Sunday, January 23, 2011

a review of the clam kenai

Mobility is the Clam Kenai’s best feature. After every new hole I drilled, I was only a quick “flip” away from being covered and warm. The small windows were enough to let in ample light and the vents worked great at letting out the moisture build ups and retaining sufficient heat. The zipper seems sturdy (so far) and there is plenty of room in the sled for all my gear. The cup holders are also nice to have. The Kenai is also just the right size for fitting in the back of my car, and for those with smaller cars that should be a consideration.

Clam's Kenai
The downsides I see is the sheer weight and size of the sled. Dragging it long distance through brush was very difficult but hopefully I will be alright when I’m not hiking to remote lakes where access is scarce. The only other drawback was the setup which was a pain in the ass. A few of the plastic pieces came with the holes not completely drilled through to the other side. That was remedied with a quick zip from the power drill. Also, I was missing 1 washer and 2 nuts were not useable. A few extra bucks at the hardware store and the problem was solved.

After my first use of my new Clam Kenai I would highly recommend it to anyone. It kept me warm on a cold day and made being mobile easy (the main reason I traded in the pop-up). I can’t wait to finish my ice season in this!

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for your insight on this model. Looks very interesting. You mention the weight being an issue. How much are we talking about there?

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  2. Its not too bad but its a bulky 65 pounds

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  3. I have to get a one man shelter for next year. Thanks for the review.

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  4. The weight is actually 50 lbs. I recommend connecting your seat to the sled using those spring pins. If you're pulling the sled and you use a bucket, you can leave the seat behind and save some weight.

    All in all, I agree, it's a great one man shelter.

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