SlingFin - Portal 2

Slingfin Portal 2. I’ve been using it for the past two years and it’s lightweight, roomy, freestanding and bombproof in bad weather. I made a ridiculous spreadsheet comparing almost 20 tents and it was the winner. I rented a Nemo Dragonfly 2P last week. It was fine but a little smaller on the inside. Good luck with your search, there’s so many options

I use a portal 2 with my partner. The stability is unreal with the internal guy lines and there are numerous guyout loops for external stability. I've used the tent in 40-50mph gusts and it was outstanding although there was noisy flapping at the edge of the fly. In truly terrible conditions you can use trekking poles for more stability. It stands freely. You do need to stake out the vestibules with one stake each or they hang loose. We use rocks to weigh them down when we're pitching on stone. The 2p is average roominess for a 2p and feels slightly bigger than comparable big agnes tents. The ventilation is great and helps it feel bigger than it is but if you want extra space, do the 3p Condensation control is unreal. The portal series has a larger space between the fly and the inner than most other tents. This allows great ventilation and makes it almost impossible for the fly to touch the inner even in high winds. It is an extremely livable tent! I happily recommend the portal series to anyone who is expecting severe but not extreme conditions.

I have the portal 2 and it is so worth the extra weight and money!

Second the Slingfin Portal! Easy setup, comfy, effing bombproof!

Second on the HotBox. Although I end up using the Portal 2 (with pole upgrade) more often. It's a "3.5 season". Got hammered on Shuksan last year with 18 hours of wind/rain and it held up better than the BDs.

A friend used the Portal 2 on the PCT, and I have a Portal 2 as well. The Portal 3 is basically the same thing, just scaled up. It's a terrific tent. For what you're going to be doing, it will effectively be "weight neutral" if you each had individual 2P tents at ≈2lbs each. As a general rule, getting a tent "one person larger than will regularly be sleeping in it" is a good idea. So 2P for 1 hiker, 3P for 2 hikers, etc. So I've got no issue with your considering this, or pretty much any, 3P tent. Now, do you have other options? Yes. Do your homework. This is going to _be_ your home for months. e.x. BA Tiger Walls's are terrific. And **you can save 1lb of weight** with a Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL3. Ignoring money, don't prematurely dismiss semi-freestanding double-wall tents. You'll see a lot of them on trail, and for good reason. The Tiger Wall is a perrenial favorite. - - - - - - - **INDEPENDENT KITCHENS & INDEPENDENT WATER FILTRATION** Even if you are planning to share a tent, there is another area couples are often inclined to share gear, but you really shouldn't: * Carry indpendent kitchen set-ups. * Carry indpendent water filtrations. Because even if you hike together, independent systems will save you _time_ (because you can cook and filter simaltaneously...and that will probably give you 1mi-3mi of additional range every day). - - - - - - - **SEAM SEALING** If you do get it, seal the seams or seal them yourself.

A member of my tramily used a Portal 2 on the PCT. Unquestionably a great tent, but yes, it was "more tent than was needed" and he didn't have anyone to share the weight. * If he did it again, as a solo hiker, he would have gone with something lighter. (Obviously, plenty of space for 1 person.) * If he did it again, with another adult hiker, he would have gone with something lighter for the same square footage, or larger for the same weight. Folks don't appreciate how much a lower base weight translates into day-to-day ease until they're already a few weeks into a thru and value "that extra 6oz" differently than pre-trail. - - - - - - - OP (u/Loose_University_945): You get to the point where you and your wife would prefer to carry an extra 6oz of water or snacks rather than "more tent than you need". Even for couples sharing a tent, you're going to be spending vanishingly little time _inside_ the tent. Your time is going to be spent (a) walking or (b) preparing camp. By the time you get _inside_ your tent, you're just falling asleep. Your inquiry is really good. If you take anything away from the comments in this thread, let it be to avoid "taking more tent than you actually need". (And, really...on my PCT, in the first 700mi (desert section), I used my tent probably <10 days. You cowboy instead. You save time not having to break down camp (which lets you walk sooner in the cooler morning weather) when you cowboy and it is cooler too.) Good luck; it's a terrific hike.

What would you like to know about it? I bought it (Slingfin Portal 2) and have done a couple of trips with it. Luckily they were mostly good weather (or drizzle) and I haven't used it enough to give a review on it (not used it long enough for a proper review, and I'm not someone who does first impression reviews) but I might be able to answer some questions. Mowser on YT made a review on the slingfin portal 3 so you could check that out?

I think it is roomy, but context is required as to why I think that. I bought my first tent (just a random 1p tent that somehow never leaked in 1.5 years of heavy use). It was heavy and barely enough space to fit me - I could touch both sides with my arms and the inner net was less than 10cm from my head when I lied down. I couldn't even unpack my pack because there was no space to fit anything. Now that I have a 2p tent, I think it is a PALACE. I've never owned a big tent like this so I LOVE how much space it has. Keep in mind the SP2 is the 2nd tent I've ever owned. I'm also shorter than you so it is enough space for me, although sometimes if I'm camping at a slight angle, I do slide down whilst sleeping and touch the bottom of the tent. If I was a tall person, I can see why people have concerns whilst lying down, but I think there is HEAPS of space when sitting down (but once again I'm comparing to the only other tent I've used and that one constantly touched my head if I was sitting down)

I went with a tent which I got from the US (can get it from a supplier in Australia but they don't send it seam sealed). The tent is called Slingfin Portal 2. I've used it a bit in normal conditions, but have been lucky to not use it in bad conditions so I can't say how well it stands up in bad conditions. It has been great so far (had it for a year) but it doesn't stand up to the mighty kea's. One pecked a tiny hole in the tent when I tented next to one at a DOC campsite.

I have the 2p and 3p portal. The 3p sleeps my wife and I, and 10yo and 14yo kids. I find the 2p plenty big for 2 adults, and it’s smaller and a pound lighter. It will be more tent than you’ll *need* for pct, but I really like it when I’m getting heavy winds and rough weather.

I didn’t see it mentioned in your post or other comments. But take a look at the slingfin portal. They have it in a 2 and 3 person model. Me and my partner use this in Washington and it stands up to downpours pretty well, and is a solid all rounder for 2 people to share and split the weight. 

There isn’t anything I would actually change. I’m coming from trekking pole single wall tents and this feels like luxury without crazy weight compromises. I will say I know it isn’t cheap but it is definitely very well constructed. I haven’t had any issues with any part of the tent, zipper, guy lines, netting, fabric. It’s all held up super well and I’ve used it in a variety of conditions without really babying it. 

SlingFin Portal 1P or 2P. Designed specifically to be lightweight (close to, but probably not quite UL) but with a bias toward bomber. :)

Thanks. To expand on what I mean by 'greater skill' that refers to a few things: 1. WHERE IT IS PITCHED. If someone knows the tents limits and suspects the conditions may exceed them, then going down to a more sheltered site is a good option. One camper carries a heavy tent and gets to camp on the summit, the other carries a lighter then but occasionally camps lower when the conditions are risky. Aside from macro site selection like this, there is also micro site selection (e.g. camping on the summit but finding a bit of a wind block or building a snow wall). 2. WHEN IT IS PITCHED. It is risky pitching a tent during severe conditions because there can be steps where the tent is more vulnerable, and this is especially true for an ultralight tent. 'Macro waiting' (standing around for an hour before pitching the tent) is not fun, but 'micro waiting' can work well. This refers to listening and noticing how you can hear the gusts coming up the hill side, and then quickly completing a vulnerable step between gusts. | 3. HOW IT IS PITCHED. A standard user steadily proceeds through the normal pitching sequence irrespective of the conditions, while a more advanced user may do things differently to avoid vulnerable step. This could be starting at the upwind side first, pre-installing stakes into the ground to shorten a process, pre-adjusting the guylines to almost the right length, adding guylines before the tent is fully assembled. There are many opportunities to tailer pitching a tent for the circumstances. A more skilled user will also know the recommended ways to pitch a tent for tougher weather (extra guylines, extra stakes) and have things like appropriate stakes for the conditions. Advanced users also avoid common problems like guylines rubbing on rocks. In the break that was mentioned in yesterday's video, there is no footage to know exactly what happened but the user reports breaking the crossbar when that area was hit by a wind gust before they had added the supports recommended for the conditions (cross bar guylines and trekking pole supports) and when they were also not manually supporting the crossbar area. Essentially they were caught in a vulnerable step, which I would call user error because the tent was put into a state that was vulnerable and avoidable. Maybe the winds were so severe the tent still would have broken, but there would have been opportunity to better protect the tent because it is very difficult to break the crossbar when the trekking pole supports are in place. Those supports can be put in place pretty much instantly with good technique and even added *before* the cross bar is connected. Trying to use an ultralight tent in severe conditions does require more advanced skill like this. I totally understand if someone prefers carrying a heavier tent for a larger margin of error and/or lower skill requirements rather than try to use more skill to have a lighter tent, but also I still wouldn't blame the tent because it breaks when someone tries to use it in severe conditions without the methods recommended for those conditions. For the SlingFin Portal, I have one here with both regular and heavy duty polesets. The HD pole set absolutely is much stronger. Big difference. The Portal 1 is about 150g heavier and with those poles it is about 350g heavier, so the weight is fairly different (0.98 kg vs 1.33 kg) but certainly it is a nice option. The X-Dome compares in strength to the regular poleset so it is not as strong as the HD poleset, but also the optional trekking pole supports remove some of this difference and the X-Dome has some other benefits in stormy conditions like a native fly first pitch.