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See the 20 tests

1. In the Box
2. Set Up & Pack Away
3. Footprint
4. Peak Height
5. Livable Space
6. Vertical Walls
7. Base Area
8. Pad Sizing
9. Queen Sizing
10. Vestibules
11. Vents
12. Doors
13. Pockets
14. Loops
15. Clothesline
16. Half Rainfly
17. Rain Protection
18. Quality
19. Mesh
20. Portability
21. Pros, Cons, Recommendations
22. Bonus – MUST Read!

In the Box

• Tent body
• Rainfly
• Footprint
• 2 poles
• Pole bag
• 6 stakes
• Stake bag
• 2 guylines
• Pole repair splint
• Carry bag

• Poles 2The main hubbed pole, plus a short ridge pole
• Stakes 6
• Guylines 2

Set Up & Pack Away

• Set-up time 9.5 minOn my own, footprint included
• Set-up without the footprint 8.75 min
• Pack-away time 9.0 minFootprint included
• Pack away without the footprint 8.25 min

Pro tip This tent comes with 6 stakes and 2 guylines, and that only covers the corners and the two vestibules. Before your first trip, do pick up another 6 stakes, 2 long guylines and 2 short guylines, so the widths can be guyed out too.

Footprint

I liked that a footprint comes with this tent, because it protects the base and keeps it clean.

• Footprint Included
• Material 75D polyester taffeta

The footprint doesn’t come with buckles to attach to the rainfly, so there’s no fly-only pitch here.

Peak Height

• Peak height 47.25inRight at the center

That was more than enough for me to sit upright with plenty of headroom left, and I could still do it with a thick mattress underneath.

Livable Space

This tent is supposed to have better livable space because of its pre-bent poles, so I measured the corners too.

• Corner height 36.25inAt each of the four corners

It wouldn’t be nearly this roomy if the poles weren’t pre-bent.

• Height at the ridge pole ends 42.25inAt the front and the back

As you can see, what the ridge pole does is carry the peak height across the width of the tent.

Vertical Walls

The ridge pole gives you vertical walls at the front and the back as well.

The ridge pole picks the whole tent body up, which is where both the walls and that taller height across the widths come from.

Base Area

• Floor length 89.0inSide to side
• Floor width 66.5inBack to front
• Floor area 41.1 sq ft

Pad Sizing

I inflated a few pads to see how many actually fit.

• Single pads 3
  • Exped MegaMat Duo 74 x 43in
  • Sea to Summit single 74 x 20in
• Leftover space 16.5 x 4.5inLength, then width, pads pushed aside. That leftover width is enough to swap 1 regular pad for an extra wide one

Three of you sleep shoulder to shoulder in here. Thanks to the vertical walls I didn’t feel too squished even at the sides, and the headroom above me was still pretty good right at the edge.

Queen Sizing

If it’s just two of you, a queen air bed fits as well.

• Queen beds 1
• Leftover space 9.5 x 6.0inLength, then width, bed pushed aside

Vestibules

There are two identical vestibules outside the inner tent, one over each door.

• Vestibules 2
• Size 89.0 x 34.0in
• Each vestibule 10.5 sq ft
• Both together 21.0 sq ft
• Total base area 62.1 sq ftInner tent and both vestibules

They’re meant for backpacks, a table or other gear rather than for lounging. Even a really lightweight Helinox Chair Zero is a very narrow fit, and my head hits the top.

• Webbing loops 1 per vestibuleOn the left panel
• Configurations 3Closed, right panel open, or both open
• Zipper tracks 12 zippers on it
• Zipper brand YKK

Nothing snagged, zipping open or closed, from the outside or the inside. I also liked that there’s a spring inside the toggle, so the fabric bunches up nice and tight when you tie a panel back.

Vents

The reason each vestibule has two zippers is so you can unzip the top of it and prop it open for some airflow.

• Vents 2One per vestibule
• How to open Kickstand

If it starts raining you can shut them from the inside, which was great.

Doors

• Doors 2One under each vestibule
• Door size 69.0 x 36.0inLongest length, then widest width

Each door spans practically the whole wall of the tent. That made getting in and out easy, and it gave me great cross-ventilation on a non-rainy day.

• Door zippers 3 per door
• Zipper brand YKK

Each door comes with three zippers, which is wild. I’ve never seen this before on a tent, and it means you can leave just the top unzipped for airflow while keeping most of the bugs out.

• Stowing the door away ~3 secondsBunch the fabric up and stuff it into the door pocket

Pockets

• Pockets 7Not counting the 2 door pockets
  • Top triangle pocket 1
  • Wall pockets 6
• Top pocket size 18.0 x 22.0in
• Wall pocket size 62.0 x 8.0inLongest length, then width

I filled a whole wall and still had room left over, which is a ton of storage for a 3-person tent.

Loops

• Gear loops 9
  • Closed loops 4
  • Open, adjustable loops 5

Clothesline

A line runs through all nine loops, and that’s part of Mountain Hardwear’s HangTight storage system.

• Clothesline 1Divided into 10 sections
• Tensioner 1Loosen it for more slack, or leave it tight

All of that used only 3 of the 10 sections and 3 of the 9 loops, so you can hang up a whole lot more if you need to.

Half Rainfly

You don’t have to take the fly off completely. Undo half of it, roll that half up, and there’s a toggle at the top of the tent to tie the fabric back with.

It works on either half depending on which way you want to look out, which is great for the views. And if it rains, you can roll everything back down and get the buckles and guylines secured in under 1 minute, if you’re quick.

Rain Protection

• Tub floor at the widths 8.0in
• Tub floor at the lengths 5.5inLower, because the door is in the way
• Floor seams Taped
• Corner seams Taped
• Rainfly seams Taped

Any seam that isn’t on the blue tub floor isn’t sealed.

• Rainfly Full-length
• Can guy out all 4 sides Yes

To test all of that, I left the tent out in more than 3 hours of heavy rain, followed by another 3 hours of light to moderate rain.

Not a single leak. The tub, the corners and the flooring were all dry, the fabric above the tub was dry because the full-length fly covered it, and the vents didn’t let anything in as long as I cracked them open only a little.

• My heavy rain test 3 hoursPlus 3 more of light to moderate rain, with no leaks anywhere
• Rainfly ~4-5 hoursThe inside felt the tiniest bit damp, so that’s roughly where its limit sits

Quality

• Flooring 68D polyester ripstop1,500mm waterproof PU coating
• Footprint 75D polyester taffeta
• Rainfly 68D polyester ripstop2,000mm coating
• Tent body 75D polyester ripstopNo coating
• Mesh 40D polyesterProbably no-see-um, from the feel of it

The flooring isn’t the thickest, but that’s what the provided footprint is for, and it adds a good bit of durability underneath.

• Poles DAC PressfitBoth the main pole and the ridge pole
• Pole diameter 10mm

• Guylines ShockcordWith a tensioner for adjusting the length
• Guy-out points Not reflectiveThey’re supposed to be, but mine weren’t really
• Stakes Shepherd hook
• Warranty Lifetime
• Flame-retardant chemicals None

The stitching is good all around the tent.

Mesh

Remove the rainfly completely on a hot day, and here’s what you’re left with.

• Mesh ~60%More than half of the inner tent
• Mesh roof Full

The mesh is really high quality and transparent, so you get great views all around, and it kept out every single bug for me.

Portability

• Weight 7 lbs 10 ozEverything in the bag
• Trail weight 6 lbs 14 ozLeaving the footprint at home
• Packed size 23.0 x 9.5 x 6.5in

• Ease of carry Adjustable sling strapWith an easy-clip buckle

I’ve already set the strap to the length I use, so it’s really easy to carry around like a sling bag.

Pros, Cons, Recommendations

How does the Mountain Hardwear Mineral King 3 stack up against other tents? There aren’t many 3-person camping tents out there, so I put it up against 4-person ones instead, and averaged the Marmot Tungsten 4, the Teton Mountain Ultra 4, the ALPS Mountaineering Lynx 4, the Kelty Wireless 4 and the Coleman Sundome 4.

Test	Mineral King 3	Average 4P tent
Setup & pack away	✗ 8.5 mins	9.5 mins
Setup features	✓ More	Less
Base area	62.1/3 = 20.7 sq. ft.	83.2/4 = 20.8 sq. ft.
Peak height	✗ 47.25in	49in
Livability	✓ More spacious	Less spacious
Door size	✓ 80%	40-60%
Door stowing	✓ Pockets	Toggles
Door zippers	✓ 3	2
Pockets	✓ 7	4
Loops	✓ 9	1-5
Clothesline	✓ Yes	No
Mesh	✓ 60%	30-45%
Half rainfly	✓ Yes	No
Rain test	✓ 4-5 hours	0.5-3 hours
Canopy/rainfly	✓ 68-75D Ripstop Polyester	68-75D polyester
Flooring	✓ 68D Ripstop Polyester	75D Polyester taffeta
Footprint	✓ Yes (75D Polyester Taffeta)	No
Poles	✓ DAC Pressfit	Fiberglass/Aluminum
Zippers	✓ YKK	No brand

Great livability

• Mineral King 3: 4 pre-bent pole corners, plus 1 ridge pole
• Average 4P tent: Less spacious

Fantastic doors

• Mineral King 3: 80% of the wall, 3 zippers, door pockets
• Average 4P tent: 40-60% of the wall, 2 zippers, toggles

Toggles take double to triple the time that a door pocket does.

Amazing storage

• Mineral King 3: 7 pockets, 9 loops, 1 clothesline
• Average 4P tent: 4 pockets, 1-5 loops, no clothesline

Lots of ventilation and a half rainfly

• Mineral King 3: 60% mesh, and a half fly
• Average 4P tent: 30-45% mesh, no half fly

High-quality materials

• Mineral King 3: DAC Pressfit poles, YKK zippers, ripstop polyester, footprint included
• Average 4P tent: Fiberglass or aluminum poles, unbranded zippers, no footprint

A bit of a slower setup due to more features

• Mineral King 3: 8.5 mins, for 3 people
• Average 4P tent: 9.5 mins, for 4 people

Expensive

Of course, you’re paying for all that quality, and the MSRP for this tent is a lot more than the average.

Bonus – MUST Read!

Every figure above is from my own testing — measured by hand, bought with my own money.