Kelty Parthenon 8 Review

Comfort
This tent almost won the award for the most comfortable tent, but we took a point off because it lacked a couple of features that the award winning tent had. It does have two doors but they basically act as one big door. We prefer tents that have doors on either side because that gives us more options. The Editors' Choice award winning REI Kingdom 8 allows you too roll up the vestibule on the sides during a hot day. This tent doesn't give you that option. This tent is the biggest tent we tested with a floor space of 143 square feet. It is basically a camping mansion for you and your family.

Storm Resistance
Due to the shape and structure of the Parthenon, it doesn't perform well in high winds. It also isn't that great in heavy rain because the rain fly doesn't come all the way down to the ground, leaving parts of the tent body exposed. If you are just going to be camping in the spring, summer, and fall, then this tent will be fine. Just don't plan on camping when a big storm is supposed to hit.

Workmanship
This is a very well made tent with what you might call an interesting pole structure. It uses DAC featherlite poles and has a 1800mm PU coating on the rain fly.

Ease of sSetup
At first glance we were pretty confused by how this tent goes up. There are two poles with hubs on the end that you end up having to bend and twist to stick another pole into. Once it was up it obviously made a lot more sense, and that made it easier to set up the following times. It took us about 10 minutes to set this tent up and 10 minutes to take it down.

If you are looking for a hassle free, super easy tent to set up for a great price and value, then check out our Best Buy award winning Coleman Instant Tent 6.

Packing Size
This Tent packs down pretty wekk into its little carrying bag. We had to roll this tent up to get it inside but that's not a big deal. The only tent we tested where we could really just stuff it into its own bag was the Top Pick award winning Big Agnes Flying Diamond 8.