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A lightweight, freestanding 1-person tent with a large side door and plenty of headroom. Slingfin has balanced comfort, durability and weight, resulting in a fantastic tent.
SlingFin says:
The Portal 1 rounds out our fan-favorite Portal family. It's our lightest freestanding tent with a minimum weight of only 2.5lbs. To make the Portal 1, we kept all our favorite aspects of the original 2-person Portal, but optimized the geometry and features for a solo hiker. What we DIDN'T do is eliminate any pockets or details that make the Portal series the most livable backpacking tents on the market.
To avoid the coffin-like feeling of many 1-person tents, we extended the Portal 1's cross pole so the side walls of the tent are beyond vertical, providing tons of volume and headroom up high. The extra long cross pole creates a super roomy vestibule with plenty of overhang when the vestibule doors are rolled back.
Our 10D Nylon 66 Ripstop silicone-coated flysheet fabric is basically magic, with better UV resistance than fabrics three times its weight, super low water absorption (aka quick dry times), and incredible mold/mildew resistance. The silicone coating will not break down in your closet and produce that "old tent smell" that haunts well-loved gear. The 20D PE-coated floor fabric strikes a good balance between light weight and durability and doesn't absorb water, unlike PU-coated floor fabrics. It also has far more hydrolytic stability than PU coatings and won't become flaky and smelly with time. Pre-installed spare sliders on all the zippers double your zippers' lifespan and eliminate the need for half-baked field repairs when you're 90% of the way to the terminus of whatever long trail you're on.
To prolong the life of your Portal's floor, pick up a Portal 1 footprint. For ultralight weather protection in non-buggy conditions, check out the Portal 1 Tub Floor.
Seam Sealing Note: The seams on your Portal's flysheet are highly water-resistant and will handle light rain just fine without being seam sealed. However, the three seams directly beneath the tent poles should be seam sealed for maximum waterproofness in extended, heavy rains.
Our Verdict
I'm a big fan of this tent. It has many hidden features make it stand out from other tents at this price point. Consideration had been given to the livability and durability of the tent.
It's a very quick and straightforward setup. If incorporated with the footprint, the tent can be set up fly-first, but predominantly it's an inner-first set-up. The two attached poles cross over one another and slide into the grommets at each corner of the tent. The inner is clipped onto the poles with sturdy, well-built clips, and the volumising bar is attached across the middle of the tent, which creates internal space. The fly attaches at each corner with a simple cord loop. There are no pre-attached guy lines, but ten guy-out points can be used in bad weather, and in terrible conditions, trekking poles can be incorporated to add stability at the volumising bar, turning this into a 3.5-season tent that sheds bad wind and rain.
The internal door is generous and lead to a roomie vestibule. Internally lots of consideration has been given to keeping the tent homely and organised. There are seven pockets in total, including a large pocket at your feet, which is large enough to store clothes, and smaller, more discreet pockets that are perfect for storing medication or glasses.
The inner tent is almost completely made from a lightweight mesh (not the bathtub). This means the inner tent is very well-ventilated. This is aided by two guy-out points at the foot and the head end of the tent. The Portal Two also has two kickstands that prop the door open to allow more airflow; these can be removed and reattached when needed.
- Reviewed by Ultralight Outdoor Gear
Features
- Two pre-installed internal guylines give the Portal great lateral stability for almost no weight increase.
- Side walls are past vertical to provide tons of volume up high.
- Short pole package is perfect for bikepacking
- KickStand vent provides unrestricted airflow for excellent condensation management without sacrificing weather protection.
- High-volume pole structure with a swivel provides well-distributed headroom without the weakness of hubs.
- Pole swivel connects long poles for easy setup
- All the pockets you could ever want (two ceiling, two head, two side, one foot).
- 11 external guy points and 3 perimeter pull-outs provide ample reinforcement options.
- External guy points correspond to flysheet-to-pole attachments to increase stability.
- Matching reflective tabs on fly and tent body simplify setup.
- Color-coordinated stake loops for easy flysheet orientation.
- Pre-installed spare zipper sliders on every zipper double your zippers' lifespan.
- Can be pitched with footprint (not included) and fly only for a minimalist weather shelter.
- 2-side silicone impregnated flysheet and PE floor fabric are mildew-resistant and have excellent hydrolytic stability, and will last significantly longer than traditional PU-coated fabrics.
- Includes 10 DAC J-Stakes and 6 additional guylines (not including 2 pre-installed internal guylines)
Specifications
Our weights
- Flysheet weighs: 430g
- Inner weighs: 311g
- Poles weigh: 359
- Total weight: 1100g (excludes pegs & bags)
- Pegs x10 weigh: 109g
Brands specs
- Minimum weight: 1.13kg
- Packaged weight: 1.32kg
- Floor area: 19.25 sq ft (1.79 sq m)
- Vestibule area: 1 x 9.8 sq ft (0.91 sq m)
- Vestibule depth: 34" (86cm)
- Interior height: 41" (111cm)
- Pole package length: 13.5" (34cm)
- Packed size: 14" x 5" (35cm x 13cm)
- Floor dimensions: 88" x 35" (head) x 28" (foot) (224cm x 89cm/71cm)
- Capacity: 1
- Number of poles: 3
- Number of doors: 1
- Guyout loops: 11
- Perimeter pull out loops: 3
Material & Construction
- Tent body fabric: 15D Nylon no-see-um mesh
- Floor fabric: 20D Nylon Ripstop PE 1800mm
- Fly fabric: 10D Nylon 66 Ripstop Sil/Sil 1200mm
- Poles: 2 DAC Featherlite NFL 8.7mm, 1 NFL 9.3mm
- Included guylines: 6 (+2 pre-installed internal guylines)
