Hexamid Solo tarp with cuben groundsheet and no bivy?

[Yoyo]

I’m curious–how many of you hike with this setup?  I currently hike with, and like, the Hexamid Solo tent (with mesh floor) plus cuben groundsheet, but I am looking to drop another 5 oz by leaving the mesh floor behind.  I am wondering if anyone has experience with the new, updated Solo tarp with storm doors?  From all appearances, it seems that I could get away without a bivy.  (If I needed to carry the bivy, then I might as well continue with the mesh floor.  I feel pretty confident that the tent version of the shelter can keep me dry based on experience.  I’m curious if the mesh would make a big difference when it comes to rain blowing in.  Of course, there are the bugs to deal with…Headnet?

[mike p]

A bathtub groundsheet would be ideal, but yes. You should be able to get away with it without the bivy. Consider a S2S Nano Net for mosquito protection, weighs 2.9oz.

[jscott]

The Nano net is 3 oz. for a gain of 2 oz. over the net floor. So with the net floor weighing all of two extra ounces you get complete bug protection inside your tent 24/7 and don’t have the hassle of a bug net draped over you. Remember it’s not just mosquitoes; there are ants and spiders and god knows what else all around. I want them all out of my tent whether I’n in it or not. So yeah keep the net floor. with one big caveat: when it’s wet it weighs a lot more than 5 ounces. I carry polycryo for that.

If you leave 1/3 of a power bar behind, it makes up for the net floor weight gain.

[Edward Jursek]

I used to use the Zpacks HexaMid Solo with a poncho/ground sheet. The Zpacks poncho/ground sheet is the best poncho I have ever used, with the best hood, hands down. I prefer the full bug net of the HexaMid over the S2S Nano Net. The full net keeps out all critters, cuts down on over-spray and splash, and doesn’t feel claustrophobic.

[mike p]

The S2S net is optional to bring, the sewn in floor is not.. meaning you have to carry its weight around even in areas where you don’t need it. People that cowboy camp without bivys don’t wake up swarmed by insects. Paired with the cuben bathtub ground sheet, which will take care of the majority of interference from critters and certainly the splash (otherwise, use other gear you have like a rain kilt/jacket/umbrella/etc. multi use is good!), you have an amazingly light and modular set up. Don’t need the bug protection? 10oz shelter. S2S net rips? Replace it for $40. Don’t wanna use the tarp but there’s mosquitos? Set up the bug net, sleep under the stars. Just has more possibilities.

That isn’t to say the sewn in doesn’t have its advantages, I’d just weigh the advantages of having the  modular set up to be more than the sewn in. Not sure how you feel about winter camping, but I hear the sewn in sucks for snow. To each their own, though.

[Bob Moulder]

Recently I’ve been testing tarp/bivy set-ups for those times when the weather is wet and nasty or too warm for my pooch to go with me, thus requiring the Duplex.

As mentioned, the nice thing about this combo is the option of using the bivy alone when there is no chance of rain.

For cooler weather with a chance of rain—as there was two nights ago—I used the ZP Hex solo (with the storm doors) and a bivy that is very similar to the ZP Splash bivy, custom made by a very dear friend (but that’s another story), with a Momentum 90 top. I tested with another tarp on a different trip and the bivy can indeed handle rain splash very well. On my trip a couple of nights ago it ended up not raining although it was very windy until about 2am. I am fairly certain this will handle nasty weather (wind plus a lot of rain) no problem.

For the summer, the plan is to pair it with a Borah UL Bug bivy, but that one doesn’t have a bathtub floor so maybe not ideal for deploying in a mucky, wet campsite.

[David V]

I use a the older Zpacks solo tarp with the beak and a polycro ground sheet the shoulder seasons in NE Minnesota.  In fact I just used it for a trip where I encountered some wet blowing snow and a little freezing rain and stayed dry.  It would not be my first choice for those conditions, but other than sagging more than I would have liked, it held up ok and I stayed dry.  This has been my “go to” tent/tarp when bugs are not an issue for the past three seasons and I like the small packed size and light weight.  Not a lot of room, but enough to get the job done.  I like it  and would buy it again.  In any case, the Solo tarp has kept me dry every trip I’ve used it on including some where I encountered some relatively heavy rain, so I think it will work you too.

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