CINCH Pop Up Tent Review

Cinch! Pop Up Tent

The Cinch! pop up tent came about from a successful Kickstarter campaign. The aim of the designer of this tent was to make a tent that was fast to put up, and would keep your sanity intact in doing so. Hence the Cinch was born, and since 2014 has continued to evolve and be distributed around the world.

Of course, Cinch! isn't the only tent that pops up - there are numerous others in the marketplace, but this tent has been one that has received the most attention of late - it reached its Kickstarter funding goal in 16 minutes.

We have never had a pop up tent before, so when we got the opportunity to review it, thanks to Cinch! Australia, we were keen to see how pop up tents went. Read on to see our thoughts.

Specifications

This is a review for the 4 man tent.

Total size: Length 4m. Width 2.6m. Height 1.6m.
Canopies & Entrances: 1.7m canopies extend your living area.
Internal storage bay: Width 2.16m. Length 0.8m within entrances

Living area: Length 2.36m. Width 2.16m. Height 1.5m
Disc-shaped rucksack size: 110cm approx in diameter
Weight: 10kg approx

Also provided - 2 lanterns/torches, and 2 mirrors.

Image below from Cinch! Australia website:

First Impressions

Opening the box, the Cinch! comes in a disc-shaped rucksack, with straps so you can wear on your back. Not that is a hiking tent, but designed so you can carry it from the car to the campsite. Being a disc, it is an easy way to carry.

In the rucksack, we had the tent plus 3 little compartments to hold extras, like the 4 LED tent stakes and 32 metal tent pegs, and additional guylines. The metal tent pegs are not the really flimsy ones that you can bend easily, but sturdier sort that actually do what they are designed to do!

The actual tent is kept together with a yellow fabric loop, which holds the tent all in place - it all looks very neat when you open it for the very first time! At this point, I knew, there was no way it would ever look so neat again.

Due to some ongoing commitments, we had to initially try the tent in our backyard. Regardless of whether we could get away or not, trying your gear before you go, is something that we always recommend (it is a mistake not to do this - a mistake many beginners make! ) We try every tent, tarp and piece of equipment we own in the backyard before we head out camping in the bush.

Setting Up the Tent

I had heard that this tent sets up in around 30 seconds, so I was sceptical. So my partner pulled off the yellow loop, which was holding the tent together, and we sort of unfolded part of the tent, and before we knew it, the tent popped up. It happened really fast, and visions of capturing it on camera were shattered, when I realised it was already up!

I was like "wow, that was fast". I could then move the tent to face the direction I wanted by lifting up the tent.

From there, it was a matter of pegging it out with tent pegs (not the stakes) all around the edges.

So that was the basics accomplished in record time.

Inside the tent, through the vestibule (at both ends) you have the inner tent already attached, so you don't need to put that up separately. Getting the inner tent floor flat and taut was a little trickier - there are no pegging opportunities, so the floor was never looking bump-free. We didn't bother pursuing that too much on our first trial.

Above photo, is of tent being popped up again, for the second test. The yellow looping has been removed, and its sprung from the smaller circle into a larger oval shaped. From there, we had to lift it up a little, and it sprung open fully.

At either end of the 4 person tent, there are doors which have awnings rolled back. Depending on the weather, its up to you if you undo them from the tent and use the provided poles to give yourself an awning. Having 2 doors in a dome tent is great and always something I would look for in a tent.

Here below is a video which shows the Cinch! being put up to give you an idea on how it all goes.

Above and below photos: Tent popped up, no stakes as yet, just newly popped up! But you can see the structure is pretty much ready to go from here. Not much work required to make this tent stable and ready to move in.

Inside the tent

Inside the tent, as you cross through the vestibule (at either end), you have an area for belongings. The entry doors within the vestibule and the inner tent are D-Shaped and have good zips.

Inside there are storage pockets down low, so I always appreciate storage options (something many tents skimp on).
Ventilation is plentiful within the tent and vestibule, and large windows with additional awnings are present on either side of the tent.

(if you are looking for ways to reduce condensation in tents, read our story on how to ease this problem)

The flooring seems standard for tents - bathtub style.

Hooks are available to hang the lanterns (provided).

In regards to space, which is all important, this is a 4 person tent. And yes, you can fit 4 adults into it if they aren't on stretchers, but on self inflating mats and lying very close to each other and have no gear in the tent. It will be cosy. Looking at a family scenario - 2 adults and 2 children would fit in...still very close to each other, but as always, there isn't a lot of room for 4 people in a 4 person tent.

Important to mention that most 4 person tents do not fit 4 people comfortably. There is always a squeeze and your gear has no choice but to be a vestibule (or left in the car or outside) - it's the norm for 4 person tents.

If you have stretchers, you won't fit 4 stretchers in here. If you have 3 stretchers, you would fit them in, vertically (ie. from door to door) but not horizontally (window to window).It would leave very little room. 2 stretchers and 1 mat would be a more ideal scenario. But 2-3 mattresses would be even better.

Adults (average size) will be unable to stand up in the tent - like most of these dome shaped tents, that's not unusual.

Selection of photos of inside the tent. We were struggling to get the floor all flat. We never did.

Outside the tent

Outside the fully waterproof tent (which we didn't test because the weather was fine) but the tent is rated at Hydrostatic Head rating of 4000 (which means the amount of pressure of water that would be required to penetrate the tent fabric). This HH rating is high, which is good!

Around the tent, there are around around 12 reflective guyline ropes to tie out the tent should the weather be poor. As the tent is quite light when set up (not lightweight, but could catch the wind), these tie points would be very important to use. I would not use this tent without tying it down.

There are 4 LED tent stakes provided. Very cute. They light up in 2 ways - illuminate the stake itself, making it glow green, or angle the LED light outwards, so you have a bright white beam coming from the stake. We used the provided tent pegs to peg out the tent.

On top of the tent you have velcro strips - they are used for attaching the solar power pack (sold separately, not tested by us) and also where the extended canopy attaches (see further details in this review for the canopy).

Two large side windows with awnings, allow plenty of light into the tent, with the option of having protection from weather with the attached awning and 4 ventilation points on each corner of the tent (fully protected from weather).

There is the option above each of the doors, to unroll an awning, and with the poles provided make a cover over the door (you would need to use guylines in addition to the poles to stabilise). The poles do come up to the height of the tent, and are not adjustable poles - which means there could be pooling of water when in rains on top of this canopy, so you would not leave this awning up in rain, or if you are not around to stop the pooling. If you have adjustable poles of your own, from a separate purchase/another tent, then you might find that beneficial to use instead. If you don't, then just be aware of this.

Extended Canopy

Cinch! with extended canopy (left of photo)

We were also provided with the extended canopy.

This is an additional structure which you assemble and attach to one of the entrances at either end of the tent, to create an area where you could store more gear, dine, shelter from rain or whatever you wish.

The canopy has no doors or floor - it's an extended shelter option.

Specifications for this canopy are:

4 Man Extended Canopy

Sizes: Length 2.73m. Width 2.68m. Height 1.64m.
Weight: 2.7kg approx

The extended canopy comes with 2 very long shock-corded poles that you have to insert into the canopy material (which you have laid on the ground) to form a "N" shape, and then attach to the tent.

Making this extended canopy took longer to assemble than the entire set up, fine tuning and stabilising of the Cinch! tent. It was quite fiddly, and I could have set up any hiking tent, including footprint, faster than it took to set up and attach the canopy.
If you were staying at a location for a long time, then you may want this extended living space but I wouldn't use it for an overnighter. It needs pegging out as well, plus guylines to hold it down.

Pack up is easy though (getting the very long shock corded poles out of the canopy is the most lengthy part of pack up, because they are so long, and can disassemble themselves in the process of pushing out). The bag they provide gives ample room for putting the canopy back in.

The image below is the canopy before putting up, unassembled.

Cinch! tent with canopy

Tent with canopy

Under the canopy, looking into the tent.

Taking down the tent

OK, this is always going to be the difficult part (for me). I struggle with those pop up toilet tents, and don't even start me on the shelters that pop up for the beach.....

First up, I have to say - WATCH THE VIDEO before attempting to put this tent away. Really. Do yourself a favour, and save time and stress by watching before you do anything with this tent.

I have included the video below. You can thank me later.

But how did we go?

Well, we were still consulting the instructions attached to the rucksack (good idea not to have some piece of paper that is stuck in the bag, which you promptly lose on your first trip) as we put away the tent. We had seen the video, but probably didn't pay as much attention as we should have.

After pulling up the tent pegs and walking the 2 ends of the tent to meet (as per instructions), folding into a figure 8 as required was trickier than I thought (see step 3 in video...it looked so easy for that woman......)

I always felt like I was about to break something crucial to the whole tent by bending the tent (FYI - I never did) into that figure 8 which is important part of getting the tent back into that circle from whence it came.....

We had 2 people working on this tent folding up! My husband (decidedly more skilled at this than I), managed to make the figure 8 and then fold it upon itself again, to the circle. My job was to hold it all down so it didn't pop back up. I failed in that job. Whilst looking for the yellow tie that holds it all together, I let go, and the tent popped open.

Back to square 1.

I tried to do it by myself (re-reading instructions mid way through the operation) but I couldn't get it to fold down neatly. Luckily husband came to assist once more and this time, I didn't let go!

Did it look as neat as when we opened it? No. But we could get it back into the circular rucksack which is spacious and allows for problem people like me.

No idea how long it took to take down successfully, but I think practice makes perfect! We have done this on 3 occasions now for the purpose of this review, and practice is still needed. I never succeed in getting it back by myself.

The end result is below - not quite as pristine as when we opened it for the initial unveiling.

What we liked about the Cinch!

Without doubt, the ease that this Cinch! 4 person tent went up was impressive. It really did meet the marketing hype about speed and ease of use.
If you are wanting to get to your camping spot and just start enjoying the day, without mucking around with poles and awnings, then this tent may appeal. Beginners to camping life might enjoy a tent like this - the speed of putting it up, makes it very appealing.
Putting the tent away wasn't easy for me - so I could easily put that in as a negative, but I won't, because I knew in advance, that this was not going to be my strong point! Others will definitely not struggle with this, so it would be unfair to list this as a less desirable feature.
The extended canopy gives greater use of the tent and allows more space for a family to get out of poor weather but it wasn't necessarily a purchase I would use.

What improvements could be made?

We think that rather than providing small lanterns/torches provided as extras by Cinch, a footprint for the 4 person tent would be more beneficial for users. Most campers already have the lighting of their choice. Whilst there is a sturdy floor within the inner tent, the vestibule area (and the area where the vestibule and inner tent meet) would be better served with a footprint which provides a complete flooring option, and no chance of dirt/bugs/water seeping into that area of the tent.
Additionally, the inner tent had no pegging out points, so getting the flooring taut was not as easy. The external part of the tent was taut, but we couldn't get the inner floor to be flat easily.
The poles for the awning (outside the doors), should be adjustable so you can lower one pole slightly, so the awning dips, and allows water to run off.
The canopy is fiddly.
It suits campers who don't camp a lot.

Pricing and Availability

At time of writing, 4 person tent $449
Check up-to-date pricing and further details at www.cinchpopuptents.com.au (note - this is the UK link. Australian link was unavailable as at Sept 2018).

Extended Canopy $85

Solar Kit (not reviewed) $149

This tent was provided to us by Cinch! Australia for the purpose of this review. To find out about our review process, please read our Disclosure Policy/Disclaimer.