Tipi/Pyramid Shaped Tent Suggestions for Winter in Tasmania?

[Moondog55]

5 season tent???
The link to Antarctica??
No matter how bad the weather has been here in the Bogong high plains a simple pyramid has been able to cope, but it does mean you will need to carry pegs suitable for the conditions a simple skewer on nail just doesn't work, you need real snow stakes and they weigh and cost, to cope with high winds you need 8 big stakes, these will weigh more than the tent I think

http://cascadedesigns.com/msr/snowshoes ... ts/product

you can of course use your skis as anchors but if you ski away from the tent ?

[Bluegum Mic]

Well I will add if anyone else is in the process of buying a SL3 I had placed an order with campsaver a couple of days ago for the nest. $93 for the nest plus $24 delivery was too good to pass up. Today I got an email saying they have 2010 nests in stock or 2011 are due in a few weeks- which would I prefer? I was happy with the 2010 so they popped it straight in the post and further credited my account $7 as they discounted it further for being 2010 (I did not ask for a discount they just emailed and said they would). Now that's great customer service at a great price. I'm a very happy camper.

[Nuts]

Thats interesting Mic, they had the Hex3 for many years before the S3 and its lighter weight. Did they say what the change was with the new nest?

[Bluegum Mic]

Between the 2010 and the 2011 all they have done is changed it's colour and apparently it's dropped a couple of ounces. Seeing as I can't find the info to see the differences on paper (ie they made fairly significant changes at the 2009 to 2010 versions re weight) but I can't see any huge update on their website in the new year. I'm not sure where they've dropped the ounces from but it's not a big change and I was happy with the weight listed for the 2010 model (which was a good few hundred grams lighter than the 09 version).

[Nuts]

Yer, right. They did drop a lot of weight with the lighter floor in the new models. There has been talk in the past of a half size nest, thought perhaps that would be an option.

(Just out of interest Golite eDen also gets good reviews for those that like hoop design solo tents (a little bigger, perhaps stronger than many)):

477_C-1.jpg (12.6 KiB) Viewed 8083 times

[Orion]

I've got a Megamid (polyester). I'm not sure why someone would want one in lieu of the silnylon version (Mega Light). Maybe worried about durability?

I find the Megamid to be nice in snow because you can dig in / build walls and make it a suitable shelter for 3-4 people for minimal weight. Two sets of combinable probe poles eliminate the middle pole. Add some thin plastic groundsheets and four people can camp/cook in comfort with a tent that is a tiny package. The downside is that you do have to spend significant time digging (aka, the "Digamid"). And condensation is quite noticible. A sleeping bag with a waterproof shell or an added DWR sack is a really good idea.

Without snow I'd be worried about stability in high winds. I suppose you could guy it out like crazy, but there are better designs that save weight. Plus if you desire an integral floor and bug netting the Mids end up being comparable in weight to a lot of other tents.

Making your own, it should be easy right? But the catenary cut can be a problem if you're not anticipating it properly (and don't have a pattern/example to work from). A good pitch will be harder to achieve without that cut. One experienced seamstress friend of mine gave up in frustration while trying to duplicate one.

Mine mostly languishes in the closet...

[Moondog55]

Had the Megamid for 20 years almost, so nylon not polyester; maybe will replace with the lighter version when I need to replace it and stability is no problem without snow. Condensation has never been a major problem for me, but I do use a bivvysac almost always.
I have had greater condensation problems in my Fairydown "Plateau"

If not anticipating winds then I find 4 pegs, one in each corner lets you get it up in about a minute, as has been mentioned tho it does have a large footprint and I understand that the usual camp site is a little on the small and shinny side

[Orion]

Had the Megamid for 20 years almost, so nylon not polyester

Are you sure? Mine is 1.7 oz ripstop polysester. Says so right on the tag.

Mine is about 15 years old. Maybe they used to be nylon twenty years ago? Their old Comet tent (1988) was nylon.

[Moondog55]

Does yours have the 2-way zip and the vent over the door? and the bound seams??
mine is definitely nylon it is very heavy weight taffeta 2.2oz from memory, there was a ripstop nylon in the early days before they moved manufacture to Taiwan, but I haven't looked at any closely for yonks .
Mine is no vent, one way zip tape, bound seams and the burgundy colour, came with the nesting "Bulldog" pole model before mine was bright blue and yellow, model after mine came with an "Easton" pole set I believe.

[Bluegum Mic]

I must say as well with the website I mentioned above (bearpaw) they do some great mods for customers. One that I will honestly consider is the removable zip in vestibule they did for an SL3-





The other thing I'd look at getting is possibly a custom built inner that is 3/4 70d silnylon and then mesh up the top for some ventilation. But that dreams a long way off from reality.

[corvus]

With respect that "vestibule " only looks like an open overhang not my idea of a proper enclosed vestibule JMO.
c

[Bluegum Mic]

Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. It's not something for howling winds and driving rain but I think it would be a nice spot to kick back in the afternoon or if it's raining a little it would allow you to sit in the edge of the nest a cook just outside the door.

Sorry. Vestibule is probably not the best term to describe it. Zip in overhang is better

Cheers

Mic

[Orion]

Moondog, I pulled mine out of the closet and looked. Amazingly the fabric tag was still attached (I usually cut those off). It said F98 (Fall 98), 100% Polyester, and made in China. It is purple and gray, double zipper with velcro, but no rain hood or vent over the door as appeared in later versions. It came with a nesting pole that I think I've used maybe twice, in the desert. In snow a ski pole with a special extension section in the center, or two sets of poles set like an upsidedown "V" save weight.

The Megamid was first introduced in 1985, two years after the Pyramid tent. I have a 1988 Black Diamond catalog that states that the Megamid at that time was made from 1.5 oz ripstop nylon. It was royal blue and silver.

Yours is somewhere in between, a heavier nylon version.

I'd still rather have the silnylon one for spring ski tours.

Cheers!

[Nuts]

Those vestibule extender things would be nice for warm buggy weather, around $60 when I asked. BP John will also make up whatever for tents. No bad prices either!

They are an inherently warm shelter, I dont think the silnylon nest would get a lot of use? A bivy would likely be warmer in winter (if that was yer thing). Though, to me the best thing about tipi is versatility. A couple of inner options for solo/double summer/winter would be the go for the inside (depending on personal preferences of course). There is even an easy way to reduce the footprint:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin ... d_id=40671


Heres the link for the SL3 Mega thread:

http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/forum/foru ... 7344618338

[Bluegum Mic]

Thanks for the info nuts.

99% of the time it would be SL3 tent and it's nest. I was more wanting the high silnylon sided pyranet strictly for spring snowy mountain snowshoe adventures. I would probably just get the pyranet 1 with high sides and then use the rest of the tent space for sitting (cooking if the weather is ugly) and storage. I agree though a bivy would do the same job but i guess the pyranet would give me more sit up/wriggle space with protection from spindrift. Something for me to think about over the cooler months

[ninjapuppet]

Thanks for the link to that mega thread Nuts. very handy, and I found a link from one of the posts at outdoors magic to the OOokworks inner tent.
http://oookworks.com/

That OOOKworks looks amazingly similar to my Bearpaws Pyranet modified for the zpacks tent because it has the back side that juts out. this fits the SL3 perfectly. Heres mine with the extra silnylon walls that go up 30cm.

These didnt go well with a MLD duomid which is a rectangular shape, so I also picked up one of john's standard pyranet 1 when he had them for a cheap $50.
I can honestly say, the standard pyranet is much more narrow even with the mid tie outs but the modified one only weighs 73 grams more.

So if you're going with john's pyranet, i would recommend you get him to extend out the middle like for the zpacks tarps so it can make use of the extra space.
Setup wise, its much easier than Golite's nest because you set up the outer tent first, go in and hook the net's apex to the loop at the top and then insert a few stakes to the inner. With Golite's nest, the pole has to physically go inside the nest.

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On side tangent, this might be common knowledge, but something I only recently noticed. We've got a few Shangri-Las among my mates: 2 green and 4 yellow.
I generally love bright coloured cheery tents especially in gloomy weather.
When the green one is pitched alone, it does attract a few bugs, but when pitched next to a yellow one, the yellow one attracts all the bugs. Every time without fail! I think i'm going to go green stealthy tents from now on.

[Tony]

There is an interesting tipi/pyramid tent on this blog hikinginfinland

Tony

[Moondog55]

Just because i have talked about my "Megamid " in this thread
My garage leaks a little and in the last month the leaks seem to have expanded and my gear got soaked when the roofing iron got torn up by the wind.
My "Megamid " now has mildew and mould on it and is currently soaking a bath of quaternary ammonia mildew remover.
Definitely nylon as I just read the fabric label, this tent may also need reproofing Damn and double damn, I really need new ski-boots more than a new tent

[Bluegum Mic]

Moondog it's a shame your not a ladies 25.5 as I have a lovely pair of Lange exclusive boots you could have. After doing my knee last year I'm not talking to my skis anymore (I've skied and snowboarded for 14 years...first injury booo

Cheers

Mic

[Moondog55]

OMG i'm a 46 ( 13 )

i have a pair of Langes. saving for a pair of Scarpa T2s well trying to pay off a lay-buy actually