Anybody using a Kelty Parthenon?

[huskyfargo]

I've spent waaaaay too much money on tents the last couple of years. I had a great RTT, but it didn't work well with the herd of labs. So, I went with the OzTent RV5. I love it, but it's not the best for a herd of labs either, and it's a HUGE (long) beast to haul around. So, I searched and searched and searched, and I've settled on a Kelty Pathenon 8. i got a great deal on it from Amazon, so thought I'd give it a shot. It should arrive later this week, and I can send it back if I need to, but I thought it might be pretty good. Most reviews have been very positive, the setup seems to be pretty quick, the living space is huge, and the packed-up size is small. I'm interested to see what the Expo folks have to say about this tent.

 

[Honu]

no experience camping have seen them setup and been in them setup etc..
they are not the most sturdy tent but like you said price pack weight etc.. seems like a decent tent for what it is I think as long as its fair weather and no heavy winds or rain seems fine
in winds stake it out and maybe put up a windbreak using 6 foot high shade cloth say about 12-15 feet long then use some 5'6" poles on each end and one in the middle staked out well and also stake out the bottom of the cloth it will block a ton of wind hitting the tent and make it much nicer on side wind days ! the shade cloth is just the home depot stuff so cheap light and somewhat compact

the reason I say that is when you get it set it up play with it posts pics etc. the ones I have been in seem to be pretty easy to push on and with the large side I imagine wind would bend it in big time again the windbreak idea would be something to look into

our fear with our dog was would they rip through the floor material ? and if the dog scratches to get out like ours does would it rip up the tent quickly at the door

tents with big heavy tub vinyl floors are great for dogs but heavy expensive setups usually

 

[huskyfargo]

The reviews I've seen so far say this tent does surprisingly well in wind and rain. The first impressions were that the floor would probably be a weak point, but folks have been surprised by that too. I'll use a tarp underneath, and a blanket/rug on the floor. I'm pretty excited about this tent. It seems to have a lot of potential.

 

[Honu]

I could be wrong about the wind but feeling the thing ? maybe what I am saying and thinking in my head sounds worse hahahh
again great size and pack for the price and why I gave it a serious look when shopping

I am used to rock solid tents big heavy canvas or well made tents like a 4 season moss for small the larger heavy canvas etc... with steel poles barely move in most all winds and rain etc..

if staked out proper I am sure it will do fine its more just that the walls will be flapping and sure it will be bouncing some etc...
winds up to 20 I am sure it will be more the usual wind flap up to 40 gusts I think it will be bouncing a bit ? again staked out cant see why it wont be OK though and again the wind break could kill %80 of that
the walls might push in or it might get that puffy look or go back and forth or lean in etc.. is more what I mean I dont think in most winds it going to collapse or anything
stake it down guy it out not sure if the guy lines can be wrapped around the poles then staked ? but if so that can help quite a bit

 

[huskyfargo]

It was received on Thursday and set up in the yard. It took a little bit to figure out the setup, but once I did, it went up super easy. I gave it the waterhose test and it stayed dry as a bone. It seems to have good ventilation, and does pretty well in the wind too. It's HUGE, but should be great for traveling with the lab-a-sauruses. I'll post pics soon.

 

[Honu]

congrats post some camping pics when ya get out

 

[GrizAdams]

our fear with our dog was would they rip through the floor material ? and if the dog scratches to get out like ours does would it rip up the tent quickly at the door

tents with big heavy tub vinyl floors are great for dogs but heavy expensive setups usually

You might be interested in Nemo tents, as several of their tents have optional clip-in floor systems called Pawprints. I haven't used it, but I have their Losi 3P tent and am extremely impressed with the quality.

 

[huskyfargo]

I looked at the Nemo tents, but none are tall enough to stand up.

 

[GrizAdams]

Yeah, my 3P certainly isn't tall enough to stand up in. My response was a bit of a thread hijack, in response to Honu's comments about floor durability. Sounds like you found a good tent.

 

[Honu]

yeah nemo has some cool features for sure

lucky our current setup is working and stand up live in size which we were also looking for
if I was to get a smaller tent these days the nemo would be my first stop !

 

[huskyfargo]

So, a year later and I'm moving to another new tent. The parthenon is too big, so it's for sale. Make me an offer. I just bought a Turbo Tent, so now I need to sell off some stuff to pay for it. I also have a Mombasa RTT for sale.