I have a soft spot for Kelty products, the first backpack I had as a kid was a Kelty back in the 90s. Glad to see it was dry even if condensation is bad in them.
One of the best tents I ever owned is the Kelty Circuit 2. I have camped when it poured for days and it never leaked a drop. To me, that was the perfect tent. It’s light enough for backpacking and yet it’s spacious and comfortable. I love the gray color. It just kinds of blends in and doesn’t call attention to itself. Perfect. So, of course, they stopped making it.
I bought a 3 person Kelty tent in 1998. I can't count the number of nights spent in it but they include numerous nights with torrential downpours and/or snow! My last use was in April of this year and we had a lot of rain and I was totally dry. Best purchase I have ever made!
I've had the 2-man Kelty Late Start tent for almost 5 years, been camping in Pacific downpours that lasted a day with it, but mostly in the Rockies. It has NEVER leaked on me and my dog, Rocky. Was happy to support a great American company over 70 years old that is based out of Boulder. Besides not leaking on me, I've also never had a problem with condensation with their rain fly on it. It's double-walled, and I've never experienced feeling any condensation penetrating the first wall (mesh bug screen material from the tub at the bottom to the very top), so it's a little surprising to hear that the Late Start could be a problem with that.
My old Kelty (believe it was the Teton 2) the rain fly did not extend the ground on the ends and had better ventilation than that tent looks to have. It was my first backpacking tent, still have to this day 30 years later. Haven’t used it in over 15 Years but set it up once in a while in the yard to air it out and make sure it hasn’t rotted in storage. Still in great shape. Never leaked and been through some Heavy storms. Also have a Kelty backpack which has held up over time as well.
I've had a couple kelty tents and loved them. Easy set up and yes, waterproof. Never noticed the condensation but I always kept the tops of the doors and windows unzipped. Kelty makes really good gear.
I love my kelty tents, I have a Yellowstone 2 I’ve had for like 10 years and used it probably 100 times with all the original equipment and still bone dry, unfortunately you are right about the condensation though, I would love some tips on how to get that under control! Thanks for all you do like! God bless!
Open the vestibule door(s) if you don't have properly placed vents. If you have any vents at all, get one of those little three speed USB fans and position it near one. With a large power bank (E.G., 18000mAh) you can let it run all night on speed 2 and barely drain it. I have a little bivy tent with only a few mesh panels and I hang a fan outside the inner just in front of one and run the cord into the tent. It lays right on the mesh and blows straight out the fly vent. It does a good job of keeping things dry and I can barely hear it. Barring any of that, get one of those closet dehumidifiers and hang in there. These you have to drain and pack them out, but they do work. Some people say you can just hang a cotton washcloth in the tent and that will work, but I've never tried it myself and it seems like if it does pick up a bunch of moisture it'd start dripping.
I use a last generation Kelty Salida 2 for winter backpacking here in Michigan. The Salida 2 is solid and handles snow and wind while having no problems with condensation.
🌿 I have a Kelty Wireless that went through 3 days of absolute downpours with harsh winds in the Pacific NW. It didn't exactly leak but it DID have a Design Flaw. You cannot open the front to get out through the rain fly without getting water on both you and in the tent, especially in those conditions. The openings to the fly and the zipper to the inside of the tent are in the same place. When you open them, they pull back so they expose the tent floor to the rain from straight above vertically. The rest of the tent was very dry though.
All tents need ventilation to minimize condensation, which is always present whenever there are living, breathing occupants present, because our bodies constantly introduce moisture into the air around us. Even with a rainfly and adequate ventilation, I have experienced heavy condensation from vegetation around and under my tents and tarps, from nearby bodies of water, and from fog. A good breeze helps move moisture from the inside to the outside as well. That particular tent looks like a sleeping bag soaker due to the very minimal ventilation options.
Our first Kelty never leaked and survived 50 mph gusts on the top of a mountain pass in Oregon. It got taken out 7 years later when we got stuck at a festival during a tropical storm. It survived the wind, but the flooding did it in finally. We loved that tent!! It was awesome!
That is one heck of a test for rain. Holy Cow, great call Luke again. You are the " MAN " , when it comes to the OutDoors Living !! God Bless us all. Amen. TY to all Veterans for my Freedom. ✌️ Peace from Big Jim New Hampshire USA aka Boston Strong
I have an $80 Coleman 6 person tent I’ve had for ten years and have endured many a heavy rainstorm in it with no leaks. I have much better and more expensive tents too but it’s amazing how that inexpensive Coleman has held up.
I’ve been using a Kelty tent for a while and it has work fine. Living in a dry environment, I have not experienced much problems with condensation. However, I agree that these tents will perform poor in humid conditions. Quality for the money is good.
Best budget tent I own is the discovery trail by Kelty. Survived 30+ mph winds and horrid rain on an island in the middle of Puget Sound. Only reason I stopped using it is because I found an MSR hubba for $249 on Prime day and cut my weight.
I have the late start. It's a nice no frills tent. Good color, but the rain fly could be larger. Mine doesn't leak either. I have the all inn 2 as well. My problem is the hub design. It looks very fragile. I have to be careful every time I set it up. It's a good-looking well ventilated tent. No condensation issues with the all inn. Kelty discontinued that tent, but I think they should bring it back with improvement.
I have the Kelty cabana and that bad boy has saved us when it rains at the lake! Everyone always ends up leaving while we wait out the storm 😂 get the whole lake to ourselves
I love my Kelty Late Start 2 and backroads shelter and my old Kelty. Luke, I believe that rain fly vent is new for 2024 !!! They told me on chat they only changed the color. Bummer I might have ordered the new one instead. Still love it with fly left open in the dry. Maybe new vent helps with condensation, let us know.
Nope just went back and looked at chat they said they added rain fly vent so Prob better condensation performance from new model with odd colors. Kelty: "Difference between the new and old LateStart 2p-- colors were updated and we added a rain fly vent on the back of the fly"
I didn't think it would leak. I have the Kelty Ashcroft 2 person. I've slept in it about ten times since spring. Back in late March my buddy and I went to Florida. One night there was a very heavy dew and the fog was very thick. I was fine in my tent but my buddy had a Coleman Sun dome 3 and he told me it literally rained inside his tent. Unfortunately I've since broken my ankle and have to survive by watching your videos. Keep up the good work and I'll be looking for your review.
Our boys' boyscout troop always purchased the Kelty 2p tents and they've been incredibly durable and leak proof. interestingly, your 2p Amazon link has a $10 discount, so it's only $10 more than the 1p at $149. Great deal!
I love your channel, Luke (and Susie) and watch all of your episodes. I happen to have the Kelty Tallboy tent in the same navy & aqua colors (with the marigold trim), and I happen to love the colors. 😬 Plus, Kelty is based in my hometown of Boulder, which I choose to support…Perhaps a little color in a field of gray, isn’t all that bad. LOL
I watch these videos…. As a kid I went camping with my Dad and Brothers. We had a heavy and I mean heavy canvas tent. I’d bet it was over 200 pounds. It was water proof so long as you did not touch the outer walls. Once you did with anything the leaks began. I remember one trip it rained for days. My Dad attempted to warm up some soup on a sterno can. Trust me it did not go well.
Condensation is so annoying. I learnt this the hard way in a tent designed for motorcycle camping. It has basically zero ventilation. Despite the weather being warm and dry, I woke up at 1.00 am in the night because my sleeping bag got wet during testing (yes, I am right now searching for a suitable motorcycling camping tent and am going trough several ones). I was in a stalactyte cave. I had another sleeping bag and continued until around 4.00 a.m. At that point, I gave up and went into my regular bed. My husband put his air mattress in there, too. A nice puddle of water was forming on it. Luckily, I am still in the return period. Next I will try a slightly used tent with pretty much identical dimensions, but several ventilation openings. This tent also has mesh doors, which also mixes things up considerably. It is 4 kgs heavier, but as we are using bikes as transport, it won't be a problem. After doing some research, I learnt that I am not the only one with this experience with this "motorcycle tent". The more you know... Maybe our way of using it is wrong? We camp exclusively on campsites. Meaning we like to use our tent as a basecamp and explore the area around us. Therefore, we prefer a more comfortable tent with standing height and a porch where we also can sit when the weather is not so nice. So in theory, that big mototent would have been just right, but it did not quite work as hoped.
Ill soon be headed out on my first motocamping trip. I decided to go with the Eureka El Capitan 2+ Outfitter Tent. I wanted something a bit more rugged and with plenty of room for me and some of my gear. I was also looking for something with decent ventilation and that could be used in a range of temperature. I'll know pretty soon if a I made a good choice or not. wish me luck :)
@@patrickmcconkey Looks reasonable to me. My husband used, during our very first attempt at motorcycle camping, a similarly-sized tent with less ventilation openings. He had zero problems, nothing leaked. He had tons of rooms to store his and a big chunk of my stuff. So yours sounds reasonable.
All the reviews that I’ve seen regarding the Kelty late start one person tent have not shown the backside of the tent to see if there is a vent in the rain fly. Even on the Kelty website, there are some videos of event, but their images don’t show the backside to confirm.
You're probably looking at the older model that's still displayed on the store but is out of stock. The new model has a vent on the back and a picture showing it. You can also see the prop rod through the door on one of the front shots.
