It鈥檚 not the , but it might be the most affordable and easiest to use.
By replacing traditional poles with inflatable “AirPoles,” Kelty鈥檚 family camping-sized shelters set up in under a minute with a dual-action floor pump, the kind you鈥檇 use to pump up an inflatable raft. The rainfly is pre-attached to the body of the tent, so there is no futzing with inner and outer layers.
Once it鈥檚 up and inflated, internal sleep room can be set up with a couple of clips, while oversized vestibules hold even a car-camping quantity of gear. And when you鈥檙e ready to break down, just pull the plug.
“As anyone who has ever been camping will tell you, setting up a tent鈥攅specially a larger tent鈥攃an be a time consuming headache,” said Sue Timbo, marketing director for聽Kelty. “AirPitch tents speed and simplify this process. And the 'poles' are stronger and more durable than traditional aluminum or fiberglass鈥攖hey won鈥檛 bend, kink or break even in stormy weather.”
The聽Mach聽4 has 50-plus square feet of internal and vestibule space with a peak height of more than six feet. An internal sleep room clips into the tent to create a double-walled private space. The聽Mach聽6 has more space than most New York City apartments, with two separate sleep rooms, each with 49 square feet of floor space. A central vestibule has an additional 38 square feet of storage space with a peak height of more than six feet.聽The sleep rooms in both tents are removable. Available spring 2013, $389 (four person), $499 (six person); .
鈥擝erne Broudy