Is the Duomid long enough for someone who i 6'5" tall?

Thanks Ron

Yes, particularly if you're solo in it since you can then sleep on a diagonal.

John - you can still sleep diagonal with the pole in the middle?

>John - you can still sleep diagonal with the pole in the middle?

I usually offset the pole just over a foot, which I can just barely manage with the GG LT4's without an extension. It's just enough to leave me room for a diagonal... not quite corner to corner, but a diagonal none the less.

Thanks!

While the DuoMid comes with an extension, I made my own a little longer - 8 inches IIRC - and moved the small plastic cap from the provided extender to my new one. I ordered some aluminum tubing and cut it to length with a plumber's tubing cutter and cleaned up all the edges with a chainsaw (small round) file. This gives me more options as I can set my pole length to either batten down or raise the sides for full ventilation.

Do make certain that you remove all the roughness from the tube so that no damage is done to fabric. I just store mine with stakes in the provided DuoMid stuff sack.

This setup allows me to offset the pole a good bit, I prefer mine to be offset towrds the door, put all equipment inside near the door as it is easier to get at from outside, and sleep slightly diagonally across the rear. Tons o' room inside; one of the main reasons I bought this thing.

Edited by gbruce on 06/29/2009 10:43:12 MDT.

Harlan's idea is no doubt the way to go for long term reliability, but on my Coastal Trail hike earlier this year, I ended up just putting a rock under my pole each night to give it some extra height. This allowed me to move the pole towards the door quite a bit. I'd say over a foot. You would be surprised at how much of an angle you can put on the pole once the mid is staked out.
Here is a picture of the setup, and yes my tent is an absolute disaster but I wasn't expecting company. ;)

The rock is covered by my pack, but if you look closely you can make out the tip of the trekking pole which is obviously raised quite a bit from the ground...because of the rock. The technique worked quite well. You can make out the angle of the pole aswell.

I'm not 6'5" but just shy by 2 inches. I'm 6'3" and fit rather nicely.

I know this is way off topic, but I am loving those nightlight flip flops. (Atleast that's what I think they are)

Thanks for the reply. I believe I'm going to get one.

Ron

Edited by tigerpaws on 06/29/2009 15:06:51 MDT.

Patrick: Good catch. I actually made those on the trail one evening after soaking my feet. Lightest flip flops around!

Ron: you'll be good. However, I find that if pitched right to the ground, I do have some clearance issues when lying straight. Nothing major, but don't expect there to be any additional space above your head or below your feet. This obviously will become less of an issue the higher the pitch.

Let us know how it works out for you.

I have a questions for all you Duomid users... Is a bivy necessary with these shelters? Also, are you able to pitch it tight enough to the ground so that bugs aren't a problem?

-Sid

PS- sorry for hijacking the thread but I figured it concerns the Duomid so it's not too off topic :)

Hi Sid,
A bivy is not required with the Duomid. It is very much full coverage, however, there has been one time where I was in a substantial rain storm and the drops would hit the floor beside the Duomid and splash under the edge onto my bag. Nothing that a decent bag couldn't handle but worth mentioning in case you camp in torrential rain on a regular basis. I would think that almost no one uses a bivy in the Duomid but others can chime in if they disagree.

I haven't used mine during bug season, but I find it tough to get a pitch right to the ground all the way around. Even if I put the pegs right through the loops on the corners, the front and back have a small gap in order to get the pitch tight. I think if you are dealing with a moderate amount of bugs, you may want to select a different shelter, ask Ron to add a bug net around the perimeter of the Duomid, or bring additional bug protection for inside the Mid.

HTH

Depends on what you need the bivvy for. Water or bug protection? I need protection from both, depending on time of year. I'm waiting on the inner nest arriving. I need some form of protection on saturated ground from flood water, so at the moment i use a MLD bug-bivvy on top of polycro. I use boulders to create a 'bathtub' with the polycro.
If it was outwith bug season (lower temps), i would use a Ti-Goat bivvy (i use a quilt) and the polycro.

I will echo what others have said, for bug season, you will need some type of protection. I have been using a bug bivy with an integrated floor with mine, but am awaiting the inner nest from MLD which will let me stretch out a bit. While storm protection is great with it pitched tight to the ground, bugs and flowing water of course can still get in pretty easily.

Just got my cuben DuoMid from Ron & got a chance to pitch it today for the first time. I bought the DuoMid for a light weight winter Solo Shelter. Setup was easy as pie!

Per Ron's advice I used 2' lengths of guyline at the corners & 6' lengths at the mid points to start. I set my GG LT4 trekking pole for 54-55" & this gave me a nice open pitch with the stakes set out a bit. Once I settle on the guyline lengths I'll be switching to BPL Aircore Pro/Mini lineloc setup. I did this with my Cuben Grace Solo tarp. It's strong, works great, very light & I get to keep the convenience of lineloc's.

Thanks to all for the setup tips.
Barnett

Here's some pics.

Edited by Barnett_Childress on 07/25/2009 11:33:19 MDT.

IN the UK where we have bugs and a lot of rain a bivy is a good idea. I use a Soul Bivy which I really rate. In dry weather in summer I might use a groundsheet but for most of the time here I use the Soul —sometimes justas a groundsheet if it is warm.

Here are some pics showing how the inverted-v trekking pole setup with a z-rest (and 4 year old) in it for scale. A LOT of room with this setup.

Edited by signet77 on 07/29/2009 20:33:07 MDT.

Jonathan,
What length did you set the poles at for the V setup? Looks nice lots of room.

That was the poles set to 135cm (max for my older BD poles) plus 12" pole jacks (165cm total).

Hi Jonathon,

Where did you get the two 12'' pole jacks?