Best inner net tent for MLD Duomid?

[Matt Herman]

Hey all, I am looking for advice on who might make the best inner net tent for the MLD Duomid. Clearly I could just go with the one by MLD, but there are so many out there I don;t want to discount any other options. Will want a sil bottom and extra sil on the sides and back. If there are features that make one better than another or best quality for example, please let me know. The Oooknests look great but I don’t see the need to pay that much or wait that long. Thanks!

[Dean F.]

This doesn’t answer your question and you may not find it helpful, but…

Using an inner net with  pyramid tent is really missing the point.  That combination ends up being at least if not more heavy than a mainstream double-walled tent.  It’s taking a perfectly serviceable ultralight shelter and crippling it’s advantages.  So if you want to use the inner all the time, just sell your pyramid and buy a TarpTent or even something mainstream.

If you already have a pyramid and just want the inner for rare use then, yes, that makes sense.  Otherwise not.

I have an MLD SuperMid, and I got the MLD inner for it for family camping.  (Why wife has the stereotypical female aversion to vermin.)  When I’m out with my usual hiking partners or on my own in my DuoMid, though, I don’t use an inner.  I don’t even own an inner for the DuoMid, since it’s my solo shelter.

[Matt Herman]

I hear what you’re saying, but until you’ve seen mosquitos in Alaska during the hatch, you might not see the need for an innernet! : ) I do have a Borah bivy which I can and will use, but I also want the option of the nest. And even at 20oz for the Duomid, and 10-11 ozs for a inner, I’ll still be under 2 lbs and pretty versatile. I also plan to carry the Duomid pretty much anytime I’m out hiking to set up for lunch or wait out an afternoon rain storm, so I wouldn;t be using the inner net then. And as far as the Tarp tent, I saw two rainbows blown over on the occupants for the majority of the night, I’m just not sure how I feel about them. I know a lot of people like them, but in the mountains I’m not sold.

[Kona]

Hey Matt, I just asked that same question to use with a gatewood cape.

I too ran across ookworks and the 2/3rds inner net would be perfect.I also think its
more than I want to spend and also the wait time.

I want the size of a hexanet with a silnylon bottom.

Let me know what you come up with.

[Paul S.]

Caution advised for Ookworks

[Brad Rogers]

Is this for solo use? If so you might look at a Locus Gear 2/3 inner for it.

Otherwise I would just go with an MLD inner.

If you use the inner I would use an inverted v otherwise you have to put the inner up before the fly and the inner can get wet.

[D M]

I use the duomid with a solo innernet MLD. Love the combination and I think together they’re 25.45 oz. with a silnylon sack. I only ditch the inner when it’s cold enough to not worry about scorpions here….Otherwise the inner stays attached and I only use one pole, the inner never gets wet.

[Bob Moulder]

A cuben Duomid and cuben duo innernet together weigh about 23 oz, if you are willing and able to cough up the coin. Not too much more expensive and very close to the weight of a Duplex, depending upon what flavor cuben it is made of.

Holy guacamole, after all I’ve read about Ookworks it’s hard to imagine that people are still sending money that way! Or that the website is still up at all, for that matter.

[Aaron]

I don’t think it is missing the point, really. It just becomes a modular shelter system. Use the inner net when you need to, leave it at home when you don’t. I find that it works quite well (I have both a supermid and cricket).

I’d recommend the MLD inner. If you are looking at the solo inner net, you can also get the cricket version which has a panel of fabric on the entry way side to block splash and wind.  It doesn’t wrap all the way around though, so it may not meet your criteria.

[Jennifer Mitol]

+ however many on the solo innernet for the duomid.  I love the modular qualities of the duomid: no inner for me and the pup when there is no bug/crawlie pressure, duo net for me and the pup when there IS a bug and crawlies issue; or solo innernet for just me when I need the bug/crawlies protection.

I have tried SO many shelters it’s scary, and I keep coming back to this set up.  I just love the solo inner inside the duomid – so much vestibule space! love it!

btw – i use the MLD version and frankly wouldn’t really go another way.  Their stuff is just so much better than anything else out there…..and, of course, it’s a perfect fit in there.

[Dean F.]

I absolutely disagree with Brad-
You do not have to put the inner up before the fly with MLD (or any other) mids. I have done this many times with my SuperMid. You stake out the four corners of the mid as always, then throw the inner netting underneath it and open the door. (You can also just leave the inner attached, but then the mid+inner won’t fit in one MLD stuffsack so you’ll probably need to get a bigger one.) This is before the pole is in place- the mid is staked but still laying like a deflated bag on the ground. Then insert the center pole as required thorough the open door and out the top of the inner and scootch the inner floor around until the reinforced area for the pole is in the right spot and set the pole. It’s pretty simple, though obviously not so simple as a dedicated double-walled tent.

Though I also note that MLD is willing to sew permanent floors into the DuoMid XL. Maybe ask them for a custom mesh door as well and that would be lighter than an innernet. BearPaw also does this. Obviously wouldn’t be modular, though. Just lighter.

Like Jen, for me a DuoMid is my One Shelter To Rule Them All- and has been for years- though I use a SuperLight bivy rather than an inner. (I pimp for this setup often.) The mid is a solution for 95% of environments that I’ll ever see, and the bivy adds modularity, bug protection, groundsheet, and a very comfortable cowboy camp capability when the conditions do not require an overhead shelter. I very much prefer the bivy to an inner because of weight and fiddle-factor. But someplace like the Far North, yes, I understand the need to flee inside lest you lose a quart to the mosquitoes, and spending many hours awake in a bivy is torture.

[John DeMorris]

Having owned one I can attest to the quality of MLD’s innernets.  For your intended purposes I would roll with a Duomid + Solonet.  Modular, light, durable and designed to work with each other.  I eventually sold my Solonet and now roll with a Superlight Bivy because that fit my needs better out here in West TX.

[Brad Rogers]

I guess that would work Dean, though it might take some practice to become proficient at it.

I rarely use an inner with my mids unless my wife is with me but I did use one in Alaska last summer. I have a Solomid XL and use two poles in an inverted V and put the inner in after the mid is set up. My larger mid is a Golite Shangri La 5 and I have a half inner for it the wife and I use and it can easily be set up after the mid is erected.

I do have the heavy Golite full inner but have only used it car camping and never set it up in much of a rain.

[Jennifer Mitol]

I just leave the inners clipped inside the tarp all the time – the solo fits fine inside the provided stuff sack.

[rick .]

I have a gear swap Bear Paw Wilderness Designs 2-person inner net that is of sufficient quality, but no experience with MLD to compare.  Fits the SpeedMid fine.

You can always set up the tarp first, then climb under and set up the inner.  If a design prevents you from doing that, don’t buy it.

The one I have has a hole in the top (closed with shock cord) that you can slip the end of the pole in.  For 2-person use, I use a pole extender, angle the pole and keep it outside of the net anyways.

 

[I hesitate buying new from them due to the copying of designs, but used is used.  I don’t think anyone owns the pyramid, but some other designs seem “borrowed” but I’d be happy to be wrong about that.  /commentary.]

[Matt Herman]

Thanks for all the great advice, I think I’m going to go with either the standard MLD innernet or the BPW model with extra silnylon on the sides to help with spindrift and wind. Alot of good info from all of you, I appreciate it. I had heard some less than good reviews about Oooknest and wait times, trouble even getting what was ordered in general, but that was about 6-8 months ago when I was researching and it seems like maybe it’s even worse now? I hope that’s not the case. At any rate, looking forward to my new red Duomid and nest!

[Bob Moulder]

No need to worry about carrying the inner for spindrift… you’re going to want to pitch it low anyway in the winter.

[Mole J]

I wouldn’t use sil for part solid sides- its unbreathable. So if near /above face and feet, condensation will form in many situations.  a friend has a Trailstar inner with part cuben sides.  It has the same problem.   There are plenty breathable fabrics out there which weigh similar or less than silnylon.   No respected manufacturer uses non breathable fabric for their inner walls. Defeats the major object of a 2skin shelter?

Recently I have seen 2 different Bearpaw inners with majority silnylon walls. WTF?!  Unuseable in most conditions unless a cool sauna is required!

[Jennifer Mitol]

Yeah, i hate to say it but I’d probably stay away from bear paw.  I had him make a nest for me and it was pretty bad – really heavy, bulky, and the sewing was, shall I say, not much better than I could have done myself.

The duomid design is wonderful – you won’t need any tall sides for spindrift – but if you want a taller non-mesh side at the front (which is really the only place you’d need it) just get the Cricket inner net that Ron makes.  It’s breathable (M90 i think) and Ron’s stuff is without question some of the best I’ve ever seen.

[Gerry B.]

A few years ago on Gear Swap I stumbled upon a silnylon Duomid with the attached perimeter bug netting.  I suspect it reduces air flow a little bit but it does a great job of reducing rain spray and spindrift. If I were ever to buy a cuben Duomid, I think I would go again with the perimeter bug netting.  With it, it eliminates most of the need for an inner.  For those who don’t use an inner nest, does anyone have reasons other than weight to NOT go with the perimeter bug netting?

[Mole J]

Yep.  In winter not ideal. Frozen mesh. Either to the ground  or catching rain/sleet, then freezing.  I’ve not experienced this, but seems quite possible?  A real PITA next morning.

[Gerry B.]

Mole,

Excellent point that I did not consider at all!  That would definitely be a PITA!

[Jeremy]

Has anyone actually experienced this happening? I’m considering buying a CF with the netting soon.

[Jacob P]

For those of you that use the solo inner with the duomid, do you find that you contact the side walls a lot?  I’m 5’10” and I can’t move without touching the walls in my solo innernet and if I were to use this in the Sierra in mosquito season I’d get eaten alive right through the netting.  Just wondering if I’m too big for the net or if I’m simply doing it wrong…

[DGoggins]

Though I also note that MLD is willing to sew permanent floors into the DuoMid XL. Maybe ask them for a custom mesh door as well and that would be lighter than an innernet.

Where are you seeing this? I mean, is it on the site somewhere or just a contact Ron and see if he would do it?

I’ve been waiting and waiting for a “single wall” version of the supermid…I talk about maybe doing it myself here but I don’t have the guts for it ->

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/wanting-to-make-my-cuben-supermid-into-a-triplex/

I thought Ron (like zpacks), doesn’t like modding his stuff much so I thought having MLD do it was not going to work….

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