CrossBow 2 Four-Season

Hello! I previously used SlingFin’s HotBox and have now been using the CrossBow 2 for about a year. I’ve been backpacking for around four years, and this tent truly stands out with its beautiful color, durability, and outstanding build quality.

Being able to swap the inner tent makes it ideal for Korea’s distinct four seasons—I couldn’t be happier with it. In the summer, pitching just the mesh body with the WebTruss (without the fly) looks incredible in photos and always catches people's attention.

I’ve tested it in heavy rain, strong winds, and snow, and it held up flawlessly every single time. It also accompanied me on a backpacking trip across Italy, Austria, and Switzerland last summer, once again proving just how capable and reliable it is. You can check out my photos on Instagram @dantesfilm.

This is definitely a tent I’ll be using for a long time to come.

Well I just sent Tim a few pictures and video of the Crossbow 2 from my first time using it this past weekend. I'm not a professional guide and don't know all the stats on designing and fabric. I'm just an average 65 yo Joe who wants to continue trekking out in the winter here in Colorado on some below treeline trips with safety being #1. I did my research and felt that the Slingfin Crossbow 2 would be right for me. I did set it up a lot in my yard before going out into the environment. Tim was helpful with questions I had. I have a few other tents but being new to the area I was told the winds and snowfall could be difficult and I wanted a stronger tent but not one in the 8lbs group. The tent fit nicely in 85L pack with my 5F bag and room for my other gear. I made sure as a newbi to use all of the guylines, I made deadmen before the trip (painters sticks) and had my guylines bungied onto the fly so I could be ready to go at the site. I'm 5'11" (and shrinking) and use a long pad and sleeping bag. We got about a foot of snow and it was very windy (near Winter Park Colorado, app 11,000 ft elevation). I survived! Little condensation but that's expected. I kept the "blow hole" open, the side fly open with those "velcro sticks" and had the mesh open a little. I used one pole to strengthen the side but not the front vestibule. I'm not flexible enough to squeeze past it to open the door zipper. I think if I tie out the other front panel (with a short piece of paracord attached to the fly loop) I could use the second pole for strength. I forgot to retighten the guylines before going to sleep so maybe that's why the snow pushed the fly in a little. I didn't use a footprint because others told me it wasn't necessary on the snow but old habits are had to stop and I might use one next time, just in case. I've done 20 years of winter camping in NY/NE in tents, leanto's, open canvas hot tents and now back to tenting. For what I'm doing I think the Slingfin Crossbow 2 was the right choice for me.

Male: 6"1' 92kg- Australia - I've tried this tent out on 4 different occasions, on a beach, snow, forest and park campground. On each occasion I absolutely loved it. It's easy to setup and has plenty of space on the inside (I use it as a 1 man tent). It's done absolutely perfectly in each scenario I've thrown it at. I purchased the footprint just as a precaution (the 20D seems a bit thin so just wanted reassurance). I would highly recommend this tent for other backpacking enthusiasts, it's lightweight, has PLENTY of airflow (thanks to the vent) and with the crossbeam pole thingy makes it very strong. Friends also compliment it's looks, it's just awesome.

I'd like to start off by saying I've owned this tent for 4 years now, and in those 4 years have taken it on more car camping and backpacking trips than I can count. I have the winter body as well as the mesh summer body, for greater versatility/making this a true 4-season tent. This is a 2P - however, I should note I have never shared with anyone. It would be tight with 2 people; I am a 5'8" woman and it's comfy but not luxurious. Anyway - I'm a person who takes good care of their things, but that being said...I have manhandled this tent in every way possible. Extreme desert heat & sun in summer? Check. Thunderstorms? Check. Below-freezing temps? Check. Blowing dust and fine sand? Also Check. Innumerable yellowjackets??? (Unfortunately) Check. The trip that finally prompted me to write a review for this bad boy was a 4 day/3 night pack into the Wind River Range (WY) this past August. The first night of this trip, we had 30+ mph winds, a thunderstorm directly overhead, and rain so heavy it was coming down like a waterfall. This tent held up perfectly, did not come unstaked at all despite being whipped around like it was being shaken by an angry sasquatch, and I stayed totally dry inside. I could not believe it. Night two, we had another, similar storm - but with marble-size hail. I thought FOR sure the tent was a goner this time. Nope! No holes or tears, stood up to the wind, and I stayed dry yet again. This thing is as close to bulletproof as you're going to get in a (relatively light) backpacking tent - I can't recommend it enough. I have yet to take it on a trip in the snow, but I feel incredibly confident it'll keep me comfy based on my experience so far.

DISCLOSURES - (1) I did reseal the rainfly before my August trip, after 4 years of ownership (almost to the date), as the original seam sealant was peeling off with age. This is to be expected based on how much I use this tent; (2) This tent has had less backpacking use in the past year (but more car camping use), as I upgraded to a UL tent for that (also Slingfin - 2Lite... honestly don't like it as much as this tent, but it's like 2lb lighter, so I can't complain); (3) I use a footprint religiously; (4) after 4 years, two sections of the webtruss pole have somehow fused open, so I can't separate them to fold/pack them down. Not a huge deal, just a little annoying.

I highly recommend this tent, and I expect many more years of use from it based on how it's held up so far!

Writing the first critical review of the Crossbow 2 Four Season, speaking to its points of failure. We will see if this critical review gets left up with the 9 positive reviews. Nice bells and whistles on the crossbow, but in relatively little time the fabric is tearing and leaking, and the pole joints are fusing. At the end of the first season of use (in 2022, 5 months kayaking the coast of BC and Alaska), the web truss tore. Taped it back together, and it has torn in one other place since. Midway into the second season (another 5 months paddling the northwest coast in 2023), water began pooling up inside the tent, and I was using my kayak's bailing sponge frequently to drain the pool I was sleeping in. Note that I've always used a footprint to protect the floor, but despite this, water leaks in from the corners of the tent floor, and no alterations of fly sheet tension and guy-lining to cover the corners has resolved the water ingress, so I infer that the leak begins in the fly sheet. Furthermore, midway into the second season of use, the joints of the tent poles fused together. I had to buy a few new segments and am hoping for no further inseparable fusion issues on the original segments. At the beginning of the third season of use (pack rafting the Stikine River 2024), even light rains found their way into the tent and an entire corner of the floor ripped apart when put under normal tension of the pole setup. It's all taped together to squeeze out one more summer on the water, but considering that I use this tent in the rainforest, I'm anticipating a soggy season. Little pinholes are opening up throughout the floor, again, despite using a footprint and dedicating time to clearing a tent pad at each camp. Additionally, the zipper heads on both doors failed midway into the second season, and I got to use one of the bells and whistles I do admire about this tent--the backup zipper heads. There are some nice design features that the other reviews speak to, but those features don't make up for the failing integrity of the tent fabric and poles, as I the purpose of the tent is to stay dry and possible to setup and breakdown without issue. While I understand that Sling Fin doesn't manufacture "price-point" tents, I still have to factor in the high end cost. I invested in this expensive tent figuring it would last me longer, but in 13 years of full-time transient living out of a backpack and sleeping in various tents most nights of the year, I've had better endurance from cheaper brands, and could buy four of a certain store-brand tent for the cost of one crossbow. Furthermore, the one expensive ultralight tent I've ever bought has also outlasted the crossbow, despite the lightweight material (intentionally avoiding naming other brandnames and trademarked materials in this review, but one could hazard a guess) feeling flimsier. I actually still use the ultralight tent for my winter adventures, desert hiking and freight train hopping and bike touring, as opposed to paddling, because the crossbow hasn't held up to Alaskan summer. If you have plenty of disposable income and use your tent only on occasional outings, the bells and whistles in the crossbow's designs will likely feel wonderful--there are some truly thoughtful aspects of the design that attracted me to this tent in the first place, you can read the positive reviews to avoid redundancy here. But as a year-round, tent-dwelling, dirtbag bum, I need a better value on endurance and cost, not to mention weight. Until I get sponsored as a pro-hobo to test out the failure points of gear, I am seeking better shelter from the storm than the crossbow.