MLD Duomid

Thomas, I'm totally with you on all the above.

A couple of ounces isn't going to make or break my pack weight, especially since the Duomid is being used instead of another heavier tent (Stephenson 2RS, which is a few ounces over 3 lbs with groundsheet and stakes).

And ESPECIALLY since I'm not hiking anywhere NEAR the mileage you do! I'm averaging a piddling 16 to 28 miles PER TRIP and that's only 2-3 times per month. But I'm secretly plotting to do NY's Long Path in the next year or two… just figuring out how to break the news to my wife!

OK, finally I got all my thoughts together and today accomplished a couple of little tweaks that I had on my to-do list for the Duomid.

After considering the options for the 2-pole set-up, I decided – for the time being, at least – to go with Ken T's suggestion and use the dual pole jacks from Quest Outfitters. I really like Thomas' idea for the PVC pipe, but this is my winter tent and in order to use that trick I would have to remove the snow baskets from my trekking poles. And then there would also be the issue of adequate friction between the pole handles and the surface upon which the tent was pitched. What I ended up doing was using a Dremel cutting wheel to put some moderately aggressive teeth into the ends of the aluminum pole jacks, and using the vinyl caps to cover the teeth when the poles are stowed. The first photo shows this, although obviously my phone cam focused on the ground and not the pole jack ends, but you get the idea.

Next was the ground sheet issue. After reading through every Duomid thread I could find, it became clear that a "bathtub" type of arrangement is preferred to channel water under/around the occupants. Polycro (or is it Polycryo??) was mentioned as a frequently-used material, but I had on hand a piece of 96in x 48in Tyvek, so that it what I used. I noticed on the Duplex that the bathtub floor corners are folded so that there are no seams to leak at ground level, which is an idea I immediately borrowed. I folded the corners and taped them with orange duct tape. the Duomid has those very convenient clip hooks already sewed into the corners, so I anchored some 2.5mm shock cord into the corners of the bathtub ground sheet and clipped them into the Duomid corners. The shock cord lengths are biased so that the ground sheet is positioned toward the back of the Duomid and away from the door.

These were the remaining concerns and I think these tweaks have got it trail-ready for me. The ground sheet is a little heavy at 7.116oz, but if it works it will be good enough for now, and not bad at all for my winter shelter.

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Very nice work Bob!

Good job. Glad to be of help.

Tom and Ken, thanks for the inspiration – It certainly is a lot better with the 2-pole set-up!

Used the set-up exactly as above on my little trip to WV.

Double poles with the jacks is the way to go. Interior space for me and the dog was totally adequate, but only in an emergency would I want to try to live in there with another adult!

Got quite a bit of rain and everything worked well despite the expected condensation issues. However, all synthetic clothing/sleeping gear so no problem. Goosedown gear would have been a total disaster.

Although I feared that the duct tape might not stick well to the Tyvek bathtub when it got wet, I was very happy to discover that it remained very secure even on the outside corners that got a thorough soaking. Clipping the shock cords into the Duomid corner hooks was a real PITA so I have modified those by leaving the long ends of the shock cords attached to the Duomid corner hooks, and adding some small hooks to attach to loops at the bathtub corners. Hard to describe, so I'll post a photo later if anyone's interested.

FWIW, I left the 1.8mm Zline on the corners and they worked fine. The Ground Hog stakes also were a good call for the soil/rocks in that area (Seneca Creek/Spruce Knob).

Hi Bob,

How high did you make the sides of the bathtub?

Thanks
Derrick

Hi Derrick,

Mine are about 6 inches high – maybe a bit much but I figured I might need it with the dog. I'm going to leave them this way for a while. Easy enough to trim off later.

I did indeed modify the corner clipping arrangement because with the Duomid it was very awkward to reach way down into the corners to clip in.

Edit for photos:

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What do the inside corners of the duomid look like? What do you actually attach those lines to on the duomid?? Mine doesn't have anything to attach to – I have to tie onto the grosgrain loop that holds the lineloc on the outside. It's awkward for me and it seems like no one else has that problem…..

Attach to the stake.

I did a similar thing with my Duo and Inner to avoid the "morning crawl into the wet corner".

I tied lines to the Inner's corners, so no assembly required, and placed a LineLock at the stake-end to tighten/adjust/square. A shock cord is probably better if you routinely get a good setup. Somehow I never mastered that.

After setting up the 'Mid, I would spread the Inner and fling the cords out under the edges, attach, and square things up.

Jennifer, mine has some clips sewn into the corners (as well as along the middle seams of the tent body and at the apex) for attaching an inner net.

"morning crawl into the wet corner"… well put, as yukky as it sounds. It wasn't fun.

Bob, that's what I thought. I ordered a new duo inner net earlier this year and hadn't gotten around to using it until the other day. This one is quite different from my solo net that I've had for a while – and purchased with the mid itself two years ago.

This inner is SO much nicer than my older one, and I did notice the clip attachments on the corners of the bathtub of this new inner. It made me wonder if Ron was putting clips on the inside corners of the mid now.

This new version of the inner net is so nice it has me wondering if I should splurge and get a new solo inner! doh!