Hi
Has anyone seen a Coleman Evolva in the flesh? I'm quite taken with the idea, but as I have not seen one I’m a little concerned about its sturdiness in windy conditions, and that there are obviously a lot of zips involved due to it being modular, if these play up or fail it would be a right pain!
I know it has had a good review in one of the camping mags, but would like another opinion.
Post last edited on 15/04/2008 22:33:56
------------- Why does it always rain on me?
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OH I HAVE SEEN IT. AND SAVE YOUR CASH LOOKS LIKE A NIGHTMARE TO ERECT PLUS ALL THOSE ZIPS TO GO WRONG ..... SAW IT AT A SHOW IN DERBYSHIRE, YEOMANS BIG DISPLAY. IT WAS BLOWING ABOUT AND IT WASN'T THAT WINDY .... I THINK COLEMAN HAVE LOST THERE WAY WITH TENTS GONE ARE THE DAYS OF THE WEATHERMASTER AND THE COBRA............
Looks an interesting tent. We were discussing on the weekend that we needed a tent we could change sizes depending for how long we were going away. Maybe some other companies will have more robust ones next year
just got back from a camping exhibition today, and saw the coleman evolva, we went in and took a look. To be honest it was lovely and bright inside, and was holding up well to the winds, not a lot of space in the living area, although the sleeping area is sufficient. You can add onto the tent to make it larger as well. It has a lot of height so good if you're tall.
The down side is, it looks absolutely a nightmare to put up, and would take ages I suspect too. I asked the sales people how they got on with erecting the tent, and even they said it was quite a tricky tent to erect, and they're experienced. Their words were "a complicated tent to erect!!"
The HH is 6000 on this tent so thats very good, but as the man said "are you going to mount everest for camping"?
Blushb
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Oh Well back to the drawing board....again! I was hoping it would be easy to put up.
That was one of the main attraction for me as I have to under 3's, so the OH is not always on hand to help!
I also liked the idea that the Kitchen annex could be free standing and could be moved away from the main tent and creating an enclosed space with windbreaks.
Looks like I am back to the Outwell Idaho XL, just a bit unsure about it being being a wide rather than long tent and so being restricted on the pitches I could use.
The Evolva is actually quite easy to erect....so long as you don't try to put up the whole thing as one, which I suspect may be the case from some of the comments here.
Procedure :
1. Erect central section (It's just a big dome!)
2. Erect bedrooms / kitchen (a tunnel with either 1 or 2 poles)
3. Introduce the bedroom to the knuckle attached to the central dome.
4. Zip around
It's done.
The great thing about the Evolva is its versatility. If you're going away for the weekend, just take the dome and a bedroom. If longer, add more rooms as needed.
If the site has restricted space, just leave off a room.
Depending on the space available, you can make the Evolva an extended dome, a tunnel, or a full on multi-pod design. The kitchen annexe can be used as a dressing room, and has a wardrobe hanging rail built in.
It's very roomy, light and airy. It felt and looked very sturdy.
the sleeping pods, were especially large compared to many tents we have looked at, and have a huge window at the foot.
I'm not sure about the zip construction, it would seem more likely to fail than sewn sections, but I'm guessing that they've tested this to destruction.
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It certainly does not look much fun to put up. However the one at Go Outdoors in Loughborough has been pitched for about 6-7 weeks and today was subjected to some heavy rain - it did not leak which rather surprised me as the Idaho XL was leaking which equally surprised me.
It is not the best tent about though - look at the Khyam Rigipod which was better designed and made and died a death after 2 seasons because the design was too complicated. I think the Revolva is equally too clever for tis own good.
Just bought one and it ticks all the boxes for versatility, being able to configure it to the abount of people using it.
Its large living area with loads of windows & the best ventillation around make it stand out from the crowd not to mention the hight in all the rooms.
Pitching
I have never erected a larg multi roomed tent before me and my partner managed to erect this in an hour, this was without reading the instructions, it's all colour coded so you really can't go wrong, main livin area first and just zip the other rooms on.
It also seems alot more robust than the vango diablo 600xp which I returned after breaking the first time I put it up.
One thing I noticed after putting it up on a windy day you need to peg it properly, after that its perfect.
Taking it out for the first proper outing at Easter.
I hope this info helps.
Quote: Originally posted by Hippo33 on 08/4/2009
Just bought one and it ticks all the boxes for versatility, being able to configure it to the abount of people using it. Its large living area with loads of windows & the best ventillation around make it stand out from the crowd not to mention the hight in all the rooms. Pitching I have never erected a larg multi roomed tent before me and my partner managed to erect this in an hour, this was without reading the instructions, it's all colour coded so you really can't go wrong, main livin area first and just zip the other rooms on. It also seems alot more robust than the vango diablo 600xp which I returned after breaking the first time I put it up. One thing I noticed after putting it up on a windy day you need to peg it properly, after that its perfect. Taking it out for the first proper outing at Easter. I hope this info helps.
Thanks for the post Hippo33. Bought the Evolva on Sunday and looking forward to a practice pitching. Only problem is garden is probaly too small!! Lickily have friends with a big garden who will probaly help out.
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Topic: Coleman Evolva, Have you seen it?
