MLD Solomid Pro DCF – 7.2 oz

Fastpackers and thru hikers. There are the minimalists. It’s easy to get caught up. I drive as far as I can. I like to walk out about five or ten miles. Whatever it takes to get away from the toilet paper, most of the footprints. Set up camp, shed my gear and day hike the area. If I walk much further, it generally takes me to another road and a spot I could have driven to. Back to the to toilet paper and the footprints. The TT ProTrek is as small as I want to get. A few ounces more, but no center pole. Maybe a DCF version when it comes out.

I like the simplicity of the mids. The full coverage compared to a tarp. With the floorless design, I don’t think the footprint is of as much concern. Only the perimeter and a small sleeping space. With that it doesn’t need to be a perfect pitch. Even in a heavily treed area, I think I could somehow dangle it as a tarp. A few more ounces for a larger size. It still leads to a low base weight. I’m out for exercise anyway. The pro looks like a beautiful shelter. Ron said it wasn’t for me. He even put it in print. With that kind of honesty, I have to listen. Or is it just a bait and switch? I’ve been waiting on Durston to see what he put out. 👣 That’s me tapping my feet. Sorry Dan. I know s*** happens. I think he’ll sell out quickly anyway.

Duomid XL is really nice if you want size! Pretty big footprint,  but palace inside. 2 trekking poles easily connected together with the supplied straps, it becomes a fortress.

Is Dursten coming out with a single pole mid style shelter?  I have been curious about that for some time..

Honestly,  I said it before.. Six Moon Designs Gatewood Cape and Serenity Innernet or bivy has been my favorite, other then flat tarp and bivy.. but it is very minimal and small. So Im hoping this MLD Solomid Pro has a tiny bit more room? At the least, the innernet is slightly wider with bathtub walls a few inches higher.

NVM

I was waiting on Durston’s free standing tent before blowing my budget for the year. Unfortunately, it looks like he had delays in material.

I went back and forth  over the Duomid XL. At that point, the Supermid is less than 2′ wider. I could use a half insert with plenty of room. I think I may be able to cheat in tighter conditions. Especially with double doors. I could leave them unzipped and overlap them. Tall enough to sit up in using a chair. Besides, it’s pretty much too late. The damage is done. Went for the bug skirt. Eighteen ounces, plus maybe three for the second entrance, eight ounces for the bug skirt, and my bivy weighs just over six ounces. About 35 ounces. Maybe 40 all together.  Not bad for a large tent, besides, I have tarps for going smaller. Four to eight weeks…

for reference.  Thats the Duomid Xl next to the Gatewood Cape.  For anyone questioning sizes. I made a short You Tube video of them next to eachother in my backyard for comparison on the sizes.

Cool. Love to see it when u get it and tell us what u think!

I’m waiting to hear on your Solomid Pro. With the high walls around the floor, you should have plenty of space with good wind protection.

@ Terran, I’m sure you no doubt chose the orange citrus color.

Good purchase. MLD is like the Hilleberg of the western hemisphere in terms of highest quality materials and craftsmanship. Take the 20D silpoly for example. Ron searched for years before he found a material that measured up. It’s a sil/sil with a 5000 HH and Ron tests every single roll in house before he makes anything out of it. Same with the silnylon on the Supermid. Combine that with the best sewing techniques (Virginia USA) and you have the gold standard. We’re talking very durable and long lasting gear. Quality control in the small shop is certainly more thorough than the Asian factories cranking out tents (not to say they don’t make good shelters).

I read a few comments on another website throwing shade at Ron and basically calling him washed up. He doesn’t come out with a new gimmicky tent every couple of months, and I realize some people have adopted new Gods of late, but I loathe the cult like practice of seeing everything that came before as substandard or obsolete. MLD products have stood the test of time. The Solomid Pro will give MLD a big boost because it is the right size and design as well as being truly SUL. Ron is getting down and dirty ultralight, the crusty old bird ain’t done yet. Turns out uber low weights really do matter, regardless of what people might say about the shallowness of weight obsession…low numbers matter.

I love that orange color. It reminds me of a field of California poppies. I use it strategically as it is a bit bright. I have an orange MLD poncho for when I want to be seen. Smaller equipment that I want to see when picking up camp. Perhaps if I was a hunter. While not as stealth as the poly, I went with DCF. It shows green, but the description is grey. Semi stealth. At my age, it will probably last me long enough. I’ve actually have had good luck with DCF. I like it.

I respect the cult. Durston came out with a tent design that works for the masses. The peoples tent comparable to VW bugs. Tarptent on the other hand creates designs that appeal to specific folks for specific reasons. MLD builds a specific tent for specific folks. A variety of sizes while not trying to appeal to everybody. All good companies and they’ve all found their spot. A lot of credit should go to Six Moons as well. We’re lucky to have such a choice. It makes choosing only one tent extremely difficult.

Now Monty, if you would stop tempting me..actually I appreciate your reviews. I like the ProTrek. I bought it with the intent of replacing it with DCF if I liked it. Maybe sell it, or my granddaughter has her eye on it. It’s a nice tent. The simplicity of the mids seems hard to beat. I’m close in size to Dirt. Six foot if I don’t slouch. I’m waiting on his report. However I just put a huge dent in my gear budget.

It’s a shame I can only sleep in one tent at a time.

I was about ready to pull the trigger on a ProTrek until I read that a lighter woven version would also be coming along. Of course you could easily sell the ProTrek for at least 70% what you paid. The DCF version is not for me on a few levels though. And yea, the X-Mid is probably the best UL trekking pole tent for the money, if you don’t mind a 65″ width.

This is the original Solomid pitched 3″ off the ground. Same 50″ tall peak as the Solomid Pro but the panels come down 2 to 3 inches lower to the ground at the same height. Also the silpoly is a tad heavier and stronger than the silpoly on the Pros. The big disadvantages of the original are 1) it’s 3″ narrower than the Solomid Pro (same length). 2) It’s not asymmetrical so its peak is set dead center (pic below). That creates a big problem when using only 1 pole, but I’ve managed to adjust with the MYOG inner. 3) It’s heavier. I’d rather have the new Solomid Pro, but that would only knock 3 oz off the fly weight, however it’s the greatly increased space behind 1 pole (with asymmetrical design and extra 3″ width) that are the most tempting. I keep telling myself I won’t buy the Solomid Pro (see how I’m trying to rationalize?). I’ll probably end up getting weak and buying one anyway.

I have no complaints about the ProTrek. If I liked it, my plans were to replace it with a lighter version. I do like it. I really have no reason to replace it. Maybe I’ll just wear it out or wait at least until I have a reason.

Ron doesn’t stock the two way zippers. Not a deal breaker. I did ask him to provide some inside ties on both sides of the door, about 4′ high, so I can hang my poncho across the bottom of the open door, leaving just a window.

Dirt…

And on the innernet.. an 18 inch zipper length wise along the back side opposite the door side.. between the bathtub floor and bug net.

A vertical zipper on the back of the inner net. Not much weight. I take it that it’s right in the middle. Interesting idea. Maximizing space. Something I’m not as concerned about. Thinking that it might be a handy spot for a headlight, phone, etc.. A pocket of sorts.  Looking at a half insert using the Duomid XL inner. I’d have roughly 5″ of space. What items do you store there? Thank you.

I have not stored much of anything there, as I usually dont have much stuff with me.. but I love having that option available.  I was on the fence to have or not too have..  there is usually plenty of space under the tarp behind the innernet.. so why lose out on it if needed?

I invision putting a pouch behind the netting to use as a catchall. A pocket of sorts. I wonder if I’d even need a zipper. Maybe just an overlap. Perhaps a piece of Velcro.

overlap sounds better then velcro if you wanted a pouch style.

“perhaps a piece of velcro”

noseeum bug netting and velcro don’t mix. Velcro loves to shred the lighter .7 netting with just a touch….and if it’s the .50 forget about it.

18″ of #3 YKK coil and a double zipper pull only weighs 8 g. Easy to install with the zipper foot.

Hair and Velcro don’t mix either. Ron said that I wouldn’t gain much room. Just brainstorming. Ron brought me back to reality. I’ll have plenty of room anyway. I think it makes more sense on the pro.

I think a half insert will bring me up to around 46 ounces. That sounds a little better than 3 pounds. Actually pretty light for what it is.

I was sold on this until I saw the pic of the inner, and realised that the door zip is inverted. Ie, the zip runs up the centre then across the top, leaving the netting connected at the bottom. I’ve had and used tents over the years that did that with the inner net, and, I’m not a fan. Mosquitos have more opportunity to come in (my number one concern), and I never liked how the door would then flop down, sometimes into the mud/water in the vestible (not impossible to solve, you just have to pay more attention to it). It would also weigh more, as, the A+C sides are longer than the A+B sides of a right-angled triangle…ie more zipper length.

I really prefer the idea of two seperate, straight zippers on the A and B sides (not a single curved zipper), because, at least theoretically:

– if one zipper breaks, the other is still working fully. The door is mostly closed, at least, either way. If the vertical A zipper was the one to break in its entirety, I could temporarly lightly handsew the top ~1/3 to 1/2 to reduce bug ingress where its most likely (at the top), while still being able to wriggle into the inner from the bottom.

-theoretically the most common failure point for a zipper will be where its used the most along its length, ie the end that you start to open it from. In the A+C scenario, this is indeed at the top. Again where most bugs come in. With the A+B scenario, that is from the bottom where its less an issue, and the zip might still be useable for the upper sections.

– straight zippers last longer than curved zippers. Shorter zippers, theoretically, have fewer failure points (individual teeth) than long ones.

-with the top opening A+C zippers, you have to unzip them all the way down to their bottom, otherwise you risk putting more strain on them (the remaining engaged teeth) when you enter or exit the inner tent, as you put pressure across the fabric (I noticed this problem years ago in a Macpac Olympus).

-straight zippers are easier to sew in… useful for eventual replacement or repair anywhere in the world by someone far less skilled and experienced than say, Ron. I can also more likely find a shorter length of zipper (in any size) to fit rather than a longer zipper to fit either an A+B curver, or a C length.

– I can unzip the A, or B zippers individually, and partially, in order to reach through to the vestible to grab things, adjust the centre pole, etc, without opening up much mesh. Especially I’m not opening mesh from the top, which is where more bugs and Mosquitos hang out, and I can’t partially open, easily, from the top to reach something on the floor of the vestible.

Good observations Adam, I couldn’t tell exactly how the zips worked. And speaking of the Pro inners, Ron has revised the specs and prices. Now the length is listed as 86″ instead of the 82″ initially posted. I didn’t think that sounded right. Same width at 30″. Also the height is shown to be 42″ and that seems mighty low, but with the 7″ bathtub floor it will probably be fine. Weight on the silpoly inner is now 10 oz, down from 11 oz.

Pro inner prices have jumped way up since their inveiling. Silpoly was 155 USD and DCF 235 USD. Now they are 180 USD and 260 USD. And the Pro inners are grouped with the other innernets on the webpage and not as “Add Options” with the fly.

I’m looking at buying the silpoly Cricket Pro. One reason besides price is I don’t have confidence in #3 zips on a fly. I’ll make my own half pryamid innernet for it with a 7d MTN silnylon floor (0.8 oz/sq yd), same 7″ bathtub height and 30″ width, but with an 88″ length and 47″ tall. I’ll also use .50 noseeum to knock off around .6 oz. Probably will sew 7D silnylon on lower half of front triangle since the Cricket can be more vulnerable to rain spray. Weight should be about the same as Solomid Pro inner. I think a half pyramid will fit better using just 1 pole and I will use an L zip (2 straight zippers) for entry/exit (like on my MYOG inner for the Solomid on page 1). It’s harder to get in and out an L zip, but a zipper fail very unlikely, and the mesh never touches the ground.

As I said in previous post. My Gatewood Cape with Serenity Innernet will be tough to beat.. for me personally.   All together, with 7 stakes on my scale it weighed 24 ounces. Thats included the stuff sack, which is actually the built in pocket on the door.

So I will see how this solomid Pro and Innernet work for me when I get it..  if the Innernet is 42 inches high,  that could be hit or miss for me.  I have to actually pitch it and be inside of it to see how it works.  For sleeping it definitely will be 100% ok.  And I get thats what its for.. spending minimal time in it for sleeping.. but at that point,  Im content using my bug bivy or regular bivy.   I would like to be able to at least sit up cross legged for a few minutes..  anyway..  will see when I get it and pitch it and actually get inside of it,  that’s the only way I will really know.

Of course the Serenity Net will fit with the Solomid Pro just fine.

I had a few gripes with the Gatewood and first was that the footprint is actually kind of big for its small living space, and that’s a function of the half pyramid fly. Gatewood and Lunar Solo are basically half pyramids with a vestibule and they geometrically take up more square footage than a pyramid of equal capacity. A pyramid (or slightly offset one like Solomid Pro) is considerably narrower. That being said the Lunar Solo is still my favorite 1 trekking pole tent of them all, it’s just the footprint is so gigantic I won’t use one anymore. The good thing about the half pyramid is it gets the pole the hell out of your way.

Another thing I didn’t like about the Gatewood is the stretchy 15D silnylon that sagged and held a lot of water. Not a high quality 15D like the Scandinavian companies use. And lastly the whole pole through the hood thing is a little weird when compared to how a small pyramid sets up.

I actually like the hood at top for opening.  It makes an excellent vent and the option to seal it closed from inside is nice too.

Three different figures for the height of the Pro innernet. I noticed when looking at square footage of the MLD SM compared to a comparable size HMG there was a vast difference. Ron reported usable space while HMG reported actual square footage, then rounded up. Back to the height of the Pro. I was told 44″. Dirt was told 45″.  I wonder if the 42″ is usable space. Where your head actually fits.

Sitting down, I’m maybe 33″ tall. Even with a thick pad, well under 42″.

Sitting down I am exactly at 37 inches tall. No pad. Again, I only use a Nemo Switchback CCF pad, nothing else..  So yeah, Im well under that 42 height..  well.. not well under, but enough under it, I like to think.  I shall find out in a few weeks if I like it or not..