Review of The Mineral King Tent by Mountain Hardwear
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When it comes to choosing a reliable tent for your outdoor adventures, quality is crucial. That’s why the Mineral King 2 tent by Mountain Hardwear has been my tent of choice when I’m in a developed campground or have my car nearby at BLM sites. I use it at least once a month for multiple nights. It has been three years since I purchased it, and below is my honest Mineral King 2 tent review. Though I use the 2-person tent, I trust the 3-person Mineral King tent is just as reliable.
Discovering the Mineral King Tent and Its Features
About the tent
Usage
Its primary use is typically camping, though I believe it could serve as a backpacking tent if two people shared its weight and bulk. A footprint (ground sheet) is included in the pack to help protect the tent floor. That’s a big plus compared to some other tents.
Canopy & rainfly
The canopy is 40 denier polyester mesh and 75 denier ripstop polyester. The rainfly is made of 68 denier ripstop polyester, and the body of 75 denier plan wave polyester. The canopy has reinforced tub corners as well.
With two large doors, two people can independently come in and out of the tent as they please. The vestibules roll back and fasten on the sides. Each rainfly door zip has a vent at the top to enable additional ventilation on rainy or hot nights. Thanks to this feature, I’ve never had any condensation problems in the tent.
Stargazing
You can sleep with and without the rainfly off, and the fly can also roll back halfway to stargaze while still maintaining privacy. Since I use this tent in areas where I’m not alone in the wilderness, I haven’t slept in it without the rainfly on in this tent. I don’t often use the halfway rollback for stargazing either. But I can confirm the full mesh really offers clear views of the sky and your surroundings at camp from inside the tent.
The tent comes with stakes!
The Mountain Hardwear Mineral King Tent encloses silver metal peg stakes, as shown in the photo above. I giggled when I first saw them because they reminded me of the stakes from old tents when I was a kid. I had no idea those still existed!
I like them for some scenarios, but I’ve twisted a few on hard surfaces, so they are not the strongest. I prefer to use them for the two ends (short sides of the tent) and the two vestibules because the hook is very convenient to ensure the doors and rainfly stay in place. However since I had to buy more stakes, I purchased MSR stakes for the four corners of the tent.
Mineral King Tent weight and dimensions
| Mineral King 2 Tent | Mineral King 3 Tent | |
|---|---|---|
| Approx. Weight | 5 lbs / 2278 g | 6 lb 1.7 oz / 2770 g |
| Approx. Weight Packed | 5 lb 13.4 oz / 2649 g | 7 lb 1.2 oz / 3209 g |
| Height Interior | 43 in / 109 cm | 48 in / 122 cm |
| Tent Floor Area | 33 sq. ft. / 3.1 m2 | 42.5 sq. ft. / 3.9 m2 |
| Tent Vestibule Area | 18.75 sq. ft. / 1.7 m2 | 20.9 sq. ft. / 1.9 m2 |
| Tent Packed Size | 6″ x 24″ / 15 cm x 61 cm | 7″ x 25″ / 18 cm x 63.5 cm |
Setting Up the Mineral King Tent is a Breeze Even for Beginners
Pitching
Beginners and experienced campers alike will find this tent quick and simple to pitch, even by yourself! The tent holds up with the help of DAC poles and is very easy to pitch in less than 2 minutes. If you have never used DAC poles, most quality tents use them, and they are very sturdy and easy to use. The poles are pre-bent, so there is only one way they can go in. Super easy!
I always put the crossbar on top of the two larger poles, but Mountain Hardwear places it underneath in their demo. I find it easier to place it on top because I put it on last.
The rain fly just goes over the top of the poles, and buckle clips into the canopy at the four corners. There are also four velcro straps underneath the rainfly to attach it to the poles. I only fasten those if it’s a windy night, otherwise, I don’t bother. The corner buckle clips are more than enough.
Taking down
Taking down the tent is just as easy. The whole tent fits in one big sack. You put the canopy and the rainfly in that main sack. Then the poles have their own too, and there is a third sack for the stakes. I’m always worried about ripping the tent fabric when forcing the pole sack inside the main one, so now I leave them out. It would be less risky to get into a habit of placing the poles in the main sack first and then adding the rainfly and canopy, but that’s not the sequence of how taking down a tent flows.
Timelapse
Below is a timelapse video of my pitching and take down on the tent during one of my recent trips. What you can’t see in the video is that I tie the footprint to the tent, so the official tent footprint is invisible on the video for that reason. However, I also use another tarp sometimes (you can see the blue tarp in the video.) It helps me protect the tent better when the ground isn’t the best surface.
Mountain Hardwear Mineral King 2 Tent
Mountain Hardwear Mineral King 3 Tent
Durability and Weather Resistance
I’ve used the tent in many weather conditions, including snow, rain, strong winds, and sand storms. The tent is weatherproof with taped seams, and I always wake up dry even when it rained all night. That is partly thanks to the bathtub-style floor, made of 68 denier Ripstop Polyester.
I camped on one of the windiest nights last year, with wind gusts around 40mph. The tent walls would flatten on me to the point of touching my nose several times per hour! It was entertaining, to say the least, and not the best sleep of my life, but the tent and poles did not break. The morning after was also quite the adventure to take down the tent and pack it up! I almost went flying with it trying to fold the rainfly!
The Mineral King 2 tent is strong and survived easily!
Comfort and Convenience Inside the Mineral King Tent
The tent is designed for a head-to-toe sleeping configuration to maximize individual space and comfort. It also offers plenty of storage with a pocket in each corner. Two of the pockets are also used as the door catchers for when you open the canopy doors; the other two pockets are at the head on the short side of the tent.
Another interior design feature I love is the mesh gear loft. It is large enough to hold a phone (plus many other items), and maybe even an iPad. That is handy on rainy nights if you need to watch a movie from bed.
Lastly, there are also five hanging loops inside, so you can hang your lantern and other gear overhead as well.
Mountain Hardwear Mineral King 2 Tent
Mountain Hardwear Mineral King 3 Tent
Pros and Cons of the Mountain Hardwear Mineral King Tent
Pros
- Durable – 68D Ripstop polyester makes this tent strong and durable
- Spacious – even for two people
- Excellent airflow and ventilation (also a con lol)
- No condensation issues
- Excellent quality and sturdy – I’ve slept in 35mph+ windy nights, although at times I did think the poles would break. They didn’t though, and the tent is still completely fine!
- Freestanding – It’s useful if the ground is super hard, or for pitching on boulders. Or if you left your stakes at home too!
- Lots of storage – one pocket at each corner and a mesh gear loft that is large enough to hold a large smartphone or maybe even an iPad. Very handy on rainy nights to watch a movie in bed.
- Footprint included – nice touch because you often need to buy it separately from other quality brands.
Cons
- Not great for pitching in fine sand on a windy night. The tent’s canopy is mostly mesh and the mesh starts quite low from the ground. Great for ventilation, but terrible if you have to pitch on fine sand on a very windy night! That is the only disadvantage I have encountered so far with this tent, and it only happened once. You’ll always get a little dust inside if it’s windy, but sleeping in fine sand on a windy night led to extreme results. You won’t encounter that every day. For me, it was a fun experience because it’s just a fun camping story. Nevertheless, it is something to be aware of, if you often sleep in fine sandy areas.
What happened on that windy night?
So I slept in this tent in Monument Valley, where fine red sand is abundant everywhere. Unfortunately, the wind picked up overnight, and due to the mesh canopy and excellent ventilation that this tent offers, I woke up completely covered in red sand the following morning. Everything inside my tent was covered in red sand, my face, it was inside my ears, everywhere. It was funny, and I was grateful nothing inside my tent got completely ruined (like my photo gear!).
This YouTube video shows the aftermath! I had to vacuum inside my tent when I got home after that trip to get all the freaking sand and dust out! It’s been over 18 months and I still find this sand in random places still in the car and other gear. What a way to make a trip memorable!
Mountain Hardwear Mineral King 2 Tent
Mountain Hardwear Mineral King 3 Tent
Final thoughts
Personally, I am very happy with my purchase of the Mountain Hardwear Mineral King Tent. As an outdoor enthusiast, I think it has been worth every penny. Though it is primarily a car camping tent for me, it could also serve as a backpacking tent if I could share the load with another backpacker. So if you backpack with a partner and plan on sharing a tent, this tent could serve multiple purposes.
Post originally published on July 12, 2023, and last updated on May 16, 2024.
