MLD SoloMid XL Set-up Tips&Tricks

Disclaimer:  I’ve never used a SoloMid XL, but do have experience with a DuoMid.

1. I try to keep my head pointing up slope if I can. Side to side is annoying because you end up against the center pole or back edge of the shelter during the night.
2. 90° corners. This, above all else, seems to affect pitch the most.
3. 1 dedicated center pole. I’m not a trekking pole user, so from a weight standpoint, 2 makes less sense for me.
4. I’ll push the pole out towards the door a bit (1 or 2 inches) to create extra space in the back of the shelter since that’s where I sleep. If the shelter starts to droop a bit during the night, I’ll sometimes straighten up the pole to make the shelter taut again.
5. I usually have about an inch slacked at each of the 4 corners during setup. I don’t adjust these after that, but rather adjust the height of the pole to take up the slack. Then I stake out the back and front (door) center hem guy. I shoot for about 1-2 feet away from the shelter, but will adjust accordingly if a stake won’t go in. Once staked, I tighten these up pretty good. I rarely use any other guy lines unless there’s rain and/or wind. For precip, I also tighten up the head and foot hem guys similar to the back and front ones described above, but I don’t apply as much force when tightening. For significant wind I’ll then use the front and back mid panel guy lines staked out from the shelter to create 45° angles, give or take. I tighten these only to where it barely begins to pull, but no more. They’re just used to minimize deflection, which encroaches on the interior space.
6. I use a ’14 MLD solo innernet, which doesn’t have the corner struts of the newer versions. Otherwise, I think they’re about the same. I attached short lengths of small dia. cord, maybe 2 inches, to the back corners of the inner and those terminate to a bowline knot. The loop of the knot clips into the corresponding mitten hook of the DuoMid, which is sewn into the bottom edge of the corner. Similar to the back, the front is connected to the DuoMid’s corresponding mitten hooks in the front (door side) corners. Obviously this length of cord is much longer, maybe 2 1/2 feet, and I add an adjustable grip hitch so I can adjust tension if needed. The top of the inner has a 4-5″ loop of elastic cord attached, which attaches to the inner apex mitten hook of the DuoMid. If I need to adjust the tension here, I just re-tie the loop smaller or bigger as necessary.
7. Once the inner is clipped in, you can leave it there during setup/take down.

Hi Alex,

Thanks so much for the very informative input. I’m still relatively new to using a ‘mid, but a lot of the things that you said (e.g. using the side mid-panel to prevent deflection into the interior space) resonate with what I’ve experienced so far.

One thing that I’ve noticed is that when I set up the shelter with only one pole (deflected slightly to the front door), the two rear ridgelines are often slack and nothing that I do is able to get them taut. Have you experienced something similar and/or know a good way to deal with that? I’ve just been using a second trekking pole with an extender to compensate for this which works well.

You mentioned that you keep your inner attached? Do you find it is more difficult to store in your pack this way? I’ve just been unattaching it which can get annoyingly time consuming.

Thanks again for all your help!

Sincerely,

Chris

Hi Chris, I have a Cuban Solomid XL. I don’t have a Inner net yet, it’s on order (I may have to designate an Heir).

I find the solomid easy to setup, BUT it doesn’t seem symmetrical when it’s up. In particular the front doors wouldn’t line up tight at the bottom. I even called MLD and spoke to Ron Bell, who seems to be a very nice, helpful guy.

So far the best pitch for me is reversing the instructions, that is- I set the two front corners first, then the two rear corners. Keeping a 90deg angle at each corner. I use the carbon pole from MLD.

I have experience with other ‘mids and they’ve been square and easier to setup, I don’t know why. Please don’t misunderstand, I’m very happy with the Solomid- it just has a negative effect on me to watch the bottom of the doors flap when everything else is taut.

I have a couple suggestions that might be helpful. First you can’t practice too much. Second I like a ten inch pole jack. I find the 6 inch jack MLD talks about too short to accomplish the pole lean I like. I can make the pole only so long but I can make it shorter if need be. This seems to be more flexible.

I too like a longer than recommended length. So much flexibility in the pitch. I peg the sides of my XL first as I am able to pin down both corners at once. Leave it loose. Insert pole, add the pegs for the front and back and snug it all up. Practice makes it easy.

KenX2 what pole jack do you guys use?

I have one from Bearpaw Wilderness Designs that I like.  I also have the CF one Zpacks sells, but it didn’t fit the tips of my Locus Gear pokes well.

I use a Ruta Locura pole or my Locus Gear pole, no jack.

Ken T, thanks.

What size did pole you go with from Ruta Locura? Adjusters?

By the way, that Locus Gear tent pole looks like a work of art!

I use this Ruta Locura pole with my SoloMid XL:
4 Section 54″-48″, 450 Adjuster, add shock cord.

I purchased it for another shelter, but I believe it’s also perfect for this one.

I just got my cuben Solomid XL recently and took it out for 5 days in the Marble Mountains last week.

Like Steven mentions, the one thing I haven’t quite been able to figure out with the pitch yet is how to get the front doors of the mid to be completely taut. I can get every other side of the asymmetrical mid to pitch taut, but still have some flapping at the bottom of the front doors.

Front panels have to be pulled out. Not possible to get an actual rectangular footprint with mine.

Mids are mids. With a little practice they are easy to pitch.

The bottom sides of my ’80s Chouinard pyramid are over 7′ long.

Here are some thoughts. Keep in mind that high desert winds are not uncommon for me, so I am not looking for a “nice looking pitch,” but a pitch that will stay secure in high wind. A pitch that stays secure will also look nice.

So here’s what I do, and it is just my opinion.

First you have to lay the shelter out on the ground and get everything symmetrical, e.g, “square” the corners. Leave the door zipper closed if you have one. Now loosely insert your corner stakes with enough slack for adjustment… the amount of slack will depend if you want a higher pitch for ventilation or want it close to the ground.

Now insert your center pole. Get inside and tension the pole tight. Unzip the door and exit, then close the zipper.

Tension the corner stakes — tight! You need lots of tension. You may have to reposition a stake — it happens sometimes.

Now stake out all the guylines — all of them!  Tighten, tighten, tighten.

You need a STURDY center pole. I don’t use trekking poles. Usually I bring .600″ carbon poles by Ruta Locura. Sometimes I bring a jack, sometimes not. With silnylon, jacks or adjustable trekking poles are best because the material has a tendency to stretch during the night, and usually cranking the height a bit takes care of most slack.

Stakes: There is a lot of tension on the stakes, especially the corners. Use strong stakes… not skinny shepherd stakes. Normally I use 9″ Easton stakes on the corners and MSR Groundhogs on the rest.

LineLocs: Yes, I use these and they add a tiny bit of weight. But I can really pull on these to get LOTS of tension on the guylines.

Guyline diameter: I switched out all my thinner guylines to 3mm to fit in my LineLoc 3 tensioners. Again, I cannot stress how important lots of tension is. And with lots of tension you need sturdy stakes, guys, and pole. I found thinner guys, even 2.5mm would slip a tiny bit under tension over a period of time.

Cuben is harder than silnylon to get a perfect pitch  because the material doesn’t stretch. The key with Cuben is to follow the steps I’ve outlined, especially laying out the shelter on the ground and getting the corners “square.”

I’ve never owned an inner, so I can’t comment on that.

Here’s a couple links to my blog where I discuss a lot of these points (poles, guys, stakes, etc).

Deschutes CF

TrailStar