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Reviews > Shelters > Tents > Coleman Inyo 2 Tent > Owner Review by Zachary Huang

Coleman Exponent Inyo 2 three season tent

Owner Review

November 02, 2009

Zachary Huang

Age 19

Male

5'10" (178cm)

125 lbs (57 kg)

theDOTpaintingDOTaccidentATgmailDOTcom

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

 

Background:

Typical pack weight: 35-45 lbs (16-21 kg)

Pack style: Light-medium weight

Types of travel: Extended trips abroad, 3-5 day hikes

Shelter type: 3 season 2-man tent

Special Activities: Black and White Film Photography

 

Backpacking background: I began backpacking and hiking 4 years ago starting with overnighters and weekend trips. I progressively moved on to weeklong trips and months abroad. I travel mostly in temperate climates and pack as light as possible. I currently attend school on the east coast of the United States so I've encountered various terrains in all seasons.

 

:Inyo21.jpg

(Image courtesy of Coleman)

 

Product information:

Exponent Inyo 2 – msrp $110.00 US (discontinued)

Manufacturer: Coleman

Year of Manufacture: 2008

http://www.coleman.com 

Manufacturer’s Measurements:

Floor dimensions: 89" by 53" (2.26 m by 1.35 m)

Center Height: 40.75" (1.04 m)

Pack weight: 4.9 lbs (11kg)

Number of rooms: 1

Number of doors: 2

Number of poles: 2

 

Description:

I was surprised with the Coleman Exponent Inyo 2 because Coleman by far is not a leading name in lightweight backpacking gear. As I've come to remember them they only made heavy, car camping gear. But was I wrong. The Inyo 2 was my first tent purchase as a budget lightweight backpacker; I picked mine up at a discount on the already low retail price. Coleman followed after leading brands in the lightweight department and designed the Inyo 2 as a non-freestanding wedge style tent, with a full rainfly, mainly mesh tent body, and 2 large vestibules. The tent is equipped with all the standards in lightweight materials from lightweight stakes, aluminum poles, and nylon taffeta/ripstop fabric material. They advertise the Inyo 2 as a 2-man tent and with 2 large doors and vestibules it is extremely easy to navigate around. Coleman came out with two versions of the Inyo (1 man) and the Inyo 2 (2 man). The earlier version only had one pole and was lighter but suffered from a cramped foot box and water pooling at the front of the tent. The version I purchased solves that problem with a second pole at the foot area. The body is comprised of mainly mesh panels and a bathtub-style floor, with taped seams in both the tent and the rainfly. The only branding by Coleman is a small Coleman patch by the left mesh door and a large printed X at the foot of the rainfly, the logo for their Exponent series. The Inyo 2 comes with a storage sack that didn't compress the tent so I replaced it with a compression stuff sack to save space in my pack. I also made a footprint out of tyvek to protect the floor.

 

Location and Conditions:

The Inyo 2 has been with me for over two years now and I could not have been happier. The tent has traveled with me all over the country and into China. I've slept nights ranging from 90F-45F (32C – 7C) and at all times I've been warm. The Inyo 2 has withstood 50mph (81 km/hr) + winds on mountain tops, heavy torrential rain and not once did it collapse or leak.

 

Performance in the Field:

The Inyo 2 is very easy to set up with only two poles (both color-coded) and a combination of pole sleeves/clips. As advertised the Inyo 2 provides ample room for two lightweight backpackers. My fellow backpacker and I have slept countless nights in the tent packed with our packs, sleeping pads, sleeping bags, and camera bags without feeling cramped. Of course space isn't luxurious but we weren't butting heads on our expeditions. The 2 large doors and vestibules are great for keeping out of each other's way when entering and exiting. The highest point of the Inyo 2 allows me to sit up in the tent, which is great for rainy nights. The two-pole wedge design allows the Inyo 2 to be highly resistant to wind (so long as it is set it up as a wedge into the wind) and lightweight but doesn't allow it to be freestanding which calls for some improvising when stakes can't be used. I've set up the Inyo 2 in all sorts of terrain from soft earth to hard rock faces and remedied the absence of stakes with rope tied out to trees or rocks. The full rainfly and bathtub floor kept the rain out and the warmth in. The factory-taped seams did begin to peel this last month. I removed them and resealed with seam sealer. Small details like 2 mesh pockets near the doors and hoops to hold the fly/tent doors open seemed frivolous at first but are extremely practical. As for the zippers, I've had no problems with them and have only encountered one or two snags that were easily fixed. This last month the foot pole snapped on me breaking at the middle link. I was extremely displeased at having to get a replacement, which cost me $17 from Coleman, but they still carried the parts and shipped it extremely fast. I was also still able to use the tent without the foot pole; it just sagged at the foot area.

 

Summary:

The Inyo 2 is an extremely affordable, high quality, lightweight 2-man tent.

 

Things I Like:

Affordability

Weight to space ratio

Ease of setup and break down

Performance

Quality of construction

 

Things I don't like:

Non-freestanding

No compression stuff sack

Taped rather than seam-sealed seams

 

Signature

Zachary Huang

 



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Reviews > Shelters > Tents > Coleman Inyo 2 Tent > Owner Review by Zachary Huang



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