Coleman Phad X3 Backpacking Tent

[Boris]

This arrived this morning and I've pitched it in the garden and on first impressions things look good.

This is a 3 man tent with a good sized porch with a door on either side. 3 good sized vents should keep the condensation to a minimum. A little unglazed arched window at the front of the tent can be opened if needs be

The bag is slightly larger than I was expecting and seems more than 3cm bigger in length and 3cm bigger in girth as the higear Neutron 2 at 44cm x 18cm but nevertheless it still fits in a standard Honda pannier albeit only leaving room for my sleeping mat or bag (but not both).

Out of the bag the tent comes fully assembled with the inner already attached, a bag of aluminium poles and a bag of square section pegs. A repair kit with 3 patches and a sleeve to repair a broken pole is located in a small pocket sewn into the compression sack.

The alloy poles fit together nicely and slide into full length sleeves, which incidentally are closed at one end, with ease. The shorter one that goes across the tent has the first section anodised red for identification.

Once all the poles are in the sleeves it is a simple task to lift the first pole into an arc and hook it into place. Because of the sleeve it fits into being closed at the far end there is no risk of the pin dropping out. The second and third poles go in even easier

The groundsheet in the porch area is zipped in at one end and clipped at the other so it should be simple to remove should it get dirty and need cleaned.

pegging and guying is the same as any other tent but it should be said the the guy ropes are fitted with metal sliders and are apparently luminous.

Once up no further fiddling was needed with the fly sitting just off the ground and a good space between it and the inner. Taking the tent down again (both fly and inner together) was straightforward and it fitted back into the sack easily.

A subsequent timed pitch of the tent showed it took 5 minutes from in the bag to getting the tent up and another 5 to peg it out and guy it down.

As before I'll report back once I have used it in anger which should be real soon now as I am touring the North of Scotland next week.

[Jacqueslemac]

I bought one in March last year. It's been very, very good on weekends away on the motorbike, plus one week long tour of France when we had inclement weather to start and finish. Even when I rolled it up wet in the morning, the sleeping compartment wasn't that wet when I put it up again in the evening after a day crammed into a waterproof bag on the back of the bike.

My only disappointment is that both of the long poles have kinks in them now, presumably caused by the bending that you have to do to slot the first one into its metal spike to tension the tent.

[Boris]

Have you tried getting spares? If you cant find the proper Coleman part (No 9830-1161) You should be able to find ally poles in the correct diameter and cut to length.

[Jacqueslemac]

They're only kinked, so are still perfectly useable. I haven't bothered to source replacements yet.

[Jenna]

have to say that even though we strictly use coleman when we can the uk importer is not the most helpful company in the world.... you may find it cheaper, quicker and easier to source the parts from coleman (or one of their many agents) in the states.

I find coleman stuff good value and well made but i have to say the parts back up and to some extent even stock and marketing in the UK p1ss poor!

[Boris]

Update.

The Phad has now been pitched and slept in four times in anger and I have to say I am still impressed. Pitching time was minutes compared to my mates tent as I could pitch all at once. We had rain for 3 of the 4 days (we stayed at a different site each night) and throughout the inner stayed dry. There was a small teaspoon full in the inner one evening when I pitched it but it had been a monsoon when I struck the tent that morning.

Condensation was non-existent on the inner as there are loads of vents and space between it and the fly despite the wet weather. Only real worry I had was when pitching in a strong wind in Skye the poles took on a pretty unnatural shape until I had it fully guyed out. Even then there was a fair bit of flexing going on. Anyone with experience of this tent like to say if it's better nose or tail into the wind?

Packing up wise it went back in the supplied bag easilly and still fitted in the pannier of my bike with space for my roll mat and a pair of sandals.

All in all I'm still impressed and this remains my No 1 tent for use on the bike.

[Jenna]

you bought your x3 at the right time as i've been told that the x3 wont be available next year! it will be x2 or nothing.

[Boris]

you bought your x3 at the right time as i've been told that the x3 wont be available next year! it will be x2 or nothing.

Wow Just timed it right for once then. I must say I'm really impressed with the tent. It fits my needs perfectly.

[smig]

Thanks for all the info, just bought this tent for a trip or two round Europe on my motorcycle, seems i have made a good choice for once
The tent has been pitched once in the garden and went up very easily on my own.

I am going to have a test run up in Scotland later in the year and would be glad of any recommendations with regards to campsites Boris.

regards

steve

[Boris]

I am going to have a test run up in Scotland later in the year and would be glad of any recommendations with regards to campsites Boris.

regards

steve

Scotland's a big place give us an idea of what area and I'm sure you will get loads of recommendations of places to stay (or avoid).

When are you planning to come up?