Backpacking Background:

Product Description:

The Parkview 2 is a lightweight, 2-person, 3-season backpacking tent and is considered to be freestanding.  The optional footprint is also included in this test.

I'm really impressed with the Parkview 2 at this point in the test series!

Field Conditions

All of my testing thus far has occurred in various locations around Western New York and Northern Pennsylvania. I've spent a total of nine nights in the Parkview 2. Four nights were spent in "laboratory" testing behind my home over two weekends. The remaining five nights were divided over two weekend trips; one being a three-day and the other a four-day trek. Total estimated trail mileage carrying the Parkview 2 is about 50 miles (80 km). 

The terrain locally is a mixed bag, starting out close to the shores of Lake Erie as a flat plateau and changing to rolling hills further away from the lake. The flat land is around 700 ft (213 m) elevation with the hills steadily increasing to close to 2000 ft (610 m). Northern Pennsylvania tends to have similar temperatures to Western New York, although the terrain is considerably more hilly and steep. This is the home of the Allegheny Mountains, with elevations typically around 2000 ft (610 m). Daily temperatures for the field tests ranged between 25 and 65 F (-4 and 18 C).  The test series began in true winter conditions - cold with lots of snow.  After the snow melted, I was able to test the Parkview in a relatively short rainy period, followed by very pleasant spring conditions. 

My tests began at home during the remaining days of winter.  I did experience snow accumulation on the Parkview 2 one night of about 3 in (8 cm).  The first real test with the Parkview 2 was spent with the Boy Scouts at a local camp.  I spent three days in the Parkview in a weekend that started sunny, moved to rainy, continued with a little snow, and then returned to sunshine again.  In other words, typical spring conditions here!  The four-day hike occurred a couple weeks ago.  I spent four beautiful days hiking on the North Country Trail through the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania.  Most of the trail miles carrying the Parkview 2 were logged on this trip.

Test time has been split between the two setup configurations I have available to me.  At home, I spent 2 nights in the full tent setup and two nights in the fast fly setup, utilizing the optional footprint.  On the trail, I tested the tent setup on the first trip with the scouts and the fast fly setup on the NCT.

Setup time continues to improve with experience.  The more I do it, the better I get at it.  I really feel my home testing helped a lot here.  The Parkview setup is not something I would suggest learning on the trail.  There is a learning curve with this tent, and I feel it's much better to learn it first before I need to depend on it, like on the trail. 

There are several plastic clips found on the tent body, and fastlock buckles in each corner.  All mechanical fasteners are holding up fine.  The clips from which the tent is attached to the aluminum tent poles are really clever and make setup of the tent body very simple. 

I have found the Parkview 2 to be quite durable.  Outside of a strained seam on a stuff sack, I cannot find any signs of wear.  I was a little disappointed with the stuff sack as mentioned in my Initial Report, but the seam separation has not grown worse with time.  Plus, I'm even more impressed with the rest of the tent (namely the tent body, fast fly and poles) the more nights I spend in it.  The zippers on the doors of the tent tend to catch the material on occasion, but they have never caused a snag and are by far the easiest zippers I have ever removed from a material jam.  They operate smoothly and the material that has been caught has shown no signs of wear from the zipper catch.

I love all the screening on the tent.  It reminds me of a smaller version of those screen houses I sometimes see covering picnic tables.  It's virtually complete netting outside of the bathtub floor.  The netting is holding up great.  Air flows well through the netting and it provides a beautiful view at night when the fast fly is not necessary.

The floor is tough!  One night recently, I got into camp well after dark.  I had very little light, and set the Parkview up right over a sharp rock.  There wasn't much I could do at the time, but checked it closely in the morning.  It was no worse for the wear!  Plus, the floor interior has an usual finish to it.  Normally, nylon tends to be quite smooth, with a very low coefficient of friction.  This is how the exterior of the bottom is finished.  The interior of the floor has a much more "grabby" feel to it.   It's not sticky, per se, and dirt and leaves do not adhere to it, but if the tent is at a slight incline, my sleeping pad stays put; instead of sliding downhill, with me on it, right into the tent wall.

There is quite a bit of useable interior volume in this tent.  The 40 in (122 cm) ceiling height is quite high for a two-person tent.  Around the ceiling are several tiny loops for attaching an optional gear loft (not included in the test series), that make great attachment points for a small clothesline and flashlight for night reading, writing or playing cards.  The width is ample for two people, allowing enough room to move without being on top of each other.  And there is a ton of extra room lengthwise.  I found I could easily fit my backpack at my feet and still be comfortable.  This tent could easily fit someone well over 6 ft (18 cm) in height.  The vestibules provide a great place for gear storage.  Each vestibule is large enough to hold my pack and boots.

When I was camping with the scouts and I set the Parkview 2 up in fast fly mode, I found that there was even more useable volume than in the tent mode.  By simply extending the coverage of the footprint with some pieces of Tyvek I cut to fit into include the vestibules, I effectively transferred the Parkview 2 into a three-person tent.  There was ample room for my two sons (ages twelve and fourteen) and me.  Please note, I only found this acceptable in the fast fly mode, without the tent body.  When I utilized the tent body, there is only room for two of us. 

Packing up the Parkview 2 is a simpe task.  The stakes are easy to extract and fit into their own stuff sack.  The pole assembly breaks down easily, yet all pieces stay together via the elastic shock cord running through the center of each pole.  Each piece folds and the whole thing fits into a separate stuff sack. I don't have to be too fussy when folding the footprint to fit it into its stuff sack.  And, the fast fly and tent body do not require an exact folding sequence in order to fit it into the main stuff sack, unlike so many tents I've used in the past.  I simply set the tent on top of the fast fly and roughly fold the whole pile to approximately match the length of the pole stuff sack.  Then I simply roll the whole thing around the pole sack and slide it into the stuff sack.  There is plenty of room at the top to fit the stake sack and footprint sack.  If I want to split the load of the Parkview while hiking, I can easily pull out any combination of the tent stakes, poles, tent body, or fast fly and give it to my partner to carry.

I have not had an issue with the Parkview's ability to shed water.  I have not sealed any seam, yet I have not had a single leak anywhere.  I've been able to verify the Parkview's waterproofness in both rain and snow.  This includes both the fast fly and bath tub bottom on the tent body.

I have found the inside of the fast fly quite damp on occasion in the mornings, although never to the point where it has dripped down on me.  I suspect the source of this moisture is from me and the other occupant.  This seems to only occur when I've had the vestibules closed up tightly.  There is very little air movement within the tent when it's completely buttoned down. 

A few weeks ago, while hiking on the North Country Trail in the Allegheny National Forest, I came upon the banks of the Kinzua Creek and decided to make camp.  It was a beautiful night in a beautiful place.  I planned on spending the night only in the tent, without the fast fly, so I could enjoy the views.  As the darkness fell, I noticed the sky began to fill with clouds.  I decided to deploy the fast fly over the tent in case it rained.  I soon discovered the downside to the attached vestibules!  No matter how I oriented the assembly, the vestibules ruined my view of the water.  In the end, the best compromise I could find was to tie back one side of each vestibule, allowing a partial view of the water.  I was disappointed that I could not find a way that afforded me a better view of my surroundings.  It would have been great if I was only in the tent.

What I love about the Parkview so far:

What I'm not thrilled with about the Parkview so far:

Tim