Pyramid shelters have been classics of ultralight hiking since long before the term ultralight existed. They are simple, fast, strong, and provide lots of protected space for the weight; all attributes desirable in any UL gear. When done well, pyramid shelters provide excellent protection from both precipitation and wind. However, doing a pyramid shelter well depends on the proper execution of several basic yet subtle principles. This article will discuss these principles in the context of reviewing the Lil' Bug Out (LBO) base shelter with 3 piece vestibule, made by the American cottage company Seek Outside.
Classic mids have a square or rectangular footprint, with ground level lengths between eight and ten feet, and center pole heights between four and six feet. The geometry provided by these dimensions works well, and balances wind resistance, the ability to withstand snowloading, and livable interior space for 2 or 3 people, with sleeping four possible in a pinch. Smaller mids can work for 1-2 people. Larger mids provide more space, but begin to run into constraints finding large enough campsites, and present larger flat panels which are potentially less weather resistant. Center heights much lower than 4.5 feet severely restrict liveable space: witness the Mountain Laurel Designs Speedmid and Trailstar, which have footprints as big as 3-4 person mids, but only provide room for two when pitched to the ground. Mids taller than six feet add fabric weight, and as likely need a much stronger pole to support such a span. In summary, there is a good reason why the most popular mids share a fairly narrow dimensional range.
It is important to note the lack of uniformity in factory claimed dimensions. Black Diamond quotes useable interior space, which is admirably conservative if somewhat confusing. Other mids are known for having claimed heights with only the corners just kissing the ground. This height criteria is most useful as users will want to pitch the hem as close to the ground as possible in bad weather. Buyers should be a bit skeptical of these figures, and seek out user provided measurements.
Much though the category is revered, mids have inherent limitations. By far the most commonly cited is the limited headroom caused by steeply sloped walls, as well as the presence of a pole right in the center of the living area. For instance, the Black Diamond Megalight is a square with 8.6 ft long sides, when pitched to the ground. This provides 74 ft2 of protected area, a veritable palace for two hikers, given that two person backpacking tents average around 30-35 ft222
This is a less than ideal state of affairs, and a problem which to a certain extent. In the simplest terms, weatherproofing a tent has to do with angles. Provided the material is waterproof enough, shedding wind and snow consists of a canopy whose angles provide a slick footprint. A good example is the aforementioned Trailstar (reviewed by Colin Ibbotson) whose wind resistance is perhaps unmatched, gram for gram. When pitched to the ground, the Trailstar is nearly 11 ft in diameter, and barely 3.5 ft tall in the center. It is a good shape to foil wind, assisted by pitch-perfect curves on all seams, but it's not much of a liveable space. A Trailstar pitched low in this manner is also easy prey for snow, and prone to be well and truly flattened unless the door panel is raised which in turn creates increased wind exposure. This is another reason for most mids having dimensions similar to that of the Megalight With approximately 45 degree angled walls, the shelter has a good balance of wind resistance from all five directions and snow shedding ability, unfortunately this comes at the expense of ideal headroom. ARTICLE OUTLINE # WORDS: 3140 A Premium or Unlimited Membership* is required to view the rest of this article. * A Basic Membership is required to view Member Q&A events
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Lil’ Bugout Shelter Review
Thank you for your thorough review of the LBS! I recently stumbled upon it (via BPL forum), and was disappointed at the dearth of reviews and videos for Seek Outside products. The company website isn't exactly forthcoming with info, and I haven't found any good setup videos.
My previous comment was kinda unclear: The review was great, it was the lack of information otherwise that was disappointing. This review remedies a lot of that. Now, if Seek Outside would provide some setup videos…
I'll echo Kenda. I originally looked at the Seek Outside Bug Out versions, but there were so few pictures and the descriptions largely incomplete that it was difficult to tell what they even had put together. This remedies much of that (though, more clear, sunny pictures would be really helpful still, especially given all the options the shelter apparently has).
Second, thanks for applying your usually rigorous analysis to this piece. You've given me a lot of good ideas for a possible large 'mid I've been thinking about sewing up in the future. Question, though: with a wood stove, how much space do you usually reserve around it? From the pictures, it seems an 18" radius about covers it, but I've only spent one night in a hot tent–an 8 man Kifaru with only two of us–and we had as much room as we could want. It was a bit difficult to gauge the needs for a more backpackable shelter.
There are some overview videos on our site and YouTube channel. IMO those provide a pretty solid overview. but if they don't please provide the feedback of what information you are looking for and we will try to address. The LBO itself has several reviews floating around , there is a testimonials page on our site, which had unsolicited reviews, as well as the product reviews in our shopping cart.
Regarding setup, we try to give advice on it, but because it can be pitched and used a million different ways its hard to reign in a right vs wrong. Suffice to say, the 2 bases together is a super easy mid pitch, adding in the tarp is almost exactly the same. The 3 P vestibule is a little tricker geometry and we can do a better job with that. The base by itself, you can pitch it a lot of ways as well.
We have done a couple product updates to the LBO. One is we include a vent now in he base units. As Dave alluded unzipping under the beak is way more effective but not always practical. We also added a sod skirt standard as the rest of our shelters have them and overall it makes it a nicer more capable shelter. We build things a little different than a lot of the UL market and spend a little more time on reinforcemt and stress distribution to handle really unsettled weather.
Thanks for the feedback, feel free to reach out to us anytime. You have to realize , we have a very different view than a potential customer that is new to us. All you need to do is reach out and we will try to resolve or point you in the right direction
Sent from iPhone so if there are errors please understand
I've never been a fan of mid shelters, particularly for winter. But THIS modified mid has me interested, especially with a lightweight, collapsable wood burning stove.
Thanks for the thorough review Dave.
I'd say 18" is about right.
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