The SlingFin Cinder Cone 4P Pyramid is a big pyramid tarp appropriate for four-season tenting with superior air flow capabilities to extend livability and allow you to prepare dinner below cowl with much less threat of suffocation. Weighing simply 27 oz (765g), it’s a wonderful shelter for windy and uncovered terrain as a result of it’s robust and sheds wind nicely. It doesn’t include a middle pole however will be pitched with a ski, kayak paddle, or two trekking poles lashed along with a ski strap.
RELATED: 10 Finest Ultralight Pyramid Tarps
- Weight: 27 oz (765 g)
- Supplies: 10d Sil/Sil Nylon66 Ripstop w/ALUULA peak
- Dimensions: 108″ x 108″ (274cm x 274cm)
- Peak peak: 72″ (183cm)
- Seam-taped: Pointless
- Capability: 4 individuals, however a palace for two
The SlingFin Cinder Cone is a flexible and light-weight pyramid tarp shelter that can be utilized with or with out an internal tent (attributable to ship in early 2025) for moisture and bug safety. It’s a four-sided pyramid with quite a few man out factors, a entrance zippered door, and strategically positioned portals for air flow. The partitions are made with 10d Sil/Sil Nylon 66 Ripstop, the identical material SlingFin makes use of on all their different storm-tested tents and shelters. Nevertheless, the height is made with ALUULA, a composite textile that’s extraordinarily powerful and puncture-resistant.
The selection to make use of a silicone-coated material, as a substitute of Dyneema DCF, is deliberate as a result of snow slides off silnylon way more simply. It additionally packs a lot smaller, notably in winter when pack house is at a premium, and it’s essential carry extra clothes, gasoline, meals, and water. Packed, the Cinder Cone takes about as a lot house as a three-season quilt, making it straightforward and space-efficient to hold. That mentioned, the tent material does sag throughout the evening, when it will get moist or when loaded with snow.
The Cinder Cone shouldn’t be seam-taped or seam-sealed as a result of SlingFin makes use of a non-wicking thread and since the pyramid partitions are so steep that water runs off earlier than it may possibly seep by. SlingFin does seam-seal the seams of their different tents, just like the Portal 2, which has much less of a pitch, however complete rain testing by the corporate has not discovered that seam-leakage is an issue on the Cinder Cone. I’ve solely used the tent in winter in temperatures far under freezing, so rain hasn’t been a problem.
The corners of the Cinder Cone are outfitted with reflective twine and triangular linelocs, which could be a little finicky to make use of in snow as a result of they’ll freeze up. It’s early sufficient within the season that I’ve been in a position to drive tent stakes into the bottom to stake out the Cinder Cone, however chances are you’ll need to modify the ends of the guylines to accommodate beefier snow stakes, skis, or deadmen. Filling cheapo grocery baggage with snow and burying them works fairly nicely, nevertheless it requires some adjustment to your guylines.
There are two methods through which individuals have a tendency to make use of a pyramid of this quantity. The primary is as a floorless tent shelter for a number of campers. Alternatively, you should utilize it to cowl a kitchen space with snow “furnishings” that you simply dig into deep snow to maintain the wind off individuals whereas they prepare dinner. The Cinder Cone is light-weight sufficient that you possibly can simply use it for this function if everybody in your celebration additionally carried tents to sleep in. This second use could be very social and a whole lot of enjoyable on a winter journey whereas individuals sit round and prepare dinner or soften snow on their stoves. In each instances, it’s essential remember to ventilate the shelter nicely when cooking so that you don’t die from carbon monoxide poisoning or get drenched in inner condensation from melting snow.
The Cinder Cone addresses the problem of air flow in two methods. The primary is the position of drawstring-adjustable portals on three sides of the Cinder Cone which you could open to vent the inside. The portals have awnings to stop snow or rain from coming into the shelter when they’re open. The second are further guylines positioned on the facet panels that permit you to cinch the underside seam of the pyramid off the bottom in a brief triangular-shaped opening so contemporary air can blow into the tent, as wanted. You can simply as simply create an analogous “transom impact” by mounding snow alongside the underside seam to create a gap or by stress-free the nook guylines so air can blow below the underside seams.
One factor notably absent from the Cinder Cone is a middle pole or the choice to buy one individually. There are many different giant ultralight pyramid tarps offered with this comfort or choice, such because the Mountain Laurel Designs Supermid or the Black Diamond Mega Lite, making them simpler to make use of for automotive tenting or extra informal use.
Pyramid Tent Comparability
Suggestion
The SlingFin Cinder Cone 4P Pyramid Tarp is a light-weight and spacious shelter that’s gear for multi-sport use together with backpacking, looking, canoeing or snowboarding. It’s packs up small and goes up quick making it excellent once you need to get out of the climate quick. Pyramid tarps (additionally known as monopole shelters) are exceptionally wind-resistant, making the Cinder Cone a really perfect shelter for extremely uncovered terrain with out windbreaks. The added air flow capabilities supplied with the Cinder Cone additionally make it distinctive amongst ultralight pyramid shelters and are ideally suited to winter use once you need to prepare dinner or soften snow below cowl.
Disclosure: Slingfin donated a Cinder Cone for evaluate.
SectionHiker is reader-supported. We solely generate income if you are going to buy a product by our affiliate hyperlinks. Assist us proceed to check and write unsponsored and unbiased gear opinions, newbie FAQs, and free mountaineering guides.