Head to head
Nemo Dagger OSMO vs Slingfin Portal 2
The Nemo Dagger OSMO gives each person more floor — 15.3 sq ft against 13.7, which is the difference between standard and tight. The Slingfin Portal 2 is the lighter carry at 46 oz, and the Nemo Dagger OSMO is the cheaper of the two at ~$600.
 Nemo Nemo Dagger OSMO |  Slingfin Slingfin Portal 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Backpacking | Backpacking |
| Rated capacity | 2-person | 2-person |
| Floor area per personestimated | 15.3 sq ft (standard) | 13.7 sq ft (tight) |
| Floor area | 30.6 sq ft | 27.4 sq ft |
| Vestibule area | 24.2 sq ft | 16.8 sq ft |
| Peak height | 43 in | 44 in |
| Minimum trail weight | 3 lb 5 oz | 46 oz |
| Packed weight | 3 lb 15 oz | 3 lb 5 oz |
| Weight per personestimated | 26.5 oz (trail weight) | 23 oz (trail weight) |
| Pad fitestimated | 2 × 25 in pads fit | — |
| Fits sleepers up toestimated | 6ft 10in tall | — |
| Doors | 2 | 2 |
| Freestanding | freestanding | freestanding |
| Poles | aluminum | DAC aluminum |
| Wall type | double wall | double wall |
| Season rating | 3-season | 3-season |
| Floor hydrostatic head | 2,000 mm | 1,800 mm |
| Packed size | 20 x 6.5 x 3.5 in | 14 x 5 in |
| Approx. price | ~$600 | ~$610 |
Nemo Dagger OSMO
The Dagger's pitch is rectangular floor plus huge vestibules: 30.6 square feet that stays 50 inches wide from head to foot instead of tapering, and 24.2 square feet of vestibule, which is more covered gear space than some tents have floor. OSMO is Nemo's recycled poly-nylon blend, and the claim that matters is that it stretches about a third as much as nylon when wet — so the fly you tensioned at dusk is still tight at 3am rather than resting on the inner. Fifty-three ounces is a real backpacking weight rather than an ultralight one, and the current pole structure added four inches of door height over the previous generation.
Best for
Two people who use wide pads and want the tent to still be tight at 3am in the rain.
Slingfin Portal 2
Slingfin builds tents the way people who have had tents fail in storms build tents: two pre-installed internal guylines for lateral stability, ten external guy points, fly-to-pole toggles, spare zipper sliders already threaded on every zipper, and silicone-impregnated fabric rather than polyurethane so it does not hydrolyse and go sticky in five years. The Portal 2 is 46 ounces for 27.45 square feet, which is not a competitive number on paper — you are paying for the parts of a tent that only matter on the worst night of the trip.
Best for
Exposed, windy pitches and people who intend to keep the tent for ten years.
Rows where the two differ are tinted. Specs are the makers’ own; floor area per person, weight per person and pad fit are our arithmetic on them.