User Review: Kelty Grand Mesa 2

Kelty Grand Mesa 2
Above: The current Grand Mesa 2, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed October 22, 2009 by chris_wlkr

Rating:
Design: Three-Season with full coverage Fly
Sleeps: 2
Ease of Setup: Very simple setup for those with moderate to little experience with dome tents.
Weight: 5 pounds
Price Paid: $160

I purchased this tent in October to use for basic camping. I do much car camping but usually out on backroads in the forest or out in the Mojave desert so a tent to withstand the elements was highly desired.

So far I have used the tent once for a weekend camp trip in the desert. Second day we had gust up to 40 mph and the tent stood strong as expected.

Set up was simple with the pole clips and clip on fly once I figured out what went where. I used my larger heavy duty tent stakes for the tent and the supplied stakes for the guy lines. The fly has 7 anchor points for guy lines but only comes with lines for 4 of them. I keep extra line in my supplies already so I used 6 of the 7 points just to help keep the tent down.

The vestibule is about the size of a pair of shoes and provides very little space but will let you keep wet gear outside or even a small ice chest.

Inside the tent I found two large mesh pockets outset with 2 smaller pockets on both sides of the door. Much better than the normal pocket locations in the middle of the tent as I am used to from previous Coleman's.
The space inside the tent was a bit tight form me and my gear, but a lot of my space is used up from my twin size air mattress and the shape of the tent makes it a bit too cramped at the head end using it so I may switch off to a Therma-rest or something similar. There is a flashlight loop at the center of the tent that will likely come in handy at some point.

The few issues I did have with the tent were related to the zippers on the door and the fly. They were catching on the fabric a bit too much and became a point of frustration when trying to get in the tent during the high winds. I do suspect that issue had to do with the set up so I will take time to pay more attention in that area next time I use it.

Another issue was with the large mesh sides and top part of the door. During the high winds everything in my tent was coated with silt and sand. It would be better to have the option to close up the mesh with a zipper cover or something. Blowing sand is usually an issue at places I camp so I will have to rig something up next time.

Regardless of these two issues, I am very satisfied with my purchase.

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Where to Buy

Buy Online We found the Grand Mesa 2 at 2 online stores:

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Product Description

Price

Backcountry.com 2 purchase options:	Grand Mesa 2 Tent 2-Person 3-Season	$139.95	Buy Now
Backcountry.com 2 purchase options:	Grand Mesa 4 Tent 4-Person 3-Season	$209.95	Buy Now