Ok i have been a member for a while now, and have learned a lot by reading all the posts, This is my first post, so in my quest to go lighter i picked a MLD speedmid tent, for when i go with my girlfriend and two large dogs. I will be pairing it with a bearpaw pyranet three. So for some reason I am having trouble getting a tight pitch on the speedmid, it seems like i can get three sides tight but the fourth is loose. Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Andrew

Make sure the site you pitch it on is as flat as possible. It is also helpful to make sure to make each corner as close to a 90 degree angle as possible. Imagine a square or rectangle. If it's pulled a little one way or another you won't get a tight pitch. The guylines on each corner should be at a 45 degree angle to the corner. Don't pitch anything tight or finalize anything or try to put the pole in until everything is nice and square on as flat a site as you can manage. You may need to fiddle a bit with the corners to get everything perfect and square. Then put the pole in and voila!

What's always worked for me on the various MLD mids I owned was to stake one end, then pull the shelter taut and stake the other end. This should ensure a good squared pitch, which should result in a tautly pitched shelter.

I will try setting it up that way tonight. Thanks for the help. Andrew

Hey, Andrew, I've got a Speedmid on order and plan on pairing the Bearpaw pyranet 3, too. Did you have any custom mods made on the inner net to make it fit under the speedmid?

I was thinking of asking Bear Paw to lower the peak of the pyranet to the height of the MLD duomid inner net.

(Sorry to highjack your post; tried to PM you, but that option isn't available)

Thanks a ton.

--David

I had bearpaw lower the peak height of the pyranet tent 3 to 50 inches, seems to work good, i think 48 inches would probably be better.

What is the advantage of having the pyranet height lower than the height of the pyramid?

I would also experiment with pole height, as I found this critical when pitching my Duomid.

Do you all stake the 4 corners directly to the ground (with side tie outs staked out for ventilation) or pitch the whole thing a few inches off the ground? If off the ground, do you do that from the start or do you stake the corners directly to the ground to get it set up initially, then adjust from there? Also, what would you suggest as a length for all the necessary guylines? I have a simlar pyramid that I've only used once so far and still need to cut the guylines.

Daniel--the pyranet is taller than the MLD Speedmid. Lowering the peak of the net tent should allow it to be pitched tautly under the Speedmid.

The reason I asked is because Golite Nests are taller than their respective shelters. The shelter and nests peaks are together With the nest tight(pole extended as far as possible). This results in the shelter edges ending up a few inches above ground level for ventilation. If the nest/pyranet etc has a bathtub floor the shelter can be pitched higher.

I see. Interesting point.

I was using the duomid inner net peak as a guide, since the speedmid is just a square duomid. But it is true--I was considering silnylon 10 inch sidewalls on 3 sides.

So are you suppose to use a pole extension with the speedmid, or can you get away with just using trekking pole. On the MLD website, it says something about coming with pole extension, and mine didn't. Tried the tips tonight, work a little better, i think i will just have to keep playing with it. thanks for the help Andrew

I use a gossamer gear lighttrek pole with mine (no extender). Usually set to about 52-54 inches.

So are you suppose to use a pole extension with the speedmid.

Depends on how long your trekking pole is:) You could perhaps experiment by placing something under the base end and see if this makes for a better pitch.

Edited by jephoto on 06/15/2011 01:20:10 MDT.

If your pole extends to 135 cm or so you probably don't need the extender unless you want to pitch the speedmid really high. I find that in practice I end up pitching the corners pretty close to the ground since the sides have a pretty pronounced catenary curve to them and the middle of the sides end up quite a bit off the ground, especially if you stake out the sides.

I haven't used it yet, but the speedmid seems just about the perfect ultralight shelter for 3. I'm surprised it hasn't gotten more attention. Full bug protection for 36 oz when coupled with the Bearpaw innernet--12oz/person. That's compared to the Rainshadow at 42 oz.

In the bug-free seasons, 18 oz and no need for bivies, so you're talking a real shelter weight of around 7 oz/person (taking into account a polypro ground cloth). That's very hard to beat.

Also, unlike one-piece single wall designs, the weight and volume can be shared--one person carries the inner net, one the shelter.

Plus the low pyramid shape should be good in bad weather, coupled with those blue aluminum stakes. That and MLD's high quality silnylon in yellow.

Maybe I'll sing a different tune after putting it through the paces . . .