I used the Kelty Mantra 7 on a kayaking trip down the Deschutes River a few weekends ago. I was impressed to say the least.First, set up was very simple to do alone. The Mantra comes with only three lightweight aluminum pre-bent poles. They are color coded making it easy to remember where each one goes. For the rain-fly, the Mantra has a single aluminum pole, pre-bent also, that frames the arched vestibule.

Waterproof and breathable: The Mantra 7 has fully taped seams and a waterproof rainfly. We were subjected to hard rains all night and not a drop of water leaked into the tent. Of course, it wouldn’t hurt to add a waterproofing spray to it also. And with all the exhaled air from its habitants there was absolutely no moisture built up inside the tent in the morning.

The Mantra 7 has excellent ventilation too. The rain fly has pop up ventilation enclosures that don’t allow water in. The tent body is nearly all mesh up above which allows for good air movement. And finally, there is tons of storage on the walls and a few mesh pockets on the ceiling area.

Overall I would recommend this tent when you are looking for size, low weight and quality. I can’t wait to get out and use it again with the family.

Here are the specs on the Mantra 7 from Kelty:

• Seasons: 3
• Capacity: 7 person
• Minimum weight: 22 lb. 7 oz. / 10.18 kg
• Packaged weight: 23 lb. 8 oz. / 10.66 kg
• Floor area: 116 ft2 / 11 m2
• Vestibule area: 39 ft2 / 4 m2
• Dimensions:
• Length: 152″ / 386 cm
• Width: 124″ / 371 cm
• Height: 72″ / 183 cm
• Number of poles: 4
• Pole type: Three 16 mm DAC DA17 aluminum poles + one 14.5 DAC DA17 aluminum vestibule pole
• Number of vestibules: 1
• Number of doors: 2
• Number of mesh windows: 3
• Packaged diameter: 13″ / 33 cm
• Packaged Length: 33″ / 84 cm
• Wall material: 68D 190T polyester taffeta
• Floor material: 1800mm PU nylon taffeta
• Fly Material: 75D 190T, 1800 mm PU polyester-taffeta

Tent Body Features:

• ArcEdge floor
• Taped floor seams
• Internal storage pockets
• Color-coded clip/sleeve construction
• Sidewall vents
• Mesh ceiling
• Freestanding
• Organizer wall

Fly Features:

• Fly vents
• Taped seams
• Guyout points
• Side-release buckle tent-fly connection
• Noiseless zipper pulls

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 5th, 2007 at 1:08 pm and is filed under What's New, Articles, eNews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.