User Review: Kelty Trail Dome 6

Kelty Trail Dome 6
Above: The current Trail Dome 6, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed December 23, 2007 by Jimandbeamer

Rating:
Design: Three-season freestanding dome
Sleeps: 3
Ease of Setup: Very easy for an old man with his dog...
Weight: Little over 13 pounds
Price Paid: $165 at MCSports

During this 2007 Christmas season I have been actively looking at tents that I would be purchasing a new one for dog agility trials and my Beamer and I get back on the road. I was looking for the best deal in the house for under $200. We wanted one that we could stand in, with plenty of room for two people and their gear, including the crates for our dogs, and want to put aside the canopy I have been using.

I initially had settled on the Kelty Trails Dome 6 or Columbia Bugaboo Dome tents (because at my age we won't be going too far afield) but then looked at some of the Eureka! Tents. I next went to the Costco website where I located some other Kelty tents. I looked at both Costco’s and Sam’s internet sites and found a Kelty Green River 4 tent at a very good price with Costco.

When you look at the Kelty Green River 4 tent, you need to take the opportunity to compare it with other Kelty’s, particularly Trails Dome 6. But at the same time, we should also look at the Columbia Bugaboo dome tent, as well as the Eureka tents.

They all have about the same “footprint,” about 10’ x 10’, or 100 square feet. While the Green River has only 81 square feet, it does have a vestibule, or covered area. It is not included in the sleeping section but can be used for additional storage or folding chairs, to sit under out of the way from the flying bugs. The Eureka Sunrise 9 is also 81 square feet, but it has no vestibule.

If weight is a factor, the Trails Dome 6 comes in at only a little over 13 pounds, the Eureka Sunrise is 16 and quarter pounds, while the other two tents are significantly heavier - both at better than 21 pounds – but if the tent is used for car camping that should not be problematic. But if you want to backpack the additional eight pounds can be quite a lot.

The Green River’s vestibule area doesn’t have a “footprint,” or an area that would be included as part of the “sealed tub floor.” It is in the outdoors, but could be covered by another drop cloth. That can be a problem with rainy weather - a covered space but with no flooring. But let us face it, the extra space of the Columbia Bugaboo actually is the storage, or the “foot lockers” of the tent, and could rightly be included as part of a vestibule (albeit, unlike the Green River, part of the tub), which the Bugaboo and Trails Dome tents do not have.

Each tent has sealed seam flooring, generally made of nylon taffeta. But Eureka Sunrise has heavy duty 210 denier polyester oxford cloth for its tub flooring. Although the Columbia tent appears to be made of somewhat lighter material than the two Kelty tents, it has a polyethylene floor.

Also, both the Kelty tents are seamless floor areas while the Columbia does have a sealed seam which may become a problem. The Kelty and Eureka tents tub design does appears a bit better, keeping the seams watertight and above the ground.

The major difference seems to be the use of the Dac 75 poles with Kelty’s Trail dome tent. Both of the others make use of fiberglass poles, two 9.5 mm for Columbia Bugaboo and three 11 mm poles for the Green River, the Eureka Sunrise uses two 11 mm poles with ring and pin attachment, while the Trails Dome has two 14.5 mm aluminum poles. The fiberglass poles are heavier and lack the durability of aluminum poles, but the pre-formed aluminum ones come at a significantly higher price. The fiberglass would probably be fine for the not too frequent campers.

The Kelty tents offer heavier nylon cloth construction for the tents. It appears that between them, the 1800 mm coating on the flooring of the Kelty’s would possibly be a better buy than the 1200 mm that goes with the Columbia, even if it is double coated. The 70-denier fabric appears to be better on the two Kelty tents. The Kelty comes with different fabrics for its walls and fly, being a 68 denier for the walls but a generous 75 denier poly rip-stop for the fly.

The Eureka uses heavier fabrics: 75D poly for the walls and Fly, with a triple dose of 1200 mm for their Storm Shield coatings. The industry standard for waterproof rain flies are all constructed of polyester taffeta with 800 mm coatings, but both Kelty tents have 1800 mm waterproof ratings while it is 1200 mm for the Columbia Bugaboo and the Eureka Sunrise.

Except for the Eureka, each of the tents has sleeves and clips - rather than just sleeves to put the poles through. While it makes it easier to erect, there may a problem in high wind areas for them all. The Sunrise 9 uses a pin and ring system to attach the 11 mm fiberglass poles. Because they are all dome tents this may be less of a concern, but the Green River will be harder for a single person to set up in that there are three poles rather than two.

In reviewing as many comments on tents as possible this is one area that seems to detract from the Green River. The complicated and difficulty in setting up was a major complaint and must be considered.

The Columbia Bugaboo, unlike the Trails Dome, makes use of large scale no-see-um mesh instead of another door and calls this mesh window with a skylight its Cyclone Venting System. For warm weather camping, like here in Utah’s desert county, it appears to make a lot of sense. However, both the Kelty’s do have very good ventilation, and should not be problematic. And the Eureka has four hooded zippered windows which allows quite a bit of ventilation or privacy.

I am retired and with my companion have taken up agility as a dog-handler team and spend a few weekends at trials. I would like to camp out (something that I left behind 55 years ago, in Korea and swore I would never do it again) and tried it this summer and fall, but with a smaller one person tent. And we found out that the high Sierras is not an area to be caught in during the fall snow storms that came about in October. We really don't need a screened vestibule area, but would like a little more room to wander - with headroom to squander like in the Bugaboo and Trails Dome. And we don't need a Springbar tent - not at this age!

And the price! Well, it was only $120 at Costco for the Green River (a list price of $240), with shipping at another $15, and that surely beats the $200 estimate that was in the other reviews, or even Sierra Trading Post’s $182 (which shows a price now of $130, and there are more bargains every day). Even with the sales tax figured in (and unless it is on the internet you have to pay it, and then only when there is a locale in your state - so lets add another $15), they are all still quite a bargain.

The best price for the Trails Dome appears to be Amazon and Backcountry Edge’s $187, with a suggested $240 as tops. The best price for the Sunrise 9 was $150, with free shipping and a $20 rebate from Eureka. Its MSRP was $199, although there were a lot that came in higher. The Bugaboo had a MSRP price tag of $170.

With that 80 square feet and 71 inches clearance in height I was tempted to go for that Green River. But I still prefer the Trails Dome tent, or the Eureka Sunrise 9. The Bugaboo is at $116 at Amazon (shipping included) during this Christmas season and it was priced for about $85 during October. A sound alternative would be the Sunrise 9, but not at the $180 price tag at Amazon.

There are other internet places, like Ramsey Outdoor and Kittery Trading Post, which should be tried. Another site would be to try Sierra Traders, which has a good display of tents and has sales from time to time, but most are closeouts from previous years.

Costco should at least be considered if you have a membership, which we do. It was just something that I had overlooked, even though I had visited the local Costco. The selection is rather limited, but it does handle some of Kelty's offerings. Eureka is not found at Costco. Sam's Club does not have any tents on their internet site.

For me, the decision settled down to the Eureka Sunrise and the Kelty Trail Dome 6 tent. They both had desirable features, but the aluminum poles and weight of the Trail Dome 6 won out. I would give each of these tents a 5.0, but because they individually have features that would be nice but are lacking at this time, I rated them both at 4.5.

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