Posts Tagged Kelty
Camping Light: Kelty’s Lumapivot Lantern
I don’t know why we’ve taken so long to upgrade our camping kit with decent lighting. Sure, we carry candles and flashlights and a headlamp, but typically, we just shut down our efforts with the close of day. This has meant an early dinner, a bit of reading in the tent as the light fades, and, well, that’s about it for the evening. I used to have one of those old propane lanterns, the kind that used the ever fragile mantle. The light was great, but they were kind of high maintenance plus, you don’t want a propane fueled fire in your tent. No way.
Kelty’s Lumapivot Lantern is going to open up a whole new world of cooking after dark and reading in bed for our summer camping trips. This cute, versatile little light could have been designed in an almost answer to my camp light wish list.
I’ll mention the one thing I found less than ideal about it first. It takes six AA batteries. I wish it had been designed with an AC rechargeable power supply. An outlet just isn’t that hard to find — we’ve got one in our car, even. Sure, I can stock it with rechargeable batteries, but then, I’ve got to also pack a recharger. This isn’t a backpacker’s device, it’s for car/trailer campers who don’t worry so much about weight, so I’m not convinced it couldn’t be rechargeable. You’ll get about six hours of light, total, using the lantern on full power, so if you’re cooking dinner in the dark every night, you’ll probably burn through the batteries fairly quickly. Power source aside, there’s lots of stuff to like about this well designed little lantern.
It’s light enough to hang up inside your tent, for starters. We’re always Gerry-rigging a flashlight or a headlamp to hang from the “ceiling” and then, the light is never where you want it to be. But the adjustable wings (check the picture, you’ll see what I mean) allow you to point the light in any direction you want. The lamp has a three way switch: off, both wings, one wing — so you can decide how much light you need. It’s bright, really bright — the specs say you get 35 feet of usable light. The design is really clever — 360 degrees of rotation, a sturdy base that’s unlikely to knock over (our old propane lamp was kind of top heavy), bright LEDs as the light source, a handle so you can carry it around camp easily. It’s white, which seems like a weird choice for a campground product, but that makes it easy to find in the dark. It’s weatherproof, meaning yes, you can use it outdoors in the rain — a Pacific Northwest camper’s bonus — though I’d avoid dropping it off the side of a boat or pushing this too much. And did I mention? It’s cute. I like it.
I’m a fan of sturdy, well designed camping gear that’s genuinely useful. The Kelty Lumapivot Lantern is going into our car camping kit as standard gear. Car campers, folks with trailers, or even after dark back yard diners might find they like having this little lantern join them in their evening outdoor activities.
Get yours directly from Kelty or check the latest prices on Amazon.
Posted by Pam in Adventure Gear, General Gear on April 8th, 2011
Kelty 3-in-1 Waterproof Blanket
Ah, the joys of the holiday Yankee Swap! Also known as a White Elephant Gift Exchange, this event always brings big laughs at our annual family Christmas party. Some gifts are gag gifts (like the Bill Clinton corkscrew and the Hilary Clinton nutcracker that were a big hit last year), and others are coveted (among my handyman husband’s family anything involving tools or knives get stolen a lot).
This year, my young nephew opened up a Kelty 3-and-1 Waterproof Blanket, that didn’t light his fire like the Nerf gun his cousin had received. Not wanting my sweet nephew to be disappointed, I swiped the blanket from him. He later scored an iTunes gift card. While I actually wanted the bottle of Colorado wine that went around a few times, nobody stole my blanket, so I came home with the item. This is not a bad thing; it’s just not an outdoorsy product we really needed.
That said, it might get some use on future road and camping trips. It’s made from waterproof nylon — and the exterior blue side is indeed waterproof (it passed the water-spillage test). The grey side is also nylon, but a bit silkier, and water doesn’t seem to repel like the blue side does. It’s filled with a thin layer of batting.
When open the blanket spreads to five feet by six feet; when folded in its attached carrier, it’s closer to 18 inches square. The webbing handle is removable. Because of the thin and lightweight material, it can squish into a gear bag or in between suitcases in a car trunk.
Regarding the 3-in-1 aspect, I can see using this Kelty item as a blanket or as a sleeping pad (albeit a thin one) while camping. I suppose it can also be a pillow when stuffed in its case, or used as a padded seat at a stadium football game where the bleachers are hard and cold.
At $19.99 on Amazon.com or Target.com, I think this 3-in-1 Waterproof Blanket is fairly priced. While it’s not something that I’d go out and by for myself (goodness knows we’ve got plenty of sleeping bags, tarps and camping pillows), I’m not unhappy it’s been added to our stash of camping gear.
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Posted by Kara in Adventure Gear, General Gear on January 4th, 2011
Kelty Station Laptop Backpack Does It All
Collectively the three of us have tried out a lot of laptop bags and Kara’s getting to another one next week. I’ve been giving this Kelty Station one an unusually tough workout though. I’ve been using it since the spring and so far this thing has been on six flight legs, eight long-distance bus rides, at least twenty taxi rides, and a dozen walks around town in various locations.
My conclusion? This is one tough, multi-functional bag that does everything I want it to. It’s a real workhorse that I expect to keep using for years on end. Coming from Kelty, a company known more for its value proposition than its long-term durability, this Station bag continually surprised me with its ruggedness and it’s thoughtful design.
Be advised that this is a laptop backpack on the large side: it will easily hold a 15-inch laptop with room to spare and it has a total capacity of 29 liters (1,800 cubic inches). That practically puts it in the overnight bag or ultra-light backpacker category, so it’s got support straps for your waist and another one that goes across the chest. There are four padded mesh sections on the back and the shoulder straps are both contoured and padded. This is not some cute little pack that makes a fashion statement. It’s for people who need to cart a lot of things along.
In my case, this held virtually everything I needed for a day of work or a nine-hour plane ride: camera, papers, notebooks, magazines, Kindle, my gadget/cords case, pens, music player, keys, cell phone, press kits people keep handing me, and on it goes. I have yet to actually fill the thing up, even when bringing along a change of clothes and a toiletry kit. (Hey, you never know when you’ll get stranded at an airport.) I’ll get into specific features, but in general I like the way this bag is organized. There’s a padded laptop pocket you can open from either the top or the side—handy. Then there are three separate compartments of different sizes, with the front two having sub-pockets inside those. So it’s very easy to keep things organized.
There are a whole lot of nice touches that make this laptop backpack a pleasure to use. There are handles on the top, the side, and the front, which is great when you want to get the bag off your shoulders or pull it out of an overhead compartment. There are water bottle pockets on both sides, with zippers for expansion and Velcro flaps for when you want to use them for something else. (I use one to hold my Steripen Opti.) There’s a rubberized bottom that is easy to wipe off. Reflective tape helps you be seen on dark sidewalks. Lots of little pockets inside are sized for business cards, pens, cell phones, and gadgets. I don’t feel like I’m missing anything—there’s even a hook where I can fasten my keys so they don’t get buried.
All that considered, I also like this Station bag because it meets my main criteria when walking around foreign cities: it doesn’t scream, “Hey everybody, I’ve got an expensive laptop in here!” It just looks like a backpack.
The Kelty Station laptop backpack comes in six color accents and lists for $90 at the Kelty site, but is less than that if you follow the eBags link below.
Get the Kelty Station Laptop Backpacks at eBags.
Posted by Tim L. in Business Gear, General Gear on September 2nd, 2010
Kelty Redwing 3100 Backpack is a Great Value
If Kelty were a car company it would probably be Hyundai. Not as fancy or expensive as other brands in its class, but a good value for what you’re spending. Take this Redwing Backpack that holds 3100 cubic inches or 51 liters, is loaded with features, and has a list price of $109. That’s half the price of many other packs it’s competing with on the market.
Sure there are a few trade-offs here and there, but not many. I just used this Kelty Redwing for a week, actually having it on my back for six hours a day as I rode my bike on the Katy Trail in Missouri. It was comfortable and had plenty of pockets for keeping my gear organized. At a shade less than 3.5 pounds, it doesn’t add much weight to your load either.
It’s got all the things I look for in a travel pack: padded adjustable waist strap, adjustable sternum strap, side pockets for a water bottle or other items I may need to get to without removing it, and compartments for all the little things that get lost easily. The back is padded too and there’s an aluminum stay running the length of the back to keep it stable and this can be adjusted to the shape of your back.
This pack didn’t feel quite as rugged and well-made as some I’ve used from other manufacturers at a higher price point and the zippers are not top-end ones, but this Kelty pack should last quite a while: the main fabric is 600D polyester 
ripstop and the company offers a lifetime warranty against Chinese factory defects in materials or workmanship. That won’t help you in cases of “exhausted zippers” or “natural hazard damage,” but I think they’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. The only feature of consequence I missed on this that you get in some other packs are the little straps connecting the top of the shoulder pads to the pack—that helps a little with heavy loads.
In short, it would be hard to find a better backpack for under a hundred bucks at retail. I’d give pretty good odds that this would make it through a year-long backpacking trip okay and am quite confident it would be fine for years’ worth of weekend hiking and camping trips.
Get the full specs and see the four colors it comes in at Kelty.com. You can buy it there direct, at your local retailer, or online here: get the Kelty Redwing at Campmor or at RockCreek.com.
Posted by Tim L. in Adventure Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on March 25th, 2010
