The Kelty Wireless 4 Tent is a freestanding 2-door car camping tent with two vestibules and a full-coverage rainfly.
To get us a closer look, Kelty sent Man Makes Fire a review unit. After testing and reviewing the Wireless 4 Tent while camping, this is what we learned:
Kelty Wireless Tents
Kelty makes three versions of its new Wireless Tent series, a 2-, 4- and 6-person version. They all have the same core two-door, tried-and-true dome-style design.
My first question about the new tent series was, “Why ‘Wireless’ in the name?” It got me thinking about WiFi and cell phones — but I was overthinking it. The key to Kelty’s new Wireless series is to leave it all behind when you get outdoors: “Sometimes you have to disconnect to connect,” Kelty says.
Makes sense.
The Kelty Wireless tent series uses an easy-to-setup cross-pole dome-style structure.So what about the Wireless 4 Tent in particular?
The Kelty Wireless 4 is basically a well-made tent built with a proven dome-style design. It comes in at a midrange price point for tents of this style — a bit more than truly cheap competitors and a bit less than more expensive tents that use aluminum poles and ultralight material.
Ultimately, the price-to-value ratio is excellent.
The core of the pole structure comes from two sets of shock-corded fiberglass poles that X-cross over the top of the tent. For extra support for the rain fly and vestibules — and to make the interior roomier — a third fiberglass pole spans the top of the tent.
It’s a design that’s easy to set up.
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Kelty’s Quick-Corner Tech?
To make setup even faster and easier, Kelty has developed a new pole-and-tent system called Quick-Corner Technology. How does it work?
Basically, Kelty uses a short sleeve for the poles at each corner. When you insert a pole in one end and bend it into the corresponding sleeve at the diagonal, the pole will stay in place. It won’t necessarily stand on its own, but the bottoms won’t pop out while you’re working on the next diagonal.
The Quick-Corner system uses short sleeves at each corner.Once both poles are inserted, they’ll stand up on their own. This makes clipping the tent body to the poles a bit easier. Alternately, you could clip the top of the tent to the top of the poles first on the ground and then lift it with the poles, but I rarely bother doing it this way.
Once the X-poles are up, the ridge pole clips in over the top, aligned with each door.
It’s all very intuitive and easy to setup.
Rainfly, Doors & Vestibules
Kelty uses a full-coverage rainfly, which we appreciate any time we’re camping in bad weather.
We’re also big fans of two doors and vestibules in most tents — for three reasons.
First, having two doors makes it easier to enter and exit when you’re sleeping with fellow campers.
Second, on hot nights, you can roll back each vestibule, leaving both open so that you can get a cooling cross breeze through the door mesh.
Third, if you’re stuck in camp during a downpour, you can open the interior doors for extra space . . . or even rollup part of the vestibule so that you can see out.
We’re fans of the full-coverage rainfly with built-in vestibules.Cheaper dome tents often skimp out by eliminating vestibules altogether. If you’re camping in fantastic weather, this isn’t a big deal. Once it rains, you’ll appreciate the extra space to stow your shoes and other gear out of the rain (and not inside your sleeping area).
Overall, the fit and finish is very good. The clips, poles, zippers, stitching and waterproofing are all very good.
The wall and fly fabric is a 68D Poly 1200mm while the mesh is a 40D tight-weave mesh. The floor is a 68D Poly 1800mm fabric, which means it’s slightly more water-resistant than the walls and fly (which is good).
Key Specifications
The floor in the Kelty Wireless 2 Tent is 86″ x 49.5″ while the height is 43″. The minimum weight is 6 lbs 9 oz.
The floor in the Kelty Wireless 4 Tent is 98″ x 87″ while the height is 59″. The minimum weight is 11 lbs 2 oz.
The floor in the Kelty Wireless 6 Tent is 118″ x 106″ while the height is 76″. The minimum weight is 16 lbs 4 oz.
Kelty Wireless 4 Competition & Alternatives
If the Kelty Wireless 4 Tent is sold out and you need some competitive alternatives, consider these options:
Stoic Madrone 4 Tent — You get 2-doors, 2-vestibules, a gear loft and the body and floor material is a slightly heavier 75D polyester with a very competitive 3000mm waterproofing rating.
ALPS Mountaineering Lynx 4-Person Tent — You get less mesh for airflow, but you still get a classic and sturdy design, 2-doors, 2-vestibules and aluminum poles.
Cabela’s West Wind 4-Person Dome Tent — If you want fantastic rain coverage — plus a lot of breathable mesh — as well as a monster vestibule for storing gear out of the rain and out of sight, this might be your tent. Read our full review of the 6-person version here.
The Verdict
All-in-all, Kelty uses a tried-and-true x-pole dome tent design to deliver a solid car camping tent that will keep you dry and last for years. The Quick-Corner Tech is a nice benefit that makes setup a bit easier, but the full-coverage rain fly with two-doors and two vestibules make the Wireless tent series particularly versatile for rainy weekends. Highly recommended.
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For more tent reviews, check out our guide to the Best Camping Tents.
