ZPacks Hexamid™ Solplex Tent vs. Skyscape X

In my world there is a lot of rain. The Solplex door is designed to prevent rain from entering/dripping into the tent. If oriented with the back side into the wind, the doors can be left completely open regardless of the weather. While I have not used the Skyscape, it's design will always allow rain into the tent regardless of rain angle or wind orientation.

I elected to carry the slight extra weight of the Duplex so that in bad weather all my gear can be in the tent. I can setup in the rain, climb inside, have room to unpack on the door side (likely to be wet), and setup the "dry side" for sleeping. Solo tents just don't work for me in persistent rain, and neither do tents lacking overhangs to protect open doors.

As I live in Kodiak Alaska (77 inches of rain per year), I find your comments particularly helpful. I have a Skyscape X, a Solomid, and a Solomid Plus – (I maintain two households, one in AK, one in AZ). I have used the Skyscape for some recent hunting trips and like that it is easier to enter and exit than the Solomids; however, the Solomids have beaks, so there is the overhang to prevent the rain getting in. I haven't used the Skyscape on a rainy trip yet.
I have to admit that I was looking at the Duplex for solo use for the reasons you listed.

Consider the Hexamid Twin also. It's the older design, in which the groundsheet is removable. It's also much wider that the Solplex, hence weights a few ounces more – it's more directly comparable to the Duplex.

I think maybe Joe "gave in" and did the Solplex design with sewn-in groundsheet because some people found the older design with bug netting floor and removable groundsheet on top just a bit odd. But in practice it works really well. I've used it for a long time now on rough terrain, and only ever got one small tear in the netting. And I think the removable groundsheet is a key featrue that I'd never want to give up. It can be used without the tent for cowboy camping, of course. But most important, if you're pitching in a rainstorm, the groundsheet stays dry in your pack until you've got the tent securely pitched. It doesn't matter if the rest of the tent gets completely soaked when you're pitching in a strom, since water just rolls down the inside or outside of the cuben fiber and out of the tent. Once you've got a secure pitch, put your dry groundsheet inside, jump in and you're cozy.

The Solplex uses the second pole at the back, to improve "ceiling height" – this was not a feature of the smaller tents with the older design, but IS used in the Hexamid Twin, that's why if you decide that you do want the removable groundsheet, among the older design tents I recommend the Hexamid Twin. Beyond ceiling height, I personally think the added width is definitely worth the extra few ounces, it's a palace inside for a single person. The only significant drawback is that the footprint is large.

I have a Hexamid Solo and like it very much. I will say that when camping on damp ground or grass, I get a lot of condensation. I think this is due to the gap between the bathtub floor and the sides of the tent. With that said, for me dealing with the condensation is doable. I suspect that the Hexamid Soloplex will have the same condensation issue, because even though the floor is sewn in, the gap between the floor and tent sides still exists.

Michael,
You may have noticed the preponderance of recommendations for ZPacks tents…not only do they really make a great product, but their customer service is A+. Regardless of which Zpacks tent you might select, you will not be disappointed.

John – I have two Zpacks tents and am totally happy with them. I originally purchased the Solomid Plus because I like having extra room for gear inside tent in inclement weather (see above discussion). I bought the Solomid to drop some weight and see if I could live with less room. My Skyscape X is a two door model, so I like having two accessible vestibules for gear storage.