Should I Buy A Hexamid Solo?

[jscott]

I had the exact same misting experience in my solo during a night of very heavy rain. Turned out o.k. but it was a bit disconcerting since I wasn't used to this sort of thing. Luckily the winds were mild where we camped during this storm, but the whole experience got me wondering about this tent. A bit higher up the winds were pretty bad. a tent failure in those conditions would have been disastrous; it was snowing 5oo feet higher from out camp.

Again, time will tell.

[Ian]

"I had the exact same misting experience in my solo during a night of very heavy rain. Turned out o.k. but it was a bit disconcerting since I wasn't used to this sort of thing. Luckily the winds were mild where we camped during this storm, but the whole experience got me wondering about this tent. A bit higher up the winds were pretty bad. a tent failure in those conditions would have been disastrous; it was snowing 5oo feet higher from out camp."

As far as the misting experience goes, at the time it was happening, my reaction was "Hmmm… not too crazy about this." Upon reflection, it really wasn't that big of a deal for me or my daughter and I think it was a fair compromise for the benefit of carrying a complete shelter that weighs in a bit over a pound. Spoke with a gentleman that day who was using a BD single wall tent who had the same problem. A lady who was camping near me was in the two person Fly Creek and she said that condensation wasn't a problem for her.

Again, it's all a matter of personal preference but I'd rather deal with the condensation than carry a heavier shelter. This was a rare occurrence and the majority of the time, condensation isn't a problem for me.

Since I have the tent version with mosquito netting, I wouldn't take it on a trip with snow in the forecast personally and bring my mid. I'm all for simplifying my kit but there are times when it's nice to have a few options in your quiver of shelters.

[Ralph Wood]

so much that I'm getting a Solo without the screen paired with an ultralight bivy for ultimate in shelter lightness. My solo plus has been through ferocious winds on the coast in the Channel Islands (direct exposure 40-45+ mph) with no problem. Also went through an extremely nasty hail/thunderstorm in the North Cascades on a PCT section hike last year.

This summer I'm going to do some High Sierra backpacking and will mostly "cowboy camp" in my bivy, but will be happy to carry the 7oz of Hexamid just in case things take a turn for the worse.

I did a ton of research and for the size shelter you get (full coverage in a storm) nothing really compares. With my bivy, total shelter weight will be right around 12.5oz.

That's pretty hard to beat!

[Author]

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