(Another) upgrade to Duplex door closure?

I ordered the Zpacks tent door hooks to improve the door closure on my Deschutes CF tarp and received the new one-piece double hook in your picture JCH. I have not tested this setup yet, but I think I would prefer the old style hooks, with two separate hooks.

The Deschutes does not have d-rings on the doors, so I put small loops of chord on each to test this setup. One potential disadvantage is that with a single-piece dual hook, the d-ring extension distance on both doors must be identical for both doors to remain snugly retained in the hook. When opening just one door, it’s very easy for the other door to slip out of the hook too. In contrast, with two hooks, it could be easier to open one door at a time without affecting the snugness of the other door.

How much did you pay for the door hook? I have a duplex and a triplex…and like trying everything. I would probably just buy it off you. Or maybe….trade the old style metal hooks with your new style?

Right now….my triplex has the metal style 2 hooks from zpacks….my duplex actually has 2 plastic style hooks.

The hooks were bought from here ->

http://www.dutchwaregear.com/tarp-door-hook.html

Then….just cut off the little tab to make it a larger opening. I really like these hooks…it makes it much easier to hook on and hook off the doors, …the little metal tabs I didn’t like having to push the drings through/off.

Now…with the new zpacks style clip….I can see one advantage being that the doors should close closer together, which is good, though it looks like it turns the doors slightly “out” b/c the drings have to turn 90 degrees to hook in.

Nice to see a zpacks duplex on massdrop though.

I was actually going to post about this…so I also had a brand new duplex here at the house last week. The new door closures must be VERY new….this duplex still didn’t have them. But it did have new features that my older duplex doesn’t. LIke ->

New tieouts on both apexes. Nice feature..b/c it adds just about 0 weight, and allows you possible to tie up to a tree…though I doubt I would ever use such a feature.

New additional mid panel tieouts. Not really sure the real need for these….are you really going to stake out a second panel tieout that is just higher up?

These have already been shown on zpacks site ->

So….I do like the zpacks is adding features and thinking about how to improve the duplex. The unfortunate side effect ….is weight creep.

I used to have a .74oz duplex that weighed 21.55oz with guyline….one of the originals. Then, I got a new .74oz duplex, that was 22.95oz with guyline. Mainly…a lot of that weight was they added the 2 mesh pockets, and more linelocs to the tent (the 21.55oz did have some tied to the tarp, but not as many as the new one).

Then….the new one that was here last week….weighed 23.55oz…..again b/c of the new features (2 more midpanel tieouts, extra door closure system. ).

I’m wondering who would prefer less features to save 2 oz?

Those mid panel tie outs might be for the freestanding poles which you can add to the duplex to turn it into the duplex flex

http://www.zpacks.com/shelter/duplex-flex.shtml

Dang it! Why do I have to be wrong….yep, you are absolutely right on that one.

I’ve  been noticing the newer designs have a much greater catenary curve on top, much more than the 2014 model I have.  I just got a Triplex, and the curve is even more so.  Because of this, there a good 3-4 inches of head room being lost.  Odd about the 2nd set of tie outs, I’m wondering it that was a special order that accidentally was sent to the wrong person, because these were not on my Triplex.  See below for the curve on the older designs, it’s almost straight across.

After reading the zpacks flex page…..I also noticed that the additional loops on top of the apex are also for the flex poles.

And…..the flex is only for the duplex….the triplex can’t be made into a flex so those additional tieout points are not on it.

Lester,

I would be very interested to hear, after use in the field, whether your concerns re: a single door slipping out to the hook are proven true. I can definitely see how what you describe is possible…but is it likely or common? :)  And is it more/less likely/common using the d-rings vs. the cord loops?

Dan,

I too like trying out new ideas and this one looks like a cheap way to (potentially) affect an improvement. Also there are WAY too many cool little TI hooks/doo-dads/jewelry on Dutch’s site :)

I’ll test this setup in the back yard and also some short upcoming trips. The downsides, if real, can probably be overcome by getting familiar with it and developing the right technique. Testing it in the wind should tell.

DGoggins – I’ll keep the double hook for now, in case it works OK. Plus, I’ve already permanently modified it by removing the LineLoc 3.

The Zpack hooks can ordered here:

Thanks Kenneth,

Last week I ordered a pair of hooks and 4 d-rings to test the retrofit on my 1st-gen Duplex…They arrive today so will post the results of my tests.

Edit: I had to contact ZPacks directly to get the d-rings as they do not seem to be offered by the piece on the website.

When I first got my Duplex back in 2014 I added small O-rings to the loop at end of the fly’s and they’ve worked out great.  The O-rings are readily available at fishing supply stores.

Kenneth,

re: ridgeline catenary cure. Attached is a pic of my 1st-gen Duplex (Nov 2013) with a very generous curve. Could the relative lack of curve in the photo you posted be down to pitch? It doesn’t seem likely that there would be a great deal of variation in that design element between individual examples of the same tent model.

I know this is a Duplex thread but, any reason this wouldn’t work on a Stratospire 2?

Deleted double post

I just finished installing the new door closure hardware and I’m a big fan. This is a decided improvement in ease of connecting/releasing the doors over my tac-toggle solution which until now was, for my use cases, the best solution I had found.  The hooks attach to the d-rings with a very slight “snap” which helps keep them connected, i.e. releasing one door and re-cinching tight the remaining door works very well.

If your Duplex has the original grosgrain loops and mini-biner door closure system, the loops are just large enough to allow attaching the d-rings with a larks head. In fact, my retrofit looks almost exactly like the promotional photo in the OP.

Well done Joe and ZPacks.

Edit – Joe said in his experience the new hook hardware works just fine on the bare grosgrain loops, but he very generously provided me 4 d-rings. I tried this first before attaching the d-rings and can see his point. I think the hook hardware would work fine in any configuration using a grosgrain or cord loop. That said, I think the d-rings are much easier to deal with than the bare loops.

Guys… I would be concerned those hooks could come unhooked in a big gusty violent wind…

A door coming open in those conditions could be disasterous

I, for one, would prefer hooks with some kind of closure/catch to prevent inadvertent unhooking.

billy

My hooks have been ordered, can’t wait to install.  Not too worried about the wind, there’s enough tension/stretch in the overall tent fabric/guys to keep the hook in place.  If not, I’ll just use a mini-carabiner thru the loop the hook is attached to and I’m good to go.