Coleman 14x10 Foot 8 Person Instant Tent

Coleman 14x10 Foot 8 Person Instant Tent

This is a great tent! Do yourself a favor and instead of taking it out of the box and trying to beat the 1 minute time for assembly, read the directions and familerize yourself with the proper way to put it up and take it down. After 1 or 2 times you will be setting up in about a minute.
I am 6'3' so I can easily lift and reach all the moving parts. It is a heavy tent (45lb) and its about 4 feet when in its carry bag. 45lbs may not sound like a lot but when it is stretched 4 feet accross it can feel more like 100 lbs. My wife has a hard time lifting and manuvering it by herself. Keep this in mind if you are short and not very strong. That being said Coleman does clearly state that set up is a 2 person job. I suggest that even carrying it is a 2 person job if you are small.
Taking it down is a slower process but still very easy and I love not having to seperate any parts to do it. However since it is all one piece you will definently want to put a tarp under it to keep the bottom as clean as possible. Remember when I said it is a heavy tent, well rolling it back up is a job in itself and I have used help for this since day one. You will get dirty doing this if the tent is dirty. There is no way around it, you have to man handle this thing to roll it up. Thats not a bad thing (you gotta take the bad with the good) I'm just speaking from my expierence with it and being honest. The bag is very large and you
shouldn't have a problem putting it away.
It is awesome inside. Its huge and I love that so much of it is screened. The room dividers role up real nice and they are permantly attached to the tent so you dont have to keep track of them if you choose not to use them. The windows/walls role in and tuck into the screen when zipped down wich is convienent and easy. Other reviews have stated that the wind can make them unrole and flap around, I have not had this issue.

Coleman Sundome 4-Person Tent

Coleman Sundome 4-Person Tent

I bought this for our annual June cub scout camp out in the park (i.e. not exactly extreme camping). The tent was easy for my 8 year old son and I to set up together and very roomy for the two of us (I can see how it could easily fit 4 if needed, though it was a nice size for 2 with plenty of room for stuff). It rained most of the night with thunder and lightning, but we made it through completely dry. The rain cover worked great and still provided plenty of ventilation. There are not a lot of rope tie-downs for kids (and adults) to trip over which was nice (just 2 for the rain cover and none for the actual tent) and it was still entirely stable through our stormy night. This tent was reasonably priced and worked well for our purposes. I bought this rather than last year's model just because it was a few dollars less but my impressions of this tent seem in line with the very positive reviews for last year's model.

Coleman 6-Person Instant Tent

Coleman 6-Person Instant Tent

We just returned from camping in this tent. First time out of the box I think we had the thing set up in under two minutes. It could easily be done in 60 seconds or less next time. It reminds me of setting up our graco pack and play. I LOVED the way it set up! I was really surprised that it comes down just as easy. Fitting it back in the original bag took a couple minutes, but not any more than other tents we've had.
However, I was surprised by a few things left off. There are only two little pockets inside the tent on the side walls. I expected to find a pocket in the roof too. So we had to crawl over each other if you wanted car keys early in the morning, etc. There were only two small roof vents. If you camp in summer I think this tent would get hot. In my opinion the biggest mistake was there is no way to tie the windows open. THe are made so you can kind of tuck them in themselves, but that didn't work even in our light breeze. We tried sleeping with the windows open but the unzipped windows were flapping right at face level (on air mattresses). We tried sleeping with them half open, but the constant flapping could drive you nuts. So we slept with the fully closed. This was fine because it was cool, but I would not recommend the tent for summer because of that. However, if you hate the set up and tear down, this tent is amazing.
We had one queen and two twin air mattresses. This tent was a tight squeeze for us, but we were able to fit. I think it is a little smaller than our last 6 person tent. We are going to return it for the 8 person so we won't be so squished next time. Also, the 8 person appears to have much longer windows. I think that they will be long enought to lay on the floor and then set a duffle or something on top of the window flap. THat should keep the windows from flapping in our face all night. Also, the bigger windows would help to keep the tent cooler for summer camping.
We had only a very light rain one morning and stayed dry. I have no idea how it would do in heavier rain.

Coleman Red Canyon 17-Foot by 10-Foot 8-Person Modified Dome Tent

Coleman Red Canyon 17-Foot by 10-Foot 8-Person Modified Dome Tent

This is a nice, spacious SUMMER tent. Don't even think about using it if its spring/fall and the temperatures might drop, but its fantastic in hot weather, rain or not. Also this isn't a tent for windy conditions due to its high profile. I can set this tent up alone, although getting the rain fly over the top can be a bit tricky on my own, it does eventually get there. I hadn't thought about how tough it would be for 65" tall me to get a rain fly over the 78" top of a 10x17' tent! I bought this tent for summer camping when rain was a likely complication, when I am NOT packing it more than a few yards from the vehicle. (It is a heavy tent.) It holds a table, chairs, cot, gear, and dog quite comfortably and is ridiculously spacious when I am camping alone. When a group is camping and the weather goes wet, it becomes a great place for people to get together out of the rain and have coffee, play cards, etc. I do think the "cool port" thing is about the dumbest looking thing I have ever seen on a tent though...it looks like either a demented dog door or I'm expecting the little people to join me. The "mud mat" is also rather dorky. Being three room is kind of stretching it, but the curtains are useful for changing clothes when there is a mixed group together.

Minuses on this tent: it has a single d-door with a single zipper pull, which starts on the bottom. It has huge mesh sections in the ceiling over the ends, and there isn't any way to close them off. It lacks extra tie down points on the rain fly for foul weather when the wind kicks up a bit, which means its inclined to really start popping in a gust. There are not very many stake points on the tent itself either, which also help in foul weather.

The Bone Bed (A Scarpetta Novel)

The Bone Bed (A Scarpetta Novel)

The Bone Bed had me captured for 18 consecutive hours of almost unbroken reading. Still based at the Cambridge Forensic Center, all of the usual characters are present. Her FBI Profiler husband, Benton Wesley, her niece Lucy and the ever present Marino. Lucy is still ensconced in electronic data, but she is keeping secrets from her aunt. Like wear did that heavy gold ring she is wearing come from. Marino seems to be drinking again and collecting miniature Skull Head vodka bottles and making ornaments from them. Benton, well Benton has a new partner, and he is a bit muddy with Kay about the relationship there. With the arrival of a very disturbing email and the death of a palaeontologist in Alberta, Canada, closely followed by a body found in the Charles River, attached by nets and a number of things to a leatherback turtle, and another seemingly unrelated murder, the book picks up pace quickly. I wouldn't suggest starting it at bedtime and planning on reading a chapter or two because you will have problems putting the book down. Probably what I did enjoy most about The Bone Bed as well as it's predecessor, Red Mist, is the return of Patricia Cornwell's writing style. Back again is the Scarpetta who is strong and sensitive and the intelligent woman that we had all known. After the writing of her Jack the Ripper book, Ms Cornwell couldn't seem to pull together a cohesive writing style. The story lines and Kay Scarpetta suffered for it. We saw Scarpetta second guessing herself and seeming to need others to make a simple decision. Thankfully that is sorted and we once again have gotten Patricia Cornwell and Kay Scarpetta back at their best.

The Twelve (Book Two of The Passage Trilogy): A Novel

The Twelve (Book Two of The Passage Trilogy): A Novel

THE TWELVE, which is the second book of Cronin's towering trilogy, can be read as a complete book, whereas the first book stopped abruptly, like a gasp. However, I urge you to read THE PASSAGE first, because the epic as a whole is a finely calibrated accretion of history, plot and character. The Twelve refers to the twelve "parent" or original virals, the death-row-inmate subjects-turned-virals from "Project Noah," who must be liquidated in order to save the world. The thrust of this book is the hunt of the twelve by Amy, Alicia, Peter, and company.

"All eyes." Two words commonly spoken by the First Colony Watchers, starting in Book one--survivors of the end of the world as we know it. I shiver when I read it now, this sober siren call of fellowship to signal strength and vision, to defeat the virals. It carries an additional, deep and tacit message now--that I honor you, comrade (lover, brother, father, mother, friend, sister, soldier, daughter)--go bravely and stay safe. And keep your eyes forward, against the last remaining light of the day.

Cronin's weighty trilogy, a hybrid of mainstream and literary fiction, isn't just a story about these photophobic vampiric virals, identified variously as dracs, smokes, flyers, jumps, and glowsticks. Rather, it is a portrait of humanity in extremis. Virals, caused by a military experiment gone awry, are a malignant, violent force of annihilation. But what reserves of strength keep us fighting? How do people live in a post-apocalyptic world? Is another end coming? Or a beginning? Is the world even worth saving? THE TWELVE, like THE PASSAGE, has as much anthropology, eschatology, psychology, and philosophy, as it does gore, battle and horror.

Puppyhood: Life-size Portraits of Puppies at 6 Weeks Old

Puppyhood: Life-size Portraits of Puppies at 6 Weeks Old

It seems that most reviews of the book are by one of two types of reviewers: 1. the reviewer either loves or hates O'Reilly, or 2. the reviewer either loved or hated how it was written. Here is my take, leaving the personal feelings about the author aside, Killing Lincoln delivers on its mission. Many rip O'Reilly apart for it not being an in depth treatment of his death and surrounding events. Here's a news flash: it's not supposed to be. It is not written as a doctoral dissertation on the subject nor is it intended to be. It is not intended to give every detail about what happened. It is intended to be an engaging read that follows the events surrounding Lincoln's last days. It is intended to be written from the perspective of putting the reader on the streets of D.C. during those days, putting you into Ford's Theater the night of the killing. In that regard it delivers. Here is my recommendation for this book: give this book to someone that you want to get interested in history. Give it to a student and let them see that history does not have to be boring. Give it to someone that loves novels, but hates non-fiction and let them discover how engaging and important history is and can be. On that level O'Reilly delivers.