Kelty Carport Shelter review

lgrt

Adventurer
Recently got a hold of the Kelty Carport Shelter so thought I would take it out for a spin and see how well it works as an overnight shelter out on overland adventures... You can read the review and let me know your thoughts: off road adventure shelter

 

paulj

Expedition Leader
One thing to pay attention to is the slope of the fabric panel closest to the roof rack. Depending on the height of the car, and height of the outboard corners, this panel might be close to horizontal, and prone to pooling rain water. I found the most effective way of dealing with this problem is to introduce a back to front tilt in the tent - by raising the rear cross bar mount by a couple of inches (with a block of foam). Then the rain water drains forward, rather than collects.
 

JackW

Explorer
I bought one to use on my Boler trailer - had to put small quick-fists on the roof to attach the crossbar but it works well. After getting use to setting it up it takes about 6-8 minutes with two people.
 

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mnfeo2

Adventurer
I bought one to use on my Boler trailer - had to put small quick-fists on the roof to attach the crossbar but it works well. After getting use to setting it up it takes about 6-8 minutes with two people.

What size did you get?
 

mnfeo2

Adventurer
The shelter attaches to your rig with three Velcro straps making it is fairly easy to unhook the shelter, rest it on the ground and drive off for a day on the trail, knowing it will take only seconds to reattach upon your return.
 

Mlachica

TheRAMadaINN on Instagram
There's a crossbar that runs the length of the vehicle and is attached to the shelter and your vehicle with velcro straps. It works well with any roof rack.

edit...
a little late reply, sorry for the ditto...
 
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lgrt

Adventurer
One thing to pay attention to is the slope of the fabric panel closest to the roof rack. Depending on the height of the car, and height of the outboard corners, this panel might be close to horizontal, and prone to pooling rain water. I found the most effective way of dealing with this problem is to introduce a back to front tilt in the tent - by raising the rear cross bar mount by a couple of inches (with a block of foam). Then the rain water drains forward, rather than collects.

Good point since you never know when the rain will come... and while it will keep the rain off... I view this as a summer (dry weather) shelter since their will be gaps for the wind to blow rain in and without an attached floor you'll be standing in mud or puddles if you lay down a tarp for a floor... or you could go all out, dig a trench around to keep the water away but that is more work than I'm planning on unless it is an emergency :)

Very nice reveiw...very useful and informative, thanks!:coffeedrink:

Thank you

I bought one to use on my Boler trailer - had to put small quick-fists on the roof to attach the crossbar but it works well. After getting use to setting it up it takes about 6-8 minutes with two people.

Good to know an extra set of hands will shorten the setup time... I also bet folding it all up is nice when you have two people working together. btw: nice camp set up you have there.


how does it attach to the vehicle?

3 Velcro straps that wrap about the horizontal bar of the rig's roof rack. The Velcro straps can move back and forth so it should work with most roof rack setups.
 
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robert

Expedition Leader
I've got one of the smaller Kelty Carports (w/o the side curtains). I bought mine NIB off Ebay so I don't pay anywhere near retail which is the only saving grace. Needless to say, I'm not overly impressed considering what Kelty wants for them. The corners where the poles attach are stressed pretty hard- numerous reports on-line of them failing at that point. I had a local upholstery shop sew some reinforcing patches into my corners. The other thing that bothers me is the window- the curtain part for it is inside so if it rains it's going to puddle then leak in. It's a very neat looking structure though.

I recently bought a canopy from Wal-Mart for $32 after one of the guys on thesamba.com recommended it for those on a budget. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10993394 It's no Kelty, but for the price it's perfectly suitable. It goes up easily with fiberglass poles in the canopy and metal poles for the legs, has guy lines to secure it (includes metal stakes), it's arched so it sheds rain and allows you stand up under it when attached to the vehicle (I just use two of the poles and attach it with magnets) and it can easily be used similarly to the Kelty- just don't use the legs. I'm planning on sewing a strip of nylon onto the side I attach to the bus and possibly some tie straps to give it greater versatility.
 

paulj

Expedition Leader
Large comes with the sides (I have that). Deluxe adds the outrigger poles. I think any pole that fits the rings the outboard corners would work to support those ends off the ground. You should even be able to do so with the medium size.

Just be more careful in wind with the carport in that raised position. That shape might generate lift even if the wind didn't get underneath it first.
 

lgrt

Adventurer
I've got one of the smaller Kelty Carports (w/o the side curtains). I bought mine NIB off Ebay so I don't pay anywhere near retail which is the only saving grace. Needless to say, I'm not overly impressed considering what Kelty wants for them. The corners where the poles attach are stressed pretty hard- numerous reports on-line of them failing at that point. I had a local upholstery shop sew some reinforcing patches into my corners. The other thing that bothers me is the window- the curtain part for it is inside so if it rains it's going to puddle then leak in. It's a very neat looking structure though.

I recently bought a canopy from Wal-Mart for $32 after one of the guys on thesamba.com recommended it for those on a budget. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10993394 It's no Kelty, but for the price it's perfectly suitable. It goes up easily with fiberglass poles in the canopy and metal poles for the legs, has guy lines to secure it (includes metal stakes), it's arched so it sheds rain and allows you stand up under it when attached to the vehicle (I just use two of the poles and attach it with magnets) and it can easily be used similarly to the Kelty- just don't use the legs. I'm planning on sewing a strip of nylon onto the side I attach to the bus and possibly some tie straps to give it greater versatility.

Good additional info. And you are definitely on target with the amount of tension Kelty uses to hold everything in place...
 

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