Cuben tarp comparison: MLD Patrol Vs Zpacks Hexamid Solo Plus

John, I think the LG insert is here.

Yet again, I want to thank BPLers for posting such great and detailed info. I've received more PMs then I can currently respond to owing to a hectic work and travel schedule the next 5 days, so please nobody be offended by my silence.

After receiving such a flood of feedback, I have decided to purchase a Zpacks Hexamid Solo Plus Tarp. I have nothing against the MLD Patrol, in fact I'm a huge fan of MLD, but I'm really digging Zpacks specs on this one. I think it will pair brilliantly with my bivy, giving me a modular system I've come to prefer on trail. And this will be my first cuben shelter.

@John:
Thanks for all the effort you put into your lists and reviews. I still read Hikelighter.com. I like that you have strong opinions and stick with them, even when being criticized.

@WilliamC3, wow, thank you!! I thought I went through every item in their drop-down and utterly just missed the Khufu Mesh.

@Gary — I got the LG CF/Insert added!! It had to go into the bottom section with the slightly above 20oz shelter, but totally happy/excited to get this international company into the list!!

@Damager, thank you. I think its a good call with the shelter you went with, for the same reason I stopped using the hexamid solo series and upgraded to the duplex… extra room.

@john John, I think it's great that you made the list of the fully enclosed shelters on the market. However, as much as I'd like to fully rely on it, I can't because it doesn't show the true weight.

Let me explain. I have a number of the tents on your list -when hiking poles, ground sheets and stakes are added it changes the weight of every tent, some considerably because some require more stakes, bigger groundsheets and more than one pole.

The thing about poles is not everybody hikes with them, and if that's the case it should be included in the weight. It's such a difference that khufu becomes lighter than hexamid with everything added. Hexamid is 22 ounces with everything. Just wanted to point that out. Maybe you can add the stakes, groundsheets, and the poles to that spreadsheet as a sidebar? Would be super useful.

Maybe you can add the stakes, groundsheets, and the poles to that spreadsheet as a sidebar? Would be super useful.

I suppose that would be true, but how much work should I be responsible to do. And, how complicated of a spreadsheet are people willing to put up with. And, how much grunt work should I be responsible for. If company doesn't list all that stuff, than what, I should deal with emailing every company asking for information, waiting for a response, if I even get one, and then investing even more man-hours into it.

I hear what you are saying, I really do, but at some point my invested time has to be 'enough time' – and at some point, a complicated spreadsheet with already a lot of data, just becomes too complicated with too much data.

We all use different poles, stakes, ground sheets, guy line, etc. On top of the added work like John mentioned, I don't really see a reasonable way to list that info without making it more confusing than it currently is.

His list is a baseline so that someone can figure out what the top options out there are, and then do their own homework to figure out exactly how it will work for them. I suppose he could list how many stakes and poles are required for each option too, but I don't think it is reasonable to ask more of him when it is more reasonable for us to figure out the finer details for ourselves as ultimately all of our true weights will be different.

ETA: Congrats on your choice OP. I think you'll really like it!

Well said Logan. And kudos to you John for the article / spreadsheet.

I wish I knew of this work before I started making a similar spreadsheet for my personal shelter research. It's been a good exercise but I see there are many other options I never knew about.