2 Person Cuben (CTF3) Pyramid + Inner First Impression + Pics

[[ Drew ]]

At the beginning of April I placed an order with Locus Gear for their new Khufu Hapi 2 person 'mid, the inner mesh tent, and the dual pole tip extender (DPTE) aka A frame adapter. Originally I asked them to make me a larger custom version of the normal Khufu, but Yuki explained they were about to release the new Hapi (happy) version, made specifically for two people. 6 weeks later it was at my front door.

I had only heard great things about LG's craftsmanship and attention to detail, and they did not disappoint. Everything is essentially faultless from a manufacturing perspective.

I opted for the Hapi CTF3, which is a ~.74oz/sqyd cuben, in white with a red aquiguard zipper. There is one vent with a flexible plastic 'straw' to keep it open. I originally asked for two vents, but this vent is actually much larger than the normal Khufu.

Cuben outer: 10.9oz in cuben stuff sack, on my scale
Mesh/sil inner: 15.45oz in sil stuff sack, on my scale
DPTE: 2.45oz for the carbon poles and trekking pole pockets

My wife (5'9"-10") for scale:

My second time pitching it outside. Note the several spots for guylines – you can really batten this down. LG includes several feet of two different guylines.

Rear right of the Hapi. It's pitched around 52" tall and a couple inches off the ground around the edges:

Left door clips open. Both or just one door can be staked to the ground as well. Aquaguard dual zipper is standard; chocolate Lab is not…:

Both doors clipped open. The inner mesh has a silnylon floor. I chose the aspen green color. There are two other materials/deniers to choose from; this one was the lightest and is quite slippery. The inner clips to the top of the outer or to the top of the DPTE via a D ring. Both the outer and inner can be pitched together or separately:

My wife sitting inside for scale. There is ample headroom and the A-frame makes a lot of sense with a 'mid. There is a 2×2" reinforced panel sewn onto the middle of the inner floor if you choose to pitch it with a center pole, though.

A closer shot to show the size. The floor is spec'd at 63" wide and 94.5" long. The corner tie-outs for the inner can be staked to the same stakes as the outer and all tie-outs have linelocs for tension.

Me sitting up tall inside to show height. I am 6'0" standing up. Note the two way rainbow zipper for the mesh inner:

The bathtub floor is a good 4-5" tall, but set at the same angle as the mesh rather than being completely vertical with mini struts at each corner. With my 25" wide sleeping pad and my wife's 20" wide pad, there is adequate space on each side of us and by our feet for gear and packs.

My arms can almost spread out completely if I lay near the middle of the floor. My next step is to actually get up into the Sierras this weekend and make real use of it, weather permitting.

[Ito Jakuchu]

Very nice to see the pictures. I sold my Locus Khufu here on gear swap, but certainly not for lack of quality. Impeccably made gear.

[Robert Alexander]

I'm on the cusp of buying a Khafra and this is all I need to hear to solidify my decision. Great pics. Please, what type of innernet floor did you settle on, if I might pry?

[Robert Alexander]

Also, what # zipper is the Aquaguard zipper please? Forgive me if they only come in one size-I simply don't know.

[[ Drew ]]

Robert, it's a #3 Aquaguard zipper. They may or may not substitute that for a #5, but it wasn't a concern for me so I didn't ask about it.

I chose the 30D silnylon floor since it is the lightest option and has good water resistance/proofness. They also have PU Taffeta for about 3oz more or PU ripstop for about 5.5oz more.

I recall someone doing a comparison of the 3 floor materials, but since I used a groundsheet (polycro) the lightest option would be fine for me.

I would imagine that you could also get a CTF3 floor for the inner, but I backpack and camp on or near granite and didn't want any durability issues.

I'd love to see a CTF3 Khafra!

[[ Drew ]]

Also wanted to add:

The Cuben for this shelter is a lot quieter than I anticipated. I've watched a few videos of zPacks and other manufacturer's cuben shelters and they sound very loud and crackle-y, a lot like a TAR Neoair Xlite. Someone mentioned that their shelter was very loud in the rain because of this.

Whatever cuben Locus Gear uses, it's much much quieter. After pitching the Hapi, I tapped on the shelter in different spots to simulate rain and it didn't sound any louder than my silnylon shelter.

Anyone have insight on this?

[Robert Alexander]

Sorry, I never said thanks for the replies! I don't know anything about the noise or lack thereof but will be staying tuned for a field report. Again, bravo on the initial report and pics. I hope to be placing an order for a cuben Khafra next month.

[[ Drew ]]

Here's some pictures from our first trip with the Hapi. I'll add some more thoughts tomorrow.

[DGoggins]

I use a smart phone as a camera and use a hair scrunchie/rubber bad thing to attach it, but was is that?

(nice trip pics though!)

[[ Drew ]]

Hey thanks. That's actually a product that a few of us are testing for another forum member. It connects to the tripod mount point and then snaps to a trekking pole. So far it's pretty sweet.

[David Blinn]

Cool pictures, the more I look into this shelter the more appealing it becomes. Did you find that with both of you inside the net tent there was enough room for each of you to sit up comfortably? Looks like there was plenty of space for both of you to sleep, but headroom seems to be a limiting factor in many two person mids — it's what kept my girlfriend and me from keeping our Duomid.

[[ Drew ]]

Headroom for us (I'm 6', she's 5'9") was good. We didn't spend much time in the mid besides sleeping since the weather was good. If it was storming and we had to stay inside the shelter during the day, I think two people would still have plenty of headroom. If one of us sat near the door and the other at the back of the shelter, you could face each other fully upright and play cards, talk, etc. without issue.

The reason for this is that the shelter can be pitched around 50-53" tall, there's no center pole to get in the way, and it's around 63" x 95" of floor space, as opposed to much, much less floor space in a duomid inner. This shelter is between a duomid and an HMG Ultamid 2 as far as size and space – but even with the Ultamid you're stuck with that center pole. We liked the A-frame/DPTE because it allows you to sleep next to each other where there is the most headroom and have everything else along the sides.

We found that both of us could sit up and adjust our quilts at the same time without touching the net, but I wouldn't say that there was a ton of [wasted] spaced beyond that. We stowed our gear and backpacks along the edge of the inner mesh where it's too low to have your head. Also, there is ample room between the outer and inner near the door to put shoes so you don't track mud and rocks in.

[Mark]

Drew,

Best pics i've seen on the net for the Hapi, thanks for taking the time.

Couple of quick questions please

1/ With 2 of you camping where do you put your rucksacks, is there enough vestibule space for 2 rucksacks?

2/ How far does the inner stick out past the top of the door?
My concern is the inner and the sleeping bags getting wet if the door is opened when it's raining hard

[[ Drew ]]

Mark,

1: There isn't much vestibule space on this shelter as it is a pyramid. However, if you pull the inner towards the back of the outer, you have plenty of space for shoes and smaller gear at the front of the tent between the outer and inner – what you'd call a vestibule. I have a 25" wide pad and my wife's is 20", and we still have space for our packs along the edge of the inner inside the tent. Using guylines you can pull any of the 4 walls out (of the other) and create a sizeable gap/vestibule. Next trip, I'll probably pull the sides out and put my pack underneath, near the inverted V poles' base.

2. Again, this is a pyramid shelter, so the outer pulls out perhaps 6-10" past the inner. IMO, getting wet while opening a door in the rain is really a non-issue if you use your brain. If it's raining quite hard, I'd actually try to not get in or out of the tent until it subsided a little, regardless of shelter. Even if your interior doesn't get wet, your shoes and clothes are going to get wet, even if you're using raingear (the outside will have water all over it). I'd rather keep everything dry. Now, if I HAD to get out of the tent for an emergency bathroom break, I'd just open one door and close it immediately after exiting.

Secondly, if it was raining super hard and you needed to get out, just slide your sleeping bags away from the door toward the middle of the tent. If any water made it through the mesh and onto the tent floor, you can wipe it up with our pack towel and then get back into your sleeping bag – problem solved!

More importantly, I think you're going to track in more water from your person than you would having it come through the open doors if you're smart about it.

Again, this is all my opinion and I'm sure others will have a different philosophy. It just seems to me that it's always brought up as a deal-breaker if a certain tent (pyramid or otherwise) doesn't have a covered door opening. I don't live it the PNW – it's never been an issue with me.

Here's some more pics from our 5 day Sierra trip a couple weeks ago! Thanks for the compliments.

[Mark]

Much appreciated Drew thank you, great pics as per usual as well

[[ Drew ]]

Mark, here are a few photos to try to visually answer your questions:

Hapi Pitch

Space between outer and inner fly at front of tent (note tie outs)

Normal pitch would give this amount of space between outer and inner on the side of the tent

Using the side tie outs, you can increase the space quite a bit to where a pack would fit here

Bad picture, but I was trying to show that you can fit shoes or other small items at the front.

[Mark]

Drew that's absolutely fantastic, exactly what u was looking for.

Thanks again

[Joe F]

i am deciding between several options for mids and have found your posts to be very helpful. seriously leaning towards the hapi due to the A frame option since we share a double bag for weight savings and the pole in other mids gets in the way.
thanks!

[Author]

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