Duomid Setup

Bob,

I have a Duomid, and I’m 6’0″. I don’t have any problems with condensation, but my quilt does get close to the walls sometimes, but most of the time I use either a Titanium Goat Bivy, or a Zpacks/MYOG cuben bivy, along with a polycryo groundsheet from Gossamer Gear.

Regarding setup, I stake the 4 corners directly to the ground using no guylines, and a GG LT4 pole in the center. It takes maybe 1 minute at most for this setup. Much faster than any other tent/tarp that I’ve ever used. If you need a little more length, consider adding a couple feet of guyline on each corner so that you can raise it up a little higher, giving you more room for a longer bag. The setup with guylines will take a little longer, but with practice, you should be able to get it up in under 3 minutes.

Ben, Thanks for the info. That helps!

I just purchased a Solomid. I am 6' and the length is just OK for me. I used a polycro sheet to keep the weight down to 15 ounces. The first setup using two LT4 poles took a couple of minutes and much longer to seam seal. It handles wind very well. MLD can add bug netting to the bottom edge but that adds 3 ounces. I use a Tarptent Sublite in bug season. IMHO adding a inner net or bivy to a mid gets to close in weight to a Sublite Sil and costs more.

I am 5'10"… I found the duo mid was just right, the inner net wasn't quite long enough. 6'4" I think would work sleeping on the diagonal but it would be tighter than I would choose for myself.

I can't imagine taking 25 minutes. In most cases I had it up in under 2 minutes.

I typically use a ground cloth that is slightly wider than my pad with floorless tarps (so when my quilt hangs over it's off the group.

With good location just a ground cloth works fine. There are some places where the ground get so saturated there is standing water, or even riverlets. In those cases nothing but a bathtub floor with a high hydrostatic head material does the job. I try to avoid such locations and have been largely successful.

As to bugs… Staked directly to the ground or going with perimeter mesh can keep most flying bugs out. I have certainly done pretty well with both these approaches. Neither of the options will keep crawling bugs out. But so long as you don't select a spot on top of someone's nest, it can work most of the time. If you have a big bug concerns you will want a innernet tent or a bivy of some sort.

Mark

I have a DuoMid and use it in Appalachia. It is my first (and only) floorless shelter and I love it. It has worked well for me in very rainy and windy conditions on a ridgeline, and I really can't ask for much more for the area I've used it in.

1) I'm 6'1 and use a 6'6" bag and it is pretty snug for the bag when sleeping along the long end of the Mid. You can angle the pole a bit and gain a bit more room; but a good setup with an angled pole can be tricky. I've never tried it, but you should be able to easily support the Mid with a rope from a limb above and go without a center-pole.
2) I'm usually set up in under 5 min once I find a good location. That includes laying out my polycro groundsheet, finding a rock, and adjusting my pole height.
3) TG bivy and polycro groundsheet. The DuoMid does a fantastic job of keeping out "bouncing" rain and a groundsheet shouldn't be needed in most conditions – I just use one to keep my bivy a little cleaner. The bivy is just for the bugs; but I may one day move to a bug bivy for convenience.

I really like floorless now, and I think a mid is a great compromise from a shelter that doesn't offer full-enclosure. Your height may be a concern for the DuoMid, but I'm sure Ron can give you a better, honest answer on that.

I'm 6'3" and if you lay on a slight angle you will have plenty of room without an inner. I used my Meteor-esque bivy for bugs when needed.

Thanks again for the info. Definitely helps! Have any of you used the dual pole setup? I am intrigued and was wondering how much space it might add, but how does it effect stability?

Hope you don't mind if I tag on some more Duomid setup questions:

1. Mid-point tieouts: I'm curious if folks always use these, or if they are only used when there's a lot of wind or if you want to raise them for more ventilation. What's best–separate lines for the high and low midpoint tie-outs or one single line running between the two? Are the higher points only used in snow or heavy wind or are they necessary to prevent sag on the silnylon version? Also, do you use different, lighter, stakes for these mid points? I'm a fan of groundhog stakes, but they seem like overkill on the midpoints.

2. Pole jack: Do you recommend the pole extension (with trekking poles) or just use a rock or log? Other ideas?

3. Does rain generally come in through the top vent? Or is that only an issue with spindrift? Am I pretty much safe just always leaving it open?

Any other tricks or tips?

Brain,

If you do a google search, especial of the blogosphere, you will find quite a lot of set up advice. I found this useful. I use the pole extender all the time as my adjustable poles seem a bit short. Getting the pole height right is crucial to a decent pitch in my experience. I also used a rock under the pole extender recently, so I could angle the pole outwards to give more interior space.

I haven't used it in any rain yet. In fact on my last trip I had both the doors fully open all night. This gives a nice open set up and great views of the stars.

I use the mid point tie outs most of the time and use lighter pegs with them . I also use separate guylines on the low and high mid point tie outs. It is imporant not to tension them too highly.

In terms of pitching speed I find it useful to be able to identify the four corner peg out points quickly (I have the lines shortened, but you could use a different colour line. For a good pitch you need to get these four nice and square.

I have found the Duomid quick to pitch, but not that easy to get the perfect pitch. Pole height and getting the four corners square seems to be the key.

I have Trailstar on order and am looking forward to comparing the two and deciding which one to keep or if I keep both.