Kelty Sunshade

This thing is HUGE. I got the medium version. It's easy enough to setup (although a pole broke on day #2) and very sturdy. My main compliant is that is that it just doesn't do that much shading from the sun unless the sun is directly overhead. We were hoping to use this thing for afternoon concerts in the park--- it doesn't block squat after 3pm.

I bought this sunshade for a family trip to Cape Cod. Thought it would be better than the Beach Umbrella thing. It is a little difficult to set up and requires at least two people. The pole quality is not good. The first day we used it moderate wind (10 mph) snapped one of the poles)I was able to perform a temporary repair which enable us to keep using the product. It did provided great shade. Two days later another breezy day snapped another pole. I have owned many Kelty products and have usually been satisfied. This product is advertised as a great family sunshde for camping or the beach. I would have to disagee based on the poor quality fo the poles included with the product. I wiil be contacting Kelty for a replacemnt or refund

This shade was extremely easy to set up and take down. Will only take about 5 minutes either way. Does a great job of blocking out the sun and rain. Had this set up in about 20-30 mph winds and it looked like it wanted to go once or twice but didn't pull out, only had 3 stakes down instead of the 6 that it comes with. If you're going to get into some serious wind you'll want to use all the stakes. No complaints. Very high quality and easy to use shelter.

I got the Kelty medium Sunshade about 2 months ago & have had it set up on the deck. We've used it for the outdoor wi-fi, yoga & sleeping. It's great for sleeping outside if it's only raining lightly. If it's more than breezy while it's raining, we get wet. Best, though is the customer service. When I took the 'shade down, I found that one section of a pole was cracked lengthwise. I called Kelty, got a return authorization number, and, since I work in the area, brought it there the next day. They replaced the entire pole on the spot. Faced with a similar situation, North Face took 6 weeks to send a pole section to a metallurgist, then refused to replace even just that section because they said it looked like we'd slammed it in a car door. Just as we'd told them we'd done in order to completely break the already bent pole to make it usable.

It was the envy of the beach. Perfect for keeping cool in the sun and dry during a brief rain shower.

I purchased a medium Kelty Sunshade for a camping trip at the beach. It exceeded all of my expectations. I used it for a rain fly on my tent at night and a beach shade during the day. It provided full coverage on the tent while allowing in a nice summer night breeze. It also proved critical for providing large amounts of shade on the beach. I recommend inserting all three poles before setting any of them in the grommet holes at the end of the legs. This makes things go a lot smoother. All and all, I think this is a great product.

After reading plenty of reviews on this and investigating the product we plunked down the money to finally purchase this. We were a little hesitant about the product reviews regarding set-up and quality, but thought it's been around for a few years with minor modifications. We took the Kelty Sunshade to the beach immediately and were very happy with the product. Set-up was very easy and WAS manageable with one person. I actually preferred no help. We have been camping for years and it was a piece of cake to set up. Not sure why people were talking about how hard and impossible it was to set-up? The material was great as well and it held up very good in wind and gave plenty of shade for four adults and two children. Much more shade than the set-up beach umbrellas most condo's offer for a fee. The great part was that you could adjust it to have a higher opening or set it lower to the ground. A very good product compared to EZ-UPs which weigh a ton and are very bulky (we have one, but bought this in addition to that) Great product can't wait to use it again!

It worked very well for a week on the beach. It’s large enough for four or five adults in beach chairs. Inside height allows a 6+-footer to stand straight. Low profile deflected 10 to12mph gusts of wind and stayed stable. Assembly requires an able-bodied adult and takes 5 to10 minutes. The weight makes packing it long distances undesirable. Watch out for sand/fine dirt making its way into the pole sections. Glad I bought it.

Easy and quick to set up and take down. We've used it at soccer games and in our backyard for the babies to play under. I was looking forward to trying it at the beach—I think it will work a lot better than the typical cabana-style shades.

The Sunshade is a great product. I got the medium sun shade, but it is still very large with a lot of head room. I am 6ft 1in and have no trouble walking around inside. The shade comes with guy lines and stakes which make it rock solid in the wind. The poles are well made, and insert into full length sleeves on the shade. It’s very strong and I highly recommend this product. The only down side is it is heavy. This is not something you would want to carry very far. Although it does all stow away neatly in a carry bag.

I am happy with this sunshade. It's easy to put up. There are a lot of cords for staking it out. The poles are shock-corded, easy to put together. There's lots of shade and easy to get in and out of as far as head space. Here on the Gulf Coast there's lots of wind and the fabric around the poles was catching the wind, bending the poles over. The first time I used it, I failed to use the cords to stabilize the staked poles to keep them from flopping in the wind and one broke when I was trying to straighten things out. It looks cool, too.

The Kelty sunshade looked so cool in the picture that I had to go for it. Had I been in a showroom, I would not have left with it. There is hardly head room at all, (I am 5' 3") and one must stoop to get in. Additionally, the amount of shade is minuscule. And the poles were very hard to get into the grommets. It didn't perform well in the wind as the sides are low to the ground so caught the wind. The low sides make for privacy once you’re in the shelter, but they also block the view. It looks cool, but I couldn't figure how it was helpful to anyone except for a small kid's play area.

I picked up the Medium Sunshade about 8 years ago on a whim—my husband and I were about to depart on a week-long private river trip on the Green River in Utah. Lots of sun! I serve lunch on these trips, and I wanted enough shade so that we could make our sandwiches before the lunchmeat cooked, the cheese melted, and the mayonnaise turned toxic. I got all that, and more! We made one significant modification to our sunshade. We constructed 18" leg extensions out of PVC pipe (and a crosswise bolt) to raise the roof enough so that I can set up my two roll-a-tables underneath, and the 16 people in our river group can easily mingle and fix their lunches under the sunshade. Works perfectly! We could guy it down with the stakes and cords provided, but we rarely do so, unless it’s windy. The sunshade makes a pretty good parasail, too. On Idaho rivers, where it rains like clockwork every day at lunchtime, the Kelty Sunshade performs equally well. Dry lunches, dry diners. After countless week-long river trips and at least three Grand Canyon trips of 18 days each, the Kelty sunshade (with our handy leg extensions) keeps on performing at lunch stops and in camp--rain or shine. It goes up quickly with one person at each pole, and it disassembles equally well. Last year's August Grand Canyon trip ended with a major monsoon storm, with sheets of rain and spectacular pyrotechnics. All 16 of us snug under the Kelty, enjoying Happy Hour, reliving our adventure and enjoying the incredible light show the Canyon served up for our departing festivities. Thanks, Kelty! Toni

The sunshade did well in its initial run on the Outer Banks of NC despite the windy conditions. Back home (not so windy) the sunshade also has done fine and needs much less anchoring. The only difficulty is getting the poles into the grommets during set up. One needs to really push and bend to get the poles in the grommets. Otherwise, set up and take down are easy.

For those of you that are trying to decide between one of those pop-open beach shelters and a product like the Kelty, this is the review for you. I decided on the Kelty Medium Sunshade and just test drove it for a week in Florida. While those with the cheesy pop up shelters were chasing them into the surf or propping up side with beach chairs, my infant son, wife, mom, dad, and me were all snug under the bomber Kelty sunshade. I put a stake in each of the corners for good measure, but realistically didn't need it. I can only imagine the type of wind that this thing would hold up to if the 6 guy points were staked out as well. Have not had it in the rain yet but assume that it wil perform there too. The medium is BIG. Enough to cover a standard patio table and chairs no problem. The only advantages to the large would obviously be more coverage area and more clearance when entering--you sort of need to duck to get under the medium, but once inside, there's plenty of room to stand up straight (I'm 6'). Great ventilation. Less than 5 min. to put up, less than 5 min. to tear down. Bomber.