Kelty Grand Mesa 6 Person Tent Ruby Tan
Blending affordability with versatility, the Kelty Grand Mesa is a great choice for packing on your trail excursions. This freestanding tent sleeps up to six campers, offers three-season usage, and includes a single vestibule for storage. It also includes large mesh windows for optimal ventilation, full coverage, UV resistant polyester rain fly, and color-coded poles for quick-and-easy setup. Weighing 13 pounds, 2 ounces, the six-person Grand Mesa has a 99 square foot floor area and a 29 square foot vestibule.
The aluminum DAC Press Fit poles offer more strength for improved durability and a more wind-resistant pitch. They use a color-coded clip construction that eliminates the hassle of feeding poles through cumbersome tent sleeves–just slide the shock-corded pole sections together and attach the clips. The tent also offers post and grommet type assembly with locking pole tips for convenience and security. The bathtub floor offers wrap-up sides for extreme weather protection, and the main fly and floor seams are factory taped for extreme weather protection. Other features include a single flashlight loop, mesh interior pockets for gear storage, external guy points for added stability in windy conditions, and noiseless zipper pulls.
Specifications
- Dimensions: 130 x 110 x 70 inches (LxWxH)
- Interior height: 5 feet, 10 inches
- Floor area: 99 square feet
- Vestibule area: 29 square feet
- Weight: 13 pounds, 2 ounces
- Seasons: 3
- Doors: 1
- Windows: 3
- Wall material: 68D 190T polyester taffeta
- Floor material: 1800mm PU nylon taffeta
- Fly material: 75D 190T, 1800 mm PU polyester taffeta
- Number of poles: 2
About Kelty
Kelty is based in Boulder, Colorado, and uses the natural backdrop of the Rocky Mountains to test, create, and continually innovate within their diverse outdoor product families of Apex, Backcountry, Trail, Basecamp and KIDS gear. Kelty combines the best in new technology with a healthy dose of common sense to create exceptionally made, affordably priced outdoor products.
Amazon.com Tent Guide
Selecting a Tent
Fortunately, there are all kinds of tents for weekend car campers, Everest expeditions, and everything in-between. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
Expect the Worst
In general, it’s wise to choose a tent that’s designed to withstand the worst possible conditions you think you’ll face. For instance, if you’re a summer car camper in a region where weather is predictable, an inexpensive family or all purpose tent will likely do the trick–especially if a vehicle is nearby and you can make a mad dash for safety when bad weather swoops in! If you’re a backpacker, alpine climber or bike explorer, or if you like to car camp in all seasons, you’ll want to take something designed to handle more adversity.
Three- and Four-Season Tents
For summer, early fall and late spring outings, choose a three-season tent. At minimum, a quality three season tent will have lightweight aluminum poles, a reinforced floor, durable stitching, and a quality rain-fly. Some three-season tents offer more open-air netting and are more specifically designed for summer backpacking and other activities. Many premium tents will feature pre-sealed, taped seams and a silicone-impregnated rain-fly for enhanced waterproofness.
For winter camping or alpine travel, go with a four season model. Because they typically feature more durable fabric coatings, as well as more poles, four-season tents are designed to handle heavy snowfall and high winds without collapsing. Of course, four-season tents exact a weight penalty of about 10 to 20 percent in trade for their strength and durability. They also tend to be more expensive.
Domes and Tunnels
Tents are broadly categorized into two types, freestanding, which can stand up on their own, and those that must be staked down in order to stand upright. Freestanding tents often incorporate a dome-shaped design, and most four-season tents are constructed this way because a dome leaves no flat spots on the outer surface where snow can collect. Domes are also inherently stronger than any other design. Meanwhile, many three-season models employ a modified dome configuration called a tunnel. These are still freestanding, but they require fewer poles than a dome, use less fabric, and typically have a rectangular floor-plan that offers less storage space than a dome configuration. Many one and two-person tents are not freestanding, but they make up for it by being more lightweight. Because they use fewer poles, they can also be quicker to set up than a dome.
Size Matters
Ask yourself how many people you’d like to fit in your fabric hotel now and in the future. For soloists and minimalists, check out one-person tents. If you’re a mega-minimalist, or if you have your eye on doing some big wall climbs, a waterproof-breathable bivy sack is the ticket. Some bivy sacks feature poles and stake points to give you a little more breathing room. Also, if you don’t need bug protection and you want to save weight, check out open-air shelters.
Families who plan on car camping in good weather can choose from a wide range of jumbo-sized tents that will accommodate all your little ones with room to spare. A wide range of capacities is also available for three- and four-season backpacking and expedition tents. Remember, though, the bigger the tent you buy, the heavier it will be, although it’s easy to break up the tent components among several people in your group. It’s also helpful to compare the volume and floor-space measurements of models you’re considering.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Fantastic large ten
Bought this for family campouts and it was wonderful. Took about 20 min the first time to set up but now I’m down to 10 minutes including putting on the rain guard. If no rain guard then its a 5 minute set up. Without rain guard, tent is very breezy so its wonderful on hot nights. Its a lot warmer with the rainguard on. Strongly recommend this tent for family of 4-5 camping. Ample room! Enjoy
5 Stars Kelty Mesa 6 thoughts
We bought this tent for our family of 5 and it has been great. It has a large vestibule and is very quick and easy to set up. The tent is lightweight and the aluminum poles are light and strong.
4 Stars Only One Gripe
Nice tent, good quality, easy to set up and actually fits back into its stuff sack. My only gripe is the tent should have stake grommets or loops mid point at the bottom of both sides and perhaps the back (where the side and rear panels are seamed with the floor). With stakes only at each of the four corners, the side and rear panels sag a bit, and the floor is not tight. The easiest way to explain it is: Imagine yourself IN the tent - you can reach down at the seam between the floor and side or rear panels and literally pull the fabric in about a foot. This makes for a non-tight floor. Fortunately, I knew about Sierra tent guyout clips, and with those the tent is close to perfect. Minor gripe, I suppose, but a few pennies for three stake loops (each side and the back) would have been a good design idea.
5 Stars Why I chose this tent
I haven’t had a chance to use it. I bought it for two reasons: 1. The quality of Kelty products. I have own Kelty tents and backpacks that have lasted several years; 2. I wanted a tent with a full rain fly, one in which I could stand up and with room for a small table, lantern and air mattress. After 30 years of backpacking and camping, I finally got tired of crawling in and out of small tents.