Hex 3: for 3 or not?

[Brian James]

I’m working on finding a GoLite Hex 3 in Canada for 4-season use with my girlfriend and her friend.

But it suddenly occurs to me that unless I hang it from a tree, I’m not really going to be able to sleep three people in there unless the middle person has a hole through his stomach (or worse) to accomodate the center pole. Right?

Could Hex3 users comment? Maybe it can be pitched with a bipod/tripod of trekking poles in order to allow someone to lie in the middle? Can three people sleep around the outside; head-to-foot in a circle?

I’m not afraid to hang it from a tree, but as I understand it the Nest is not compatible with this pitching method. Can this be remedied?

Thanks!!
Brian

[Brian James]

PS thanks for indulging me; it is SO hard to buy gear when you have to import it — and thus have no option to see it first!

Brian

[Jeff Jackson]

I’ve only used some else’s Hex 3 one time so I don’t have a lot of experience with it, but based on that I would agree with what you said. There was plenty of room for two of us with the center pole, but it would have been a pretty tight fit for three. Plenty of room for 3, with room along the edges for some gear, if the center pole were removed. I wouldn’t want to fit three people around the edges unless they were short.

The biggest shortfall I see with the Hex as a winter shelter is the lack of vestible. If it’s windy, you’ll be cooking inside your shelter (mucho condensation) or digging a snow kitchen.

I was very impressed with its performance in high winds, though – it’s a great shelter given its weight.

[Mark Verber]

You are mostlt correct, that if you use a traditional pole, the middle person will have a pole right in the middle of their sleeping area, unless an edge person and middle person are sleeping to gether spoon style.

I would expect tripod style would work. I have a 1970s Sierra Designs tent which was a tripod of poles with a hex fly which worked great. I was going to try the tripod approach (since all three of us uses poles). It had a small metal disk with three holes for the poles set at the correct angle. Very easy to use.

I didn’t get to the metal shop in time for the first trip so we jury-rigged a pole which gently curved using a combination of two poles, some velcro to hold them together, and the pole extended provided by golite. This allowed the bottom of the pole to hit the ground between the 2md and 3rd person rather than in the middle of the 2nd. This wouldn’t be as strong as a strait pole, but it worked fine in 40mph winds.

–Mark

[Rick Dreher]

I’ve got the slightly smaller Hex 2, but even with more room I’m not sure I’d want three fullsize adults inside, presuming a pole-less pitch. It’s pretty easy to get wet brushing against the walls when it’s humid, so I like to sleep away from them. I suspect this would be pretty difficult with three. That said, for two it’s been a great shelter.

You might also look at square footprint teepees to accommodate three sleepers, such as the BD Megalite.

[John Chan]

I’ve pitched a Hex 3 between 2 trees with accessory cord, 1 mini-biner, and a clove hitch. Its a little tricky to tension the canopy as you have to continuously adjust the clove hitch so the tension is parallel to the ground. The other problem is lightweight accessory cord isn’t static (it has some stretch to it) and I found myself getting up in the middle of the night to re-tension the single “guyline”. It takes an incredible amount of tension to get the Hex 3 perfectly taut using this method.

If I were to do it again this is what I’d change.

1. Get a slightly heavier cord with better static properties. Perhaps the heaviest ultralight dyneema would work good.

2. Abandon the clove hitch in the middle for a short prussik (2 wrap) around the static line which slides freely with no tension but cinchs tight AND dead center on its own when the line is tensioned. Keep the mini-biner (although I’m sure you could tension with over 300 lbs of force using this method).

3. Carry 2 ultralight long slings (120 cm, Onsight makes them out of dyneema and sells them @ MEC), and 2 wiregate biners. This will allow you to pitch the tarp like a Hennessy hammock, easily adjust the height of the pitch points, save the trees, and re-direct the tension to the ground (maybe 2 beefy Y stakes). Learn how to tie a bowline on a bight and you have 2 bomber loops for 2 Y stakes per side. This arrangement should be sufficient for most ground types you encounter.

The big bonus of this system is that you have a clothsline for drying your bags and insulation in the morning (even your Hex 3 to rid of condensation).

Good system, just needs the bugs worked out so its more user friendly.

Can’t say anything about the bugnet though, I would just invest $15 and get a headnet @ MEC. I can’t see insect pressure inside the HEX getting THAT bad!

[Brian James]

Thank you Mark, Rick, and Jeff.

I originally went with the Hex 3 because my companions are ladies who like the dry/warm/safe feeling of climbing into a tent. The ability to add the Nest inner shelter is the primary selling point, making it a “transformer” shelter from 4-season lightweight bomber tarp for me and my buddies to summer-season warm-and-dry cocoon for those who have more well-honed domestic sensibilities than I.

The thing about the BD MegaLite is the amount of space it needs for a pitch. That kind of real estate is hard to come by in the rainforests (mudforests?) of southwestern BC. Plus it’s darn heavy!

It’s really too bad that Oware doesn’t make a bathtub-floor-with-netting inner for their pyramids; that would be the cat’s meow. Especially if they decided to produce the “Arctic 1000” cuben mid.

But now I’m dreaming.

[Sunny Waller]

I was very disappointed when I bought my hex and discovered you had to use the center pole when using the nest. The tent could be modified to add a thru strap that allows you to tie off the nest to the tent body. Golite will not do this but they will refer you to people who do. I have not done this because I do not want the water proof stiching reworked at the very top of the tent and I do not think the netting could be pulled up tight enough for 3 people to fit in there.

[Rod Lawlor]

Brian, I’ve used my BD mid with three guys sleeping in there. We just set it up about 40% of the way across the floor space, and set it up on a lean. Worked great, never looked like coming down. Easier with an adjustable pole tho.

Pitching off a strung line should work better if the line comes down from two high ends. (Ideally at less than 60 degrees between them, ala a belay set up, but this would require two high close anchors) This should alleviate a lot of stretch problems.

Rod

[Eu Jin Goh]

I’ve used my Hex for the past year in winter and also in Patagonia as a 3 person shelter. The three people are 5′ 10″, 5′ 4″ and 5′ 6″ and we fit in the hex by arranging ourselves into a equilateral triangle around the center pole. The center area then becomes a storage area for our gear and also the cooking area when it’s windy. Cooking in the center results in the water vapour rising up straight to the vents and the result is better than cooking near the lower walls. My sleeping bag hasn’t gotten wet yet from such an arrangement.

[Sunny Waller]

Duh…now why didn’t I think of that..I will have to try that next time I take the hex out. I must say it is a wonderful tent.

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