MLD Duomid vs Zpacks Duplex Tarp

I've taken my Duomid out a few times now and the last time my wife accompanied me.

I'm 6'2", 175 lbs. She's 5'4", 112 lbs. We both felt the shelter was cramped for 2. We fit and we got our packs in with us but there was no room to spare. I created a simple mod that allows me to use 2 poles so we did not have to deal with the pole-in-the-middle thing.

IMO the Duomid is a super splendid shelter for 1 person or even 1 person and a big dog, but 2 adults is pushing it.

95% of my hiking is done solo so I have very little experience with 2 person shelters so maybe there's not supposed to be a lot of room when 2 adults occupy a 2 person shelter – I don't know – but I do know that we both felt that we didn't have any space in the Duomid once we were in it with our gear.

Have you considered the HMG Ultamid 2?

My wife and I have tried the Duomid and a Triplex. We weren't sold on the Duomid for the reasons mentioned above and we tested the Triplex in some Oklahoma wind and weren't too happy with how noisy it is.

We are ordering a Supermid for the added space, but I think an Ultamid would provide adequate space without being as palatial as the Supermid. Either are a great choice, as long as your budget can handle it.

Appreciate the advice so far! Kelly- the Ultamid might be stretching my budget a little and also heavier than I'm looking for. Most of the time I just throw my Katabatic bivy on the ground and call it a night but I'll throw up a tarp for inclement weather if I have to. The cuben Duomid at 12.5 oz is the heaviest I'm willing to go for a tarp I'm hoping to use sparingly.

Just to throw a wrench in things, I'm also interested in a larger flat tarp set-up (something like the GraceDuo) but I'm not confident enough in my pitching skills or how the open front/back would fare in bad weather. I also suspect flat tarps might not perform as well in the winter or late fall season? I could be totally off though, having no experience with flat tarps in the past.

The DuoMid is a squish for 2. It's an outstanding solo shelter, but many of those positive attributes are lost when you put two people in there (ie. vestibule space, sleep at the back to avoid rain falling on sleeping area via door). If dual usage is a 5-10% occurrence then I'd vote DuoMid. Otherwise I'd look for more room.

Another option to strongly consider for 2 people would be the *new* Duomid XL.

Ron just launched the DuoMid XL this afternoon. It's an asymmetric and larger version of the DuoMid, better suited to two than the original, but smaller than the SuperMid. It weighs 16oz in cuben, so heavier than the OP requested, but it may be worth a look: http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=47&products_id=217

Nice to see the new DuoMid XL. Clever design for two that reduces some of the trade-offs with multiple people in a mid.

While I am an advocate of tarp camping, there are indeed some trade-offs.

Last month in Kyushu, camped in my 'mid near some felled trees, I was awoken at 3am by sudden intense pain in my left ear, as an insect determined to explode my ear canal, and burrow into my brain, presumably to then exit by the other ear (a short cut through space? Did it imagine a wormhole, and itself as Dr Who or the Tardus?). It expanded its body, causing great distress, and I had no idea what to do, except suffer it. Eventually, the movement ceased, and I was able to remove parts of it by ear bud.

10 days later, on my return to Korea, I went to the ENT clinic to have my ear checked, to discover that most of its body remained. It took two visits and more pain to get it removed. I attach a photo of the ENT debris. Allowing for the earlier removed sizable segments, it measured about 1/2 inch long and 3/16 inch thick.

Gross, but a salutary reminder of the perils of tarp camping sans bug net…

I'm *this close* to getting my wife to try a night under a tarp with me. Better clear my browsing history so she doesn't find this.

…guess I better get moving on that net tent too.

I'm 5'4'' and 165 and could easily fit another of me plus pack into my Duomid. Duomids aren't terribly wide, but folks who're shorter have room on the end for vestibule space. Its not necessarily cramped for two people. Just depends on the people. And if you plan on using it rarely anyway, you may be fine sharing a smaller space for those limited times.

Having used mids in the past (and a Duomid), I never got over the "pole in the middle" set up. The Duomid is a bit small for two and my wife and I were a bit cramped in it.

I looked at the same two shelters and went with the SMD Haven Cuben instead, and for that reason, I would take the Duplex over the Duomid. YMMV.