t stand up to extremely heavy rainfall, it’s mostly fine, and you probably won’t get wet when using it unless it’s pouring.
The main issue with it is the size – it’s a bit difficult to carry, and it’s not exactly small when folded up. You probably won’t be able to carry it on your own – and it’s advertised as a backpacking tent, which it certainly is not.
G4Free Pop Up Tent
When the first thing you see on the product page is a warning that you need to watch instructional videos to figure out how to set it up and take it down, that might smell like trouble.
However, it’s not. It’s easy to set up this tent – packing it up can be difficult, but with a bit of practice, it gets easier and only takes a few minutes. It is quite large when packed up though.
The ventilation inside of it is great, and there’s a neat window on the top, allowing you to look at the sky while lying inside. Despite the abundance of windows, nothing seems to leak through when it rains.
The top window is only closable from the outside, which is not what you want when a sudden summer shower starts.
Moreover, the whole tent is a bit shoddily constructed. The stakes are something you can replace, but the poor zippers and the easily rippable fabric isn’t.
ZOMAKE Pop Up Tent
If you’re looking for an affordable pop-up tent, this is one of the best choices out there. However, it has to offer something more than just a good price, doesn’t it? Well, yes, it does.
The waterproofing and ventilation are great, and it holds up well to strong winds, so you can use it at almost any time of year, except when it’s terribly cold.
While it claims to be able to fit 3 to 4 people inside, the reality is that it will most likely fit two adults and maybe a pet or a kid.
Setting it up is easy as pie, and folding it back up into the bag is not too difficult either. You might have some difficulty carrying it though since it’s quite large – a backpacking tent this isn’t.
The durability is quite bad, though. If it wasn’t for that, it would be a great tent, but that brings it down a notch.
The Final Word
There’s a lot you might want out of a pop-up tent – you want it to be stable, roomy, well-ventilated, and so on.
Someone who wants an affordable large tent might choose the Wnnideo tent as the best, while a person who’s more interested in a summer tent might go for the Zenph product.
However, when it comes to tents like this, we think that the most important thing is portability – how easy it is to carry, set-up and take down. It needs to be functional, but without compactness, it doesn’t serve its purpose.
That’s why we chose the Coleman 2-Person Pop-Up Tent as the best waterproof pop-up tent. It’s easy to place and not to difficult to pop back into the bag, it holds up in most regards, and it’s easy to carry around. It’s the best.
Have you got any thoughts on the matter or anything to add? Feel free to pop into the comments and come back next time!
