To ZPacks Duplex Owners

I do not own one (and do not plan to buy one) but if the Duplex is sticker shock for you, give a look over the 2 person shelter list that I put together. You might find that for just a few more ounces you can save yourself half the price/shock.

Ours arrived in the UK this evening, I will provide photo and a humble review asap, it might be sacrilege on this forum, but I went with the heavier cuben due to our upcoming 7 month hiking season,it will be used every night.

initial thoughts are

stitching is very clean and straight,
600 grams with tie outs and in stuff sack(no tent pegs)
By taking a little time to expel trapped air as you fold makes returning the tent to the stuff sack a lot easier and gives a flatter packed form.

There are many similarities to our nemo meta2, which we enjoyed but suffered from shallow/acute angle between floor and side wall causing wetting the foot and hood of sleeping bags.

The duplex appears substantially better in this regard, we will use additional set of hiking poles to give lift/height to the important areas

Joe made the purchase easy, replying to many questions

Darrell, could you help me resolve a materials issue I'm having? Was the the 3/4 oz cuben material on the tent a darker green, or a very light emerald green shading?
Your info would be much appreciated. Thanks.

I like the look of the Duplex,the shape is very nice and roomy.
What I don't understand is why no one has mentioned the Bearpaw Bear Den 2.
It is a close match and could have a floor added and pricing would surely be competitive or likely better.

Not to take any thing away from Joe @ Zpacks. He basically revitalized the shelter UL shelter market.

I do own the BPWD Bear Den 2 and I really love it. It has the door on the low side rather than the tall side. But you also get a high vent.
Yes mine is just the tarp but I use a Pyranet for bug protection.
The no zip doors that Zpacks has rolled out are really nice. And do open up lots of venting options

Just my .02 since it does not get much attention at all.
.

Heavier cuben is the lighter emerald green, still very translucent, I was personally hoping for a stealthy darker green, but this is nice, tranlucent nature won't give much privacy at a busy campground, but might help you to wake up with sunrise

Darrell,
Thanks very much. Now I know that there is only one 3/4 oz Cuben currently being used by Zpacks, and I did not get the wrong color when I ordered some.

Despite the light color, the material is fairly opaque, and the high reflectivity may reduce radiant heat loss and thereby reduce condensation. That's the old Jack Stephenson (Warmlite) theory anyway, and it seems to have been confirmed by the experience of quite a few who have posted on the many threads about Cuben fiber on BPL.

I think this shelter is intriguing, been highly considering checking out the tarp version. Haven't seen any feedback yet, or even seen anyone mention ordering just the tarp version. I guess I'm still pretty skeptical about a cuben floor.

Like Stevie, I'm a little skeptical of using cuben as a tent floor material and am very interested to see how it holds up for people over time.

I really like the design of the Duplex otherwise though, particularly the consideration of the drip line while the doors are open, and the zipperless and overlapping door design in general. I suspect this will be a product that I'll never own though due to the expense. Doesn't mean I can't just look right? :)

I received a Duplex last Wednesday, set it up at home for a trial pitch on the Thursday then took it off (with my wife) for a 2-nighter on the Friday and Saturday. It didn't rain and apart from a few moderate gusts on the second evening there was no wind. In other words, I have only limited experience with it and can't comment from experience on its weather-worthiness.
What I can say is:
1) It sets up very quickly and easily. In comparison to the Hexamids Solo+, Twin, Long and Shangri La 2 that I have experience with, this is the easiest.
2) To couples coming from the other Hexamids this definitely has more usable space, not because it is wider so much as because the 2nd person doesn't have to be careful to avoid touching the side walls. I'm 5'10" and my wife is 5'6" and we had plenty of room to bring our gear inside with us.
3) My wife loved the fact that she got a view of her own. The zipped doors in the netting are higher than with the previous Hexamids, so getting in and out is easier.
4) The 1st night we had all four doors open. The second evening started with cold breeze blowing through one side. We closed the door at the head end on that side to stop the breeze annoying us, but with the breeze still blowing through the foot end to keep down the condensation. I think the flexibility of the door system is going to work out great.
5) The first evening was very humid (you could see a faint mist in the air) and even before we got in the tent everything was feeling damp. In the morning there was frost round about. There wasn't a breath of wind all night. It was one of those nights when all surfaces get condensation. (If we had closed all the doors to keep the tent as warm as possible, perhaps it might have been avoided, but there was a full moon and the views were good!) However, there was no dripping from the condensation on the flysheet.
The second night we were under a tree, which probably kept the temperature inside the tent a few degrees warmer, even though the our thermometer measured the outside temperature at minus 2 Celsius at dawn. After the early evening breeze, again there was no wind, but this time there was absolutely no condensation.

We got one customisation to the tent. We got extra center tie outs and cups at the bottom center of the head and foot walls similar to the ones on the back of the Hexamid Twin and head and foot of the Long for taking the bottom of trekking poles. I think these worked well with trekking poles to support the walls. The certainly seemed to keep the bottom seam of the fly tauter. Although it's hard to tell without actually having it out in wind, the Duplex gave the impression of being very strong. Obviously, secure staking will be important.
Clearly, this mini review is the product of very little experience. However, given the newness of the tent, I thought it worth posting.
Oh, and the increased views from the Duplex are very reassuring for keeping a nervous eye out of when the wolves are howling nearby!

"Like Stevie, I'm a little skeptical of using cuben as a tent floor material and am very interested to see how it holds up for people over time."

I have used 1.0 oz/sqyd Cuben Fiber from ZPacks as my floor material for the last 2-3 years. No issues at all. I will continue to do so going forward. I have absolutely no abnormal durability concerns with Cuben. The 0.54 stuff is a tad delicate, but the 0.74 and above is really durable in my experience. When treated like any other material, it has held up for me just fine.

I was considering starting a separate thread on using Cuben for a groundsheet, but since that is likely one of the biggest questions anyone considering the Duplex will have, let's just keep it here…

Hike Ultralight: Your experience makes me feel much better. Could you give a little more information on the types of ground you camp on and what, if any, precautions you take that may have lead to your success with cuben as a groundsheet?

I have experience with .75 as a tarp material, and never doubted that it could withstand anything any other material could…maybe more. But I've never used, or hiked with anyone that used it as a groundsheet.

William,

Are you able to comment on the ease of closing up the vestibule doors from inside the tent?

Zippered entries really make that easy…grab the zipper at the top and run it down. I'm wondering if having to lean out of the doors, attach the carabiner to one or both doors, then tension the line is an issue? I'm imagining kneeling in the tent, elbows in the vestibule on the rain soaked ground trying to secure the doors behind me :)

I do not take any precautions with the 1.0 oz stuff other than removing rocks, sticks, pine cones, and any other potentially sharp debris from my selected site. Just to be fair to Cuben, I would do this with any material.

I have used Cuben Groundsheets from North Lake to Whitney on the JMT, and all over the AT and Slickrock Wilderness in the NC/TN/GA areas. I have never had a puncture in my groundsheet on any occasion. I have also used the Groundsheet Poncho from Zpacks with no durability issues.

I have used it on grass, duff, granite, sand, mud, pine needles, you name it.

Awesome! Concerns dissipating quickly :)

I also want to add that not only do I not have durability concerns, but Cuben Tape that Joe sells (or even Duct Tape for that matter) does an incredible job of patching tears. I would not think twice about patching a puncture with the Cuben Tape and leaving it there for good. It is really strong stuff.

John, I haven't tried that. The line clips easily to the doors with a mini-carabiner, but you'd be in awkward position doing it from inside. We usually have plastic bags for siting on wet ground and could use them to lean on.
I suppose it depends where you do most of your hiking, but I think it will very seldom have to close all four doors at the same time (we've rarely had to close the beak on our Hexamids). If you're only closing the two on one side, you could do it from outside, so you really would have to be closing all four doors to need to close one set from inside.

"2) To couples coming from the other Hexamids this definitely has more usable space, not because it is wider so much as because the 2nd person doesn't have to be careful to avoid touching the side walls. I'm 5'10" and my wife is 5'6" and we had plenty of room to bring our gear inside with us.
3) My wife loved the fact that she got a view of her own. The zipped doors in the netting are higher than with the previous Hexamids, so getting in and out is easier."

My wallet has barely recovered from my Hexamid Twin purchase from last spring but I plan to buy the Duplex for these two reasons. My daughter and I experienced some hellacious condensation at Rainier. We worked through it but I'd prefer that she wasn't so close to the wall. Not having to crawl over each other would be a plus.

Exactly, Ian. After a couple of particularly wet days in a Hexamid Long (less usable space at the back than the Twin), she said she was beginning to get stressed out over avoiding touching the back wall.
My wife generally keeps my tendency to gear acquisition in check. The Duplex is the most expensive piece of gear we have ever bought, yet from the moment she saw the Duplex (version 2 at that stage), she was in favour.

We own one and I love it.
I was getting tired of the Hexamid. I hate only having one door and limited space. Relatively, this thing is a monster. Two doors and plenty of room. This is the tent for us.
We've actually had it since this past summer. We got one before Joe released it. No complaints and the folks at Zpacks are a Pleasure to work with.

Nate,

Did you get the standard .51 oz canopy?

My experience with Cuben is relegated to .74 oz (MLD Grace Duo) and I loved that material. I trust Joe when he says "My own opinion is this material (.74) is not necessary…", but my gut still tells me to upgrade.

What are your observations/advice?

I know you did not ask me, but I figure as long as you are collecting data…

I have owned 3 hexamids, one in 0.51 and two in 0.74. If I were to buy a fourth it would be 0.74. While the 0.74 may not be necessary, it is certainly worth the 1.5 ounces for the extra durability in my opinion. The only puncture I have ever had occurred in 0.51, albeit it was user error (setting up in between bushes to get a break from the wind, wind blew branches in to the canopy).

If you were getting a solo, and were looking for the absolute lightest shelter you could find, sure the 0.51 is your best bet. But we are talking about a Duplex here.

Thanks so much…everyone has provided EXACTLY the kind of information I was hoping to receive.
I hope that new owners will continue to chime in as they see fit.

Unlike Hike Ultralight, I would (and did) chose 0.51. We own a Hexamid Twin in 0.74 and a Long in 0.51. The difference between the 2 materials is in the number of dyneema threads. They both have the same thickness of mylar. If I understand correctly, this means that the 0.74 has significantly greater tear strength but not much difference in puncture and abrasion resistance (the extra dyneema threads perhaps have some effect on abrasion and puncture resistance but not much). In my experience, the tear resistance of 0.51 is perfectly adequate. I've never feared that the 0.51 was in danger of ripping from strain in the wind.
I'm no expert, though, and have done no comparative testing.

From what I have read (also not an expert), it is indeed the same thickness, with more fibers, which does increase abrasion resistance. Although, same as William, I am no expert and have not done my own testing.

From Zpacks website (http://zpacks.com/materials.shtml)

".51 oz/sqyd Cuben Fiber Fabric. This is the material used in in our cuben fiber stuff sacks, tarps, and tents. It has high tensile strength, but only moderate abrasion and puncture resistance due to the thin membrane material. We use a specially designed triple stitched seam on our products which can be sealed with a silicone based sealer like Sil Net.

Good for stuff sacks, tarps, and rain gear for those willing to be gentle with their gear. Not recommended for backpacks! All colors are light and semi see-through.

.74 oz/sqyd Cuben Fiber Fabric. This weight has a little bit higher Dyneema thread count than our standard .51 oz material above. It may be good in applications that require a bit more strength and abrasion resistance, like lightweight rain gear, or a bit more durable tarp for example."

Something else to consider would be water permeation resistance and "see-through" protection. I think the 0.74 does a better job at both.