Coleman Weathermaster Tent: Kelty Sunshade Review

Average Reviews:
4.0 out of 5 stars

(More customer reviews)Before considering a purchase of this product, it's helpful to understand what it is and what it isn't. Depending on your intended application, you could find it light in weight or heavy, a good design or unusable. This is a review of the medium-size sunshade, but most of what I say should apply to the large model as well.

At 10+ pounds, this is not something anyone is likely to take on a backpack trip. A backpacker looking for shade will more likely choose something akin to Kelty's Noahs Tarp at under 2 pounds and half the price.

Since people may have to duck to enter this structure, and the walls hinder lateral visibility, and the dome shape does not cover the entire footprint, this would not be a great choice for a vendor setting up shop at an outdoor market. The vender would be better off choosing a much heavier portable structure with a rectangular canopy suspended on poles.

So, who would find this product useful? Well, perhaps a family spending a day at the beach, but if it's windy they will need to find ways to anchor the corners, perhaps with coolers or a car bumper, etc. But anyone setting up any kind of sun shelter on a sandy beach would have a similar issue to deal with. This structure does have the advantage of being free standing when erected; you just have to prevent it from blowing away.

I bought the Kelty Sunshade to use on river trips. It is small and light enough to easily take along in a canoe. It proved its worth the first night out when a storm blew in. I wish I had a video of my wife and me setting this thing up for the first time in gale-force winds and pelting rain. I know it would be a huge comedy hit on YouTube.

We got nowhere using the stakes and finally had to rely on a cooler and heavy water containers to hold down the windward side of the structure. The wind finally subsided, but it continued to rain all night. Without the Sunshade we would have been lying in our tent eating granola bars for dinner. With the Sunshade we cooked a hot dinner and enjoyed it seated in our outdoor dining room. It was pretty sweet.

We also set up the Sunshade to provide shade from the sun (novel idea) on layover days when we remained at camp. It did provide sun relief, but not as much as we would have liked. There is an inherent problem with using a lightweight fabric to block the hot rays of the sun; the sun's heat will penetrate the fabric causing the area underneath to heat up. If there is little wind to move the air, or if you are sitting within a few few feet of the fabric, you can become uncomfortably hot. In the future I will bring along a highly-reflective mylar sheet to drape over the sunshade during the hottest part of the day.

Other considerations...
I recommend buying a supplementary side wall. It is easy to attach and can be moved around the structure to match the movement of the sun or breezes.

I'm confident I could set up the Sunshade by myself, but it's a lot easier with two people - even then, not very easy. The problem is stretching the taut fabric over the fiberglass rods or poles. My wife held the pole while I used my strength to pull the metal grommet over the end of the rod. Maybe the fabric will loosen-up over time, and this process will become easier. On disassembly, do not pull the rods out of the fabric sleeves because the shock-corded sections will come apart and fight you. Bunch the fabric and push it off the pole instead. After we got the hang of it, we could unpack and assemble the Sunshade, or disassemble and pack it away, in about six or seven minutes (maybe a little longer in a gale).

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Product Description:
A Kelty Sunshade is an easy-to-set-up shelter that protects you, friends, and family from the sun when you're partying outdoors. The Sunshade has continuous pole sleeves for smooth setup, guy-out points for security, and taped seams for waterproof protection. It also features variable height and width adjustment for custom sun protection.

Product Features