daveb
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Post by daveb on Feb 11, 2016 7:53:06 GMT -8
I'd sure like to hear your thoughts, opinions and/or any caveats about either of these tents. Any opinions or testimonials about the SlingFin customer service would get appreciated too. SlingFin lite
Crossbow 2 mesh
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tigger
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Post by tigger on Feb 11, 2016 8:26:31 GMT -8
Sorry - Never heard of them.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Feb 11, 2016 9:24:47 GMT -8
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daveb
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Post by daveb on Feb 11, 2016 9:54:06 GMT -8
Yeah, I saw dirthurt's opinion of the tent and after reading about the company it's got my interest. Mainly this little blurb from one of the reviews neneboricua posted.
From the Indefinitely wild review:
Slingfin is a new brand from legendary tent designer Martin Zemetis. He started at The North Face in 1982, designed tents for Sierra Designs for 8 years, then worked at Mountain Hardwear for 15 years, until that brand was bough by Columbia.
“I decided to do it all over again,” he tells us. “And this time, do it my own way.”
So far everything I'm reading about these tents sound pretty good. My next concern about the 2 Lite would be that fact that it's not a free standing tent. I don't have enough experience to know how that's going to effect me down the road though.
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jazzmom
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Post by jazzmom on Feb 11, 2016 9:58:08 GMT -8
Holy moly those are expensive... I didn't look at them all that carefully but am I missing something radical about them?
The "CrossBow" looks an awful lot like my Hubba Hubba that I've had forever. Seems like a pretty common design and not earth-shattering at around 4lb. I'm pretty sure I'd be able to find something around $200 (on sale, last year's colors, etc.) For that $480 price tag, I'm wandering what EXTREMELY cool feature I'm not seeing... (I love my HH but I only use it for car-camping these days.)
And the "2Lite" looks like a Flashlight, another classic. Lots of lower-tier tents based on the same design; Alps Mountaineering has one and I think Eureka does, too. We're talking $150. I've never used one with this design but a friend has one and it always seems like it's sagging between the loops by morning.
SlingFin's expedition tents look like they may be worth the prices but I'm not seeing it in these two.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2016 10:03:37 GMT -8
So far everything I'm reading about these tents sound pretty good. My next concern about the 2 Lite would be that fact that it's not a free standing tent. I don't have enough experience to know how that's going to effect me down the road though. I started using a Zpacks Duplex last spring. Its not a free standing tent. My first non freestanding tent. I've used the tent on sand, dirt, and rocks. On Sand I used sand stakes. On rocks, I laid 2 rocks side by side, tent stake between them and put a 3rd rock on top the 2; forming a triangle. In windy conditions, bigger rocks. That the Duplex is not a free standing tent has not been an issue.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Feb 11, 2016 10:04:32 GMT -8
The one condition the 2Lite would give me cause for would be relatively heavy snow: that long slope (albeit not seen in person) looks like a potential shelf to catch and hold a snow load until the tent collapses....
Freestanding is nice (I do prefer it but less for not needing stakes, because they do, but more because in my experience the extra framework of poles holds the fabric out forming a better interior volume) but in anything at all like the real world stakes are necessary, both at the usual locations at the corners etc. and, the ones people always ignore to their dismay, the guyline ones that add structure to the tent. When people complain about flapping and wind damage to a tent odds are they NEVER set the guy line stakes, that's like not using all the standing rigging on a sailboat and then complaining when the mast comes down...
In deep forest with no snow, okay a couple at the corners to keep it from shifting. Anywhere there's the least prospect of wind or definitely a storm? Every anchor you can. If nothing else the tent will be FAR quieter and you'll get a better night's sleep. Oh and the flapping weakens that expensive tent's fabric, the shock load with the flapping can be enormous.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2016 10:09:35 GMT -8
Oh and the flapping weakens that expensive tent's fabric, the shock load with the flapping can be enormous. +1. The 'pop', my understnading, of the flapping is the breaking of the sound barrier. Which would be, indeed, quite a bit of stress.
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Post by neneboricua on Feb 11, 2016 13:39:11 GMT -8
The "CrossBow" looks an awful lot like my Hubba Hubba that I've had forever. Seems like a pretty common design and not earth-shattering at around 4lb. I'm pretty sure I'd be able to find something around $200 (on sale, last year's colors, etc.) For that $480 price tag, I'm wandering what EXTREMELY cool feature I'm not seeing... (I love my HH but I only use it for car-camping these days.) I think the idea is that the tent uses their "WebTruss" support system for lots of stability. They can supposedly be used in 4-season conditions (just not expedition/Everest type of stuff) and yet be relatively reasonable for 3-season backpacking. Personally I think it suffers from trying to be a Jack-of-all-trades. At almost $500 I think it's too expensive for a >4lb backpacking tent, but at the same time it doesn't seem strong enough for a true mountaineering tent. And the "2Lite" looks like a Flashlight, another classic. Lots of lower-tier tents based on the same design; Alps Mountaineering has one and I think Eureka does, too. We're talking $150. I've never used one with this design but a friend has one and it always seems like it's sagging between the loops by morning. I'm still on the fence about the 2Lite. It is a classic design. Where it seems to differ from the Flashlight is that it uses a tensioning pole at the top for added strength and stability, is a true double wall shelter, tons more vestibule space, and is still the same weight as the Flashlight 2. Also, with the rain fly being outside the support poles, maybe the fly would tend to sag less under moderate snow load? For me, I'm trying to decide between the 2Lite Trek and the Tarptent Stratospire 2.
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Post by neneboricua on Feb 11, 2016 13:50:22 GMT -8
The one condition the 2Lite would give me cause for would be relatively heavy snow: that long slope (albeit not seen in person) looks like a potential shelf to catch and hold a snow load until the tent collapses.... This is what concerns me as well... Haven't seen any info on how it has handled snow load. I did ask the company how it would handle moderate snow load like what I experienced here, and they said the 2Lite would handle that fine. They supposedly designed it to be among the last tents standing in adverse conditions in their class. It's not a 4-season tent so if you expect to encounter relatively heavy snow, I guess they would recommend a true 4-season tent. My question is, where does Slingfin consider the division between moderate and relatively heavy snowfall?
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Feb 11, 2016 14:00:22 GMT -8
Maybe the usual Sierra summer, late spring snow is moderate (so under maybe 4 inches)while the Fall start of winter storms (so potentially approaching five feet plus) on out are in the heavy category: being a Bay Area company they could use the Sierra as a metric...
Your photo? I've had my tent look like that in July up there. Though not for a long time now.
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jazzmom
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Post by jazzmom on Feb 12, 2016 5:16:18 GMT -8
I think the idea is that the tent uses their "WebTruss" support system for lots of stability. They can supposedly be used in 4-season conditions (just not expedition/Everest type of stuff) and yet be relatively reasonable for 3-season backpacking. I think both tents are labeled "3 season" though I understand the concept. Still don't see it. My HH can handle light snow loads, it can also be strategically guyed out to handle more wind. So much of the "stability" comes from the fly, which doesn't appear to be any more robust. I agree that the pole system looks heftier. In the end, though, it looks like another "hybrid" tent that does neither job all that well, but is priced as if it does everything. For that $500 price tag, I can buy a UL tent for 3 season AND a reasonably priced but heavy winter tent that can handle those conditions. Better coverage, IMO.
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daveb
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Post by daveb on Feb 12, 2016 8:18:39 GMT -8
I'm catching on to what you guys are saying about the crossbow.
I sent SlingFin a email yesterday asking if there were any retailers in my area in order for me to see any of their products first hand. I haven't got a response yet. It will be interesting to see how long that takes.
In the meantime one of my hiking buddies told me to keep working out and save money on a heavier tent. lol.
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tigger
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Post by tigger on Feb 12, 2016 8:48:28 GMT -8
You can find tents that weigh the same and cost less and be just as structurally sound. You don't have to spend the most to get the lightest tent and you don't need a tent that can withstand the worst weather in the world if you are only backpacking three season. How much space do you really need? How many features do you really want? The more features, the more things to break. Simplistic design works out best in my book. My strongest tent was a Tepee. A single pole and stakes and guyouts all the way around. It was a 4 season tent that slept five and weighed less than 3 pounds.
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daveb
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Post by daveb on Feb 16, 2016 12:27:04 GMT -8
I just got a reply from my email I sent last week. Seem one of the guys that handles the info was out of town but the response was genuine and Kendall, (their sales and marketing manager), seems to be very friendly and upfront.
Unfortunately I just pulled the trigger on a big agnes copper spur this morning. He even wished for me to have some wonderful adventures in my new copper spur.
Oh well, maybe the next one.
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