Kelty Trail Ridge 2 Tent

The Backpacker Palace

Quality - 5/5 stars

Kelty is a brand I do not have a long-standing history with however, this being my first Kelty tent, that I have used it for many years now through all types of weather, I can safely say there is no issue with quality here! Can I just tell you what makes me most excited? Metal tent poles! Yeah, that's my favorite change as the fiberglass poles would tend to crack and break over time. Not that metal pole cannot be broken but they will not so readily take the shape of the flex put into them while holding up the tent so that's a plus in my book!

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Usefulness - 5/5 stars

It is a tent and it does exactly what a tent should do. Store your gear out of the elements and give you a place to sleep out of the elements. One additional feature of this tent I find useful is the extended rain fly flaps at the doors. Because the rain fly is held away from the tent, you essentially get a covered storage area for your shoes or other gear you don't mind leaving just outside your tent but still covered from the rain.

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Cost - 4/5 stars

First, I need to admit this was a gift so it cost me nothing. That said, I did research the pricing on this model and it does run a little higher than the average. Like the Coleman 6-person tent, it does have an element of quality that does make the cost more tolerable but even still it might be just a bit more than my comfort level. Overall, I think given my experiences with this tent, I would absolutely buy another even if I might shake my head at the price tag.

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Overall - 5/5 stars

Yeah, so, this does outrank the Coleman tent which surprised me a bit too. I think that surprise is more because I am not too familiar with Kelty outside this tent and certainly not as familiar as I am with Coleman brand. Overall though, I do like this tent quite a bit! I have owned 4 tents in my life and this one is basically my favorite of the bunch! Did I mention the metal poles? Yeah, I do like those.