Let It Rain - Kelty Orb II

In a previous post I characterized the Orb II as a Teutonic wet-dream. The description is still apt.

With rain predicted for the next day or two I decided to set it up. In spite of the effort, getting stuff from the tent is a lot easier than uncovering it from sheets of plastic. Last time, in the Mt. Wrightson wilderness, it took 2.5 hours to set it up. This time a mere 1.75.

The two poles that go from corner to corner aren't too bad. But the two middle poles exert so much outward pressure they get stuck in the sleeves 3/4 of the way. I had to bend them and bunch/slip the sleeve to get them through to their pockets. Once they're in place though, they add IMMENSELY to the tent's structural integrity. Ain't NUTHIN' gonna blow this sucker down!

Phase One - Staked corners & Poles in Place

I've never liked the clip-on tents. They seem like the result of a cost-cutting marketing ploy and fundamentally weak. If you look at the heavy-duty four-season tents they all use sleeves. 

I HAD a sleeved dome tent that lasted 30 years, but when it finally gave out this was the best I could afford. I thought I'd be using it more frequently; the plan was to use it as a place-marker to let folks know -- when I was away in the vehicle -- that I was coming back. But the heart attack in March of last year put the kibosh on my extended hikes. I've used it about four times since I bought it three years ago. Given the smallness of my RV -- a 1996 Geo Tracker 4-door -- that's not often enough to justify the space it takes up. 

There are rubber "patches" that you fold around a pole. You then slide a plastic collar over the folded patch down to a rubber stop (to keep it from going off the other end). It's a wrangle under normal conditions. Only a German or, perhaps a Netherlander (You! Up there in the Yukon!) could subdue it in rain or cold. 

Rain-fly 

It's designed with innumerable options, but the two most practical are the vents and covers. The blue fabric on top keeps rain out of the vent -- at top, one on each side -- condensation being, espcially on ExpedISHUNZ, an issue in tents. ​

COUNT 'EM....FIVE guy-lines per side. The middle three, according to Der InstRUKshun Sheet, can go to one stake. Additionally, there's one for each corner, just back from the entries. They too are connected to the clips-on-rubber patches Und Schtaybiliz das tent to mit in an INCH uff yer Life!!

It supposedly can (easily) withstand 80+ mph winds and is/was the prev owner's choice for his trek to the base of Mt. Everest.  But if you're one of those exceptional folks who, like me, venture into THE WILDS and like to be able to handle it "No Problema!" this is the tent for you.

Update July, 2021...

After several unsuccessful attempts to sell it on Craigslist during which -- each time -- I experienced pangs of guilt at foisting it off on someone else, I threw it in the garbage...a $250.00 lesson.   

Marking One's Spot

In my youth I'd hike across Grand Canyon on my way to the River of No Return wilderness in Idaho; it got the winter kinks out.

Last summer, perzackly 50 years later, I found the same backpack in an animal humane thrift store in Hailey, Idaho, not far from my former hangout. (I've always carried my sleeping bag in front stuffed under my shirt.)

Then, in November, when in Albuquerque, I found a tent. The guy had bought it for a trip to Everest Base Camp, but a motorcycle accident intervened. The Kelty Orb 2 was of similar quality to the one I used in my mid-years. (I didn't need no stinkin' tent in my youth.)

First the ground sheet

Here, at the Mount Wrightson Wilderness, I decided I was ready for an overnighter. But as I loaded up I grew increasingly dubious. The whiplash from the accident is still pretty bad and as I added and hefted the doubt came creeping. Eventually I decided to just walk around for a while saying Poohisms such as "Sing ho for a bear" and "We're off on an Exposition."


(More quotes from Pooh)

The Tent

Whipple Observatory sits atop the middle peak.

Sure enough, the exercise exacerbated the injury and the pain kept me awake most of the night.



Two days later I decided to set up the tent. This was my first time. A Teutonic wet-dream, it has enough zipperrz, shnaps und guylines to zahdistfy das Most ANAL! It Vas ein Wunderschon 2.5 hours.

 Flyed Und Guyed

 

"New" shorts.

(Diff frm pic at top of blog)

But when I left to go into town for water, I felt confident of having laid claim. Of course, the tent might be gone, but probably not. And he'd assured me the setup would get easier.

Update August 15, 2020. If EVER anyone offers you one of these tents...thank them politely and kick them in the groin. Although it DID sneer at 50 mph winds, setup is a nightmare and, I would suggest, impossible except under the most advantageous of conditions. Even THEN it takes close to an hour.