MYOG Duomid

[David Wills]

Just got done with the finishing touches on my MYOG Duomid. I am really happy with the end result. 18.5 oz and only $60 in materials. I was looking around for the ideal 1+ person shelter for backpacking and cycling. I knew it needed 1 pole to minimize weight for cycling, full coverage, ample room, minimal weight, and a very fast setup that doesn't require an inner tent to go up first or at the same time. I considered lots of other designs: Alphamid, Hexamid w/ beak, SMD Vamp, Lightheart Solo shaped tarp, scaled up Wild Oasis, and variations on the GG SpinnShelter. The Duomid design just met every aspect of importance better than any of the other designs, along with some bonus awesomeness I didn't think about before making it (It's so tall I can sit in my Vaude camp chair inside!). Hat's off to Ron Bell for this great design.


The vent uses a piece of plastic coat hanger inside a sleeve to stay open. The sleeve attaches with velcro. I omitted the velcro vent closure.

Wind tieouts

The ever important zipper saving buckle. Line locs make life so much easier too!

Doors open wide to reveal the palace.

[Jerry Adams]

That looks really good, well done

[Brian UL]

Ya, I went crazy this summer trying different tent designs and the Duomid was one of the best for my needs.

[Jeff J]

David,

That looks fantastic. If you were going to do this again, what would you do differently? And what construction/sewing tricks worked really well? Did you use any cat curves?

I ask because I'm sketching up plans for a XL Solomid. I'm particularly stumped on the vent; ie, how to engineer it into the pattern.

Nice work.
Jeff

[Ozzy McKinney]

I'm planning something similar, interested in the peak height, and if the pole jack (or whatever u call it) was included in the posted weight. Killer job!

[David Wills]

Thanks for the compliments everyone. I'm really excited to get some nights in under it.

Jeff, The construction effort went off seamlessly (haha, sewing puns). I may move the vent support over to the same spot as the grossgrain connector on the main front panel. I would recommend using lots of pins to keep neat lines. Also, be very patient. No cat curves, but still a pretty taught pitch which should improve with practice and a proper pole jack (weight of jack not included in 18.5 oz, should add 1-1.5 ounces). I think if one side was loose, the mid panel guy lines would fix it. I mainly used flat felled seams. 1/2" medium weight grossgrain seems to be strong enough for all the loops. Linelocs make pitching much easier.

Concerning the vent, I began with a full size panel (large triangle) and chopped off the top 8" or so of the peak. Installed zipper and flap next. Rolled top hem. Then I made the vent hood. The hood piece is a triangle about 6" taller and 6" wider than the piece I chopped off the top of the panel. I sewed the reinforcement to the top corner of the vent hood. I then sewed the hood to the panel after hemming the bottom of it. Since the hood is 6" taller than the original piece, the bottom corners of the hood begin 6" below the top of the main panel. I then took a piece of grossgrain about 8" long and sewed it near the top of the hood vent reinforcement and the top hem of the main panel. This keeps the panel from sagging. Lastly, I took a 6-7" piece of plastic rod from a coat hanger and sewed it into a tube. I sewed the tube to the top of the main panel. I used velcro on the other end of the tube and the bottom of the hood vent to hold the vent open. Voila! You should be able to identify all this in the photos. A Google image search of duomid has another view up the vent too if you need more visualization.

Best of luck. I would love to see photos when you are finished!

PS- any recommendations for a pole jack?

PPS- The peak height is 4'8" when pitched very close to the ground

[Jeff J]

David,

Thanks for the detailed explanation about the vent. I think I've got a handle on it now. Believe me, I've spent a lot of time going over Google image results.

As for the pole jack, here's a thread that covers it pretty well:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=51082

Mike Moore mentions just using aluminum tubing of the right diameter from a hardware store in the thread, which seems like a perfect solution. I remember something about drilling out holes to reduce weight, but that might be from a different thread.

Jeff

[Wild Exped]

from alum arent the best, i had one besnd the tip of the pole sideways, any slack and misalignment will do it with a few inches of snow. If using two trek poles a joiner is the go. Otherwise a dedicated carbon pole, paddle shaft, branch etc. Do you have a top loop for hanging?

Looks like a nice job btw

[Ivo Vanmontfort]

david,
maybe you'll be in trouble when the wind from the opposite direction. The pole will be pushed out through the opening. For me it was so in the following situation.

Van pyreneeenjuni2010

That moment, i had to fix it

Van pyreneeenjuni2010

[Dana Sherry]

Can I ask where you sourced your line-locks from? This is good inspiration as I am drawing up plans to make my own Duo-mid as well!.

Thanks.
Dana

[John Donewar]

Dana,

I don't know where David got his linelocs but here are three URLs that will get you to sources for LineLoc 3(s). ;-)

http://diygearsupply.com/product/lineloc-3/
http://dutchwaregear.com/linelocs-3.html
http://www.simplylightdesigns.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/30_58/products_id/217

Good luck with your project.

Party On,

Newton ;-)

[Jon Holthaus]

EDIT
John must have responded mid response of mine, to name a few more cottage companies where you may find cheaper USPS shipping.

http://www.zimmerbuilt.com/hardware.html

http://www.bearpawwd.com/fabrics_misc/fabrics_misc.html

http://zpacks.com/materials.shtml

Take note to the size of webbing you need as well as when you buy cord they all match the linelocs.

[And E]

I got mine at Oware. 24 pack for $10 and free shipping I believe.

http://shop.bivysack.com/product.sc?productId=88&categoryId=10

DIY Gear Supply is great because you get charged actual USPS First Class shipping as long as it's under 13oz, then flat rate USPS after that, so you always get the cheapest shipping possible.

If you only need a handful, DIY Gear Supply would be cheapest.
If you clean Scott out of all 21 he has left in stock, it'll run you only 7.99 shipped.

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