Floorless Mid Shootout

[mlevimadden]

Great review!

 

[luke moffat]

Awesome article Josh!! Really enjoyed it. The down to earth no nonsense writing and ability to find room for improvements for each style shelter shows you not only know your stuff but also call it like you see it regardless of brand! Well done sir!

Being a fan of Mids myself, but only using them for 7 years now, I really enjoyed seeing the breakdown.

Though them dang silly center poles are overrated leave them things at home.

 

[Soilworker]

Though them dang silly center poles are overrated leave them things at home.

What do you do\use instead to support the shelter?

 

[luke moffat]

Trekking poles...a single set in most instances. 2 sets of it gets biblical

 

[robby denning]

I am always blown away by the effort that Roksliders will go through just to help out everyone else. I would imagine there are many hours dedicated to these reviews that were unforeseen when started. Thanks to all those for sticking to a plan and putting out these super reviews. You make it so much easier for us to spend our hard earned cash and feel good about it.

You're welcome and thank you. I talked to Josh several times this spring and summer as he as doing this review. He put a ton of time in this project. You're spot on.


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[robby denning]

When I open the link this is what comes up...

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It's a Tapatalk issue. I checked the software we use and it's fine. Sorry. Just got to the full-site Rokslide.com and look for the link near top in Recent Articles


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[DaveC]

Great job Josh, particularly impressive to get a lot of details into relatively few words. Not my strong suit so I appreciate it.

I spent some time in a Supermid recently and was impressed, and reminded (after owning a Solomid and Trailstar years ago) just how good they are. To geek out for a minute, I think the way the Supermid is put together makes it better in the wind than the Cimarron or Megalight (never been in a Tut, at that price I can't see every wanting to). The corner seams of the MLD are bias to bias, which means the stretch of the fabric is largely restricted to the corner seams, which are strong because of the felled seam and can be tensioned like crazy. The combo makes for a really tight pitch.

Edit: It would be helpful to have canopy only weights (post seam sealing) in addition to the other weights. Stakes and guylines types and quantity vary by locale and user preference, and some of the companies discuss provide stakes of questionable quality (such that I assume most will replace them).

 

[robby denning]

Great job Josh, particularly impressive to get a lot of details into relatively few words. Not my strong suit so I appreciate it.

I spent some time in a Supermid recently and was impressed, and reminded (after owning a Solomid and Trailstar years ago) just how good they are. To geek out for a minute, I think the way the Supermid is put together makes it better in the wind than the Cimarron or Megalight (never been in a Tut, at that price I can't see every wanting to). The corner seams of the MLD are bias to bias, which means the stretch of the fabric is largely restricted to the corner seams, which are strong because of the felled seam and can be tensioned like crazy. The combo makes for a really tight pitch.

Edit: It would be helpful to have canopy only weights (post seam sealing) in addition to the other weights. Stakes and guylines types and quantity vary by locale and user preference, and some of the companies discuss provide stakes of questionable quality (such that I assume most will replace them).

We like it when DaveC goes full geek out!


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[Bruce Culberson]

Thanks for the review Josh!

I can personally attest to the Black Diamond flapping in the wind. Check out hte rocks needed to hold the 8" Y stakes in the weak mountain soils.....

[video=youtube_share;4JbFeGUL4z0]https://youtu.be/4JbFeGUL4z0[/video]

 

[Josh Boyd]

Thanks Dave. I too enjoy a full geek out at times as you can probably tell from some of the photos with the scale. I thought about weighing them without guy lines and stakes but I was more in the mode of getting them set up for the field. I really didn't want to pull the cord off of the shelters for a bare weight as I was trying to spend as much time using them as possible. You can assume the weights of the cord to be similar on the shelters as they were of the same diameter from tent to tent. And like the cord, the stakes were all MSR ground hogs and only the amount needed for the shelters vary.

 

[sheldon]

Thanks for putting this review onto Us, I have a back diamond mega tent and a tigoat 7.5, now looking at the oware pyramid tents, anybody have any reviews on this tent

 

[DougP]

While I had the shelters set up in the yard for seam sealing I snapped some images of the features such as guy out points, pyramid tip, zipper flaps, vents, etc.

Here are some examples of how the various designers have executed the simple guy out on the shelter corners and side walls. At this point I can't say if one is better than the other, but it is something I will be paying attention to during use.

Mountain Laurel Designs Corner Guy Out:
View attachment 54503
Mountain Laurel Designs Side Wall Guy Out:
View attachment 54504

Seek Outside Side Wall Guy Out:
View attachment 54505

Kifaru Side Wall and Corner Guy Out:
View attachment 54506

On the Seek tents, do they have the reinforcing fabric for the guy outs on just the outside, or do the have another piece on the inside as well? I like that design for a DIY project and I’m curious if I should double it up.


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[Josh Boyd]

On the Seek tents, do they have the reinforcing fabric for the guy outs on just the outside, or do the have another piece on the inside as well? I like that design for a DIY project and I’m curious if I should double it up.


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DougP,
They do have reinforcing fabric on the inside of the guy out point. Also, the other end of the loop is interior (although smaller in loop size) allowing for an interior guy line or clothes line. It is really nicely done.

-Josh

 

[Mansfield Outdoors]

Hello Josh,

Looks like Tentipi/Mansfield Outdoors may be a little late to the party, but definitely want to be included in the Shootout if there's still time so here's a few photo's of some of our smaller floorless options. Please let me know if/how we can still get involved!

 

[Josh Boyd]

I'm really liking the versatility of the Cimarron this fall.

 

[DenverCountryBoy]

Thank you for the reviews. It helped me pull the trigger on the Cimarron.

Any chance this article will be followed up by a backpack tent stove round up?

 

[Josh Boyd]

Thank you for the reviews. It helped me pull the trigger on the Cimarron.

Any chance this article will be followed up by a backpack tent stove round up?

That is a great idea and would love to work on a project like that. I'll ask around and see if something can be set up.

-Josh

 

[Smash]

Great reviews and simplification of some things I have been debating in my head over the last few days. I have yet to make a decision but this helps me by having a place to sort everything out.

 

[Lambchop]

Josh,

Quick question regarding the Cimarron. I know you said on the inside of the guyout attachment point it has a smaller loop. Does this hold true for the stake out loop as well? I watched a video on YouTube and it showed a inner and outer loop. The video is 2 years old so I was just curious if this is still the case on the stake loops. If it does would it have any advantage to staking them together? Maybe it would make the sod skirt less likely to hold water being that it would be tucked between the stake loops? Maybe it would distribute stress more evenly across the fabric? Getting close to making a purchase and want to get as much information as possible.

 

[Josh Boyd]

Josh,

Quick question regarding the Cimarron. I know you said on the inside of the guyout attachment point it has a smaller loop. Does this hold true for the stake out loop as well? I watched a video on YouTube and it showed a inner and outer loop. The video is 2 years old so I was just curious if this is still the case on the stake loops. If it does would it have any advantage to staking them together? Maybe it would make the sod skirt less likely to hold water being that it would be tucked between the stake loops? Maybe it would distribute stress more evenly across the fabric? Getting close to making a purchase and want to get as much information as possible.

The tent that I have doesn't have dual loops for stakes and I really don't think it would matter much anyway. After using the Cimarron a ton this fall I can say I really don't worry about the sod skirt. You can pitch it fairly high to eliminate the skirt collecting moisture but it really never caused any major issues for me when it was on the ground. If you think it would be for you you can always add some small line locks for a little added clearance. If you decide on a Cimarron, you can also have extra guy out loops sewn in to the corners if you think they'd be necessary.

If you have any more questions let me know.

-Josh