Damn, you guys are good. Sponsors should be running to you. I've bought a few accessories that you use already. I wasn't in the market for a tent, but you have me thinking about it now.
Great editing!! Interesting that I was just talking about tents, yesterday. This is a very thorough review. Definitely something that I will consider purchasing.
That was not a thorough review Aaron. Before you spend your money on a tent, do more learning. This comes off as a fully paid for fluff piece, not a review. Look at Hilleberg or Kuiu first.
Great review. I really like the look of this tent. Thinking of trading in my Nallo 2 for this as I like to camp high in the mountains and the weight of the Sly scraper is very appealing. My only concern is the long term durability of the materials. Particularly the pole sleeves. Not too bothered bout the bathtub floor as a good footprint would resolve punctures.
I had one of the SlingFin versions (I sold it in favor of a Windsaber, not due to any dissatisfaction with the tent), and honestly don't think that durability will be a problem, provided the usual care (don't store it wet, don't poke holes in it with sharps, etc). Especially if you use the webtruss... I personally think that the option to leave the webtruss at home is kind of pointless, because it saves so little weight compared to the webtruss, and because it's so easy to pitch WITH the webtruss. The only down side IMO is that because the Windsaber has an additional pole for strength, it's harder to pitch with the fly attached. But I'm now ready for the mountaineering trips I'm itching to get back to :)
We didn’t make a direct comparison. We have used the Kuiu tents. They’re great too. My biggest complaint with them was the glow in the dark logo printed right above where you sleep. Not sure if they still put it there, but man it was obnoxious.
This is essentially the Slingfin Crossbow 2. So quite a bit different than the Portal. A few SG specific features. But made by Slingfin for Stone Glacier.
WOW, this could be a slick promo piece created for Stone Glacier. Lots of slo-mo pans, some chill music, nothing in the way of critical details. OK, so first off, this tent is a kiddie toy. Real tents are suspended from the fly, and pitch with the fly on. In spite of the crazy, “patented” web sling truss you still have to set the poles over an unprotected inner tent that will get soaked before you can put the fly on. So its disqualified on that count. I had to laugh when the review claimed this tent was so nice and roomy. It’s 51 inches wide. That’s less than 26 inches for each person. Talk about cramped. The Kuiu tents are 58” wide at the shoulders which is just on the verge of being wide enough. No venting in the ceiling? Seriously? And the solid inner tent is on the outside of the door so you cant vent open to the screens without opening the door? That’s a first. The explanation that putting the solid door on the outside of the screen is to prevent the buildup of spindrift between the screen and door is just baloney. A real four season tent has a fly that goes to the ground. That’s where the spindrift stops. Outside the fly. If the fly does not go to the ground then you’ll have spindrift drifts all over the inside of the vestibule, in your gear and all. This tent is a joke and nobody should take one into the back country, unless of course you’re being paid by Stone Glacier...
Okay Ben, we get it, you're a smart man. But there's no need to act like someone fingered your cat in this tent review. You make good points that everyone should consider, we'd just mostly disagree. so first off... It's not a "kiddie toy". Not all "real tents" suspend from the fly. That's a design difference that not everyone prefers. Different strokes for different folks and all. If that's your main concern, you could pitch the web truss, then cover it with the fly, then pitch the inner tent, which suspends from the truss. Not as slick a set up as others designed specifically that way, but it would work the same in the end. And not having it suspend from the fly also gives you the option to use the tent without the fly, which in some places and times of the year is a really good option, and something I missed more often than not on my KUIU tent. Next, the review said the tent had a lot of head space, not that it was nice and roomy as you claim. 50" isn't a ton of room for two people, but it's height with vertical inner tent walls give you a lot of head space when sitting up. We mostly use these as 1 person tents anyway (as we do with all 2 person tents on most hunts). And that 50" width is preferable when space to pitch is limited by, oh I don't know a cliff on the side of sheep mountain. We can make do with sleeping close as long as we can get it set up in the rocks (an advantage of true one person free standing tents). You're exactly right on the venting in the ceiling, which is why we pointed that out, and as far as we can tell there's no reason not to have more vents. Chase just also noted that on 17 nights in the rain and snow in the Northwest Territories they didn't have condensation issues. My KUIU couldn't say the same, even with its ceiling vents. But that doesn't mean that'll be everyone's experience with either tent. Next, if you watch videos of Martin Zemitis explaining the design choices he made on this tent, he tells you he put the inner and outer doors in that order for that reason (protecting against spendrift), that wasn't us making that up as a justification, that was us quoting the tent designer. And you're right, most 4 season tents have flies that go to the ground, which part of why we stated that SG ruffled feathers (yours obviously included) by calling this a 4 season tent. It's also why we concluded saying it's not a tent for Everest Base Camp, but it is a tent for sheep camp. Different adventures have different needs. There's no perfect tent, but this one is really good in a lot of situations, and we wouldn't hesitate to take it on almost any hunt in North America. Thanks for taking the time to share your concerns. It's important for the viewers of this to hear other points of view. Cheers.
Jay, that’s a funny rebuke! Someone fingered my cat. Ha ha. Funny how language works. It’s not a problem to make a bunch of positive statements, incorrect or otherwise, but make a factual critical statement and folks get all insulted and react defensively. I watched every setup and review of this tent that I could find and examined the Stone Glacier product page and photos. How you can claim to set up this tent fly only is a total mystery to me. Yes, the inner does clip up onto the poles, but the Web Truss and the Fly do not have any pole receivers. There is no place to attach the web truss to the pole ends and so no way to create the tension and shape required to mount the fly. The only pole receivers are in the tent corners and so the tent must be down on the ground first in order to mount the poles, create the bend and clip up the inner tent. If you have a method of setting the tent up fly only, which you claim to do in your comment, show it. Perhaps you are confused between the SG and Kuiu tents, because the Kuiu Storm Star four season tent and the Mountain Star three season tent can absolutely be pitched fly only. Stating otherwise is misinformation. The method of setting up the tent suspended from from the fly, vs having to put the fly on after the tent has been soaked is not just a matter of preference or alternative but acceptable design as you say. It’s a matter of safety. Think of it as the difference between air bags and no air bags in a car. Sure, they both drive, but you’re more likely to die in one of them if you’re in an accident. Hypothermia is a big deal so keeping your tent and gear dry is a critical design choice. That’s why Hilleberg and Kuiu don’t make any tents that pitch tent first, fly second. The width... Your suggestion that the Skyscraper would pitch better in confined spaces is questionable. The tent is 50”, each vestibule is 34” and must be staked out because unlike Kuiu and Hilleberg the vestibule supports are not full length to the ground. Without staking the vestibule would flop around a allow weather into the tent. So to pitch this tent you need 118” of useable, reasonably flat width. The Kuiu and Hilleberg tents have almost the same total width due to slightly smaller vestibules, but will pitch without pegs. Excusing the narrow interior as a benefit to a narrow pitch does not prove out. If you really plan on narrow, precarious pitches, no 2P tent is the right choice. The anecdotal evidence of condensation is just that, and not really valuable for evaluating tents. I’ll skip the science and just say that ventilation reduces condensation so comparably, less ventilation means more condensation. Claims that this tent or that tent condense more regardless of ventilation are just nonsense. Condensation happens when warm moist air is cooled, either by cold air or by a cold surface. No tent design will change the science but ventilation can help reduce the humidity inside a tent, created by warm, wet people. That’s it. I’m happy to stick a factual finger up your cat, man. LOL! You made a great promo piece for Stone Glacier, but it ain’t an unbiased, truly critical review as you claim. Just a nice puff piece.
Ben, I appreciated your response actually. It was the delivery that we took exception to. If I said KUIU fly only, I meant tent only, as in without the Fly. So my mistake. And I was just imagining in my head how the SG might pitch fly first, I bet it would work, albeit not as easily as the KUIU. (I’ll try it when I get back to the states next week). the whole point being that different people have different requirements and different things they look for. you can have all the things you require, but at the cost of a few extra pounds. I’m fat and old and my legs don’t like the mountains, so I try to save as much weight as possible. Which is what we talked about in the video. That video was not a compare and contrast, which is maybe a useful video to make. It’s a hey, look at these, and this is how it worked for us. I totally agree with you on the ventilation, and that to me is a bigger issue than the pitch order. But that’s just me and my experience in the mountains in rain and snow. The ventilation and denier weight of the floor. I also don’t like the thickness of the guy lines. I liked your comments, as they provide good discussion points. It was all delivery.
The Mountain Project Hi Jay. What! You, old and fat? Who’s that guy in the video. Hell, I’m 64. You look like a kid to me amigo. Oh delivery schmilivery, just extract the facts man. The skin on this race has gotten fricken thin since my youth. You are correct. Kuiu does not make a kit, like Hilleberg does for the Allak, to mount the tent only. How many times have you pitched a tent without a fly? I’ve had nothing but bad luck with that and I hate having to get up in the night and mount the fly while my stuff gets rained on. When you do that experiment with pitching, wait for a day with driven rain to make a fair judgement. Have enough wind that you’re fly will depart off the side of the mountain if its not tied down. When you are done look at the water in your tent and imagine this is not a test, you really are out there somewhere. I was in a saddle in BC at 7,000 ft when the weather went to hell and started gusting. This shitty tent the guide brought collapsed under a gust, the pole snapped and the fly ripped bad. There was no repairing it and that was it for shelter. We had to load horses in high wind (as any wrangler about that rodeo) then work down to the base to a cabin before dark. The tops got 7 inches of snow that night, and it turned to rain the next day, then froze that night. So if I used words like Toy Tent and am disdainful of tents that pitch fly over pole, it comes from potentially life threatening experience with them. Now when evaluating a guide, I ask them for a list of the equipment they bring by brand. Honestly Jay, if they told me it was going to be Stone Glacier tents, I’d find another guide. Have fun making videos man.
Damn, you guys are good. Sponsors should be running to you. I've bought a few accessories that you use already. I wasn't in the market for a tent, but you have me thinking about it now.
Thank you Mike! We really appreciate your feedback.
Awesome review guys!! 👍🏻👍🏻 always great seeing gear reviews
Great editing!! Interesting that I was just talking about tents, yesterday. This is a very thorough review. Definitely something that I will consider purchasing.
Hope it helps a little, Aaron!
That was not a thorough review Aaron. Before you spend your money on a tent, do more learning. This comes off as a fully paid for fluff piece, not a review. Look at Hilleberg or Kuiu first.
Great job guys on the tent review! You guys rock!!!
Thank you!
Great review, looks like a good purchase for the future
Great review. I really like the look of this tent. Thinking of trading in my Nallo 2 for this as I like to camp high in the mountains and the weight of the Sly scraper is very appealing. My only concern is the long term durability of the materials. Particularly the pole sleeves. Not too bothered bout the bathtub floor as a good footprint would resolve punctures.
I had one of the SlingFin versions (I sold it in favor of a Windsaber, not due to any dissatisfaction with the tent), and honestly don't think that durability will be a problem, provided the usual care (don't store it wet, don't poke holes in it with sharps, etc). Especially if you use the webtruss... I personally think that the option to leave the webtruss at home is kind of pointless, because it saves so little weight compared to the webtruss, and because it's so easy to pitch WITH the webtruss.
The only down side IMO is that because the Windsaber has an additional pole for strength, it's harder to pitch with the fly attached. But I'm now ready for the mountaineering trips I'm itching to get back to :)
Thanks for the heads up awesome review keep posting
Thanks Armando! 🤜🏽🤛🏽
Nice review...thought it was very well done.
Sweet video. Thanks for the review. Chase what sleeping pad do you prefer?
Chase Christopher thanks
Really good review 👏
Keep up the good work fellas!
Thanks George!
Great review.
Would you use it in the Southern Alps in NZ? Thats probably the biggest test.
Sweet! Well done.
Thanks Jerry
Did you compare with Kuiu tents and I see you have their apparel. I am thinking of buying their 3 seasons tent
We didn’t make a direct comparison. We have used the Kuiu tents. They’re great too. My biggest complaint with them was the glow in the dark logo printed right above where you sleep. Not sure if they still put it there, but man it was obnoxious.
I purchased the Kuiu Mountain Star tent and was very disappointed in the tent, mostly the mesh, how does this tent compare??
We think you’ll like this one!
Hey, can you guys do a review of their backpacks? I would appreciate it.
Eventually we will do some backpack reviews. Is there a specific size you’re looking at?
Just curious what you would recommend for a five to seven-day hunt in the backcountry.
The SKY5900 or 6900, depending how you pack
Another great idea for an instructional video, "How to pack for the backcountry."
What is the relationship between this tent and the Slingfin Portal tent? They are so similar in design. Can you compare and contrast these tents?
This is essentially the Slingfin Crossbow 2. So quite a bit different than the Portal. A few SG specific features. But made by Slingfin for Stone Glacier.
Kuiu storm star looks tougher and easier to pitch.
Curious how the tent handled condensation?
It’s done well on each of the trips we’ve had it on so far.
Nice review
What is this quality because it’s insane.
WOW, this could be a slick promo piece created for Stone Glacier. Lots of slo-mo pans, some chill music, nothing in the way of critical details. OK, so first off, this tent is a kiddie toy. Real tents are suspended from the fly, and pitch with the fly on. In spite of the crazy, “patented” web sling truss you still have to set the poles over an unprotected inner tent that will get soaked before you can put the fly on. So its disqualified on that count. I had to laugh when the review claimed this tent was so nice and roomy. It’s 51 inches wide. That’s less than 26 inches for each person. Talk about cramped. The Kuiu tents are 58” wide at the shoulders which is just on the verge of being wide enough. No venting in the ceiling? Seriously? And the solid inner tent is on the outside of the door so you cant vent open to the screens without opening the door? That’s a first. The explanation that putting the solid door on the outside of the screen is to prevent the buildup of spindrift between the screen and door is just baloney. A real four season tent has a fly that goes to the ground. That’s where the spindrift stops. Outside the fly. If the fly does not go to the ground then you’ll have spindrift drifts all over the inside of the vestibule, in your gear and all.
This tent is a joke and nobody should take one into the back country, unless of course you’re being paid by Stone Glacier...
Okay Ben, we get it, you're a smart man. But there's no need to act like someone fingered your cat in this tent review. You make good points that everyone should consider, we'd just mostly disagree. so first off... It's not a "kiddie toy". Not all "real tents" suspend from the fly. That's a design difference that not everyone prefers. Different strokes for different folks and all. If that's your main concern, you could pitch the web truss, then cover it with the fly, then pitch the inner tent, which suspends from the truss. Not as slick a set up as others designed specifically that way, but it would work the same in the end. And not having it suspend from the fly also gives you the option to use the tent without the fly, which in some places and times of the year is a really good option, and something I missed more often than not on my KUIU tent. Next, the review said the tent had a lot of head space, not that it was nice and roomy as you claim. 50" isn't a ton of room for two people, but it's height with vertical inner tent walls give you a lot of head space when sitting up. We mostly use these as 1 person tents anyway (as we do with all 2 person tents on most hunts). And that 50" width is preferable when space to pitch is limited by, oh I don't know a cliff on the side of sheep mountain. We can make do with sleeping close as long as we can get it set up in the rocks (an advantage of true one person free standing tents). You're exactly right on the venting in the ceiling, which is why we pointed that out, and as far as we can tell there's no reason not to have more vents. Chase just also noted that on 17 nights in the rain and snow in the Northwest Territories they didn't have condensation issues. My KUIU couldn't say the same, even with its ceiling vents. But that doesn't mean that'll be everyone's experience with either tent. Next, if you watch videos of Martin Zemitis explaining the design choices he made on this tent, he tells you he put the inner and outer doors in that order for that reason (protecting against spendrift), that wasn't us making that up as a justification, that was us quoting the tent designer. And you're right, most 4 season tents have flies that go to the ground, which part of why we stated that SG ruffled feathers (yours obviously included) by calling this a 4 season tent. It's also why we concluded saying it's not a tent for Everest Base Camp, but it is a tent for sheep camp. Different adventures have different needs. There's no perfect tent, but this one is really good in a lot of situations, and we wouldn't hesitate to take it on almost any hunt in North America. Thanks for taking the time to share your concerns. It's important for the viewers of this to hear other points of view. Cheers.
Jay, that’s a funny rebuke! Someone fingered my cat. Ha ha. Funny how language works. It’s not a problem to make a bunch of positive statements, incorrect or otherwise, but make a factual critical statement and folks get all insulted and react defensively.
I watched every setup and review of this tent that I could find and examined the Stone Glacier product page and photos. How you can claim to set up this tent fly only is a total mystery to me. Yes, the inner does clip up onto the poles, but the Web Truss and the Fly do not have any pole receivers. There is no place to attach the web truss to the pole ends and so no way to create the tension and shape required to mount the fly. The only pole receivers are in the tent corners and so the tent must be down on the ground first in order to mount the poles, create the bend and clip up the inner tent.
If you have a method of setting the tent up fly only, which you claim to do in your comment, show it. Perhaps you are confused between the SG and Kuiu tents, because the Kuiu Storm Star four season tent and the Mountain Star three season tent can absolutely be pitched fly only. Stating otherwise is misinformation.
The method of setting up the tent suspended from from the fly, vs having to put the fly on after the tent has been soaked is not just a matter of preference or alternative but acceptable design as you say. It’s a matter of safety. Think of it as the difference between air bags and no air bags in a car. Sure, they both drive, but you’re more likely to die in one of them if you’re in an accident. Hypothermia is a big deal so keeping your tent and gear dry is a critical design choice. That’s why Hilleberg and Kuiu don’t make any tents that pitch tent first, fly second.
The width... Your suggestion that the Skyscraper would pitch better in confined spaces is questionable. The tent is 50”, each vestibule is 34” and must be staked out because unlike Kuiu and Hilleberg the vestibule supports are not full length to the ground. Without staking the vestibule would flop around a allow weather into the tent. So to pitch this tent you need 118” of useable, reasonably flat width. The Kuiu and Hilleberg tents have almost the same total width due to slightly smaller vestibules, but will pitch without pegs. Excusing the narrow interior as a benefit to a narrow pitch does not prove out. If you really plan on narrow, precarious pitches, no 2P tent is the right choice.
The anecdotal evidence of condensation is just that, and not really valuable for evaluating tents. I’ll skip the science and just say that ventilation reduces condensation so comparably, less ventilation means more condensation. Claims that this tent or that tent condense more regardless of ventilation are just nonsense. Condensation happens when warm moist air is cooled, either by cold air or by a cold surface. No tent design will change the science but ventilation can help reduce the humidity inside a tent, created by warm, wet people. That’s it.
I’m happy to stick a factual finger up your cat, man. LOL! You made a great promo piece for Stone Glacier, but it ain’t an unbiased, truly critical review as you claim. Just a nice puff piece.
Ben, I appreciated your response actually. It was the delivery that we took exception to. If I said KUIU fly only, I meant tent only, as in without the Fly. So my mistake. And I was just imagining in my head how the SG might pitch fly first, I bet it would work, albeit not as easily as the KUIU. (I’ll try it when I get back to the states next week). the whole point being that different people have different requirements and different things they look for. you can have all the things you require, but at the cost of a few extra pounds. I’m fat and old and my legs don’t like the mountains, so I try to save as much weight as possible. Which is what we talked about in the video. That video was not a compare and contrast, which is maybe a useful video to make. It’s a hey, look at these, and this is how it worked for us. I totally agree with you on the ventilation, and that to me is a bigger issue than the pitch order. But that’s just me and my experience in the mountains in rain and snow. The ventilation and denier weight of the floor. I also don’t like the thickness of the guy lines. I liked your comments, as they provide good discussion points. It was all delivery.
The Mountain Project Hi Jay. What! You, old and fat? Who’s that guy in the video. Hell, I’m 64. You look like a kid to me amigo. Oh delivery schmilivery, just extract the facts man. The skin on this race has gotten fricken thin since my youth. You are correct. Kuiu does not make a kit, like Hilleberg does for the Allak, to mount the tent only. How many times have you pitched a tent without a fly? I’ve had nothing but bad luck with that and I hate having to get up in the night and mount the fly while my stuff gets rained on. When you do that experiment with pitching, wait for a day with driven rain to make a fair judgement. Have enough wind that you’re fly will depart off the side of the mountain if its not tied down. When you are done look at the water in your tent and imagine this is not a test, you really are out there somewhere. I was in a saddle in BC at 7,000 ft when the weather went to hell and started gusting. This shitty tent the guide brought collapsed under a gust, the pole snapped and the fly ripped bad. There was no repairing it and that was it for shelter. We had to load horses in high wind (as any wrangler about that rodeo) then work down to the base to a cabin before dark. The tops got 7 inches of snow that night, and it turned to rain the next day, then froze that night. So if I used words like Toy Tent and am disdainful of tents that pitch fly over pole, it comes from potentially life threatening experience with them. Now when evaluating a guide, I ask them for a list of the equipment they bring by brand. Honestly Jay, if they told me it was going to be Stone Glacier tents, I’d find another guide. Have fun making videos man.
Bro, talk about spending way too much time on a tent door which is similar to every other tent on the market