Wenzel Klondike Tent Review (Part 1) 1080P
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 มิ.ย. 2024
- There were only a couple of video reviews for this tent, so I felt like making my own since my camera shoots in 1080p. At the time this video was shot I had not yet camped in this tent, only set it up in my yard. My first impressions of the tent were good though, in my opinion, this tent is not as huge as some make it sound in their reviews on Amazon. I apologize that the video(s) ran a bit long. Hopefully my review helps you make your determination in whether or not this tent is for you.
FYI, I was going to make another video when I was camping in this but ended up being way too busy. The tent held up well but did leak with heavy rain. The leaking wasn't horrible, we stayed dry... but there were puddles near the corners of the big sleeping area, and also some next to the big zip up flaps of the screen room. I would recommend using some seam sealer and ensuring you're on the levelest spot possible, this may have contributed to the leaking as my site was not very level.
Also, please do not leave me comments telling me how to "properly" set up and tighten down a tent. While I am not some outdoor freak who camps constantly, I do know what I am doing. I am well aware of the concept of making everything tightened down and running the guide wires. This tent still has the waviness issue on one side that everyone who posts pictures has. This can NOT be corrected by pulling ANY part of the tent tighter. So unless you own this tent yourself, and can demonstrate that waviness in a video and then corrected in another, do not tell me I'm not pulling it tight enough. You can tighten the floor as much as you want, but this has zero affect on the top, where the waviness occurs. In addition to this, I already mentioned in the video annotations that the collapsing pole no longer happened after re positioning it and running the guide wires, so you do not need to tell me to do that. Thank you.
Video recorded with a Nikon Coolpix S8200
I chose this tent because it was the only one with a screen room that could be secured against the rain.
Years ago I had a canvas tent with an open screen room, no floor because if it rained you would not want a floor to catch and hold the water. I really liked that screen room but wanted one I could close up in case of rain. So this was just what I wanted.
I have put this tent up several times all by myself with very little effort. I'm 75 and have some stiff joints so younger, healthy people should have no trouble.
The first thing I recommend with any tent is buy good stakes.
The little pin like stakes are no good in a windy, rainy situation.
The plastic stakes can break if you encounter a rock.
I bought some sturdy stakes at a farm implement store that are at least 1/4 inch think, about thick as a good ball point pen. They were at least 8 inches long. If they won't fit in the tent bag, get a sturdy bag for just the stakes and fasten it to the outside of the tent bag.
I did not like the way it moved around with gusty winds that came and went.
So, I added more guy ropes to every pole. That really stabilized it. You could probably just tie ropes above the clip where the factory elastic strap of the rain fly fastens. I chose to drill a hole in the metal pipe where I tied a loop of sturdy rope and then tied off two more guy ropes so they made an A stretching out from the tent. It was much sturdier after that. You could do that to any tent I would think.
I really appreciate the big windows for the ventilation. You can leave the rain fly off in good weather if you like, it ventilates even better that way. I camped in weather that dropped to 45 overnight, a small electric heater kept the humidity out and the tent stayed at about 60 degrees. In Wisconsin the humidity makes everything damp and it feels a lot colder than the temperature would suggest. I hate having everything damp in the morning.
With all tents I recommend a treatment with Dry Guy or Nikwax. Both are very good at waterproofing a tent. Concentrate on the seams. I work it in with a paint brush. After all, they punch thousands of holes in the fabric when they sew it up, it is unreasonable to expect it to be water tight.
Use a good thick tarp underneath to protect the floor from anything that might poke a hole in it. I use a tarp bigger than the tent floor and roll it toward the tent so it causes a bump that outside water has to climb over before it can get under the tent floor.
Putting the tent back in the bag takes some work. I had to roll it really slow and lay on it in steps as I rolled to get the air out. Otherwise it would not fit in the bag. I suspect the factory hires a 500 pound gorilla to pack those tents in the bag.
For the rain fly, I start by fastening the awning to the front poles. That prevents the fly from slipping off. The slightest breeze will send it slipping away. I pull a guy rope and coax the fly up and over the large room. When you are working alone you have to use every angle. You could tie a thick rope to a guy rope and toss it over the big room, I have done that when it was really windy.
This tent is so roomy and the screen area is a perfect place to relax with the screens open on a nice day. I"m thinking I should buy another one and keep it in storage for the day when the current one is no longer usable.
Thanks Josh! I was able to place a Queen air mattress, twin air mattress and tray tables, stand up portable heater and fan, in the back room. In front porch area we put two lawn chairs, dirty shoe basket, trash can. When laying on beds, the center ceiling seems very high! So happy about bedroom height and all the screens! I loved the tent! I'm buying a second one in 2022.
My best friend, that's a great video. I will always cheer for you in Korea I'm looking forward to a great video. Have a nice day.
I love this video. Thank you for your honest impressions of the tent
Thanks for the reply! The video is six years old or so now, not even sure if this exact tent is for sale anymore. But if it is, I'm glad the review is helpful to some still. It was still a pretty good tent, though we just upgraded last year to a larger instant tent from Sam's Club. I should do a review on that one...maybe when it warms up here in Michigan.
It's definitely still for sale! Planning on purchasing this tent on Amazon here soon:)
Thank you, Joshua for the more than excellent review. I just bought one and did not know it was this big.
Hi John,
Thanks for the reply! I'm glad you liked it. Hopefully the tent suits your needs well. My family has always enjoyed it. Though we had a baby last year so we've started to camp in the rentable cabins at our Campgrounds because it's just too much work in a tent with a baby. Once she's grown up a bit I'm sure we'll be using ours again.
The main sleeping area is divided by a round door that zips shut. The secondary sleeping area is the screened in porch. So you can either use it as a screened in porch/storage area, or zip up with sides and use it for more sleeping room. Around the 7min mark shows the oval door that can separate the two sides.
That was awesome! Thanks
Thumbs up for Michigan!
Yes, the screened in porch area does have a floor. The walls also zip up so the area can be used as another sleeping area.
Great review! Thank you!
Thanks, nice tent
Just bought this tent thanks
I have used this tent on numerous occasions for 2 years now. It seems to hold up pretty well. At the lake last spring we had a bad storm moving in. The tent did buckle at times with the strong winds. I brought some extra rope with me and used it to anchor the sides to a couple of trees and it was fine. Make sure the rainfly is on properly because it will make a huge difference. I missed a slot and the rainfly almost flew off. I saw where I saw where I went wrong and fixed it. No more issues after that. Really is a good tent. I hope to use a couple of more years.
Love the Tent. As for size in my opinion it's huge. Ive Never seen a tent this size before. Hopefully I'll have enough room at the campsite to put this up this upcoming weekend.
Well we don't get to camp a lot. We usually do one trip in the summer for 3 or 4 nights. So I have still only "used" this tent once. I would still recommend it though. I would just check the weather before heading out, really strong winds or heavy rain is a bit much for it. I just recommend a very level spot and to set it up over a tarp. For the price/size it is a great value and I do not regret the purchase.
Yep, the rear vent has a screen. It also zips shut, from the outside. I ended up having to shut mine when it was raining as the rain was bouncing off of the ground and into the tent through the vent,
im looking at this tent in amazon. thats how i found your video
I am going camping next month. This will be my second time camping in this tent. I will likely make a short video just to show it with some gear inside and how it looks on our site. We'll be camping at Harrisville State Park in Michigan right on Lake Huron.
I bought one of these a couple weeks ago. It was great in fair weather but it buckled at fiberglass/metal union when windy. I've owned and setup many tents but don't remember having this problem with any others.
nice tent!
I was under the assumption that the main area had a separator to create 2 separate rooms. is this not the case?
Hi Ace,
Had a quick question. Does the screened in area have a floor? Thanks!
JMax
You should make a video as set up. I want to learn how to get up. Thx
FYI, I ended up not making another video when I went camping. I was just way too busy. The tent held up well but did leak with heavy rain. The leaking wasn't horrible, we stayed dry... but there were puddles near the corners of the big sleeping area, and also some next to the big zip up flaps of the screen room. I would recommend using some seam sealer and ensuring you're on the levelest spot possible, this may have contributed to the leaking as my site was not very level.
Great review. I bought the grandview which looks similar. The 1 question I have for you. We're you able to get it back in the storage bag it came in once you took it out? I have not set mine up yet and was just curious. My last tent I had used a mesh sports ball holder and was wondering if I need to use that or a bigger holder.
meowzer40156580 Thanks for the comment! Looking at the Grandview it looks like it is much more of a dome tent than the Klondike. As far as mine goes, I have had no issues getting it back into the bag. In fact, it's probably the first tent I've got back into the bag every time without re-rolling/folding the tent a second time. I would just take note of how it originally came folded/rolled so that you can try to achieve the same size when it's time to pack it up. With this Klondike I believe the two sides fold into the middle, then you fold the whole thing in half and roll it up.
the rear vent at the bottom. is it screened? couldnt tell.
if they would of added an extra door on the side of the tent this would be the perfect tent for me but I hate having just one door especially when u got the screen porch! looks like its going to be the coleman weather master for 6 for me
My question is..if you put a window ac unit to the vent would it work?
Hi Sir, the inside door zipper when opened is at the bottom @7:17, this means that you must open, unzip, the entire top part in a circular fashion in order to get in ?? (you can't simply squeeze yourself trough a lower unzipped section ?)
Hi there. It's been a while since I've used this tent, so I had to reference the video myself to see how the door was. From what I can tell, and recall, the zipper portion for the internal door starts at the left in the center. If you have just walked into the front of the tent and are facing this door you would unzip it clockwise, starting at the 9 o'clock position. I would say you could probably unzip it halfway to 3/4's and get in. Because of the zipper location, you are basically unzipping the top half of the circle first. So I would say more than half would need unzipped in order to squeeze in. I hope that answers your question. It's been a pretty good tent and I will probably be using it again this summer. I believe one of my flex poles for the dome has started to come apart, but those are easily replaceable. All in all it's been a pretty good family tent.
Thank you for the response sir, have a great summer to you and your family.
what covers the top of the tent Joshua Is it always exposed like that?
+sonya faye Hill
The top of the tent gets covered with a rain fly.
My second review shows this: th-cam.com/video/RGuSodZd-b4/w-d-xo.html
I also have another video that shows the tent standing up quite well to a good
amount of rain: th-cam.com/video/QgDD2SqmtAk/w-d-xo.html
I got me a tent like this mainly for my little one to play in during the summer or summer camping I used to have one bigger got it was tossed by my dad by mistake
Well...sort of. The vent is fairly small, and vented downward, so even a small 5,000BTU AC unit would likely be wider than the vent. ...so you would be wasting some of that cold air, unless you also used a small tarp or something to taper it to the vent. Also, the tent is all mesh at the top. So you would obviously want the rain fly on. I have no doubt you'd stay cool, but the tent definitely isn't going to "hold" the cool air and the ac unit would be running a lot.
wow we dont get backyards like that here in california
It is super small tent compared to the Ozark Trail 3 room tent. I bought a Wenzel tent just this last week, now I have to return it tanks to roof leak. Not too sure about their products quality.
buenos dias !! desde PATAGONIA ARGENTINA!! PODRIAS DECIRME CUANTOS TRAMOS DE VARILLAS DE POLICARBONATO TIENEN CRUZADAS? NO SE SI SON 2 DE 5 O DE 6 Y LA DELANTERA DE 3, DESPUES DE AÑOS SIN USO QUIERO ARMARLA Y ME FALTAN PARTES !!
GRACIAS..
Hello. I no longer own the tent but if memory serves me correctly, and after reviewing the video, there are two flex poles for the main roof section. Those attach to the four steel poles around each corner. In addition to this, you have one additional flex pole for the front entry that attaches to two additional steel poles for your front entry.
Dies laughing maybe there on turtle beach!!
Well the reviews by "multiple" people were made on the actual product page on Amazon. So it was for this tent, they are evidently just not used to a "family" tent.
Did you ever stop to think that when the statement was made that the tent would not fit on a standard campsite that was a bit of humor about the size of the tent. You just took it literal when you didn't see the humor in it.
No, these were negative reviews submitted to Amazon in regards to it's size. I don't believe people found humor in submitting negative reviews to Amazon stating it was too large for the sites they chose to set it up on.
I have a 10'x15' tent and struggle to find campsites that have tent pads big enough for our tent.
I would NOT recommend this tent. One of the steel porch rods buckled at the bend the second time we set it up. We had no choice but to try and make it work even tho it was now a 90 deg bend,not a 45 deg. The rainfly over the porch pooled water so porch collapsed repeatedly. The fiberglass tent poles across the top of the cabin didnt stay domed and made loose S shapes. The porch walls dont zip on top so when we dumped the water from the top it poured in the side of the porch. NOT GOOD FOR RAIN!
I finally took a scissors and cut that F-ing vestibule off!!! Giant pain in the ass - we never used it, it was a hassle when putting up and just annoying. Hated it.
The tent itself is cool but the setup is fucking ungodly.