When it comes to family-sized car camping tents, there are plenty of options out there. Entry-level 6+ person tents can weigh a ton and almost always feature fiberglass poles and an under-protective rain fly. Stepping into a quality family tent can cost a bit more, but will be well worth it in the long-run. We’ve had the new Kelty Palisade 6 tent this Summer and it’s got a huge list of great features that any family would love.
Kelty Palisade 6 Features:
- Freestanding design
- Color-coded clip-sleeve construction
- ArcEdge™ floor
- Taped seams in the floor and rain fly
- Adjustable Stakeouts
- Mesh panels
- Internal storage pockets
- Back Porch storage
- Lantern Loops
- Gear-loft loops
- Dual Entry Vestibule (mesh doors with pull-down shades)
- Dual cup holders in vestibule area
- Side-release buckle tent-fly connection
- Deployable fly vents
- Noiseless zipper pulls
- MSRP: $499.95
Kelty Palisade 6 Tent Review
The Kelty Palisade tent is quite the palace for a family or for a car camping/basecamp situation where extra room is desired. One of the most unique features of the new Palisade tent is the halo hoop-style roof. The tent assembles like any large-sized family tent, but then to crown it off, you assemble the giant-sized hula hoop poles and attach it in place. This angelic hoop serves to increase headroom for a more pleasant camping experience.
Inside the Palisade 6, there’s plenty of room for our brood with a super-comfy Therm-a-Rest sleep system in the middle, one kid on each side and two kids at our feet. There’s no extra room for much else inside with the Mitchell family inside, so the absolutely-huge vestibule, err… garage comes in handy to hang out. The kids love to run around the tent and the double-sided doors to the vestibule make for an added challenge as they run laps.
Setting up this beast is a bit of a challenge–especially if the wind is blowing. My initial backyard setup was met with gale-force winds and I promptly rolled it up and waited for calmer weather. In a slight breeze, the tent sets up just fine, but it is downright unwieldy should the gales blow in earnest.
Speaking of wind tolerance, we got some stiff winds one night and the Palisade 6 held up really well. I had to get up in the night to re-adjust some of the guy wires that hold the rain fly in place, but after that, things were relatively quiet and flap-free.
We’ll keep beating up on this tent on our car camping adventures, but I’m seeing little to complain about and have been impressed with the bevy of great features and quality
Good Palisade 6
- All kinds of little features add up
- Pockets galore
- Tons of headroom (thanks to the halo design)
- Vestibule is like a man cave with cup holders and all
- Gobs of ventilation
- Does pretty well in the wind
- Cool deployable vents built into the rain fly
Bad Palisade 6
- Lots of staking to do with the rain fly and some wind
- Can’t figure out why it sounds like rain in a slight wind (static, stretching fabric… Dunno)
- You need a ton of space to effectively pitch this tent
- The final halo pole is hard to situate and disassemble when ready
- A little on the heavy side compared to other 6-person basecamp tents
Bottom Line: Kelty Palisade 6 Tent
Roomy and feature-packed, the Kelty Palisade 6 tent is a great option for a family basecamp option. While it doesn’t offer different rooms to keep the kiddos at bay, it does offer a bevy of features to make the camping experience as good as can be.
Buy Now: Browse Tents at Kelty.com
