User Review: MSR Fling

MSR Fling
Above: The current Fling, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed September 14, 2006 by OldGrowth

Rating:
Design: Single Wall, Three-Season, Free Standing with Stakes
Sleeps: 2
Ease of Setup: Poles hard to slide through sleeves. Otherwise OK with good poles.
Weight: 4 pounds
Price Paid: $269

My experience with how the Fling functions is pretty similar to the two previous posts, and on those points I pretty much agree. So, I won't repeat them. However, in my opinion, this tent has two serious drawbacks.

One is that the rear pole sleeve is sewn in such a way that the ends of the sleeve on the corners closest to the rear of the tent put a lot of stress on the seam and the fabric. The fabric ripped at this point on my tent during set up on the first trip. A tent should not be designed so that ripping during set up under normal conditions by an experienced backpacker is at all possible. Granted that MSR was quick about repairing the tent. But in my opinion this is an obvious flaw. This flaw applies only to the rear sleeve. The front sleeve is OK in this respect.

The problem comes from the design of the pole sleeves. The sleeves are constructed by sewing a long thing peace of durable fabric onto the tent. Instead a pole tube should protrude from the tent, almost as a separate piece.

Another problem is that both sleeves on the Fling are so narrow, that the poles do not slide though as easily as they should, and as easily as they do on other types of pole sleeves. Furthermore, because the pole sleeves are so narrow, if one had to repair a pole, I suspect that the repaired pole would probably not fit through the tube. I would like to learn if anyone ever experiences problems with Fling poles repaired in the field, but I hope it won't be me.

These characteristics of the Fling make it a tent that I will not rely on for a long hike. I would not recommend the tent.