Lab Notes

looking to buy a ‘mid for me and the lad in summer to use with a trekking pole: make me one!!!!

What about midgies? I think you’d need to have some midgeproof inner option.

Not sure I’d want to use it in high winds or in exposed locations-I imagine the high profile of it might catch in the wind…

Sounds like your ground sheet isn’t sewn-in?  Would be a problem for some events, eg KIMM.

If you can sort heat problems out sounds fantastic for summer treks!! Wouldn’t trust it in anything above a nats fart of wind though!!!

I was in the states a while ago (twenty years again...) and the guys i was wilderness backpacking with were into the pyramid fly thing.  I would suggest you include an attachment point at the apex - in forested areas a tension line between trunks can be used as a suspension, rather than go for the pole (I suppose if you have an eyelet for the pole at the apex this would be adequate).  If I were going to do this then I’d include a flyer about how to do a tension hitch (old git...aware that they don’t teach anything worthwhile in schools these days )

Also - think snow skirt - gives the option of added draught proofing, and of using boulders instead of pegs in rocky areas.  You could put the pegging eyelets in the skirt, which gives the option of using them for ground level guys.

Have a look at GoLite’s equivalent. They have done a similar thing (excl. the snowskirt idea) and it sounds as if their pole solution is neater:-
A short pole designed to be fitted onto the point of an upturned treking pole. I suggested this to them a while back.
Having read tests of this tent, two comments seem to arise:-
1) Its draughtiness if just a ground sheet is used. They now offer a dedicted mosie-proof inner too.
2) Difficulty in keeping the sides / edges taught to stop it flapping in the wind. Catenary cut panels might help with this.
Re condensation, do you have avent near the top to allow moisture out if cooking?

Used Tee-pee style tents in Norway / Greenland a few years ago and generally found them to be pretty stable once they where guyed out.

From the image on the web site this tent doesn’t have any guy lines. You could do with them on every seam, usually with two points connected with one line. Also a lower section ‘flap’ of fabric across each panel with another set of lines about 18inches from the floor.

If this is going to be a single skin tent then using mesh to connect the fly sheet to the ground sheet would still give the air flow and meet with kimm / lamm rules, snow valances with tie back points could also be an option. Leave them out and use it as a base camp shelter if dug in / held with stones if no peg point available. Or roll them up for more air flow.. Or have the ground sheet removable held in with Velcro attached to the mesh / fly

Hope this adds to the ideas list

I reckon a sewn in groundsheet-like a standard tent “bucket floor” would be a good addition. I have stayed in many tents, and in general, if I have got wet it was from a poor groundsheet-I reckon its worth the weight to have a bombproof sewn in ground sheet. Also perhaps a midgeproof door inside the outer door would give potential for ventelation without adding too much weight. my experience of ‘mids is that the door needs to be unzipped to the ceiling often, which leaves a lot of the tent open to the elements, and perhaps a circular door would be better. I also second the guy line and snow skirt-they would make it more versatile. of course all this would add weight, but you could make different model with different specs.
hope that helps.

Why use a mid shape? The pole is vulnerable to getting knocked and has to be longer to give height, using standard trekking poles means 1) Your tent poles are multi function and 2) you are not carrying a single function pole and/or extension. Golite hex suffers in this respect. In fact tho’ for head room a mid is the most wind shedding design - presenting least profile to wind.SIG + mesh is essential but golite nest is 2 x the weight of the shelter (ouch!).Usable space in a mid shrinks when wet and the fly is closing in.Also all the guying stress is thru one single point(Apex). I would like something like Force Ten Vitesse for next summer when I will be in Pyrenees with carbonlite poles I will purchase soon from Alpkit

I’ve used a Golite Hex 3 shelter for trips to Scotland, Switzerland and Japan over the last 2 years. It performs very well offering a huge amount of space for the weight. The optional clip in bathtub floor fills the whole footprint of the shelter. I’ve modified this to a rectangle in order to reduce weight and provide a “muddy” area by the door to remove boots and cook. Setting up the Octamid in a similar way would reduce weight and increase useability. For KIMM / LAMM use an adequate groundsheet can be made from space blankets using tape and sealer to achieve a bathtub shape. This can then be “sewn in” to the toggles satisfying event rules. The centre pole has scope for being lightened by drilling or replaced with a lighter substitute.