Joe Valesko of Zpack’s new 9oz tent

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Thanks Anna. Looking forward to it.

"he is building me a custom removeable inner bug shelter."

This is definitely the way to go. I answered in another thread, I think, that while you could make the MLD bug bivy work, it would be much less than optimal since the only tieoff point 'inside' the Hexamid is not centered overhead, but rather toward the front a bit. And it's somewhat centered on the mid, instead of at one end or the other, which is where you'd want the MLD bivy to hang from. I also felt the slope of the sides would be less than optimal, as the MLD bug bivy is really made for a continuous height (or nearly so) shelter instead of one that angles downward from the center. FWIW.

I'm also very much interested in a removable bug shelter. Hopefully that doesn't add much more weight or bulk.

We had a BPLer's Trip to Point Reyes and Mark Verber brought his Hexamid.

Last night, I posted about 5 or 6 photos of the shelter from all angles.

Think that I have a few more that I can throw up when I get home.

See the photo gallery, top thread.

-Tony

I noticed that Joe updated his website for the hexamid. Now it's going to come with a single zipper running along the top of the door instead of the three that meet at the top, and the seams are not going to be taped. Instead he is sending a tube of Seam Grip so buyers can do it themselves. He also says the seams are all double stitched, which I found surprising for the cuben version.

I just figured out what I am going to do with Joe's Hex Tarp.

Wedding Veil material is just about 0.2 oz/sqyd, comes in every color in the book and is cheap.

I am going to use this for the netting. I have done this before. As long as you sew a double overed strip of cuben around the edges and only attach it with bungees on the corners and small pieces of velrco everywhere else, it works great.
You also have to have some excess around the sides for flex in case it's kicked. Might only add 2 ounces to the tarps weight, (floorless). It is very effective in keeping the bugs out though.

I'll just use a polycyro and 1/8" pad for the floor.

I think Dondo simply used binder clips with his golite poncho?

Bummer on the taped seams. Isn't it true that the tape strengthens the seams … which is particularly important for Cuben?

I hike in exposed, windy terrain where it rains a lot. The Hexamid isn't really meant for these condition, so why can't i stop looking at it and drooling? :)

I wish there was a way of pitching it 'down to ground' when needed.

> Wedding Veil material is just about 0.2 oz/sqyd, comes in every color in the book and is cheap.

And a LOT more fragile than no-see-um mesh too!
But at that price, maybe it can be replaced regularly.

Cheers

I agree. Wedding veil material is not good for mosquito net purposes.

–B.G.–

And likely useless against noseeum's!

Previous posters are correct: wedding veil material is much, much weaker than noseeum netting. There are, however, many different kinds of it, some of which are much stronger than others. The holes are too big to prevent noseeum entry, but that shouldn't be a problem depending on where you are. The stuff is perfect for a mosquito headnet, which is the least likely thing to get snagged.

I made a cheap net-tent (with a nylon floor) out of the stuff for my family, and it survived 2 weeks of camping without any holes. As long as you're counting on mending, I see no theoretical problem with the proposition. Personally, though, I'd be wary of marrying such a fragile material with a more robust one; for no increase in time, only a little in materials, and a little in weight, you'll get a much more durable end result.

You'd be better off, all things considered, with "funeral" veil material, however, as black is much easier to see through than white.

Andrew, you win the prize for the most puns in a single post for the month so far! Not to mention the potential for allegory.

I too am interested in this material and it may be worthy of another thread, or perhaps two – one being in Chaff : )

Is the black mesh you are referring to Burka veil material? I haven't seen any here locally yet, perhaps more it is more readily available in Europe.

What mosquitoes?

I like the one on the left

Here's a link to a fellow that used polyester chiffon (wedding veil) material for a bug net for his hammock:
http://www.imrisk.com/hammock/ultraquarterweight.htm

There is silk chiffon and gauze available that might work for bug netting:
http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/5175470-AA.shtml?lnav=fabric_silk.html
This is 3mm (I think about 0.72 oz/(sq yd) ), probably not strong.

I think it was just ordinary "chiffon" material, as proposed by previous posters. I just tested it in the shop by seeing how easily it tore. In large panels, it's quite stretchy, and actually less likely to rip, I think.

does anyone have a link to said youtube video of the setup?

mike

do you mean this video??

thank you sir.

Hey y'all-

I am excited about this tent!

I am trying to figure out if I should drool over the solo or the twin version. One thing I'm curious about is the difference in the force exerted on tarps/tents depending on surface area. For example, if you took the same tarp design and simply doubled the specs, I would assume that the overall force exerted on the side of the larger one would be larger due to the larger surface area exposed to the wind. I would then assume that you would have to incorporate more strategically placed guy lines to compensate for this and reduce the force on any one spot (I think Dr. RJ talked about this in his advanced tarp camping article way back when). So one concern I have about the Twin version is that, at the moment, the side opposite the entrance looks to me like it would take a lot of abuse in a strong wind.

Thoughts?

All my best,

Jed

"I like the one on the left"

Ankles a bit too thick for me.

Jed, I had the same impression when I looked at the pics of the twin prototype–I am wondering if it won't be poorer at shedding wind and snow than the solo version because the sides are definitely not as steep.

I've decided to reserve judgment until these tents have been in use for a year or so. I really like my Gossamer Gear/Tarptent Squall Classic for my dog and me. I can't afford to keep buying $300+ tents just to save another 11-12 ounces! I'm also concerned about my dog's claws vs. the netting floor.