Coleman FastPitch Air Tents

FastPitch Air - The Valdes Range

FastPitch Air Valdes 6XL

Coleman have been one of the biggest names in the family camping and leisure market for years - 116 of them to be precise. All of their products, not just their tents, have been examples of brilliant, useful innovation and quality. That's why many in the industry have been surprised by how long it has taken for Coleman to join the 'air' revolution that is inflatable tents. It's unlikely that they were unaware of the innovation, after all Vango's AirBeams and Outwell's SmartAir tents and awnings have been around for a number of years now. It's not as if development of an air range would be an issue for Coleman either as Sevylor, who specialise in manufacturing inflatable kayaks, are a sister company of Coleman's. 

Well, the wait is finally over! This summer will see Coleman join the air tent movement with the launch of FastPitch Air versions, of their already popular, Valdes Tent range. No doubt all the tents in their range will be developed with excellent quality in mind, especially when they can call on Sevylor's expansive expertise in inflatable products.

The Valdes range comes in 4 different models. The Valdes 4, 6, 6L and 6XL, that offer different layouts, that includes one vis-a-vis style, and sizes for 4 to 6+ people. All of them come with double XL bedrooms, allowing you to fit a full size double mattress in all of the bedroom compartments. This space, combined with Coleman's Blackout Bedrooms (which are totally pitch black - day or night!) make sure both you and the kids get a good nights sleep, allowing you to make the most of your camping trip away.

Black Out Bedrooms

FastPitch Air valdes 4

On the topic of children, the tent also features a simply but rather ingenious zips on all their doors. When fully closed the bedroom door zips meet at the halfway point of the door. Well within a child's reach and prevents them from being trapped within the bedroom. This is a brilliant safety feature ensuring that if the kids need to get out (whether for the toilet or something more serious), then they will be able to do so.

Valdes 4 -  Valdes 6 - Valdes 6L - Valdes 6XL

These small features really do demonstrate Coleman's attention to detail in this advanced family tent, further enhanced with the bright green guy lines, extra strong pitch points, and the tried and tested rigid D hinge door. This door was used in their Cortes + and Octagon tents last year, and proved to be a huge hit, so has been brought forward to a few more of their tents this year. The pros of this door are, perhaps most importantly, that you don't have to struggle with rolling up the door small enough to tie it up every time you need to go in and out of the tent. The main exit is a rigid structure, made so with a fibre-glass pole (which is easily removed), and opens like a normal door, able to swing open and closed. It can also be pinned back, leaving an open entrance as a roll up door would do, allowing people to run in and out easily. All the doors have the standard double layer system - one with just mesh and one totally covered, giving you flexibility with the often unpredictable British weather! 

Of course the main attraction with this tent is the ease of pitching, given by the FastPitch technology, beams filled with air, replacing standard fibre-glass poles which can snap in severe weather. This allows the tent to be pitched by just 1 person in minutes. All of the beams are encased in an tough nylon fabric which will be safe against an awful amount of wear and tear, and are then encased in the tents main fabric to give structure and further protection. This outer fabric tunnel is also zipped all the way along, meaning that in the unlikely event you develop a puncture, the beam can be removed and repaired or replaced with ease. The valves for inflating and deflating the tent are taken from Sevylor's kayaks so will definitely be more than able to withstand a lot of use without failing.

The Valdes range is perfect for any getaway, whether its to a festival with friends, or on a family camping trip away. Although the 4 doesn't give a huge amount of living space, the 6L and 6XL certainly remedy this.

          

To see a full video review of the Valdes 4, head to our YouTube channel, and to see our range of Coleman (and other air) tents, click here!