Coleman Hooligan 3 Tent
CUSTOMER REVIEW
The Coleman Hooligan 3 is an excellent tent for less-than-ideal spring/summer/fall conditions, but design elements keep me from recommending this tent for all-around use. The positive features actually can be negatives under certain circumstances. I rate this tent at 3.5 stars for general purpose use, and 3.75 for those who want a tent better able to handle tough weather. If the zippers and the multitude of lightweight Coleman-issue stakes were all sturdier, I'd make that a 4.
The Hooligan is similar to a two pole Coleman Sundome tent constructed primarily of netting covered by a complete, waterproof fly with a good sized vestibule. There are none of the "windows" common to the Sundome family of tents; airflow through the tent is via the door/dome/side Ventilation openings. The design makes it impossible to close off the side vents, rendering this tent impractical for very cold weather use. With 13 stakes necessary for the fly, and 4 for the tent itself, setting it up in rocky or very sandy soils could be a bit of a challenge. Otherwise, actual set-up is straightforward (a usage tip-do NOT stake the tent out prior to setting up the main poles; before you do, check the tension across the front of the tent, as I found that a lot of strain can be placed on the tent zipper if you don't proceed in this manner, and the zipper itself is a little on the wimpy side). With the vestibule, most folks will need to do a double-dip or drop to hands and knees to enter the Hooligan through the vestibule and door combination. With a 58" height, standing up inside is out of the question for most of us, but that's to be expected in a small tent. At 8' x 7', the tent can handle a double size air bed, with some room to spare, making it adequate for 2 people (ok, 2 humans and one stinky dog), but forget about the three person designation unless you leave all of your gear outside.
The 13 stake fly covers the inner tent nearly to the ground and stays down tight,even in a strong wind. The dual shell design keeps water from wicking onto items touching the interior sides of the tent, and keeps condensation to a minimum. The now ubiquitous "bathtub" bottom really works; the waterproof poly floor stayed dry even when we recently pitched the tent in a mud puddle. You can get plenty of air going through the tent when it warms up by controlling the upper vent and front door openings. The lack of "windows" doesn't seem to matter much with this tent; the glow provided by the bright over-fly provides light even on a gloomy day (and on a recent trip to the Trinity Alps, allowed enough starlight through to be able to see in the middle of the night). The vestibule is big enough to be truly practical; a couple of day packs and pairs of shoes can be stored there leaving plenty of access room for the main tent (note, however, that the vestibule does not have a built-in floor; a piece of tarp will help keep your items dry).
Updated 6/2011:
We're now in our second season with the Hooligan, and it's proven to be a good choice for us. We've used it in Lassen
N.P., the Trinity Alps and throughout the California Redwoods. It's not the easiest tent to set up, but it handles
weather, is small enough to place in a relatively tiny area, yet the vestibule is big enough to be truly useful as a mud
room, dressing room, and storage area. Experience indicates that the aquisition of strong, steel stakes is essential to
insure successful performance of the tent. This is a relatively minimal additional investment to make in order to obtain
an inexpensive but tough shelter capable of standing up to variable weather conditions. For the reasons I stated above, I
stand by my original rating for the tent; it's just not going to be satisfactory for everyone. But for those who need or
want that next step up and are willing to invest some extra effort in set-up and tear down, a solid value at the price.
