Time to Resurrect the Tall Persons Tent Question….

Not sure the specifics, but Zpacks just released a new larger sized solo tent. I believe they had folks 6'6" and larger in mind when they put it out. It's called the Altaplex.

Lightheart Gear SoLong? I like my Solo (for normal size folk) Not sure the recommended height for Solong is but worth a look.

Hey there, I am 6 ft 5 and 185 so we are in a similar situation.

From what you have outlined you are right on track with the Duplex, and yes I actually sold one earlier today. My only concern would be a dog bouncing around on the cuben floor.

I have tried
Zpacks Hexamid long – No longer in production – absolute palace for a tall guy, Ok with an additional short human in a pinch, but in tent mode the claws vs. cuben floor would concern me.

Yama Mountain Gear Cirraform tarp/Borah Bivy combo – I did the whole JMT with this combo and enjoyed all 7 nights. Very easy, and lots of room for one, no second person and no room for a dog This could be fixed with a Cirraform 2 person tarp to compensate for the dog, or the DW version as Gen uses SilNylon for the floor. As soon as YMG gets fired up again I am looking forward to checking out the Terraform in Cuben this could be a cool solution as the vestibule is larger and Gen will make it longer to allow more room where you need it.

HMG UltaMid 2 – awesome shelter with tons of room of room you, a friend and even a dog. As long as you are comfy in a floorless scenario. I actually sold the first one and have repurchased to keep one in the quiver

MLD Trailstar – Huge and lots of room, just not quite long enough for my likin. Amazing do all shelter for most.

Zpacks SolPlex – awesome single person enclosed shelter with cuben floor – At 6 ft 5 I was comfortable most of the time but long nights I found myself wanting more room to "live"

Zpacks Duplex – I bought this for my son and I, and it is a palace for one – I sold it as he is not that into hiking right now, and will probably pick up a Triplex as the 9 year old is all over the place while sleeping, even switching ends half way through and kicking dad in the face. LOL

Ruta Locura Lone peak -like the HMG Ultamid 2 this shelter has a ton of room, but the lack of ventilation from the bottom concerned me. Great in the winter with a stove though

MLD SoloMid XL – this is my current go to now that Ron is making a Long inner for it, unfortunately no room for Dog but the Duomid XL would solve this as the dog could either come into the inner behind the pole, or could sleep intron of the pole just inside the door and still have room for another human without issue.

The Good Old Fashioned Zpacks 8 X 10 Cuben Tarp. This is so flexible, and allows you so much freedom, provided that you are comfortable under a simple tarp. bivy/no bivy, net tent, no net tent…

I do have the New Zpacks Alphamid on order, but I can not comment as I have yet to receive it.

Please feel free to PM any direct questions regarding any of the shelters outlined above.

All the best,

Jeff

Matthew, thx for the response but I was focused on cuben fiber, which LHG no longer uses in production. If they did I would be very interested in the SoLong 6.

Jeff, thx for the very detailed response. I appreciate you've been through a lot of shelters and I think I'm leaning toward the Zpacks Duplex. I worry about what damage a dog could do the cuben floor but I figure I could bring along some kind of floor liner to help.

The new Zpacks tent is cuben.

Jake mentioned lightheart.

I'm 6'6" and also have to be more careful when looking at tents. I've tried quite a few and probably have too many. None of these are cuben but I have yet to see a cuben shelter I would actually want to use with my height. Here is what I have found that works well but note that I am willing to carry a 3 pound tent and mostly use 2 person tents even when solo. I have tried the large tarp with a bug net but always found them too restrictive. I've tried a borah gear bug bivy and a net tent from bear paw. I have also used single wall tents quite a bit and no longer have any interest in using them in the conditions I hike in (all 4 season in the mid Atlantic region)

Lightheart Solong 6 – Great disappointment. I bought one, set it up a couple times and sold it. I could not sit up without touching the fly as I got up. At the ends there is not gap between the groundsheet and the fly so any condensation will drip right onto the floor. Even with the length your sleeping bag will still touch the ends. I would not use this tent in the east coast where condensation will happen given our humidity.

Big Sky Evolution 2P – This is a great tent for the tall. It is a full 91 inches in length so you can stretch out without touching the ends unlike a lot of other traditional tents. I can sit up without touching. At 3 lbs if you want a conventional double wall tent this is the best you can do, still have it.

Big Agnes Slater UL2 – I used this tent a few times but ultimately sold it. It does solve the length probably with the regular fly creek series but the big sky is just plain better.

Sierra Design Vapor Light XL – no longer made but it was my first backpacking tent and was the long version of their Vapor Light. I still have it and use it mostly for car camping. The extra length is great as I can't imagine using the regular length version.

Tarptents
Double Moment – This is their new 2 person version of the moment. I just got it last week It is an outstanding tent for the tall. Plenty of room2 to sit up without touching the top and there is no possbility of touching the fly. I have a feeling I will be using this tent a lot going forward.

Single Moment – I have used this tent a lot and still have it. It is lacking in headroom but with the end geometry there is no posibility of your sleeping bag touching the fly. I mostly use this in good weather when I know I'm not going to be spending much time in the tent but if I know I might have to spend time in the tent not just to sleep this would not be my first choice.

Stratospire – I have the 2 person and used the 1 person. Great headroom but not so much length. I use the 2 person and sleep diagonal.

The Rainbows – I have used the Rainbow but ultimately sold it. Too hard to avoid the condensation I inevitably experience here on the east coast even though Henry says it is good for the tall.

The Scarp 2 – I used to have this tent. It is another excellent tent for the tall, great headroom and the ends are vertical so no problem fitting. I sold but wish I had not, this is probably on par with the double moment as the most outstanding tarptent for a tall person

I had a Seedhouse SL1 that fit a 6'6" bag. Barely, but it still fit.

A Rainbow is the only single person tent that I have found that is longer. It is less storm worthy in my experience so I don't use mine anymore.

If you step up to a 2 person tent then you can sleep diagonal which should help things quite a bit.

I'm 6' 5", 220 lbs, and find my Tarptent Rainbow pretty roomy. It's a decent shelter that may fit your needs. It weighs 2 lbs, it's super quick & easy to set up, pretty easy to get into & out of, very stable in high winds, and dead waterproof.
Caveats – it doesn't resist condensation very well at all, and it's breezy inside when the winds pick up.