User Review: Kelty Trail Dome 2

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

Reviewed July 11, 2004 by True Reviews

Rating: rated 4 of 5 stars
Design: 2 person freestanding
Sleeps: 2
Ease of Setup: easy
Weight: 4 lbs???

This is a knock off from Kelty of the original Vortex, then renamed to the Kelty Ridge. I bought the original Kelty Vortex back in '98. It was a great tent for $180 from Campmor (www.campmor.com). It sat on sandbars, in the sun, then eventually degraded. I wanted another but Kelty quit making them.

Bobwards.com has the Kelty Ridge, which is the same thing.
I bought two of them @ the current $120 deal.

BUY THIS TENT:

It has continuous pole sleeves, this crap with the Trail Dome with the "pole clips" is just a cost saving tactic from Kelty.

Stray away from the clips that hold the pole sleeves. They stress the fabric and will ware out alot sooner.

Even a $600 TNF tent is nothing but black netting and 17 poles with a window in the fly for you sorry assed yuppies.

The current "Trail Dome" is a poor excuse from Kelty to boost sales just to save a few bucks.

The Vortex/Trail Ridge is bombproof with only two poles. They have one of the highest material ratings on the market -- including sleeping bags. It's light, waterproof, and worthy of 40 mph winds.

My chocolate lab shaked off inside (like all labs do) and the inner waterproofing even worked nice.

For the money you spend on this bullshit Trail Dome, Google a Kelty Ridge/Trail Ridge/or Vortex. Less mesh and only two poles.

Ease of setup took two minutes. I'm sure the Trail Dome is the same.
The Trail Dome is the same but with more netting installed and clips to hold the poles.

The vestibule is about as worthless as every other tent.

The fly has a high WP rating, and goes to the ground. Guy out points are located in good areas. Arc Edge Floor seams crank the piss out of the seams, but will last for what the cost is.

The color is mellow in any light/sun/moon.

Rain will not get in. (factory seam sealed)

Buy the Trail Dome if you can't find the Ridge or Vortex.

Where to Buy

Sorry, we couldn't find any online retailers selling the Kelty Trail Dome 2. You may want to check pricing and availability directly at these sites:

Retailers: Do you sell the Kelty Trail Dome 2? List your site here.

Similar Tents

Compare
See how the Kelty Trail Dome 2 stacks up against the competition: read more tent reviews or more about Kelty.

Contribute
Have you used a Kelty Trail Dome 2 or a similar product? Write a gear review.

Discuss
Still have questions? Answers? Opinions? Join the converstation in the Trailspace Forums.