Rethinking the 1-2 person shelter

Why wouldn't you go for an MLD DuoMid?

I'm almost positive there's a trip report where someone hiking in the mountains in China was using a Trailstar. Can't find it quickly though. I think it was pitched over a snowtrench/cave.

I spent the last couple months trying to answer this same question, and I had the same requirements as you, with this being my driving concern:

– Provide the flexibility and openness of a tarp with enough rain/light snow protection

being the most important.

I'm hardly an expert, but after reading around the forums, I decided there was no compromise and just went with a Duomid for winter and I'm going to try the BPL Stealth Nano for summer(would've been a Zpacks 8×10 flat tarp otherwise).

I just couldn't figure anything that could be pitched open like a tarp in the summer would provide enough protection against blowing snow in the winter. As with the Trailstar unless you had the snow depth to dig a pit and pitch in over it. Even then, leaving an opening for exit/entry might be problematic.

I think a bivy using DWR fabric would be a problem at some point during the summer as well, when it's buggy but hot/humid.

The search for the perfect system goes on . . .

I remember that thread. There is also a thread somewhere of a person using a Trailstar and then pitching it like a DuoMid. Can't find that one either…

It was in the Photo Gallery,, not trip reports. (Thanks google site:backpackinglight) Scroll down for Trailstar pics.

I was on the same path as you… and then I was reminded of Albert Einstein's

"Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler."

I concluded that my needs were quite different in the winter and it's shoulder seasons as compared to the rest of the year.

Winter: The trailstar certainly looks like it would work, especially when combined with a bivy. Personally though, I want a bit more protection where I don't need to worry about wind direction shifting (e.g. a shaped tarp which could be completely closed up with a door, or a winter tent.) I use a double pole pyramid tarp.

Summer: Likewise, I don't know of any shelters than can do a full winter lockdown that has as much ventilation as I would like in the middle of a summer rainstorm, provides a nice bug free space, and weights <=tarptent. While a bivy + tarp can work well to avoid summer showers & bugs, I like more bug free space. Something like a DuoMid + innernet is heavier than a tarptent with less bug free space. For me, the answer is a tarptent.

–Mark

Hmmm, those winter Trailstar pics look pretty impressive. I might just have to try one out.

Trailstar thread with 'mid setup

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=25431

The perfect system?- I think it exists in the future, but for now…

ShangriLa 3 and a bivy for above tree line 3 season use.
8×10 tarp with an SMD Bugnet for below treeline summer use.

It works for me, and it's the best I can come up with.

cheers,
fred

Thanks Jeff – ye have better search skills than I.

Here you go. I am in the same boat as you.
http://www.andyhowell.info/Colin-Ibbotson/Trailstar-review.pdf

Thanks Jeff!

That review is very helpful, thanks.

Out east we don't quite need the "bomber" set up, so the trailstar should work okay for winter conditions. Then again, perhaps the snowpocalypse is a sign of things to come.

The duomid is probably the smartest option for winter, but rain+humidity+heat in the summer would render it very uncomfortable.

It would be great if someone made a lighter pentamid (a la shangri-la) that could also be pitched much higher like a tarp.

>The duomid is probably the smartest option for winter, but rain+humidity+heat
> in the summer would render it very uncomfortable.

You can pitch the duomid as high as you want with appropriate length guylines and center pole. If you are content with the size of the innernet or happy with a bug bivy then the duomid would be great. Personally, I wanted more bug free space solo, and a bit more headroom near the edges when sharing a shelter with someone else.

If I just wanted protection from flying bugs, I would have asked if Ron would do the perimeter bug netting like he does for the solomid and supermid or used my mld superfly. The duomid pitched up would have been plenty roomy for my solo taste. Being a space hog, I would rather use the supermid or the now discontinued mld superfly if I was sharing. I didn't try this because (1) I had some unpleasant encounters with some ants and wanted a sealed bottom (2) the hexamid was too sweet / light of a 3 season solo shelter to pass on.

My shelter solution is hexamid for 3 season solo trips, and a mld superfly (think lighter weight shangri-la 2 that has the same footprint as the duomid but more headroom with perimeter bug netting) for 2 people 3season, and for winter trips. I don't mind the lack of fully sealed bottom on the superfly because when I am sharing a shelter it tends to be more establish campsites which tend to have hard packed ground without active ant hills, etc.

–Mark