Reviews > Shelters > Tents > Kelty Gunnison 2 > Owner Review by John Jones

Owner Review - Kelty Gunnison 2 Tent

Name: John L. Jones
Age: 34
Gender: male
Height: 5 ft 9 in (1.75m)
Weight: 255 lbs (116 kg)
Email address: Acer0001@excite.com
City, State, Country: Georgetown, Texas, USA
Date: September 15th, 2005

Backpacking Background:

On January 1st, 2004, my family and I went hiking on a trail around a local reservoir. I enjoyed the outdoors so much that the feeling of hiking and backpacking as a Boy Scout rekindled the passion. Now, every other weekend includes a solo hike or overnighter, regardless of the season, enjoying the peacefulness of solitude. My hiking terrain consists of the semi-desert climate of the Texas hill country, where temperatures soar well over 100 F (38 C) in the summer and 40 F (4 C) in winter. I usually heft a 30-45 lb. (14 kg - 20 kg) pack, but I am taking steps to lighten my load. Multi-day adventures are scheduled as often as the work and family calendar permit.

Product Information:

Product: Gunnison 2, a two-man backpacking tent
Manufacturer: Kelty
Web site: www.kelty.com MSRP: $169
Year of manufacture: 2004
Capacity: 2 person
Type: 3 season
Dimensions: 7ft 8 in x 4ft 10 in x 3 ft 4 in (234 cm x 147 cm x 102 cm)
Stuffed Size: 7 in x 2 ft 1 in (18 cm x 64 cm)
Listed Weight: 5 lbs 11 oz (2.58 kg)
Actual weight: 5 lbs 7.5 oz (2.82 kg) with stuff sacks, poles, tent
Accessories purchased later:

• MSR Groundhog Stakes (replaced aluminum factory stakes): 0.5 oz (14 g) each stake x 8 = 4 oz (113 g) total

• Kelty Gunnison 2 Footprint: 8 oz (227 g)

Product Description:

When I bought the Kelty Gunnison 2 tent, all items came inside the stuff sack in a rectangular box. The stuff sack was dark blue with a drawstring on top. The tent was folded in thirds and then rolled. The fly was rolled in the middle of the tent. The poles and stakes came in their own sacks. There were two pole sets with the bungee cord design. There were 12 lightweight aluminum stakes included. The black rectangular loft was stuffed into the stake stuff sack. A basic user's guide was included.

The Kelty Gunnison 2 tent is a 2 person, 2-door, free-standing, rectangular dome tent that has loops on each corner for staking down. There are two, 7-section aluminum pressfit poles that provide support crossways in an X pattern at the top when supporting the tent. Each pole is attached through the center with a bungee. Each pole end inserts into a J-fitting on each corner of the tent. This fitting also provides a clip point for the side-release buckle of the rain fly. The tent is attached to the poles via C-clips that are attached to reflective loops from the top of the tent on each corner edge with larger clips at the X crossing. The tent itself has a mesh top ceiling and mesh doors on each long side of the tent (2 total), and includes a 4 in (10.16 cm) mesh strip right above the tent floor on the short sides for ventilation. The rest of the walls are made of polyester taffeta. The 37 sq ft (3.4 sq m) floor is made of nylon taffeta in a bathtub configuration. Each door has two zippers with noiseless reflective zipper pulls to allow zipping from either end. Each door has clips to hold the doors completely open. The tent can be used without the fly for added coolness in hot weather.

The fly attaches to the J-fittings with side-release buckles and has webbing pulls for making the fly taut after completely installed. Each door of the fly creates a 12 sq ft (1.1 sq m) vestibule area for gear. The fly doors have a single zipper with a noiseless zipper pull. The zipper is covered by a 1.5 in (4 cm) flap to keep rain from penetrating and is held down by a patch of Velcro. The bottom of the door zipper is held closed with a secure snap. The short sides of the rain fly have clear soft plastic windows to the outside. Near the apex, on each long side has a ventilation scoop with a zipper to help release condensation. The fly requires that the loop below each door be staked to be effective. Tie-outs on the short ends and half way up each corner edge increase the tautness to provide adequate rain runoff. Each fly door has clips to hold the doors completely open. The fly corner webbing is color-coded with bright yellow on opposite corners for matching up the fly to the tent correctly. The seams have been taped to prevent water seepage.

I purchased the Kelty Gunnison 2 footprint a few months later. This rectangular ground sheet is made out of nylon taffeta, in the shape and materials as the Kelty Gunnison 2 tent floor. It is slightly smaller than the tent floor, and has webbing at each corner for staking. As well as loops for stakes, a grommet is attached to the webbing. These allow the footprint to be used with just the poles and fly to create a dome tarp without the main tent. The fly has a set of Velcro strips on the inside of each corner to attach the fly in this manner.

Inside the tent at each end, is a mesh pouch attached to where the mesh strip on the short wall and floor join for quick needed items. On the ceiling corner edges, loops hang to attach the mesh loft. A center loop at the very top allows for hanging a flashlight or battery lantern.

Field Information:

This tent has been used almost exclusively in the hill country of central Texas on a dozen or more trips. The terrain has mostly consisted of rocky ground with cactus and thorny areas, with occasional elevation at 2,000 to 3,000 feet (610 m to 914 m). The weather in this region can vary from a calm desert-like climate with temperatures reaching 100+ F (38+ C) to violent thunderstorms with lightning strikes occurring frequently. This tent has been pitched during strong winds and in downpour rain. The majority of the time, this tent has been pitched after sunset, in the dark.

Things I like:

This tent is very easy to setup. I don't think I have spent more than 10 minutes for complete setup, most of the time it takes me only 4-6 minutes (quicker if there is a storm pending). When I first received it, I was able to pitch it in my backyard without the included instructions. My eight year-old daughter knows how to set this tent up after showing her only once. This has been a great time saver when there is a bunch of other things that need to be done when setting up camp.

I have weathered through several storms and have remained dry in this tent. The only time I have felt a little damp is when it was raining so hard that the monster raindrops and hail stones were bouncing off the ground and hitting the ventilation mesh on the short ends. This is a very rare occurrence though. When I first used this tent in torrential downpours, I was afraid that the fly wouldn't hold up against the constant, forceful rain, but I have gained so much confidence in it that I often fall asleep listening to the sound of the relentless rain.

The ventilation in this tent is adequate and condensation is minimal. Very few times has condensation dripped into the inner tent from the inside of the fly. The double-walled design along with the fly roof scoop vents and mesh panels on the short ends near the floor seem to keep the moisture on the outside while I have slept comfortably inside. I have sweat in this tent like an oven when night temperatures were over 95 F (35 C) degrees with no breeze, with or without the fly, but this wasn't the tent's fault, just Mother Nature's.

After owning an A-frame tent for awhile, I enjoy the headroom of this tent. I can change clothes with ease and read in comfort while waiting out storms. My wife and I have slept in this tent with reasonable comfort. My daughter and I fit in it with a good amount of wiggle room. When going solo, I can store my gear inside the tent with me instead of in the vestibule, keeping curious critters outside where they belong. The mesh loft shelf can be used without sacrificing too much headroom.

The details show engineering forethought and designed with the backpacker in mind. The mesh loft, mesh pouches for personal items, fly and tent door opening clips, light reflective materials used at key points, and ventilation scoops provide some of the comforts of a â "homey" shelter and enhanced safety.

Things that can be improved:

When I received this tent, I was disappointed with the basic nature of the included instructions. They explained how to get the tent erected, but no more. There were features such as the mesh loft, extra guyline loops, and setting up the fly as a poled tarp that I would have liked to have known about. I eventually discovered these features on my own with some experimentation in my backyard before hitting the trail.

The next thing I experienced after just two trips was how flimsy the included aluminum stakes were. After my second trip, I threw them all out since none of them resembled the straightness the originally had when new. I could try to bend them back to their original condition, but I decided to purchase eight MSR Groundhog stakes to replace them instead. The ground here is hard, rocky and dry, but I still think beefier stakes could have been included.

If the price of the tent was a few dollars higher to compensate for the additional cost, I would have paid it. Since using the MSR Groundhog stakes, I have had no bent stakes or staking problems.

In my first rainstorm, I noticed one of the inconveniences of the fly. When the zipper is closed, the bottom door snap needs to be fastened to make the fly doors taut, otherwise the vestibule area may pool with rain water. When inside the tent, fastening this snap can be a challenge. This often exposes my hand and arm to the elements, whether it is snapped before or after the zipper is closed. If I try to close it after the zipper is closed, I have to stick my hand under the fly to get to the snap, and the angle of the fly to the ground makes this difficult. Unfortunately, the fly needs to be taut to to keep the vestibule area dry. A minor inconvenience, but it could possibly be improved upon by using a different fastener type.

After every trip, I air out this tent in the backyard for about a day before packing it up for storage. Since I use this tent just about every other weekend, I have noticed a slight yellowing of the fly, possibly from exposure to UV rays. I do set up the tent in the morning in my backyard and take it down when I get home from work in the evening to allow it to completely air out after every trip. It does get very hot here during the summer, so I can understand the UV exposure, but I didn't anticipate this tent to show the effects from UV rays so soon, since it is under one year old. I have second guessed as to whether this tent should be used a base camp tent or not.

The last thing I have noticed that it is a bit heavier than most lightweight tents. It is slightly over 6 lbs (2.72 kg). I usually distribute this weight by placing the tarp in the lower compartment, the tent and stake bag in the main compartment and the poles cinched to the side of my internal frame pack. I have looked at lighter one person tents to lighten my load due to this tent's weight.

Summary:

The Kelty Gunnison 2 tent provides durability, ease of setup, adequate ventilation, roominess and small details tailored to the active backpacker. This tent has been used all over the backwoods of Texas and I continue to use it as my primary shelter for all of my outdoor trips due to its past positive performance. With improvements in the areas of more inclusive documentation, better factory stakes, greater UV resistance, and weight reduction, this tent would beat all others in its price range. Overall, I have been happy with this tent, the Kelty brand and will continue to enjoy it on a regular basis.

Reviews > Shelters > Tents > Kelty Gunnison 2 > Owner Review by John Jones