Well, after feeling a little spontaneous I decided to splurge on a Cuben MLD Solomid XL (I believe this is the same thing as the Solomid 2016). I found this New on eBay For about $390.. Way too much For a spontaneous purchase.. But what the hell, I figure if it doesn’t work for me I should be able to sell it for about the same amount.
I can’t say that I am tired or not happy with my MLD Duomid, quite the opposite actually. I find the Duomid to be and continue to be the best tent I have ever had and plan to keep it for a long time. I bought the Solomid out of boredom I guess and wanting to try something lighter and hopefully with the same amount of comfort as my Duomid.
Full review of the MLD Duomid you can read here
As I love most Mountain laurel design products I decided to continue on my MLD journey and stick with them at the moment. Perhaps in the future I will purchase a new tent from somewhere else. But not yet.
Anyway, let me be clear: This is not a review, simply a first impression of this tarp.
I haven’t had a chance to take it out in the wild yet, however I would like to have it with me to Iceland in June, so I will be testing it on my coast 2 coast journey in May. Coast 2 coast is a 400 kilometer walk from the east coast of Sweden to the west coast. You can read more about coast 2 coast sweden here.
Weight:
The Cuben Fibre Solomid xl weighs just 360 grams inside the stuff sack. A great weight for such a large solo tent. To put the weight into perspective the MLD Duomid silnylon that I have is 750 grams.
Size:
The floor space is definitely big enough for me and my uses, and pretty much for anybody looking for a solo tent that you can camp out in. I like my tents large as it’s not unusual to get stuck in long hours of shit weather in Sweden. Hence why I don’t own something like a Hilleberg Enan. I do have some concerns about the sides though, while the duomid is technically shorter, I find that with the tie outs the sides aren’t brushing on my head. The Solomid feels tighter.
Concerns:
Since this is my first impression I will discuss my concerns but can’t confirm them. For one thing the Solomid does not have the extra tie outs on the sides and front like the Duomid. I found that these tie outs saved my ass on more than one occasion when the wind really starts to pick up. I’m not really sure I would trust the Solomid in the same kind of wind.
Another cause for concern is not having a perimeter bug netting – personally I don’t like inner tents as it adds too much weight, decreases size and in general it’s better to just have a full size tent. In Sweden I find that a perimeter bug netting is absolutely a necessity. So I will definitely have to consider installing a perimeter bug netting if I decide to keep the Solomid.
Final Thoughts:
While I haven’t been able to do any serious camping with the MLD Solomid, I do have to say that my initial concerns about size are gone. I find this to be very large for it’s weight and something I don’t think will be a problem at all to be stuck in for a few hours at a time during bad weather.
More than this I don’t dare say as I haven’t yet tested it in any serious way. With that said I will do a full review after my Coast 2 Coast, Iceland and Scotland trips this year.
After use, how would you compare it to the Duomid? I plan to get one of the shelters and in silnylon, leaning toward the solomid xl because that extra length should offset any sag issues i encounter. I’m not that tall, about 5’10” but i use an xtherm and lofty bag in the deep shoulder season and winter so I’m worried about touching the walls and getting wet. Thanks for at help!
Thiis was a lovely blog post
I have hiked in Sweden from Grovelsjon to Killipisjarvi in Finland over a few trips and used a Hilleberg Enan for much of that, a great tent for 3 season use . I am using it now in Southern Norway which has been having much worse weather than I ever experienced in Sweden and it has been absolutely fine so your statement that the Enan is not suitable for Sweden is completely wrong, at least outside of the snow months.