Duomid + solo inner folks…

Good questions. I picked up a sil Duomid this winter, and while I am quite happy, the inner question has been nagging me too.

Since you paid the premium for weight savings with a cuben Duomid, it doesn't make sense to have a heavy, most-of-the-time unnecessary inner to go with it. If I were you, and you felt like you couldn't get things down to one innernet, I would simply go with Bear Paw and buy two–one in each size you think you'd need. It would be more than just one at MLD, but not so bad.

You've already paid extra for cuben, so it doesn't make sense to me to go really cheap on the inner net and negate the weight savings.

Clayton, what do you mean by "going cheap" on the inner??

I guess I'm also wondering how much room I'd have for a solo ish inner – how much width do I have to play with for an inner and still be able to really enjoy the vestibule for packing and cooking….

I'm kind of thinking about setting up a mock duomid in the backyard with some string, and do some measurements. How much room will CharlieDog and I REALLY need, and how much vestibule space will I have…

I have the solo inner that comes with the Cricket tent. Unless you like CharlieDog sleeping on top of you, you're both going to feel squished inside one of those. I'd also be concerned about claws snagging the mesh inner. A 1.5 inner might be a reasonable compromise, but the challenge of claws could continue when CharlieDog is outside the inner.

Just a suggestion, but why not try a used duo inner, which you can pitch and try for size while waiting for the cuben Duomid to arrive? KatPink has one listed here: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=76437. If it's too big you could resell it easily enough.

Have a look at the Oookworks Duomid Oooknest while you are at it. It has corner struts, about 4 inches wider than the MLD version and is available all mesh, ripstop or custom floor and walls.

You're kinda looking at it in an all-or-nothing way with a regular size inner. Instead, with a full inner you'd have the best of both worlds (except the lightweight world, but that's a different world altogether). With a full size inner, you can easily fit both you and CharlieDog inside when necessary (and even have room for CharlieDog to get away from your smelly self! Can't believe you called poor CharlieDog smelly…..). When you wanted a bit more vestibule space and don't need to include the pup inside, simply don't stake the inner down to its full width, scootch it back halfway instead. Won't effect the use of the inner at all.

Either that or get two inners – one full size and one half size. You're a single, no kids, spend the money!

Maybe a custom inner shaped like a fat "L", the leg of which would take up one half of the vestibule, say the right half. So sitting in the inner net, facing the open door (on your left, where the inner zipper is on mine), the right half of the vestibule would be an extension of the inner where your dog would sleep. You'd still have the left half to cook, store your pack, etc.

Or use a regular inner, and get the dog a permetherin treated pad to sleep on.

I think the above mentioned use of a double inner is also a good work-around, though likely to be somewhat floppy in use.

A solo inner provides excellent vestibule space, which you lose with a double inner unless you take Doug's suggestion and only half set it up.

I'd look at ways to accommodate your dog while sticking with a solo inner. If you're worried about him running off, drive a stake into the ground in the vestibule and keep him on the leash that first night.

For bugs/tick season, you could get an extra 1/4 size inner made that sets up half of the vestibule (occupies 1/4 of the pyramid, with you in the back half). This would be like the L shaped inner that was suggested, but the dog part would be a separate unit. That keeps the dirty dog of your fragile gear, and if he damages his little quarters it's no big deal.

Good luck with Oookworks, I emailed him months ago, no response, plus check out his last blog from January. Doesn't sound like a thriving business.

Just received a Duomid, am also looking for solo alternatives as an inner.

Try mailing Sean (Oookworks) again; when I mailed him mid January I got a response after about four weeks. Last time I mailed (couple of weeks ago) I got a reply after a few days.

That said, patience is key at the moment; I ordered a "nano" inner in the beginning of March and expect to receive it late May.

The regular Oooknest however is too small to share with a medium sized dog, unless you let him/her sleep on your feet.

I sent email to Ookworks back in November of last year, still waiting for a response. Sent a few emails since, still no reply. Had real potential that business. I was lucky to pick up a 2nd hand Oooknest for my Cuben Duomid a couple months ago.

Peter, I have no idea how you managed to get a response. I never got so much as a boo from him. Ive heard of someone that paid him back in September of last year and still waiting for there inner, Good luck in recieving your end of May.

Philip, Sean and I have actually been emailing pretty regularly. Seems like he had some health issues late last year (he has a long post about it on his blog – attached to the regular site) and was profusely apologetic about the whole thing. Turn around at this point is 12 weeks, according to him.

So why are the MLD nets so much smaller than the mid itself? If I have the cuben version, how much dead space do I REALLY need between the net and the cuben (since there will be minimal sag)?

I'm thinking about having bear paw make me one that is 33" wide, 50" tall and 96" long. That would give me just enough room to have the pooch sleep at my feet (he likes corners…) but it takes away a bunch of the space between the net and the outer. Will that matter? And can I offset the pole enough to accommodate a 33" wide inner? I guess I could always do the dual pole, but if I don't need the hassle then, well, great.

Of course, I wonder how much that even saves me weight wise over a plain ole' 2 person inner………

Jennifer, have you considered a solo inner for yourself and a bit of shaped netting that you could suspend over 1/4 of the interior for Charlie? It would get him of the bugs without having him on top of you, and be much less expense than a custom size/shape inner.

Thanks for clearing that up Jennifer, however I still never recieved a response on my desire to purchase an inner of him, i did email him upto the time I purchased a 2nd hand Oooknest, its not exactly what I was wanting, as I was going to purchase one of the lightweight inners with the cuben fiber that is reviewed on a link on his website. However after not recieving a response, I was contemplating on a custom inner from someone else, when the offer of a Oooknest was offered to me.

I like the Oooknest, but to get a tight pitch on the sides of the Oooknest I found I had to set my cuben duomid up high, which I believe is the reason the seller sold me the Oooknest. Works out fine for me, as I live in a warmer climate. Im about to leave on a long distance hike in a few days to a cold climate. A few weeks ago i had to set the duomid low as it was very windy and raining, I didnt find the sloping sides of my Oooknest a problem, there was plenty of room.

Why stick with a rectangular floored inner. You could go full width at the foot end and half width at the head. That should give the dog some space down near your feet and still leave some vestibule. It's an easy sew, since there are no internal corners, as with the L shape. I'd definitely try out the string option to get a feel for what the size will be. Even better, set it up with string, and then throw a tarp or sheet over the top to get a better feel for the space. Of course you could get the same result modifying Doug's method.

If you want to stay single pole, take a look at the floor of the wedge insert for the Nemo Pentalite. That's a nice neat, bug-proof solution.

Also if I had the dog in near my feet, I'd tape up a little short three foot long bivvy bag out of Tyvek to go over the end of my bag. I'm sure this would save some tears. And maybe some tears.