First trip with Duomid

Thanks for the pics. The Duomid looks great. Seems like it might make a better 1 person than 2 person tent though?

Hi,

Congratulations on a great combination of gear. I currently have the SMD net for my Golite ShangriLa 3 and set up in much the same way.
I'm saving for the Duomid in Cuben, for a saving of 13 oz on the SL3- one day…

You could use some lighter 1 gram stakes for the net.

cheers, and thanks for the pics,
fred

I believe the Duomid might be the best year-round shelter out there. Must resist.

@Ashley – I have a DuoMid and have slept with another adult (6'2") in the tent and it was fine. We even had room for both of our packs in the tent (which was tight but it was snowing outside). I'm not saying there is tons of extra space but it works fine.

Hey Ryan, I use the same "rock" technique with my Duomid.

@Matt…you're probably right…I love my Duomid.. hehe

I disagree with the above. With the pole in the center I found it cramped for two with my head and feet too close to the walls for comfort. That was with a fairly ventilated pitch and I'm only 5'8".

Chris – I'm glad you commented as I don't want to give the impression that it's spacious for two, but as I said above, it's "fine" and it "works".

If I were going to be spending weeks on end with another adult (e.g. thru hike) I'd use a larger shelter. However, I personally would be fine using it for up to ~5 or so nights (and plan to do so). I'm 5'8" as well, and the guy I most often hike with is ~6'2". It it a bit tight for him? Well yes, but it still works. Of note, when we last camped in the shelter we had the four corners pegged directly the ground due the near horizontal snow.

Having said this, I still believe that this is the most versatile shelter on the market and completely rocks for either solo use or travels with an adult and child or dog. I'm particularly excited that Ron Bell has hinted that he'll be offering an inner body made completely of breathable fabric (not mesh) – which extends the shelter's use into the hard winter.

I agree it's a great shelter and in most climates I wouldn't mind being so snug in it. With our high humidity in the SE though that can lead to problems.

Thanks for the comments guys. I'm fairly tall so I would probably prefer something bigger for two, unless I was on a short trip (overnighter etc)

You know, if the Doumid is too short for you, and Oware Alphamid is only 3 ounces heavier.

Gotta do what you gotta do.

Hello all,

I understand the concern about the size. I thought a lot about this before I laid down the cash. I tried to take some photo's to give people an idea of the size and layout.

The inner net dimensions are…

84" long and 31" wide at head tapering to 22" at the foot.

With pole shifted toward the door the net is taking up a little more than half the floor area. You can see there is quite a bit of unused space against the back wall.

This shelter could definitely be pitched higher while still offering more protection than a tarp. At 6'2" I am used to feeling cramped in most any tent so this is better in many respects. I need to set up the shelter to do the seam sealing and will try rigging up the mid wall tie outs to see if that will pull the walls out away from my feet and head. More pics to follow.

Ryan,

Midwall tie-outs DEFINITELY help the Serenity in my Gatewood. Let us know how it works for you.

(I'm nearly 6'2" as well)

Todd

I have been out with my DuoMid three times now. Once with a rather basic bug bivy and last two with the new Duo Inner Net. This last time was in some pretty humid weather here in East TN.

Overall, I love it. I was worried about condensation in this part of the country but find that a high enough pitch plus leaving a door open if the weather is calm works well. Obviously in the winter humidity will be a non-issue.

One solution I have discovered to the problem of the pole being in the way for two person use is to use two poles with 12" pole jacks in an inverted V-shape (got this idea from Ron at MLD). This eliminates the pole in the middle and may even support the front and back walls better. The pole jacks add about 2oz to the total weight, but with the solo inner net that's still less than 30oz for the shelter, inner net, stakes, guys, and pole jacks. I made my pole jacks using some tubing from old curtain rods.

I do love the shelter, but after using it with a hiking buddy, I just don't see myself using it for two with he inner net unless it is for me and my wife or 4 year old. For two 5'10" guys, it was a bit too cramped in the inner net. I'd rather bring my Seedhouse SL3…sharing the weight of it is only 2lbs per person and a ton more room for gear. Maybe for winter where the inner net is not used (giving more room) and the storm stability of the Duomid is more important I would use the inverted-v pole setup and use it for two.

I have the solo inner net on order and I think I'll be using it a lot more. It will definitely be my year-round solo shelter.

Could you post a picture of you sitting inside it? I'm curious to the amount of space available when using it as a solo shelter. I have an Akto and a Zoid 2, and even though I think they're both nice, I miss more vertical space for sitting up to read etc.

Hi Thomas,

I'll add your pic request to the list. I'll set up the tent sometime in the next week to seam seal it and set up the tripod and camera to take a few pics with me inside.

I'm going to try to rig up some line inside to attach the pullouts on the inner net. I'll also want to try using the mid wall tie outs on the outside of the duomid to see how that affects the interior space. Maybe I can get some tubing to create a couple pole jacks and try some different pitches. I need the practice before my JMT hike in August.

Thanks for all the comments guys. This is my first ultralight shelter so I am pretty excited.