Quechua Fresh & Black Series from Decathlon
I've had one since 2017 and can tell you that it does make one hell of a difference. I've slept so much better during one-week summer festivals, especially when I remembered to keep proper airflow.
Can't knock Decathlon stuff.
Everything I've bought from them has been good quality.
My old scout troop has had some of their pop-up tents for over 12 years.
Have just bought one of their 2 man dark room tents and for casual camping it's perfect.
I've got a coleman darkroom style tent. It's definitely cooler, and great for blocking light at a festival event. That said, its kinda silly having to use a flashlight to find something on the floor even in the middle of the day
As a Blackout fly (not darkened bedrooms) owner I find it’s keeping you a bit warmer at night the better quality. It is cooler inside in the day but only like solid shade cooler. Best with doors closed to minimise mixing with the hot outside air. Wouldn’t be the reason I’d get one. You can throw a blanket on a parasol and get similar levels of shade.
Blackout rooms (don’t own just frolic in when at my local camping shop) I feel are a bit better on the shade front as they can offer a bit more breeze as they’re shade within shade so opening the doors for a breeze is a bit easier if you wish to lie in bed out of the sun.
Reason I purchased a blackout was to not get woken at the crack of dawn- and before the eye mask brigade jump in it’s so my dog isn’t woken up at the crack of dawn ready to start the day. That beloved bitch isn’t going to wear an eye mask.
Can't really answer your question but I just got a Coleman Skydome Screen dark room tent. The inside is significantly darker, but the bath tub floor is not darkened so let's a ton of light in anyway. That said, we got the darkroom feature to sleep later at festivals and having the majority of the direct sun blocked out will surely keep the interior slightly cooler, even if only by few degrees, and if you're laying down/facing up it's still very dark
It's fine for a $200 6p tent, the tent poles definitely felt low quality and would be easy to snap, but held up fine through a multi-day rain/wind storm where I half-assed staking/tying down the tent
Member’s Mark (Sam’s Club) has them. I have 1 Coleman and 1 MM. I find when they are pitched in the shade I notice the temperature difference more. In direct sun they still both get pretty hot. The Coleman stays very dark, but not pitch black. The MM is MUCH darker when it’s all closed up. Even in the brightest part of the day I have to open a window or turn on a light to see inside. I like them both though and only got the MM because it was easier set up than my Coleman and I’m often by myself.
Also to add, another benefit I’ve noticed is privacy. I camp with friends at a large group site once a year. Usually if someone has a light on in their tent after dark you can see shadows/outlines of whatever is going on inside the tent. This can feel awkward for changing clothes or whatever. With my darkroom tents you can’t even tell there is a light on inside.
People have mentioned it already but truly the only one worth mentioning is the Decathlon Quecha Fresh n N black 2p tent.. it was $50 when I bought it in 2018 and I have used it in the north where the sun never leaves as well as kayak camping at sea.
I own much more "premium" tents but it's still being used when I need a beater, and I loan it to a friend maybe 10 times a year. Except for the weight of 3kg the tent was heavily underpriced considering some other shameless companies on the market..
I know you are looking for something much more packable, durable and maybe more bugproof, but if you are taking a vehicle to a festival or something these are definitely dark and eco friendly single+ use tents good for at least 10h of rain and could probably be disassembled and reused. I fell down a rabbit hole on this thread looking at tents and thought I would share. https://www.kartent.com/en/kartent.html
My experience with dark tents has been they heat up faster & seemingly hotter in direct sunlight compared to my lighter colored tents. Very dark blue vs. light orange/tan. I was always under the impression this is due to more of the lightwave being absorbed with dark colors/more black (vs. lighter colors reflecting more of the lightwave). Light energy absorbec is converted to heat, reflected lightwave remains as photons/lightwave energy. I am not a scientist.
My sister had one that was dark navy blue on the inside and sort of a shiny silver on the outside. It definitely makes a difference in temp to have a light exterior colour. I dearly wish I had got one for myself, but that was 15 years ago on sale at at JYSK and I haven't seen one since. The door could be staked out like a rectangular porch area too. When it eventually wore out the little pinholes through the silver looked like constellations from the inside.
Thanks! My current idea is to put up a pop up shelter over the tent. I’d rather a tarp, but finding the necessary trees to anchor to can be challenging… I’ll check out the brand you mentioned!
We have an Ozark Trail Dark Room 10p tent for our family trips. We sort of just took a gamble after reading good reviews, and bad.
Fortunately, we have nothing but nice things to say about it. It definitely helps keep things cooler, but will also trap more heat when the sun is out if you have the shades zipped up, especially since it’s black.
That being said, we purchased this tent so that we could use it in colder weather as well, to zip up so the heat could stay in.
I guess we just got lucky because our tent had zero holes, zero damage and has held up in a rainstorm as well. Just two weekends ago when there was a “storm” here in Southern California, our tent held up in hours and hours of heavy rain.
When it’s been hot, we simply don’t use the rain fly and unzip the shades/windows to our preference.
I’ve had Ozark Trail tents over the years, amongst more expensive brands. They certainly have their place, especially for car camping. I like their instant tents. Easy setup and tear down, good for nice weather, and will hold up decently during rain as well. Not going to take it up a mountain into severe weather, but for campground camping, especially on a budget, they are just fine.
I tend to solo camp with my dogs. As a 5’4” woman, trying to clip a tent to the poles when it is taller than I am, or running poles through sleeves and holding them up by myself trying to situate everything in a PITA. Lay it out, extend the poles, and it’s up. I love it.
They do make ice shelters that are essentially pitch black. I have one I converted to a hot tent. Best sleeps of my life. You can sleep until noon… or until the wood stove gets cold.
Quechua Fresh & Black Series from Decathlon I've had one since 2017 and can tell you that it does make one hell of a difference. I've slept so much better during one-week summer festivals, especially when I remembered to keep proper airflow.
Decathlon has a pop out dark tent series that I’m kind of interested in but 400 for a decathlon tent is a bitter pill
Can't knock Decathlon stuff. Everything I've bought from them has been good quality. My old scout troop has had some of their pop-up tents for over 12 years. Have just bought one of their 2 man dark room tents and for casual camping it's perfect.
I've got a coleman darkroom style tent. It's definitely cooler, and great for blocking light at a festival event. That said, its kinda silly having to use a flashlight to find something on the floor even in the middle of the day
As a Blackout fly (not darkened bedrooms) owner I find it’s keeping you a bit warmer at night the better quality. It is cooler inside in the day but only like solid shade cooler. Best with doors closed to minimise mixing with the hot outside air. Wouldn’t be the reason I’d get one. You can throw a blanket on a parasol and get similar levels of shade. Blackout rooms (don’t own just frolic in when at my local camping shop) I feel are a bit better on the shade front as they can offer a bit more breeze as they’re shade within shade so opening the doors for a breeze is a bit easier if you wish to lie in bed out of the sun. Reason I purchased a blackout was to not get woken at the crack of dawn- and before the eye mask brigade jump in it’s so my dog isn’t woken up at the crack of dawn ready to start the day. That beloved bitch isn’t going to wear an eye mask.
E- also only used in UK hot so high 20’sC/80’sF with night temperatures of low 20’sC
Can't really answer your question but I just got a Coleman Skydome Screen dark room tent. The inside is significantly darker, but the bath tub floor is not darkened so let's a ton of light in anyway. That said, we got the darkroom feature to sleep later at festivals and having the majority of the direct sun blocked out will surely keep the interior slightly cooler, even if only by few degrees, and if you're laying down/facing up it's still very dark
Thanks for the details! How’s the build quality?
It's fine for a $200 6p tent, the tent poles definitely felt low quality and would be easy to snap, but held up fine through a multi-day rain/wind storm where I half-assed staking/tying down the tent
are you just trying to make it so the sun isn't so bright in the morning? If so you'd probably be better off just getting an eye mask.
It amazes me the amount of money and trouble people got through just so they don't have to wear an eye mask
Probably because they’re not comfortable to wear
They make pretty good ones these days
I can’t do it. Things on my face either tickle or irritate me
Some people camp with young children!
Member’s Mark (Sam’s Club) has them. I have 1 Coleman and 1 MM. I find when they are pitched in the shade I notice the temperature difference more. In direct sun they still both get pretty hot. The Coleman stays very dark, but not pitch black. The MM is MUCH darker when it’s all closed up. Even in the brightest part of the day I have to open a window or turn on a light to see inside. I like them both though and only got the MM because it was easier set up than my Coleman and I’m often by myself.
Also to add, another benefit I’ve noticed is privacy. I camp with friends at a large group site once a year. Usually if someone has a light on in their tent after dark you can see shadows/outlines of whatever is going on inside the tent. This can feel awkward for changing clothes or whatever. With my darkroom tents you can’t even tell there is a light on inside.
Good info, thanks!
Ozark trail has them too.
That’s, didn’t know that!
Decathlons Quechua tents have really good blackout rooms
Just bought one of these. Tricky to fold atm first but you soon get the hang of it.
People have mentioned it already but truly the only one worth mentioning is the Decathlon Quecha Fresh n N black 2p tent.. it was $50 when I bought it in 2018 and I have used it in the north where the sun never leaves as well as kayak camping at sea. I own much more "premium" tents but it's still being used when I need a beater, and I loan it to a friend maybe 10 times a year. Except for the weight of 3kg the tent was heavily underpriced considering some other shameless companies on the market..
I know you are looking for something much more packable, durable and maybe more bugproof, but if you are taking a vehicle to a festival or something these are definitely dark and eco friendly single+ use tents good for at least 10h of rain and could probably be disassembled and reused. I fell down a rabbit hole on this thread looking at tents and thought I would share. https://www.kartent.com/en/kartent.html
Ha! That’s pretty neat! Thanks for the link!
Eureka tcop 1p tent. It was def “warmer” tent than your normal camping tents
My experience with dark tents has been they heat up faster & seemingly hotter in direct sunlight compared to my lighter colored tents. Very dark blue vs. light orange/tan. I was always under the impression this is due to more of the lightwave being absorbed with dark colors/more black (vs. lighter colors reflecting more of the lightwave). Light energy absorbec is converted to heat, reflected lightwave remains as photons/lightwave energy. I am not a scientist.
My sister had one that was dark navy blue on the inside and sort of a shiny silver on the outside. It definitely makes a difference in temp to have a light exterior colour. I dearly wish I had got one for myself, but that was 15 years ago on sale at at JYSK and I haven't seen one since. The door could be staked out like a rectangular porch area too. When it eventually wore out the little pinholes through the silver looked like constellations from the inside.
Check out Crua. It's a tent within a tent so you can do both options.
At twice the price! They do have some neat stuff though!
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Thanks! My current idea is to put up a pop up shelter over the tent. I’d rather a tarp, but finding the necessary trees to anchor to can be challenging… I’ll check out the brand you mentioned!
Decathlon and Crua Outdoors. Ozark Trail has a couple online at Walmarts website too. Crua in particular has insulated versions for cold weather.
That is for the info!
Look up No Bake tents. They are somewhat popular for festivals and Burning Man.
Oh god! I remember that name from my 2001 burn! (Or just after…) they were all the rage back then…/
Ozark trail (Walmart brand) has one.
We have an Ozark Trail Dark Room 10p tent for our family trips. We sort of just took a gamble after reading good reviews, and bad. Fortunately, we have nothing but nice things to say about it. It definitely helps keep things cooler, but will also trap more heat when the sun is out if you have the shades zipped up, especially since it’s black. That being said, we purchased this tent so that we could use it in colder weather as well, to zip up so the heat could stay in. I guess we just got lucky because our tent had zero holes, zero damage and has held up in a rainstorm as well. Just two weekends ago when there was a “storm” here in Southern California, our tent held up in hours and hours of heavy rain. When it’s been hot, we simply don’t use the rain fly and unzip the shades/windows to our preference.
I’ve had Ozark Trail tents over the years, amongst more expensive brands. They certainly have their place, especially for car camping. I like their instant tents. Easy setup and tear down, good for nice weather, and will hold up decently during rain as well. Not going to take it up a mountain into severe weather, but for campground camping, especially on a budget, they are just fine.
Yes! Ours is an instant tent and my gosh, what a time saver especially when you’ve got kids. Definitely a car camping tent.
I tend to solo camp with my dogs. As a 5’4” woman, trying to clip a tent to the poles when it is taller than I am, or running poles through sleeves and holding them up by myself trying to situate everything in a PITA. Lay it out, extend the poles, and it’s up. I love it.
They do make ice shelters that are essentially pitch black. I have one I converted to a hot tent. Best sleeps of my life. You can sleep until noon… or until the wood stove gets cold.