I got my Kelty Gunnison 4.2 tent last spring. My kids started expressing an interest in camping and hiking, so we had to get a tent big enough for a family of 4 plus the dog. Even though I needed a large tent, I wanted to keep the weight down just to keep my options open. You never know when a few friends will want to go on an over-nighter. The Gunnison 4.2 offers plenty of space and does it without a lot of weight or volume when packed. In fact, this tent replaced anolder 2 person tent of similar weight and packed size and sleeps twice as many people.
The Kelty Gunnison 4.2 is a double wall, free standing tent with enough room for 4. The tent has two doors each with a vestibule to stash everyone‘s gear. Jakes feet are used to hold the DAC Pressfit poles and the corners of the fly. Color coded webbing helps to line up the fly properly on the tent. The tent comes with 10 shepherd‘s hook style stakes and all of the needed guylines and tensioners. A gear loft for the top of the tent is included as well.
My Gunnison 4.2 really will sleep four, and do so fairly comfortably. Our family of four with two kids doesn‘t occupy anywhere near the capacity of the tent. I have put 3 large sleeping pads and 1 regular pad in this tent. The four pads did occupy all of the floor space, but the fact that 3 of these were 24 to 30 inches wide should tell you that there is plenty of room. Headroom is great as well. I am about 6‘2” tall. While seated, I can fully raise my arms to touch the very top of the tent.
Two large doors on the Kelty Gunnison 4.2 are very nice and provide easy entry and exit. All zippers work well and do not tend to snag. The zippers on the vestibules are easy to reach and operate. Toggle style loops are provided so that you can roll up the doors and keep them in place.
The Gunnison 4.2 weighs in right at 8 pounds. To keep the weight low, the tent does not have zippered windows or some of the other features of car camping tents. It is built just like a super-sized lightweight backpacking tent. Walls are made of 68D polyester, the tent floor is 70D nylon, and the fly material is 75D polyester. All of the seams are taped. This tent could easily be distributed amongst a group of 3 or 4 for backpacking. The tent body weighs 3.07 pounds, the fly is 2.81 pounds, the poles are 1.66 pounds, and the stakes weigh in at .376 pounds. Leaving the stuff sacks at home will save .162 pounds or 2.59 ounces.
Inside the Kelty Gunnison 4.2 are four good sized pockets so everyone has a place to stash gear. The provided gear loft is a good place to keep a light or other gear. Two vents are provided near the top of the rain fly for ventilation. The tent stakes are nice and sturdy. Our ground is very rocky, but I was able to hammer them in without bending.
Assembly of the Gunnison 4.2 is fairly easy. With the last time I used the tent being a couple months ago, I timed myself today. I needed about 15 minutes at a leisurely pace to set up the whole tent including unpacking, and staking out the fly and the guy out lines.
I like the Kelty Gunnison 4.2 a lot. The tent works well for me and my intended uses for the tent. The Gunnison 4.2 is priced reasonably at an MSRP of $299.95. Head over to www.kelty.com and check it out.
– Mark