Which fabric for DuoMid for my expected conditions?

[Elizabeth Camp]

I'm interested in a DuoMid as a winter shelter for backpacking and snowshoeing. I'm not sure whether the Cuben or Silnylon would provide better performance in the range of expected conditions. Here's a description of the range conditions I would expect to use the DuoMid in:

–Trips mainly in the Oregon and Washington Cascades; November to early March
–On lower elevation (below 4000 ft) trips there's typically cold driving rain and with nightly lows in the mid- to low- thirties and daily highs in the 40's
–On Higher elevation (4000-6500 ft) trips there is typically very wet snow with nightly lows in the 20's and daily highs in the low thirties. Wind gusts of 30-40mph possible in storms (of course I try to pick a sheltered spot). Rarely are lows in the teens.
–About half of my trips will be "lower elevation" backpacking trips and half will be "higher elevation" snowshoe trips .

Which fabric do you think would fit the bill best? Please briefly explain you reasoning. Thank you for taking the time to answer my question!

[Steven Evans]

Cuben, because it is the lightest and therefore the best ;)

Actually, I remember reading that Ron from MLD recommends the silnylon for winter conditions. I can't recall why – just that he did. Of course, I grabbed the cuben version and use it all winter…love it.

[Michael Fogarty]

I got my Supermid in the yellow silnylon, mainly because of Ron's recommendation for winter usage, and being its the most durable of the 3 fabric choices.

[Jason Elsworth]

On Ron's site he suggests silnylon, as it is more abrasion resistant for shoveling snow off the sides. I went Silnylon, as I couldn't get me head round spending the extra to save four ounces, but I may be tempted one day:). Also I felt a bit more confident with silnylon for very strong winds – this may or may not be true in practice..

[Julian Thomas]

I'm about to order a duomid – what is tempting me with the cuben is the lack of sagging more than the weight. How good is silnylon sag problem?

[Elizabeth Camp]

I thought that the fix for the stretching problem would be just to retension the guylines (or to get some of those bungee cord tensioners that I've read about in the MYOG section).

I was concerned about the "misting" that people often report with silnylon when there is a lot of rain. I don't know how sever this "misting" problem is.

I'm in the rainy Northwest, so rain is frequent.

[Andrew Richardson]

I think Ron got some new Silnylon that is supposed to make misting a thing of the past. I forgot what it was called though..

[Nathan Baker]

Its called Shield silnylon. If you Google it you can find Ron's comments about it

[David Ure]

Go to Facebook and look up Mountain Laurel Designs. Then go to the Discussion Board for a…uh…discussion on the 'new' silnylon….

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=11521&post=53686&uid=131793047725#post53686

[Joe Clement]

Facebook. Ick. I refuse to use a social network for gear info. Sorry for the interruption.

[Hendrik Morkel]

>>Facebook. Ick. I refuse to use a social network for gear info. Sorry for the interruption.<<

+1. That's what we have the BPL forum for.

[Elizabeth Camp]

MLD does have some info on the new Sheild silnylon on their website.

http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/fabric.php

Shield looks like it would address my concerns about misting. Silnylon it is!

FYI: I just called thru-hiker.com and discussed the specs on Shield. Thru-hiker will be carrying Shield for those of you MYOG folks (looks like a new bivy with a floor made of Shield will be the next project for me).

[Miguel Arboleda]

Hmm, well, I just happened to have found 12 very old, dear friends whom I would never have talked to again if it hadn't been for Facebook. It's just too difficult finding people when they live scattered all around the world. Now I talk to them daily and we're all catching up. Plus I can share talk about the outdoors with knowledgeable people who have no interest in the BPL community.

I'm also in the market for a Duomid and the question about whether to get silnylon or cuben has been very much making the decision difficult, especially when so much money is involved.

[Elizabeth Camp]

Miguel,
I emailed Ron and asked about silnylon vs. cuben in the conditions I'd be using the Duomid.

The posters above were correct. He suggested silnylon since it will be less likely to sustain any damage resulting from shoveling snow off the Duomid.

Now that it looks like the misting problem would be minimized with the new shield silnylon, it looks like silnylon would be a better option for my application.

[Joe Clement]

I think misting is way overblown.

[Justin McMinn]

"I refuse to use a social network for gear info."

BPL is a social network. We're just obsessed with gear instead of ourselves. =)

[David Ure]

"I think misting is way overblown."

I thought it didn't rain where you are….

[Joe Clement]

Good point. Well, that explains a lot. But if I did live somewhere where it rained a lot, I would think that a lot of what is called misting may be condensation knocked off by the rain, and I would expect the steeper walls of a mid to minimize that. Theoretically speaking, of course.

[David Ure]

Gotcha.

[Joe Clement]

Raining here today though, I should go throw some tents up in the yard.

[Miguel Arboleda]

I'm not sure how much testing with silnylon has been done in areas that get horrendous torrential rains like here in Japan. I've had mixed experience with it… in some shelters the rain (which came down so hard you'd get completely drenched in about 15 seconds and was so dense that you couldn't see more than ten meters in front of you) just created the fine mist everyone is speaking about, but in other shelters the rain actually burst right through in big, fat clearly visible "raindrops", not itty bits of condensation film knocked off the tarp material. It was so bad in one shelter that my wife and I had to mop up the floor all night long so as to keep our sleeping bags from getting completely soaked. Sorry, that's just not "misting". That much condensation (water literally two centimeters deep in the bathtub floor) could never cling to the under surface of the shelter canopy.

[Miguel Arboleda]

I do intend to use the Duomid in snowy winter conditions, but I will use it much more in the very heavy rains in alpine conditions here in Japan. My concern is more for complete waterproofness and a tight pitch than for whether a snow tool will damage the canopy.

[Ron Bell / MLD]

Note that we have posted our Shield Silnylon on our Fabric Mojo page too.

We are trying FaceBook as another channel to help reach out. For sure it's different from our main website and from other online blogs and magazine forums. Each has it's place.

Peace,
Ron

[Jason Elsworth]

Lots of info here http://phil-turner.net/

[Jim Colten]

Silnylon sagging would be a not much of a problem if all stake loops and the mid-panel guyout loops are used as in this photo at the above mentioned Phil Turner site.

Although I'd probably look for sticks to use in raising the angle of the guyout lines.

Still might not be enough for a LOT of snow (as in this post blizzard photo I found at Ground Truth Trekking.

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