Owner Review - Kelty Vortex 2 Tent

Biography

Name: Seth Middleton
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Height: 6’0” (182 cm)
Weight: 180 lb (81 kg)
Email Address: sdmiddleton@yahoo.com
City, State, and Country: Louisville, KY, U.S.A.
Date: 19 February 2004

Backpacking Background: My first backpacking trip was probably when I was 12 or 13 years old and I’ve been hooked ever since (for the past 13 years). I generally attempt to keep my backpack fairly lightweight, but I’m not above bringing the extra comfort amenities. I mostly take weekend trips, with occasional longer trips. I’ve backpacked in many of the midwestern states and the Rockies, as well as the Adirondacks and the Appalachians. I normally hike in low altitude, hilly, woodland terrain.

Product Information

Manufacturer: Kelty
Year of Manufacture: 1999
URL: http://www.kelty.com/

Type: 3 season
Capacity: 2 person

Manufacturer’s Listed Minimum Weight: 5 lb 15 oz (2.7 kg)
My Measured Weight (tent, poles, fly, stakes, stuff sack): 6 lb 9 oz (3 kg)
      - Tent weight alone: 2 lb 15 oz (1.3 kg)
      - Fly weight alone: 1 lb 15 oz (.9 kg)
      - Pole weight alone: 1 lb 2 oz (.5 kg)

Manufacturer’s Stuff Size: 7.5 x 25 in (19 x 64 cm)
My Measured Stuff Size (with poles): 7.5 x 25 in (19 x 64 cm)

Manufacturer’s Dimensions: 92 x 58 x 42 in (234 x 147 x 107 cm)
My Measured Dimensions: 92 x 58 x 42 in (234 x 147 x 107 cm)

Manufacturer's Floor and Vestibule Dimensions: 37.1 + 24.2 sq ft (11.3 + 7.4 sq m)

Poles: 2 – 9.35 mm Featherlite
Materials: 1.9 oz Nylon taffeta tent walls, 2.3 oz 1800 mm PU coated taped nylon taffeta floor, 2.3 oz taped 1800 mm PU coated polyester fly
Netting: No-see-um

Description

The Kelty Vortex 2 came in its stuff sack. The stuff sack is dark blue with a drawstring on top. The tent was folded in half three times and then rolled the rest of the way. 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 10 lightweight aluminum stakes included. Also in the stuff sack somewhere, there was a black rectangular loft. I bought the tent in 1999, so I forget what paraphernalia came with it, but I know that there was at least an owner’s manual pamphlet that provided directions for setup and warranty information.

The Kelty Vortex 2 is a rectangular, 2-person, free standing tent. The pole sleeves are only open on one side; the poles have a rubber ball on one end, which slide in first. The ball protects the closed end of the sleeve, and on the open end of the sleeve, the pole is held in place by inserting it into a grommet. The pole sleeves are held off the tent about 4 in (10 cm), which allows the fly to sit off of the tent. The top of the tent is mesh no-see-um material on all four sides, which allows air inside the tent and also allows me to see the stars on clear nights. The Vortex 2 has two doors, each of which can unzip halfway to be a mesh window or unzipped as a door. If desired, an included loft can be attached to four loops on the top of the tent. There are also two pockets inside the tent; one each on the head and foot. The fly is attached using clips on the four corners. Then, it can be staked out to make a vestibule on both doors and to hold the sides away from the tent. I use 8 stakes; 1 on each corner and 1 on each side.

Review

To the best of my knowledge, Kelty no longer produces the Vortex 2, although it is still for sale in some places. Kelty does, however, produce the Gunnison 2 which is a "revision of the classic Vortex" in their words. So, read this review and then just imagine "even better"!

I've had the Vortex 2 since mid-1999 and have used it approximately 2 dozen times in several different places. The first time I used it was on the Appalachian Trail in New York on a weekend trip. It was in late fall, it was rather chilly (above freezing though), and it drizzled all night long, so I zipped up the doors and the fly all the way. When I woke up, the inside of the tent was very damp with water droplets on the side of the tent. I realized after a little while that it was not the rain, it was condensation. Now that I have that story out of the way, I believe I've covered one of the few downsides that I've found with this tent. I absolutely love it. After some experimentation, I discovered that the condensation problem could be mostly fixed by keeping the windows unzipped about
halfway or so and letting the air flow. On clear nights, when I don't use the fly, condensation is not a problem.

Since that night, I've been through many rain showers inside the Vortex 2 and have always stayed dry. Not only have I stayed dry inside the tent, but my gear stayed dry under the vestibules. I'm confident that if it will fit under my vestibule, it will stay dry. Again, one caveat to that is condensation. If I keep the windows unzipped somewhat, condensation is not a problem inside the tent. However, if I keep the vestibules zipped up all the way, condensation will still gather on the underside of the fly. This is not a problem as long as the side of the tent does not touch the fly. I've found that I must ensure that I stake out the fly very well so that it doesn't touch the side of the tent, especially if I plan on zipping up the fly all the way (only done when it's raining).

After owning the tent for about a year, I got motivated and applied seam sealant on the floor seams of the tent. I don't think this was a necessary step, as I never had problems before or since with water getting in through the seams. I think it was just that the package of the seam sealant impressed me so much that I was conned into buying it. Plus, I figured it was a nice preventative maintenance measure. Plus, it was an opportunity to pull out the tent and imagine that I was out camping.

The vestibules come straight out from the middle of each side and the zipper runs right up the middle of the vestibule. To get out of the tent with the fly on, the vestibule can be unzipped and one side is folded back while the other side remains staked in the ground. By lining the tent up with the wind, I can unzip one side of the fly and actually catch the wind in the other side of the fly like a big sail. This feature is especially nice on warm nights when I'm looking for increased air circulation.

The setup of this tent is extremely easy. Although I usually backpack with a companion, I'm able to let them do other camp chores while I set up the tent by myself. I can set up the tent by myself in under 5 minutes, even at night or with gloves on. The pole sleeve is closed at one end, allowing me to only have to ground one side of each pole. The fly just clips on the four corners and is the only thing that needs to be staked down. Since the tent is free standing, stakes are not really necessary on the actual tent unless I was worried about the tent blowing away in a strong wind (I've never been in a wind strong enough to
worry about that).

One of the best features of this tent is the roominess. I usually backpack with my wife (who, admittedly, is quite a bit smaller than I am) and there is enough room in the tent for us both to sit up, arrange our sleeping pads, change clothes, etc. We also occasionally bring our 40 lb (18 kg) dog with us who sleeps at our feet with room to spare. The tent comes with a loft that you can use if you want, which provides some extra storage for a flashlight, watch, or whatever. And if I can't fit everything inside the tent, there are also 2 large vestibules. I usually put my backpack and shoes out in the vestibule. It's very convenient to have everything right there beside me, in case I need something out of my pack in the middle of the night. It's also convenient to have 2 doors and 2 vestibules, so if one of us wants to get out of the tent, we don't have to crawl over the other person to get out.

The stuff size of the Vortex 2 is better than I expected. If I take out the poles, the stuff size of the tent can be significantly reduced. I've found that I can roll the tent with the fly into a size that fills only about two thirds of the stuff sack and I put it in my backpack without the poles. I carry the poles in their sack on the outside of my pack alongside my sleeping pad, or else my wife carries the poles in the same way. This seems to work very well.

The only other negative comment I have about the Vortex 2, besides the condensation, is the weight. I'm not, as a general rule, very weight-conscious when it comes to backpacking gear. However, my loaded backpack is heavier than I want it to be, and the Vortex 2 does contribute to this problem somewhat. At over 6 lb (2.8 kg), the Vortex 2's weight is not optimal for lengthy backpacking trips. I take a lot of overnight backpacking trips on which I only suffer under the weight for a day or two and then can recover at home in my recliner. When I backpack during a 3-night trip or longer, I begin to seriously re-evaluate my laissez-faire attitude towards weight. This consideration alone has convinced me to buy another tent that is lighter for longer trips. I still use the Vortex 2 on short trips - the roominess and ease of use makes up for the weight.

Summary

The Kelty Vortex 2 is an excellent tent when it comes to reliability, durability, ease of setup, and roominess. I've used it for almost 5 years on numerous trips in Colorado, New York, Kentucky, and elsewhere, and I still use it and love it. It has an issue with condensation, but I've gotten used to preventing it by encouraging airflow. The weight is a little higher than I want during a long backpacking trip. The vestibules' sizes are wonderful. Overall, I am very happy with its performance and think that the Vortex 2
reflects very well on Kelty's ability to turn out a solid product. I would definitely be interested in looking at the Vortex 2's replacement.

Things I like:
1. Vestibule size
2. 2 doors / 2 vestibules
3. Ease of setup and take down

Things I don’t like:
1. Condensation buildup
2. Weight