Kelty - Vortex 4

I have a kelty 4 man bought two years ago for car camping. Its very well made for the money.

I went with a simple Kelty 4-man and its been great. I like traditional dome tents, easy to set up, take down and repair. I was a volunteer at an overland rally two years ago and saw a bunch of gazelle tents fail in a wind storm. It was wild. they were the worst failing tents of all the tents there. That and they take up a lot of space when packed. They are neat but imo not worth the space and price, esp if they are going to fail in bad weather. They look cool though so you will get overland points.

This depends upon your specific requirements: If your intention is portable 2-person tent that doesn't take up much room and weight isn't much of a concern, get a Kelty. They're nice budget friendly backpacking tents. Big Agnes is good if you want to save weight. But they are expensive and only worth it if you plan to backpack as a hobby. Backpacking and prepping are completely separate topics. You're not hiking your way out of a disaster. First, with most disasters, you will never leave your house. Or even if you do have to evacuate, you will go from your house to another house or apartment. You are not camping in the woods. You are definitely not hiking far. Hiking 10 miles a day would put you in the top 10%. And that's on a good trail, with good weather, and without worrying about being tracked. And more important, you know that every week you will be able to get re-supplied. If you want to be prepared to live on the road after a disaster so that you are not dependent upon a government shelter, then prepare your vehicle instead. My current favorite setup would be a compact SUV pulling a teardrop camping trailer. This provides plenty of room for 1-2 people including all of the supplies you need. You can put solar panels on top of the SUV and teardrop so that you will have plenty of off-grid power. And you will sleep a lot more comfortably.

Also look at Kelty. That’s what I have.

Kelty tents usually exceed my expectations for the price.

I have a Kelty, an Alps, a North Face, a REI, a Magellan and one from Bass Pro (I can’t remember the name). All are for different situations. Kelty is a great brand. Just realize you are entering a world where you are going to wake up and ask “Do I need another tent?” and the answer is always yes. Applies to backpacks as well :)

We loved our Ozark Trail tent! Set out on a cross country camping trip with a brand new Kelty that we spent a pretty penny on. A week in, a pole broke in the wind and we got SOAKED through the thin floor. Went to a Walmart, picked up an Ozark Trail, and left the Kelty in a dumpster. Never looked back on that decision.

I just got a Kelty, it seems amazing for the $

Kelty is always a solid bet. Good quality many choices Helleberg tents will last forever. But the price is high. Many other quality suggestions are listed from others too. Good luck and have fun!

Kelty makes great tents for the money

Get a Kelty, way higher quality and will keep you dry

Love my Kelty for car camping. Zippers on the cheap models are frustrating and get stuck a lot.

Seconding this comment. My first tent was an ozark lasted me almost a decade, upgraded to a nicer Kelty eventually but still have the ozark pop up. Great stuff for the price highly reccomend

I've been rocking a kelty tent for 6 years now. I bought it when I first was getting into backpacking and I have used it since. It's a bit heavy comapared to UL tents but I think it is a great tent to start out with. I keep telling myself I am going to buy a new lighter tent, but the kelty has been great.