DUOMID ™ | 5.7X9.2

I have a Mountain Laurel Design DuoMid. The thing is absolutely bombproof. Survived the beast from the east at Red Tarn Cove on Helvellyn, its stood through known 60mph gusts. Even on My ML assessment we had 30mph winds and doubling gusts at 60mph on our second night of exped. The assessor called off the camp as gear gets broken in winds like that. Had it nearly 10 years now. Weighs around 530g and uses trekking poles to pitch. It pitches quickly, packs tiny and I have no worries about the weather at all. I'd get another at the drop of a hat

I don't have enough experience to recommend this to OP since I'm only out for a few days at a time and not in the same part of the world, but I do use the Duomid in winter. How difficult it is to stake out depends on the type of snow you're dealing with. In loose sugar like snow it can be a bit of a pain. Large anchors and stomping out a platform and letting it set up helps. Where I'm at in the Sierra the snow is generally wet enough that it's extremely easy. Using a snow basket on the pole is enough to keep it from sinking in my experience, but again that will depend on the snow consistency. [MLD Duomid Pictures](https://www.imgur.com/a/kJnfuKZ)

Thanks, I'm pretty happy with it. It prevents any sliding around, can be used during the day to sit on, and acts as my backup pad as well once folded over.

We have, and like, 2 1P tents: * TarpTent Moment DW, non-freestanding, single hoop/tunnel design, quite stormworthy (with "solid interior"), very fast pitch, 2 doors + 2 small vestibules. As I type this, my wife is currently using it on a solo backpacking trip. Optional 2nd (arch) pole for snow loads. Take paracord loops for anchors when camping on slabs. * MLD DuoMid (silpoly), floorless 'mid shelter. As with all 'mid shelters, stormworthiness depends on the pitch. I endorse having both a stormworthy 2-wall tent and a floorless single-wall 'mid for mountain trips. Several of my mountaineering buds use Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 for their 1-person tent, and a few others have tiny single-wall freestanding ledge tents, e.g., Black Diamond Firstlight, which are too cramped for me. Another bud has TarpTent Notch 1 (trekking pole tent) which is similar to Moment DW, a bit light but not quite as stormworthy and considerably longer pitch time. IMO, the extra weight of the Moment DW is worth the extra protection for high mountains.

I've done a fair bit of touring using a 'mid shelter, first an OG MegaMid, then a MegaLight. (I've also used MLD 'mid shelters for backpacking and climbing.) A 'mid shelter is the most weight/space efficient ski touring shelter (other than a snow cave), but it has limitations in very stormy conditions It is thus a viable choice if you limit your tours to days with good (i.e., non-stormy) weather forecasts. A few tips re snow camping with a 'mid shelter: * We usually dug a square hole 2 or 3 feet (i.e., up to 1 meter) deep and erected the 'mid shelter centered over the hole. We made the hole roughly 1 foot (30cm) or so smaller on each of the 4 edges than the 'mid shelter perimeter. For example, for a BD MegaSnow with a footprint is 106" x 106", we would dig a square hold around 94" x 94". Be sure that you have a center pole long enough to do this. * To avoid having the centerpole stabbing the snow and sinking, place the bottom of the center pole on something with flat surface of some sort to disperse the load. I've used several things for this, including an avy shovel blade with the handle removed. * Bring loops of paracord and girth hitch them to the shelter's stake tie outs. IME, skis and ice axes work best for stakes. An alternative is to anchor with deadman, which come in different forms, e.g., a buried stuff bag full of snow. 'Mid shelters have more load on the tie outs than a freestanding tent, and thus snow stakes sometimes work in firm snow but sometimes easily pull out. * Many people use two ski poles strapped together to make a center pole. Although that works, we usually preferred a dedicated center pole, e.g., BD CF pole which comes with the BD MegaLight and MegaSnow. You may need to make a pole jack of some sort if you dig the square hole as described above. * You can cook inside a 'mid shelter, which is a nice feature, but be certain to have ample gaps in the side of the tent to allow fresh air to enter the tent, and open the top vent as wide as possible. * Because 'mid-shelters are single-wall, expect condensation issues. Some days will be worse than others. On cold nights, the condensation may freeze on the shelter walls. On warmer nights, when the condensation is in liquid state, bring a ChamWow (or Amazon knockoff) to wipe the condensation. * Prepare your backpack such that you can strap a wet 'mid shelter on the outside of the pack.

I’ve had xmids and agree they are finicky about pitching and not great in high winds. I sold mine and bought an MLD Duomid (and soon to have a Trailstar). No regrets as I just think they’re better suited tents for common UK conditions.

I became a tarp/bivy convert 4 years ago. Tarps have the best ventilation options. Period. They're generally less expensive and lighter than tents. Silpoly is the best balance of cost and weight. You can choose your own adventure with a bivy (or three): \-Breathable fabric for wind and light rain. Borah Gear UL bivy is the best out there, and he will custom make an extra-tall if you need. This is my goto. \-all mesh for SE Asia. (MLD or Borah) \-winter bivy for winter/alpine (MSR) **You could carry a tarp and all three bivies and still come out \~500g lighter than the Portal 2, and probably about the same price.** If a flat tarp isn't your speed, seriously consider a Duomid-XL tent from MLD, which alone is a fully capable 4-season shelter. Mids handle wind really well, and have a lot of benefits of a tarp (versatility, ventilation) with a little more structure, protection, and space for gear and relaxing. Add a fitted mesh inner (solomid XL size) or mesh bivy for bugs, and a winter bivy sack for high altitude. For about the same price as portal you're 400g lighter. That's significant

>choosing a new 2-person UL tent I would recommend starting with those spec sheets to identify better candidates if you really do want a UL approach. The three tents you have listed here are not on the low-end of weight for a free-standing 2p shelter. >I’ve grown to prefer freestanding or semi-freestanding tents — they give us more flexibility in where we can pitch. I’m fine accepting a bit of extra weight for that convenience and versatility. I am going to do my best to politely dissuade you from your core assumption that a free-standing tent is the solution to your needs here and point you instead to a mid-style shelter. >it’s really uncomfortable: there’s barely enough space to lie down, and sitting inside with two people is basically impossible. You want to maximize the footprint while still getting decent headroom. For these reasons, (and others I hit later), I would open your scope somewhat and consider a mid-style shelter i.e. MLD's Supermid. It checks your boxes for space (and then some), is lighter than the options you have identified, and mid shelters are notoriously durable because of the way they shed weather. It is in theory a single wall shelter, but they handle moisture better due to the cross breeze you can get even with a tight pitch that hugs the ground. The Duomid cuts down significantly on interior space (still within the realm of the tents you mentioned), but it is designed for two people and their gear—pending your comfort levels in close proximity, this would be a fantastic option as well. Both options are lighter than the three tents you listed, though the Supermid with an additional silnylon inner approaches the weight of the three tents. One thing to note though: it's waaaay bigger, like, sleeps four people big, so it isn't a 1:1 comparison there. >At the moment, I’m really torn...I’m still worried about its real-world resistance to strong wind and prolonged rain Point for a mid over a free-standing shelter. Famously weather resistant, mid shelters rule highly variable conditions. >repairability and replacement Slap a silpoly patch on any holes you would develop. Repair is dead simple with a mid. Pole repair on-trail is usually impossible with a free-standing tent pole due to the nature of the shelter's needs. A mid shelter (1) would handle the adverse conditions far better, likely avoiding any need for repair outright, and (2) if you did somehow manage to mangle a pole, a replacement stick is far more readily available for a mid than it would otherwise be for a free-standing tent. >proven wind and rain resistance, but I’m less enthusiastic about the single-wall design, the extra weight, and the bulkier packed size Another point for a mid-style shelter. It really does seem to check ALL your boxes except for versatility of pitch, but I'm not quite sure I buy this either—there are tons of ways to pitch a mid shelter even on bare granite face: little rock big rock is the obvious choice here, and not hard to master. As I stated above, mid shelters avoid many of the classic enclosed single-wall fallbacks by way of the airflow you can get even with a pitch that hugs the ground. Additionally, MLD offers inners for both the Duo and Supermid, so you can solve that issue with that add-on, though it's likely unnecessary outside of really humid/wet conditions. As for weight and bulk, no issues there: a silpoly mid packs small and is likely half the weight of the three aforementioned tents in the case of the Super in its simplest iteration, and even less for a Duo. There are too many optional add-ons to give a full detailing here of weight comparisons; a quick peek at the Duo and Supermid's product page would give you all the info you need. >lower hydrostatic head makes me wonder how comfortable it really is during long periods of rain It significantly bumps the price up, go figure, but a DCF Duomid or Supermid checks that box for you. Now, DCF would make it a bulky option again, but if you prioritize water impermeability over everything else, that's your answer. Due to the sloped nature of a mid, they almost universally handle pounding rain better than a free-standing tent anyway, giving you more wiggle room in truly adverse conditions, so you could still be fine with the silpoly offering. They don't mention the hydrostatic head of either fabric on the product page, but a simple email to Ron at MLD could fix that for you. >Overall, I want a tent that lets us be quite flexible in where we camp, handles wind and rain well, and is still reasonably light and compact for backpacking and bikepacking. It really, truly sounds like a mid shelter fits all your needs. They do all the above and then some better than free-standing tents, and you have the added bonus of further flexibility in terms of on-trail repairability.

If weight is your primary consideration, then get a mid like an MLD Duomid and a solid inner for it from someone like BPWD. But you said you prefer freestanding or close to it and that plus strong wind and snow loading capability make it hard for something to be truly ultralight. I'd look at something like the Big Sky Chinook or Revolution, or maybe a Hilleberg Akto.

>I don't know of any single-pole design that would perform better MLD Solomid/Duomid/Supermid HMG Ultamid 1/2/4 Locus Gear Khufu/Khafra Black Diamond Megalight Oware Pyramid Basically any single pole traditional mid with steep sides will do better with snow loading than the two pole and asymmetrical mids.