Since their beginnings, the Coleman Instant Up tents have experienced 2 facelifts, welcomed an 8 person version to the range, introduced a Gold Series or ‘top-shelf’ range of these popular tents, and most recently welcomed the Northstar Dark Room series to the family.
It was the addition of the original Gold series tents that had our customers asking themselves, “What is the difference between the Silver and Gold Series Instant Up tents”. Furthermore, with the introduction of the Northstar Dark Room range, our customers are now asking, “What are the benefits of the Dark Room tents?”
Truth is, it’s pretty straightforward. For starters, the frame is exactly the same for all three, the differences are in the fabrics and extras. But, before we delve into explaining the differences let’s answer the question – “Why should you buy a Coleman Instant Up Tent?”
The Instant Northstar Dark Room, Instant Up Gold 6P and Instant Up Silver 4P side by side.
The answer? Because they are a perfect lightweight substitute to heavy-duty canvas touring tents. Their lower price, smaller pack size and ease of handling make them the quick pitch tent of choice for family campers and 4WD tourers alike.
How’s that for a sales pitch!
There’s a long list of tents in the Instant Up Range now, all referred to in this article. Here’s a snapshot of the range to paint a clear picture for you…
Models in the Silver range:
Models in the Gold range:
Models in the Northstar Dark Room range:
- Instant Up 4P Lighted Northstar Dark Room
- Instant Up 6P Lighted Northstar Dark Room
- Instant Up 10P Lighted Northstar Dark Room
Below, we compare the Silver and Gold series Instant Up tents. Then we put the Northstar Dark Room tents up against the rest of the range.
First up – the Instant Up Silver vs Instant Up Gold. There are eight differences, so let’s get started…
If you prefer to watch a video comparing the Silver and Gold tents, then hit the play button above.
What are the differences between the Silver and Gold series Instant Up Tents?
1. The fabric quality
This is a bit technical, bear with me. The Silver series use a PU coated 150 denier polyester with a thread count of 150 (150D/150T). This is a durable and reasonably heavy duty fabric. The gold series, however, utilise a PU coated 75 denier polyester with a thread count of 185T (75D/185T) plus it has a rip-stop fibre sewn into the fabric. This gold series fabric is a softer and denser fabric that packs away easier whilst maintaining strength and durability.
2. Higher water-head ratings
Waterwhaaat…?! Not everyone understands what water-head means. Basically, it’s a measure of how waterproof the fabric is. It’s measured with a machine that places water pressure on a section of the fabric until it starts to seep through. For most conditions, the 1500mm waterhead on the Silver series Instant-Up tents will keep you dry. The gold series, however, boast a 3000mm waterhead, which I wouldn’t say is twice as waterproof, but they certainly offer extra peace of mind if you’re caught out in torrential rain.
The Gold’s floor (left) is a little easier to fold. It’s also a bit more durable compared to the Silver (right). Image: Coleman Australia
3. Nicer floor material
Both series have a bucket floor, and they offer similar levels of water protection, the difference is in the type of fabric. In the Silver series, you get a Polyethylene floor (PE), which is the same stuff regular tarps are made of. It’s tough and waterproof, but noisy to walk on and requires a little bit of wrangling to fold away. The gold series tents have a nice PVC coated Polyoxford floor. This is basically like the fly fabric, only thicker with a durable rubbery coating on it. This fabric is softer and quieter to walk on, packs away easier and still offers the durability of the PE flooring.
4. Door & window mesh
Coleman doesn’t advertise this much and I’m not sure why, but the mesh on the gold series tents is finer than that on the Silver series. It’s not no-see-um mesh, but it’s definitely much finer and softer which probably also aids in ease of packing away.
The Instant Up Gold tents have ground level vents that open up to create a nice cross breeze.
5. Better ventilation
All the Instant-Up tents have large windows finishing at waist level with internal privacy screens, along with entrances with mesh and solid panels. So, ventilation is good on all these tents. The gold series tents have the added benefit of ground-level vents that can be opened internally. This is called Coleman Circle Ventilation and, talking from experience, is a welcome addition to your tent in warm weather. It creates a cross breeze at the base of the tent, right where you’re sleeping!
6. Bonus awning
While all entrances to the Instant Up tents can be extended as awnings, the 4P and 6P version of the gold series come with an extra removable awning that can be fixed above the windows on either side. It’s easily attached/removed with a zipper and features three eyelets so the awning can be extended with a peak to shed water. What’s more, the extra awning poles are included.
7. More storage
While internal storage pockets feature on the internal walls of every Instant Up model, the 4P and 6P Gold and the 4P and 6P Northstar Dark Room series have the added benefit of a gear hammock that attaches under the internal peak of the tent. It’s a perfect place to store the car keys so all can access, or maybe some emergency midnight munchies… up where the kids can’t reach them!
A doormat is a nice addition to the Gold tents. Image: Coleman Australia
8. Last and most importantly… a doormat!
Every gold series Instant Up tent comes with its very own doormat. There’s no witty welcome phrase or fancy patterns, it’s just a panel of mesh Polyethylene fabric with peg out points. But, it offers a clean and dry place to rest your shoes in the vestibule.
Now – the Northstar Dark Room Tents?
The Instant Up Northstar Dark Room tents are a newer addition to Coleman’s Instant Up family, and certainly a very popular one. First introduced was the Instant Northstar Dark Room 10P tent, the Northstar Dark Room 6P and 4P followed, and now they’ve even applied their Dark Room technology to a pop-up tent!
What are the differences between the Instant Up Gold Dark Room tents when compared to the Gold and Silver series?
1. Models
The Northstar Dark Room range currently comes in three sizes in the Instant Up configuration – the Instant Up 10P Lighted Northstar Dark Room, Instant Up 6P Lighted Northstar Dark Room and Instant Up 4P Lighted Northstar Dark Room.
Not including the vestibule, the 4P Silver, 4P Gold and 4P Dark Room tents all share the same internal dimensions and the same can be said for the 6P tents.
The Instant Up Gold 10P pictured above has two rooms. Image: Coleman Australia
However, in the 10 person category, the Northstar Dark Room 10P boasts three rooms compared to the Instant Up Gold 10P’s two. This makes the Northstar Dark Room a slightly more spacious and livable tent.
The Instant Northstar Dark Room 10P has three rooms. Image: Coleman Australia
2. Features
The Northstar Dark Room series feature the same instant up frame and share the same 75D/185T fabric featured in the Gold series.
The main difference that separates the Northstar Dark Room tents from the Silver and Gold Instant Up tents is a light blocking coating on the back of the flysheet. This special black coating on the underside assists with blocking out 95% of light while helping to reduce the interior temperature inside your tent by up to 5°C. This fly is what makes these models so popular with families with young kids who need to stick to their bedtime routines!
The second difference is that the Dark Room 6P and 4P have an extra pole in the front to create a much larger vestibule. This can be used for additional living or storage space but will add a little to your setup time.
The third difference is that all three Northstar Dark Room tents feature silicone flexible strip lighting with integrated LED lights for easy illumination inside your tent.
It’s also worth mentioning that the Dark Room tents don’t come with the bonus removable awning featured in the regular 4P and 6P Gold Series tents.
The interior of the Dark Room tents vs the Instant Up Gold Tents. Images: Coleman Australia
So, there you have it – the differences between the Gold, Silver and Northstar Dark Room Instant Up Tents!
That’s pretty much it. In terms of performance in wind, the Gold, Silver and Northstar Dark Room series are comparable. Setup time is similar for all series and the packed size only varies slightly. In summary, the silver series is very affordable whilst the Gold series offers extra bells and whistles and a few creature comforts that you may appreciate if you can afford the extra. If sleeping in is your thing, then the Dark Room models may help get the extra shut-eye you’re longing for.
My old Coleman Instant Up 4P (not the Gold version) has seen me and my family through two big outback touring trips and numerous weekend escapes. It’s still fully functional and apart from a few rub spots on the floor, it’s in great condition.
However, if I had my time again, I’d certainly consider upgrading to the Gold series, or even the Dark Room to help get the kids to bed easier, or more importantly to make them sleep in longer!
The Instant Up Gold, Silver and Northstar Dark Room tents are both very comparable, but which one would you pick if you had to make a choice?
Trekker, surfer, climber, mountain biker, runner, camper. Participator in most things… master of none.
I’m looking at a Coleman Excursion Instant Up 6 Person Touring Tent and wondering what the difference is with this one?
The Excursion is BCF’s exclusive version of the Instant Up tent, I am not sure of the specific differences sorry, apart from colour, but they are probably similar. ~ Ben
Great explanations thank you! I’m interested in getting on of the darkroom tents but I saw there are now two versions. Other than the slightly different shape and colour, do you know if there are any major material or feature differences between the Instant Up Darkroom 6P Tent and the Northstar Series Instant Up Lighted 6P Tent?
https://www.colemanaustralia.com.au/tents/tents-by-style/instant-tents/instant-up-darkroom-6-person-tent/SAP_1451713.html
https://www.colemanaustralia.com.au/tents/tents-by-style/instant-tents/northstar-series-instant-up-lighted-6-person-tent/SAP_1515010.html
Thanks for such a terrific guide to this range, Ben.
I’m about to purchase my second Coleman Instant-up. My first lasted 11 years, and is only being replaced because the zip has given up the gong.
I’ll be getting the same tent, the 6 man, but now in the gold series.
I cannot recommend this range of tents enough! They are fantastic.
I am looking to buy Coleman Instant up 4p, I am looking for one bedroom and one living room style, the only option will be 4p gold evo+ awing right? There is no such thing like 4p glod evo darkroom +awing ?
Hey Sean! Thanks for your enquiry, apologies for the late response – there’s the Coleman Instant Up 4P Gold Evo tent here, which is compatible with the Instant Up Gold Series Evo Shade Awning. There’s also the Coleman Instant Up 4P Lighted Northstar Darkroom Tent, which features a front vestibule as additional living space 🙂
Hope that helps?
I have just purchased a 4P dark room tent and I am so excited to get out there and use it. I set it up, just to make sure I don’t embarrass myself at the camping grounds and it was super easy to do. I’m really looking forward to getting out there and putting it to good use
This is just the article I needed. Thank you so much for your help! All is clear now 🙂
Awesome Page!! We’re stoked to hear it was of help to you. Happy camping 🙂
Great article, thanks.
One question, can the Coleman Instant Up Gold Series Evo Shade Awning with Heat Shield be used with the Northstar Darkroom 4P?
G’day Malcolm, unfortunately, no. The Evo Shade awnings attach to the Evo series tents via the zipper above the front vestibule. The Northstar Darkroom doesn’t have a zipper so they’re not compatible, sorry mate!
What’s the difference between Gold and Gold Evo 4P tent
G’day Helen, the Gold Evo model is the newer model and has superseded the Gold. It is the same size and uses the same fabrics, however, Coleman has added an additional zip tracker on the front of the tent so you can add the optional heat shield awning and connect them to a gazebo. Hope that helps, cheers!
What’s the difference in Coleman Darkroom and Coleman Northstar Darkroom tents and which one to buy. I am looking for 10P tents. Thank you for the above article.
G’day Amit, the Lighted Northstar Darkroom has replaced the original Coleman Darkroom and integrates a flexible silicone strip of LED lighting inside the tent and well as the light and heat-reducing coating on the fly.
Here are a couple of links that might help to explain the differences as well…
https://www.snowys.com.au/blog/gold-vs-silver-comparing-coleman-instant-up-tents/
https://youtu.be/ocYyEl6BFgM
Great article, thank you. I have three questions:
1. Do the Dark Room tents have the same lower ventilation as the Gold series?
2. Can the side window awnings be bought/added to the Dark Room tents?
3. Is the Dark Room Gold the same as the Northstar Instant Up, and the same as the Lighted Dark Room Instant Up? I’m trying to work out whether these names are simply interchangeable names for the same tents, or entirely different tents. It sounds like the former, but confirmation would be great.
Thank you!
🙂
Hi Jacqui, the Dark Room tents have Coleman’s circle ventilation for air flow, and only the Gold comes with a removeable awning. The names have changed slightly over the years which is confusing so you are right there, but now it’s just referred to as the Instant Up Lighted Northstar tents. I hope that has answered your queries, Jacqui – cheers!
our friendly yoda has a comment; missing poles we have.
I’m not too sure if you mean that your tent arrived without the required poles, or if you just need some spare ones – but either way, the best thing to do is to get in touch with our customer support team at service@snowys.com.au or give them a buzz on 1300 914 007 and they’ll be happy to help, Asher.
Hello,
I’m looking for some advice or reviews. For the Gold Instant UP 4P Dark room tent, on a sunny day, with the fly on, windows and door OPEN, how dark is the tent inside? It seems from all the pictures online that it’s very very dark inside in the daytime, which would be very depressing if you just want to sit inside for a bit or get out of the rain or sun, or read? Basically like being in a room with black walls and no lights? So the dark room tents seem to be for those who will only be in the tent at night, not during the day? Is that true? As I say the pics online don;t show it with windows open. Thanks so much. Really struggling with choosing between the Dark Room vs no dark room Colemans Instant Up 4P. These reviews are great BTW. Thanks
It will still be dark inside during the day, Tanudja. To give you some sort of guide, the fabric blocks almost all the light, so you’d most likely still need a light to be able to read inside the Darkroom tents during the day unless you sat right in the door or window. It’s hard to get a good image of this as the camera can’t replicate what the human eye sees with the difference in contrast from inside and out. If you want to sit inside the tent and read, play games, or just relax during the day then you’d be best sticking with the regular Instant Up Gold. The Darkroom tents are ideal for those wanting to get kids to sleep whilst it’s still light (think daylight savings), or campers who like to sleep in who also benefit from the tent not warming up as much inside once the light hits the fabric. I hope this helps.
Hi Tanudja,
We purchased Dark Room 10P around 12 months ago and have a used it a handful of times so far. The black-out property is only on the inside of fly so if you like to have the awning up and/or the fly rolled up at the side entrances during the day a reasonable amount of light will come through.
This might not be enough for what you are after…? I more mention it because if you are like us and want to “stay-up-late” around the fire after the kids are asleep you need to remember to pull the awing down and re-peg it to the ground before heading to bed yourself… otherwise – no black-out and the kids will be up at dawn. However, we’ve found that if we have the awning down our kids will sleep in well past the first rays of sunlight (which is a godsend).
Good Luck
I have the 10p darkroom tent and it’s a dream. 3mins to get standing. 10mins to have fly on and pegged. Two families have bought one since they saw ours.
Well, imitation is certainly the sincerest form of flattery in this case, Luke.
So nice to hear you’ve inspired others with their tent choices – cheers!
Our Gold 6 person tent withstood extremely strong winds at Gluepot reserve last year! 🙂 great tent, nice and roomy, lots of ventilation, and so easy to put up, even with just one person.
Thanks for your feedback Alysse, often people are concerned about the performance of these tents in bad weather. As you’ve experienced, if pitched correctly and in full with all guy ropes and peg points in place, they are more than capable of withstanding a bit of wind. Happy Camping!
Why does anyone camp at Gluepot reserve?? I rode my motorbike along that road last summer and it was like the journey to the centre of the Earth. Hot dry and sandy. Not much else there. Couldn’t even fill up my water bottle from a reliable source.
I’d like to add two additional benefits of the gold 6p. 1: it has a rear door not mentioned in any description which gives excellent additional ventilation. 2: the zip on side awning can be used on either side and an additional awning can be bought separately and when both attached and deployed provide excellent additional shade /rain shelter and when both guyed out provide balanced tension the frame making the whole unit more stable and secure. This is a surprisingly good and functional tent. Not great in strong winds but ideal in sheltered sites.
Glad to hear you’re a fan of these tents Bruce, we are too.
The Instant Up Gold 6P does indeed have 2 doors, and you can attach the detachable awning on either side of the tent.
But just to clarify for anyone reading out there, I’ve just double checked this, and the side awning can’t be purchased separately as it’s not an off-the-shelf item.
Happy camping!
We bought the Gold Instant Up 4 person tent. Our friends used it extensively while traveling with us. We also took it to Bungle Bungle. Got a big thumbs up from our friends and we are so very pleased. Great tent
They’re a good little tent aren’t they Joan? Glad to hear you took it for a spin to the Kimberley, sounds like your Instant Up has been on quite a few adventures!