Cuben Speedmid vs Other Cuben shelters

Hi Steve.

I was on a 14 day trek with a group this summer. There where 2 silnylon trailstars and 1 cuben trailstar. Every night both silnylon trailstars where pitched perfect. Not one night did the cuben trailstar get a good enough pitch imo. I say don't buy a cuben trailstar. Not worth it.

Cheers
Peter

And I think I remember that the silnylon in the Trailstar is a big help in absorbing wind gusts while Cuben doesn't absorb at all.

I have been a fan of the MLD Patrol Shelter for quite some time.
It is my preferred shelter for ground camping.

It is easy/quick to pitch, can be pitched low and tight for cold wind, pitched high and open for hot weather or somewhere in between.

No zippers to fail, sheds wind well and very flexible.

Note, I usually keep a suspended bug net/bivy attached and so can pith the whole setup in no time.

Being a two pole design means that it can be smaller, lighter and shed wind better than a center pole pyramid.

Of course if you don't use two trekking poles, a center pole may be the preferred shelter for you.

I have also used center pole pyramids, just find I prefer the Patrol anymore.

The Patrol seems decent. I like that it is closed on one end but I dont like how the closed end and the small beak prevent it from being used like a regular flat tarp.

I think i'm pretty tempted to do a 8×10 flat tarp. I really like the versatility of setups, super lightweight modular (i'd love to make a rainkilt/beak), but I just dont trust them for wind and rain.

I always use two trekking poles, so it's not center poles that appeal to me necessarily as much as the enclosed design of the mid protects from all angles. I don't have to worry about the wind changing directions.

But I think I've decided the Duomid is going to be too small for two people with gear. The trailstar and speedmid seem much roomier. So I am very close to pulling the trigger on one of those and grabbing a bug bivy and/or maybe a 2p insert. Also thinking about picking up a tarp as well for trips with definite good weather.

Having owned both the silnylon and cuben Trailstar, I don't think one is more difficult to pitch than the other. The optimal pole height and guyline length is slightly different, but once you have that dialed in, you're all set. That being said, pitching the Trailstar in general is kind of finicky and requires some precision. I have no regrets switching from the sil version to the cuben version. Mine is 13 oz with guylines and that's ridiculous for how much coverage it provides. The Trailstar has plenty of space for 2 people to live under even when the weather sucks and it's pitched low.

Pics of the cuben version pitched tight as a drum:

Are you wed to MLD? The Ultamid is just the perfect amount larger for me. Light, bomber construction. Its apex tie loop works ver well with trees – perfect taught pitch, no poles!

Derrick

one more vote for the UltaMid. I am 6 ft 5 and plenty of length even on to of a Synmat UL7 2 people would be easy with the gear running down the middle.

With that said, the Cuben trail star can be finicky, but when it is right it is a thing of beauty

Once you play with it enough, you get a good feel for what you need to adjust to make it just right

You can not go wrong with either shelter, although at my height, I found the UltaMid a better fit between the 2. That being said when solo I use a cuben SoloMod XL.. Both companies make very high quality gear.

Don't be afraid of a tarp, particularly for 3 season PNW use. I have an 8×10 HMG tarp that pitched in storm mode has room for two and gear. Palace for one. If it's really bad, ie swirling wind driven rain I use my ZPacks kilt for a beak that gives 360* protection. 4-5minutes for pitch max with a little practice. With extra guy line and 14 assorted stakes it is less than 14 ozs (not counting the kilt which is 2.1 ozs) The kilt works as ground cover, top cover, coupled with tights the best rain gear down to 30* and makes my tarp bombproof. Use the tarp with quilt/bag only, bivy, or inner tent. If you get the tarp you then have the freedom to pitch in many different configurations which is a lot of fun, and much better than being stuck inside a tent/mid/cat cut tarp when the weather is not extreme. IMHO the best way to go for 3season PNW backpacking.

Edit: Thread Drift. Moved my question to PM.

Steve, have you seen the new MLD DuoMid XL, which is an offset design allowing a ton of space behind the vertical pole? About 16oz in Cuben.

Mark–

Do you have any pics of your tarp (or any one else's) pitched in "storm mode"? Or an other visuals?

I'd like to learn how to do that.

I picked a cuben trailstar because it has the simplicity of a flat tarp (no zipper or fasteners to fail) and the stormworthiness of a mid (it sheds high wind and blowing rain well). I have not found it particular hard to set up well. My prior experience was a Gossamer Gear SpinnTwinn. I would say the trailstar is only very slightly harder to pitch than the SpinnTwinn because it is not rectangular. I find it works very well in bad weather and has loads of room for 2. Really the only downside I didn't think about is that it takes a pretty big spot to pitch because of its size; that can be good and bad.

Katherine,

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/tarp_camping_inclement_conditions.html

This is a great article by Ryan Jordan

Mark,

That link isn't working. Page not found.

EDIT: Just caught your edit.

The duomid xl sounds pretty nice but at $670 it doesnt seem like it has much more room than the speedmid to justify the price. I could get a new cuben TS and a used HMG flat tarp for less.

Trailstar sounds mighty attractive, especially with all these pictures and success stories. I'm guessing the cuben version can't be pitched with a large door like the silnylon one?

http://www.christownsendoutdoors.com/2012/03/trailstar-wars.html

Interesting read.