Kelty tents (left) and Stansport tents (right) now available at Flag Military Surplus.

FLAGSTAFF — Summer is coming, but camping has already started around northern Arizona. If you need a tent, you might check out Flag Military Surplus (Facebook/Google+).

Flag Military Surplus has a lot of other military surplus items perfect for camping and hunting, such as mosquito netting, camouflage netting and sleeping bags. You have to be aware, of course, that they are a military surplus store so the stock changes.

Flag Military Surplus recently acquired a stock of used tents. They have Kelty and Stansport Tents for $39.95 and $19.95 respectively. We picked up one of each and a convenient spring rain assisted us in the test.

I do not know if the store has a “satisfaction guarantee” policy, but having dealt with the store in the past, the staff has worked hard to ensure my satisfaction. You might ask if you can set up the tent, for example, to make sure the one you choose is in good shape. These tents do not come with instructions, but if you cannot figure them out, you probably shouldn’t be playing with matches.

The more expensive Kelty tent we got was in good shape. There were no tears and the floor was in good shape. The zippers worked well. The Kelty is much easier to set up for one person and the clips for the rain fly are in good condition. The Kelty does not give room for adults to stand erect, but they have room enough to sleep four adults comfortably.

The Stansport tents have much more head room, but are more susceptible to wind. You can use bungee cords or rope to tie it off to a tree to help offset that problem. In fact the one we got was blown over and damaged one section of the fiberglass poles. An application of duct tape took care of the problem.

A couple of the hooks for the rain fly were missing but you can find substitutes at any hardware store. The rain fly is a little better than the Kelty having a zipper to close it. The tent was in good shape and has a little more floor space than the Kelty. It also has a bug net that you can zip up at night. The Stansport is a little more difficult for one person to set up than the Kelty, but it can still be done with relative ease.

Neither came with tent stakes, but few new tents do either. If they do they are usually the metal wire spikes that do not work well anyway. You should consider investing in good quality tent stakes which most people do anyway.

After we set these up, we got a bit of convenient rain and the rain fly for both tents worked fine. There was no moisture inside. I expect the Kelty that I bought should last several seasons with good storage. The Stansport at least two if not more. I think these even good enough to stand up in any average winter storm in northern Arizona.

If you are looking for good camping and hunting supplies, I recommend that you check out Flag Military Surplus. They have various bags for different types of storage. They have Alice packs and frames and a good selection of woodland and ACU camouflage clothing.