Sportsman's Warehouse Kelty Ashcroft 1 Person Backpacking Tent
Tent with undisclosed water-repellent coating and no brand PFAS statement.
Polyester/nylon ripstop backpacking tent with water-repellent coating of unspecified chemistry. Kelty has not disclosed the water-repellent coating formula or provided a PFAS statement for this product.
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Material
Polyester/nylon ripstop with water-repellent coating (type unspecified)
Brand disclosure
Brand is silent on PFAS
Lab data
No public lab test
What’s concerning
Category baseline
The starting point for this type of product, before anything specific to this product is counted.
No PFAS disclosure
No public statement from the brand about PFAS in this product.
Waterproof / stain-resistant treatment
Water-repellent coating treatments have historically used PFAS.
PFAS
Kelty does not disclose water-repellent coating type or fluorine chemistry. Legacy and emerging PFAS compounds are common in tent coatings. Direct skin contact during use is minimal, but PFAS can leach into water if tent is washed repeatedly or stored wet for extended periods.
Source, ATSDR ↗Coating degradation and particulate release
Water-repellent coating coatings degrade over time and can shed microparticles, particularly after washing or extended UV exposure. Inhaled particles are unlikely during normal camping, but washing the tent indoors could release coating fragments into household water and dust.
What’s reassuring
Formaldehyde / VOCs
No public recalls or testing reports document formaldehyde resins in Kelty tents. Polyester ripstop textiles may contain trace formaldehyde from manufacturing, but levels in outdoor fabrics are typically far below indoor textile standards and off-gas minimally in open-air camping conditions.
Source, ATSDR ↗Azo dyes in colored fabric
No documented concerns specific to Kelty's polyester dyes. Azo dye hazards are primarily occupational (factory exposure); consumer risk via finished textiles is low unless the tent is ingested or extensively abraded and inhaled.
Aluminum poles or frame corrosion
The Ashcroft 1 typically uses aluminum or fiberglass poles. Aluminum does not leach hazardous metals into skin contact during normal use, and fiberglass is chemically inert outdoors. No corrosion or metal-shedding hazards are documented for this model.
The full breakdown
What it's made of and why it matters
The Ashcroft 1 uses polyester and nylon ripstop fabric with a water-repellent coating (water-repellent coating) coating. The water-repellent coating chemistry is not publicly disclosed by Kelty, meaning it could contain legacy PFAS (PFOA/PFOS), newer PFAS alternatives (GenX, PFBS), or non-fluorinated options. Ripstop polyester itself is chemically stable and does not off-gas significant volatiles under normal camping use, but the coating's composition is the critical unknown.
The brand's record and disclosure
Kelty, owned by Johnson Outdoor (a subsidiary of Wolverine World Wide), has not published a public position statement on PFAS in tent coatings or other products. The parent company Wolverine has faced litigation over PFOA contamination in Michigan groundwater from its footwear operations, but this does not directly indicate Kelty's water-repellent coating practices. Kelty does not list third-party certifications (such as Oeko-Tex or bluesign) for this tent model on available retail or brand materials.
How it compares in its category
One-person backpacking tents at this price tier (typically under $200) commonly use unspecified water-repellent coating coatings. Competitors like Big Agnes and MSR increasingly disclose non-PFAS or low-PFAS water-repellent coating options, though at higher price points. Budget tents from less transparent brands (including many house brands) operate under the same opacity regarding coating chemistry, making this product neither better nor worse documented than typical in its segment.
If you buy it
Avoid prolonged storage in direct sunlight, as UV exposure can degrade the water-repellent coating over time (typically 3-5 years of regular use). Never machine-wash the tent; hand-rinse only with plain water to avoid stripping or chemically altering the coating. Store dry and well-ventilated to prevent mildew, which does not pose a chemical hazard but reduces fabric longevity. If water-repellent coating performance noticeably declines before 5 years, you can reapply commercial water-repellent coating treatments, though these carry their own coating chemistry risks.
What we don’t know
- Basis
- Model estimate, 42% confidence, not a lab result
- Lab test
- None on record for this exact product
- Brand statement
- Kelty has made none
Formulations change between production runs, so check the current label. How we grade.
More camping tents & tarps grades
How we score, every product runs through the same public 0-100 rubric based on materials, coatings, brand disclosure, lab findings, and recalls. See the full methodology → Spotted a mistake? Report an error.