Obnoxious MLD prices…

The market apparently support these prices with the wait times @ MLD. It's a quality product. I worked it out that a Solomid XL with inner is as much as a Hilleberg Atko once you add in poles and stakes. They seem to sell well also.

I am sure Ron has an explanation for it all.

More material? More seams? More work to produce? More time taken to produce? More waste material of the design?

Just guessing, but there are many justifiable reasons of why it could be more expensive and the market seems to support the price otherwise people wouldnt buy them.

I would guess a Supermid uses at least twice the material of a Duomid. Given how much more expensive cuben is than silnylon I'm not surprised. The Supermid is not priced that differently from the other 4-person cuben mids on the market.

Also from a seamstress/tailoring point of view consider that the "bolts" or rolls of cuben fiber may only come in certain widths, therefore the work of making larger mids is possibly more complicated due to joining more widths together, which of course is more sewing and or seam taping, thus more labor intensive.

High, yes, but still less than the slightly larger 4 person HMG Cuben mid.

This is going to be slightly off-topic, but I think the cuben fibre lovers in the hiking world had better get ready for an increase in the price of the cuben fibre. Just a feeling I have, and I could be totally wrong here, but I think that at some point CTC is going to realize they just cannot keep up with market demand and face some serious issues. We know they are already there with a number of the fabrics they are making. I have heard from a number of folks that the delivery dates on CTC orders are getting longer and longer. We have one company (CTC) making fabric from one facility that has not really increased its manufacturing facility even though the demand for the product has increased many times over the last few years. This just all leads me to wonder (a) what will become of the two or three companies that are or nearly are 100% dependant on cuben fibre, and (b) is the inability of the entire industry that uses cuben fibre to keep the product they need in-stock going to drive up the prices. ZPacks has brought in Dyneema X here recently, I have zero insider knowledge on this, but it just makes me wonder if their ability to keep some of the cuben fibre in stock a sign of the times. Suppose if HMG starts doing the same, that could be a really good indication as well. They are the two companies that are pretty much 100% dependant upon cuben fibre. Suppose if we start to see SMD/MLD and others pulling their cuben fibre products, that could mean an interesting shift in the tide of the market. This is going to be an interesting situation to watch as CTC continues to face demand and the orders getting backlogged further and further.

Using the formula for a right rectangular pyramid surface area (ignoring cat cut seams, etc) gives us:

Duomid = $62.0/m^2
Supermid = $69.2/m^2

So yes, the Duomid is a slightly better deal if you are looking to buy some cuben fabric.

Its an interesting point John on the supply/demand. I imagine they are running at capacity with their mills now and they haven't yet been able to make a leap to increasing facilities to increase production (potentially due to significant outlays on new facilities…). Was bound to happen eventually as cuben became more popular outside of the sailing world

>>This is going to be slightly off-topic, but I think the cuben fibre lovers in the hiking world had better get ready for an increase in the price of the cuben fibre.

Better hurry and get those orders in then… :)

I will say that in mid 2014 when I was drooling over a cuben Duomid, they were about $415 and now they are $440… Not a huge jump, but it is obviously slowly going up in price over time… and it's probably safe to say that it, and many other cuben shelters/products, will continue to do so with even more time… If so, that's just the way it is though… and even still, I still want one and am willing to pay the price though!

But, with this in mind, the sooner the better…

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Cuben fiber isn't immune from inflation or the laws of supply and demand. As demand goes up, more suppliers will enter the market and price will eventually go down. We ain't there yet. Keep your fingers crossed that it will become trendy amongst yuppies.

Ron knows his market. If he's got something figured out where people are willing to pay a premium to buy his supermid, then good on him. He's running a business, not a charity.

Me however, i don't have unlimited money. I have the black diamond mega light which you can buy off of Amazon for $216. I like it.. It also comes wih a heavy carbon fiber pole and a chingadera that will allow you to join two trekking poles together as the main pole.

David Olson, a member of BPL and who owns Oware, sells a 9×9 mid for $220. From what I've read here, his shelters have a reputation for quality. Search the forums and PM people who own these shelters to see how well/poorly they've worked out for them.

Zpacks and HMG choose to limit their shelters to cuben only. They could easily start selling them in silnylon.

At the moment AUD:USD is doing quite badly so I ended up paying a bit more than I'd otherwise would.

In USD terms, I was happy with the price. I wouldn't call it obnoxious, a duomid is 20z and a supermid is 29oz, so $240 jumping to $355 seems proportionate.

Seems I got lucky with stock/color, as I didn't have a wait time.

$355 is a great price for Supermid in silnylon. I may end up buying one soon in silnylon. It's the $435 IN ADDITION TO the $355 is what I can't believe. One pays about 83% more for a Duomid in cuben. However, one pays about 123% more for a Supermid in cuben.

Isn't most Cuben used for making sailboat sails?

So, even if the amount used for tents doubles, it doesn't make much difference?

You have to reach back to your high school geometry formulas. Supermid has about double the surface area.

The cuben upcharge is actually a bargin if the ratio of wholesale prices for cuben vs silnylon is the same as retail. Retail prices for cuben by the yard is quadruple silnylon.

You get what you pay for. The sewing quality for MLD products is far above the competition. I have found only perfect sewing and easy pitching. That difference would take time and attention to detail. Expensive things. There are cheaper very functional items out there that are nice, just not as nice. Each of us has our own "value" equation.

A thousand times +1 to: "You get what you pay for. The sewing quality for MLD products is far above the competition. I have found only perfect sewing and easy pitching. That difference would take time and attention to detail. Expensive things. There are cheaper very functional items out there that are nice, just not as nice. Each of us has our own 'value' equation."

And would add availability of customization by MLD, plus Ron Bell's much appreciated commitment to customer satisfaction.

That's based on personal experience dealing with MLD for years.

Also see the many positive evaluations of MLD at the "Companies (Customer Service)" section of "Reader Reviews" here at BPL.

MLD quality is top notch but no better than HMG in my opinion. I have never seen a MLD Cuben Supermid in person however. I have seen (and used)a HMG Ultamid and a MLD Supermid in Sil and seen a MLD Duomid in Cuben and Sil.

Looks like I need to order an Arc Blast sooner rather than later!