Kendrick Observatory tents opinions

In my opinion the Kendrick Observatory Tent is an excellent addition
for the astronomer who enjoys camping. The new (silver) rainfly works
well in keeping the interior cooler longer after sunrise. This allows
the astronomer to get a little more sleep in the summer before the
tent's interior heats up too much.

With the rainfly on and all doors and windows closed the interior of
the tent is considerably darker than other tents I've had experience
with. This makes sleep easier to achieve on cloudy nights.

On the minus side, if the rainfly is on with its windows closed the
only way a person inside the tent can check on sky conditions is to
unzip a screen door, unzip the corresponding tent door, and unzip the
corresponding door on the rainfly. The rainfly windows can only be
unzipped from *outside* the tent. The rainfly does not have a
zippered roof over the observing bay. The rainfly over the observing
bay must be rolled back from outside the tent.

I've used my Observatory Tent once. A couple of good samaritans at a
starparty assisted in setting it up. Upon taking the tent down I
noticed that one of the poles was split in half lengthwise for a
couple feet or so. Perhaps that pole was bent too far upon set-up.
I've yet to contact Kendrick about the possibility of getting a
replacement pole. Meanwhile I've duct-taped that pole. It *might*
still be usable since the split end is held together when it's
inserted into the next pole segment.

Despite the information contained in the preceding two paragraphs, I
would still recommend this tent to amateur astronomers who enjoy
camping. Overall the tent appears to be well-made, roomy, and quite
practical in actual use.

Sketcher
To sketch is to see.