MLD Duomid

[Ron Jameson]

Is the Duomid long enough for someone who i 6'5" tall?

Thanks Ron

[John Haley]

Yes, particularly if you're solo in it since you can then sleep on a diagonal.

[David Ure]

John – you can still sleep diagonal with the pole in the middle?

[John Haley]

>John – you can still sleep diagonal with the pole in the middle?

I usually offset the pole just over a foot, which I can just barely manage with the GG LT4's without an extension. It's just enough to leave me room for a diagonal… not quite corner to corner, but a diagonal none the less.

[David Ure]

Thanks!

[Harlan Bruce]

While the DuoMid comes with an extension, I made my own a little longer – 8 inches IIRC – and moved the small plastic cap from the provided extender to my new one. I ordered some aluminum tubing and cut it to length with a plumber's tubing cutter and cleaned up all the edges with a chainsaw (small round) file. This gives me more options as I can set my pole length to either batten down or raise the sides for full ventilation.

Do make certain that you remove all the roughness from the tube so that no damage is done to fabric. I just store mine with stakes in the provided DuoMid stuff sack.

This setup allows me to offset the pole a good bit, I prefer mine to be offset towrds the door, put all equipment inside near the door as it is easier to get at from outside, and sleep slightly diagonally across the rear. Tons o' room inside; one of the main reasons I bought this thing.

[Steven Evans]

Harlan's idea is no doubt the way to go for long term reliability, but on my Coastal Trail hike earlier this year, I ended up just putting a rock under my pole each night to give it some extra height. This allowed me to move the pole towards the door quite a bit. I'd say over a foot. You would be surprised at how much of an angle you can put on the pole once the mid is staked out.
Here is a picture of the setup, and yes my tent is an absolute disaster but I wasn't expecting company. ;)

The rock is covered by my pack, but if you look closely you can make out the tip of the trekking pole which is obviously raised quite a bit from the ground…because of the rock. The technique worked quite well. You can make out the angle of the pole aswell.

I'm not 6'5" but just shy by 2 inches. I'm 6'3" and fit rather nicely.

[Patrick Caulder]

I know this is way off topic, but I am loving those nightlight flip flops. (Atleast that's what I think they are)

[Ron Jameson]

Thanks for the reply. I believe I'm going to get one.

Ron

[Steven Evans]

Patrick: Good catch. I actually made those on the trail one evening after soaking my feet. Lightest flip flops around!

Ron: you'll be good. However, I find that if pitched right to the ground, I do have some clearance issues when lying straight. Nothing major, but don't expect there to be any additional space above your head or below your feet. This obviously will become less of an issue the higher the pitch.

Let us know how it works out for you.

[Sanad Toukhly]

I have a questions for all you Duomid users… Is a bivy necessary with these shelters? Also, are you able to pitch it tight enough to the ground so that bugs aren't a problem?

-Sid

PS- sorry for hijacking the thread but I figured it concerns the Duomid so it's not too off topic :)

[Steven Evans]

Hi Sid,
A bivy is not required with the Duomid. It is very much full coverage, however, there has been one time where I was in a substantial rain storm and the drops would hit the floor beside the Duomid and splash under the edge onto my bag. Nothing that a decent bag couldn't handle but worth mentioning in case you camp in torrential rain on a regular basis. I would think that almost no one uses a bivy in the Duomid but others can chime in if they disagree.

I haven't used mine during bug season, but I find it tough to get a pitch right to the ground all the way around. Even if I put the pegs right through the loops on the corners, the front and back have a small gap in order to get the pitch tight. I think if you are dealing with a moderate amount of bugs, you may want to select a different shelter, ask Ron to add a bug net around the perimeter of the Duomid, or bring additional bug protection for inside the Mid.

HTH

[Diplomatic Mike]

Depends on what you need the bivvy for. Water or bug protection? I need protection from both, depending on time of year. I'm waiting on the inner nest arriving. I need some form of protection on saturated ground from flood water, so at the moment i use a MLD bug-bivvy on top of polycro. I use boulders to create a 'bathtub' with the polycro.
If it was outwith bug season (lower temps), i would use a Ti-Goat bivvy (i use a quilt) and the polycro.

[Jonathon Rogers]

I will echo what others have said, for bug season, you will need some type of protection. I have been using a bug bivy with an integrated floor with mine, but am awaiting the inner nest from MLD which will let me stretch out a bit. While storm protection is great with it pitched tight to the ground, bugs and flowing water of course can still get in pretty easily.

[Barnett Childress]

Just got my cuben DuoMid from Ron & got a chance to pitch it today for the first time. I bought the DuoMid for a light weight winter Solo Shelter. Setup was easy as pie!

Per Ron's advice I used 2' lengths of guyline at the corners & 6' lengths at the mid points to start. I set my GG LT4 trekking pole for 54-55" & this gave me a nice open pitch with the stakes set out a bit. Once I settle on the guyline lengths I'll be switching to BPL Aircore Pro/Mini lineloc setup. I did this with my Cuben Grace Solo tarp. It's strong, works great, very light & I get to keep the convenience of lineloc's.

Thanks to all for the setup tips.
Barnett

Here's some pics.

[Andy Howell]

IN the UK where we have bugs and a lot of rain a bivy is a good idea. I use a Soul Bivy which I really rate. In dry weather in summer I might use a groundsheet but for most of the time here I use the Soul —sometimes justas a groundsheet if it is warm.

[Jonathon Rogers]

Here are some pics showing how the inverted-v trekking pole setup with a z-rest (and 4 year old) in it for scale. A LOT of room with this setup.

[Barnett Childress]

Jonathan,
What length did you set the poles at for the V setup? Looks nice lots of room.

[Jonathon Rogers]

That was the poles set to 135cm (max for my older BD poles) plus 12" pole jacks (165cm total).

[Christopher Kayler]

Hi Jonathon,

Where did you get the two 12'' pole jacks?

[Jonathon Rogers]

Ron at MLD will custom make you some 12" ones for $20 or so. I made mine from some aluminum tubing I had around (actually from some old curtain rods) and the ends are rubber stops used for the ends of chair legs to prevent scratching the floor (got 'em at Lowe's). My pole jacks are about 1oz each…Ron's may be a bit less-not sure.

[Christopher Kayler]

Thanks for the reply Jonathon. Do the trekking poles need to be used with baskets in order to stop the tube from sliding further up the pole?

[Aaron Bradshaw]

I've always used double-walled tents as I tend to be in buggy areas. The Duomid really appeals to me, especially in the set up Jonathon demonstrates. In the inverted double-pole config, would you be able to sue the double or single inner?

Aaron

[Jonathon Rogers]

-Do the trekking poles need to be used with baskets in -order to stop the tube from sliding further up the pole?

No, I have not found this to be the case…as long as you have the right diameter of aluminum, the pole jacks just fit right up against the end of the tip and would fit even without the baskets in place.

-In the inverted double-pole config, would you be able to -use the double or single inner?

Yes, I have the Duo Inner Net and used it with the setup shown in the pictures. You can either clip the shock cord top of the net to the gear hang clip at the peak of the Duomid or wrap it around the trekking poles…either way worked for me. My solo inner net is on order so I haven't tried it, but I see no reason it wouldn't work the same way.

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