Short of poka-yoke, but a solid value - Kelty TN2 Tent - 2 Person, 3 Season

The tent arrived last week, and I've only pitched it a couple on the deck (the second with my teen son to see if any issues arose), so the fifth star is withheld pending real-world conditions. Previously I have used a large 4-person Marmot Limelight for car camping and a 30-year-old REI Half-Dome that keeps on plugging, so this is my first experience with a legit backpacking tent, which I plan to use while bike touring, so short pole sections and sub-5 lbs. were a priority. I have to laugh at online weight-weenies who berate tents like this for not matching the higher end tents—essentially, for having the audacity to be less than perfect for their application, as if the inter webs will deem these intrepid reviewers less than pro for making sensible compromises. Everything is a compromise! They are letting themselves get shaped into myopic obsession by marketing departments and vanity, and a good dollop of privilege. They are probably young. This budget tent checks all my boxes and I got it on sale, so I am a happy camper.

Comments that the tent is too short for anyone taller than 6 ft are probably accurate, although I have yet to stake the tent out fully; I'm 5'11" and knew this going in; it's just enough for me. Definitely snug for two full-size adults; I plan to use this alone or with my wife or son, so it will be fine. I love the ventilation, which was one of this tent's selling points, and it does not disappoint; in comparison, my old Half Dome was like camping in a giant trash bag, albeit a colorful nylon one. The velcro attachments on the rain fly seem pretty flimsy, so standing up to wear and tear in windy conditions or over time is a valid question. The window and flap on the fly is positioned in such a way that it interferes with folding the vestibule section back, but you'd want to set up that half vestibule more often than not, and when tied back you can sort of tuck it under. The vaunted stargazer fly setup is pretty practical, more for ventilation in my mind than stargazing, although if it were to rain I would want to get out and stake the fly properly; one unexpected thing I discovered was that by keeping it attached on the cross-pole until the very end of removal, I am able to do a lot of folding of the fly while it is still on the tent, making packing it very efficient. The tent itself likewise folds down very easily.

There is much discussion of the square packing. The truth is that the short pole sections give you all kinds of options. I love that I can fit the entire tent in a small pannier, but it can be folded and bundled and divided up in all sorts of ways. I fit it all in a medium-size stuff sack.

There is a concept in Japanese manufacturing: "poka-yoke," or mistake-proofing. The concept is that a product is ideally engineered so that it can only be used correctly. The TN2 has a handful of minor details that do not reach the poka-yoke threshold, but a sensible person with a basic aptitude for such things can figure them out. Example: the translucent plastic hinge that joins the two main poles may not arrive from the factory in the correct position, and it is so snugly fixed on the poles that it may be difficult to slide it in either direction. On pitching the tent for the first time, I could see that the hinge sat directly between two sections, preventing them from joining and compromising the tent's structural integrity. You could see where the tent's button attachment to the hinge was slanted where it should be vertical, and that the hinge needed to be a centimeter or so toward the bent section of the pole. With some effort (I suppose I could have used WD-40 or some lubricant), I was able to nudge them to where they ought to be, and the tent was visibly more secure. I wrapped some bright electrical tape on either side of the hinge on both poles to keep it in place. Another example is that the green hooks should attach to the green cross pole outside of the two main poles, both to line up correctly and to prevent the main poles from sliding toward the sides. There is no indication of this (if I fault Kelty on anything, it is inadequate directions, for which there really is no excuse), so it's easy to hook them between the two poles and compromise the structure, but if you take a moment and think logically, you get it right. Another issue is that the flaps on the rain fly that overlap the zippers are without structure, so it will get in the way of the zipper if you don't consciously control where it flops. All these are very minor and easily managed, but you can see where someone not paying attention could actually damage the tent in normal use. Don't be that someone and this tent will see years of use.