Best Family Camping Tents "Kelty Acadia 4 4 Person Tent" 8.7 out of 10. based on 276 ratings
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59 of 63 people found the following review helpful.
Decent car-camping tent
By D. Askov
Bought this at the mega-bigbox sporting goods store when I needed a tent in a hurry. It says it is for four people, but you'd be packed in there pretty tight. We scored three foam mattresses out of a boy scout cabin and they fit in there just perfectly. It'd probably be ok for 4 if some of the group are smaller kids. Anyhow, just keep that in mind and compare the floor sizes with other tents you're considering.
It was VERY rainy and windy the two nights we went. The tent didn't leak at all, and we did absolutely no seam sealing or waterproofing of it. I really like the quiet zippers that don't wake up the whole campground every time you open them.
I think this would be a great tent for two campers, since you could turn 90 degrees and each would have their own door and vestibule on each side. It isn't too heavy, but you probably wouldn't take this backpacking, and who cares what it weighs when you're car camping.
The tent stakes are beyond lame.
Just plan on replacing them. The stakes are L shaped, and worked ok for the tent, which doesn't really need them anyhow. It is free-standing. The horizontal part of the stake is so small, and the loops on the fly are so large, that the fly kept slipping off the stakes in the wind and our gear got a little wet. I tied a rope between the fly's loops and the tent stakes and had better luck. Anyhow, just plan on replacing the stakes, and you're good.
The tent is very fast to set up and has no sleeves to slide the poles through. The pole clips make setting the tent up a snap. My son helping made it go way faster, but I could have managed by myself. The fly is a real hassle to get the pole into, because you have to bend a very rigid tent pole to get it into the pockets on either end. Once you do, the fly goes on the tent in a snap. The tent is free-standing, but you'll need at least one stake in the front and back for the fly. Our gear stayed under the vestibules (outside the
tent but under the fly) and stayed dry through some really nasty weather. The fly is lifted up just enough to allow a breeze through, but is basically pulled down almost to the ground to keep rain out.
All in all, I am very happy with this purchase for the cost. I'm sure I could get a better one, but everyone else was in what looked like sub-100 dollar tents, and they were jealous of us staying dry when everything in their tents got wet! The entire footprint of our tent stayed dry due to the design of the fly, and we weren't dealing with any running water. Thus, I can't really speak to whether the tent floor is really waterproof, but we were dry. I did not use it with a tarp or ground cloth underneath.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
Great tent for WARM weather
By Mike Ogilvie
I really like this tent for WARM weather. Like other reviewers have mentioned it has superior airflow, which is a great feature when you want to cool off. It's a terrible feature in the winter, spring, or fall. The nighttime air cuts right through, under the fly and through the no-see-um mesh. You won't get rained on, but it's otherwise like sleeping in the open air. 5 stars for warm weather camping, 1 or 2 stars for colder weather camping.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Kelty Acadia 4
By John
I was looking for a good quality tent that had a vestibule. This one fits the bill quite nicely. It is well made, has a decent amount of headroom and a vestibule for "stuff". I'm a motorcycle camper and pull a trailer, so having a place to store wet gear is great.
I also bought the Kelty footprint; hopefully this will prevent holes in the floor in the long run.
The poles are easy to put together and the lack of sleeves to run them thru is a big plus.