Kelty  Highroads Shelter

I saw several positive reviews for the Backroads Shelter by Kelty, but wanted something with aluminum poles instead of fiberglass. Kelty listened and this version was produced. We've used it on two trips so far, and it makes a nice privacy shelter attached to our tiny camper. Our first camping trip we opened up the sides to enjoy the view, but on the trip that these pictures were taken we were dealing with cold weather, rain, and sustained winds of over 20 miles per hour for 2 days. Gusts were hitting the '40s! I ended up adding a couple extra guy lines and this held up without issue. No water inside, and it survived the wind in a way our awning never would have.

This fits a Honda Element with an Ecamper. The design is well thought out, it includes some nice small touches and features, and the more durable poles and fabric are worth it over the Backroads version.

Bought to use on back of truck. Works well to create a living space off the back. Bed of truck is used for sleeping. Shelter attaches easily to the truck and works around the road shower and cargo basket. Also able to make the shelter work with swing out bike rack. Was looking to create a quick set up, get out of town for a night, camp. Aluminum poles worth the extra cost for me.

I took this for my cross country trip, I loved its functionality, it gives good living space under the event of weather when car camping. However on my third use I had a pretty bad storm and the part that goes over the car ripped, I don’t know how it happened. I still gave 5 stars because REI took it back and sent me a new one, I shall see how it will hold in the future. I love REI customer service I never had bad experiences.

This shelter is an amazing upgrade with its sturdy aluminum poles and logical set up. Even as a shorter person, I was able to set it up solo without issues, and it attached securely and easily to a Subaru Forester, while still allowing me to open the lift gate with it deployed. While it is not bug proof since there is not fully enclosed mesh netting, I appreciate its versatility in allowing one to button it fairly down for inclement weather or open the door and roll up the sides when desired. I had been researching everything from awnings to tarps, and I think this lands in a sweet spot, and I appreciate that it is lightweight and stores easily in the car when not needed.

I used this tied to the back of my teardrop trailer at a beach campground in NC this weekend. It provided good shade and held up to 22mph wind gusts for 3 nights. It was easy enough to put up and take down. I’m glad I had it and would buy it again.

HighRoads shelter works GREAT as a kitchen shelter for our teardrop trailer clamshell kitchen, BUT...BEWARE! Kelty has a guarantee for their products, which they honor. However the customer has to ship the product back to them for repair...seems fair. I used this shelter perhaps 4 times (up for a day or two, not in high sustained winds) and one of the major seams began to unravel. Clearly a product defect.Contacted Kelty, sent them photos and yes, they agreed, send it to us for repair. I paid $176 to ship it back to them (insured): I paid about $279 for the original tent. I reached out and said that I thought that it was unreasonable that I had to pay nearly ⅔ the cost of the original purchase to have them repair what was obviously a production defect. I was asking for them to pay $100 of the cost of my shipping. After much back and forth, they offered to send me a new shelter if I sent them photos of my shelter illustrating that I had destroyed it (they have specific instructions about how I was to slice the main panels in multiple locations). I responded that they were missing my point: I wasn't asking for a new tent....I was asking for a reasonable compromise. I also explained that I understood their policy for a lighter-weight item or an item which had been used heavily; but not for something which was clearly a production defect. I asked for a contact with someone via phone: no response. So, again, the shelter works great (the colors are more than a bit dreary for a rainy day shelter), but it works well for the purposes I got it for and I was ready to give it a 4 out of 5 rating prior to this.

I purchased this shelter as an upgrade to the Backroads shelters that I’d been using and it was totally worth the upgrade! The materials are much beefier, the aluminum poles are lighter, and it would appear that the zippers are a significant improvement over the other product as well. As others have said, these shelters are just a car camping game changer!

Used with my 2018 Chevy equinox. Excellent protection from the rain and elements. Retains heat.

The good: Well built, with classic Kelty quality and design. Looks like it would work well with traditional sized vehicles like minivans or grenadier jeeps. The bad: This tent identifies as a kite, like all dome tents, but is not free standing since there is no floor. The directions show a van, and you are instructed to throw the ties over the van and tie them onto the wheels on the far side of the van. I've hung enough bear bags to know that something heavy needs to be attached to the rope/ties, which would likely result in a dented van or a broken window. Alternatively, you could tie off to a roof rack after climbing on top of the van, not my choice during a storm. This tent requires 6 secure attachments, again, during a storm, would be a challenge to securely rig. I would recommend this tent to low top vehicles, but not high top ones.