My cuben stealth duomid took 8 weeks and a day to arrive.


The thing is amazing!

Edited by itbvolks on 05/11/2010 14:59:48 MDT.

Ah, good things come to those who wait, I guess.

Stop gloating! Some of us are still waiting on our MLD orders :)

It took over 8 wks to get mine. I've used it 1 night. I've got a WBBB & tarp coming now. The Duo may stay at home If I like the hammock.

Ron

Good decision on the Trailstar, though I'd go for yellow.

No sense to write OT here, rather keep it civil and reasonable.


Trailstar and Cuben DuoMid pitched on a recent trip.

Edited by skullmonkey on 05/11/2010 14:00:55 MDT.

Hendrik,

That's the best comparison picture I've seen between the two shelters!

OK, but did you pick a "bug" solution too?

Hi Hendrik,
Regarding:
"I'd go for yellow"

That would be good advice for people in many places, but not where some of us live. Camping is illegal in most of the US, especially where I live, so grey(gray) is by far the best choice for me.

Although hiking has been encouraged in many locations, backpacking is not and results in fines in many locations.

What are the bug options for the Trailstar?

Camping illegal?? Please tell me you are joking!! You can't camp on normal state and federal land?? Or is it just that a lot of the land down there is private and therefore you'd be trespassing? Man you guys got it rough down there!!!

As far as bug protection under the trailstar when I use it for overnight camping I'll be all cocooned up in my Ti Goat Ptarmigan bivy so it should be relatively bug free or thats the hope atleast. :D

Ah, yes the Ti Bivy, it easily fits in the daypack. I had one, but it was overkill for Arizona, I needed more Bug than Bivy.

I, too, am waiting on my Trailstar to come in. The many pitching options and it's simplicity sold it for me. Also, no-zip means it can't ever fail.

Hendrik, I was kinda pleased with that pitch actually ;-) The lens covers it slightly, but note the curve in the 'back' vertical seams on the DuoMid, caused by the centre pole being off centre. Not a show-stopper, but does ever-so-slightly affect the interior headroom, particularly when pitched tight to the ground. The side pull-outs help to mitigate this.

The Trailstar has a profusion of hanging loops inside, ideal for suspending a bivy bag head net (I use the TiGoat Ptarmigan wih full mesh) or creating a decent gear-drying clothes line.

Edited by PhilT on 05/12/2010 03:08:23 MDT.

Does anyone know how far off the ground the inside hooks are when sides are pitched to the ground? I might look into a MYOG bug protection project with the Trailstar.

OT -
"Camping is illegal in most of the US, especially where I live..."

True where private land predominates.
True adjacent to high density areas that are easily overrun.

But once you get into large tracts of state and federal lands, you will find very few restrictions.

...end drift (I hope)

"But once you get into large tracts of state and federal lands, you will find very few restrictions."


- Just out of curiosity, and as a foreigner living in the US often bewildered by the complexities of the BLM, are there any other state or federal lands other than the obvious state parks, national forests etc. which I might be missing?

I'm in Minneapolis, and the nearest large tracts of land as far as I'm aware are up around the BWCA and North Shore. I'd be happy to find something more 'local'.

"Just out of curiosity, and as a foreigner living in the US often bewildered by the complexities of the BLM, are there any other state or federal lands other than the obvious state parks, national forests etc. which I might be missing?"

National Forest and Wilderness are also good bets.

If you chat with local National Forest or National Park rangers, they'll give you a lot of advice. Every once in a while you'll run into an ornery one, but they're rare -- the vast majority of the rangers very much want to help you visit the wilderness.

Another resource is a local chapter of the Sierra Club or the Mountaineers. Check the national sites, and see if there are chapters in your vicinity. Those folks usually know the area really well, including who to talk to for back country permits and such.

This thread is perfect since I'm going to place an order for one of these in the next few days and have a decision to make.

I will be living out of this thing a LOT this summer in Wyoming working on trail crews and generally doing lots of backpacking and want a comfortable and versatile tent. One thing that I want is a decent sized opening. With a simple A-frame tarp I can sit upright at the head end and have the tarp completely above my head. At 6'1", I wonder if the Trailstar can still offer an opening this large, or is this how high the center pole is usually set to?

Also, sewing bug netting to the bottom of the Trailstar seems like more of a hassle than the Duomid. Since there is no dedicated door, I guess you would have to make a point to always using the same piece of fabric as the door opening, which is where you'd have a larger piece of netting? With the DuoMid it seems so simple. Ryan Jordan posted something on his blog where he did this to his SuperMid, just sewed netting to the bottom edge of the tarp...dunno about the door situation. ANYWAYS...does anyone have experience rigging bug netting to this thing other than just crawling inside your bivy with bug netting (not comfy in hot/humid climates!!!)?

Eric,
I should be receiving my Trailstar in a few weeks, and I've been debating on how I want to add bug protection.

I've got some ideas about attaching a removable netting--it attaches halfway (or somewhere in the vacinity) up the canopy. It then can attach to a silnylon groundsheet fit just big enough to sleep on. Why half way up and not at the very perimeter? I'm hoping to get the best of all worlds: bug protection that will work with most or all of the possible pitch configurations of the Trailstar, some covered yet floorless space to cook on, and a modular shelter.

Now, upon receiving my shelter and inspecting dimensions, I may find that my ideas will not work at all. I'll just have to wait and see. Please post with any of your ideas, and I'm going to be sure to do the same.

Eric, I reckon you could sew netting around the edges and add a center-opening bug door once you had your pitch sorted out. It would mean that you'd have to stick to one pitch height all the time, which would limit the versatility. I think a single-person inner net hanging from one or two of the inside hooks would be a better option. I need to push that to the top of my projects list, bug season is coming up fast.

As for door height, it really depends on the pitch. If you set the pole high and the sides high, you could have a very tall door. If you want the edges close to the ground, you can still have a taller door by creating a straighter ridgeline between the center pole and the upper guy point of the door. The edge corners by that door can be set close together, making a tall and narrow door, or up and further out, creating more space and ventilation.

It's hard to describe the differences in space fairly subtle variations in pitch and rigging will make.