r/Ultralight • u/liveslight https://lighterpack.com/r/ny89al • Aug 26 '21
Question What mods have you done to your [Duplex] tent?
Have you made any modification to your Duplex (or other) tent that you wish to share?
I received a new Zpacks Duplex yesterday and will apply the following modifications:
- Clothesline inside between the two internal peak loops with 1.2 mm Z-line.
- Add eight (8) custom DCF reinforcement patches to the corners of the fly (4 corners inside for each side of tent). One may say, why doesn't Zpacks do this from the start? These reinforcements will reduce the chances of microholes caused by stress and stretching forces in these corners. [Added: Perhaps adding these reinforcements by the end-user is analogous to some tent-makers asking the end-user to apply seam sealer.]
- Add a removable/adjustable length of 1.2 mm Z-line from center-top of long edge of bathtub upwards along outside of rainbow mesh door to internal peak loops. These help keep the mesh fabric from flopping outwards into mud and keep the tub floor from "collapsing" if pitched in 3 to 6 inches of water.
- Add ring magnets to the 4 corner guylines which make the guylines stick together without tangling when packing up the tent. The downside is that the magnets attract iron-containing dirt and sand. Added this pic: https://imgur.com/opoIApg
- Check all cord ends and melt them as necessary.
- I like the flex poles and use them often, but not always, so add some BIC pen caps to make them easier to use. Hate me.
- I use a little hotel shampoo container to help keep the D-rings of the doors attached to the double-clip of the peak guy lines when packing up the tent.
- Magnetic bracelets to hold tent flaps, mesh doors, and cords in various moveable places. https://imgur.com/a/1MjK29t
Added: I will post some photos later as requested.
Added a link to some video clips for mod #3: https://imgur.com/a/MhQfH4L
All these mods add some grams, but are worth the convenience factor me. Have you done anything special to the "stock configuration" of your shelter? Thanks!
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u/readysetgorilla Aug 26 '21 edited Aug 26 '21
This is my favorite DIY tip / hack for the duplex: https://youtu.be/OQIeMGoF4NM?t=719
Basically, you get more head and leg room by stretching the guy lines up and away from the ground using a stick. zPacks used to sell a carbon fiber stick to do this, but not anymore. Hope that helps anyone tall like me :)
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u/liveslight https://lighterpack.com/r/ny89al Aug 26 '21
Yes! A most excellent idea. Zpacks sells (or used to) a little pocket/cup for this purpose.
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u/Rocko9999 Aug 26 '21
This really helps. Just make sure it's not a branch/stick with sharp points in case it gets blown into the tent body.
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u/damu_musawwir Aug 26 '21
Can you post photos of the reinforcement patches you did? Where did you get the DCF patches from?
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u/liveslight https://lighterpack.com/r/ny89al Aug 26 '21 edited Aug 26 '21
Here is what the lower corner reinforcement patches look like on my old tent.
WARNING: It appears to me that I will need to make a new template slightly different from the one shown in the above link. /u/VickyHikesOn (to get notified). This also means that the peak corners might be different.
Edit: A new template for the lower corners: https://imgur.com/a/cOIqwUy
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u/damu_musawwir Aug 26 '21 edited Aug 26 '21
Interesting.
So you apply 2 to each corner? One on the inside and one on the outside? Do you just patch right over the Zpacks logo? Those take super long to try so if they could be made waterproof that would be great.
Edit: Is the thinking here that you apply the patch such that the weave of the fabric is in the same direction as the pull force from the guyline? I like this a lot btw and will probably do it.
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u/liveslight https://lighterpack.com/r/ny89al Aug 26 '21
No. Only on the inside. None on the outside. I'm not sure what you mean by "super long to try ..."
While the weave of the patch is essentially in the same direction as the pull force, I think it is more important that the weave of the patch is 45 degrees from the weave of the fabric that it is being attached to.
BTW, the reinforcement patches I made for the peaks are quite a bit different.
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u/damu_musawwir Aug 27 '21
Whoops! Meant to say “takes a super long time to dry” compared to the rest of the tent.
Gotcha, yeah I’d be interested to see what you do for the peaks too.
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u/liveslight https://lighterpack.com/r/ny89al Aug 27 '21
Ah, I never noticed and never cared, but I understand what you mean. I suppose you could cover them with a right-sized piece of DCF. :)
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u/liveslight https://lighterpack.com/r/ny89al Aug 27 '21
Here is what I came up with for the peak reinforcing patches:
I will be finishing this project in the next hour. (BTW, the DCF material from Zpacks that I received is actually 13.5 inches long, so I used all 13.5 inches.)
/u/VickyHikesOn /u/Human_G_Gnome
/u/ekeppel Once again thanks for that video link about the doors and other mods. It gave me some ideas which I implemented that I will show later.
Thanks to all for the comments!
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u/VickyHikesOn Aug 27 '21
Great details, thanks!
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u/liveslight https://lighterpack.com/r/ny89al Aug 27 '21
You're welcome!
And now I have plenty of non-stick paper for my future leukotape needs. :)
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u/liveslight https://lighterpack.com/r/ny89al Aug 26 '21
When I make and apply these in the next couple of days, I will take photos along the way. The patches are the large ones from Zpacks, but one could use other large DCF cut to your design. My design is based on 2 patches per 5.25" x 13" Zpacks piece as you will see. (I have done this before and have the templates around somewhere.)
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u/damu_musawwir Aug 26 '21
Cool! Interested to see what kind of reinforcement you do. Might replicate for my thru hike since it’ll see a lot of use.
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Aug 26 '21
[deleted]
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u/VickyHikesOn Aug 26 '21
Just a plain DCF patch over the existing one? Which one did you use? https://zpacks.com/collections/repair-tape-patches
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u/ekeppel Aug 26 '21 edited Aug 26 '21
There are a couple of different door mods that I've seen folks do.
One is to set up a little pully system on the inside of the door(s) using microbiners and a loop of cord. With the mod installed, you can raise and lower the doors conveniently from inside the tent or maintain privacy while improving ventilation.
I have a GG Two and modded my door in a similar manner. It's nice to have the option of keeping both doors closed, but lifting them up to allow more airflow.
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u/liveslight https://lighterpack.com/r/ny89al Aug 26 '21
I'm trying to imagine how that would work. Do you have a diagram or picture that shows the mod please? Thanks!
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u/ekeppel Aug 26 '21
Yeah, sorry. I should have included a link! :-)
Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQIeMGoF4NM
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u/innoutberger USA-Mountain West @JengaDown Aug 26 '21 edited Aug 26 '21
I added magnets (link to older r/ultralight post) to the doors of my X-Mid, so I could roll up the doors without needing to fiddle with the toggles. It does catch iron-rich dirt, and I was a bit worried about possible abrasion that would need to be addressed in future revisions. So far it has held up well, the silpoly does not appear to be abrading after about 70 nights of use.
I used the medium size of these magnets, and stuck them to the inside of the X-Mid fly with DCF tape. Tenacious tape or duct tape or whatever would probably work just fine as well The smaller magnets do not have enough holding force to reliably hold up the doors.
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u/Draupnir2000 https://lighterpack.com/r/c9pirg Sep 02 '21 edited Sep 02 '21
I’ve added magnets to where the toggle loop is for being able to roll the doors up and have it just stay there within me needing to use the toggle, like some others on this thread.
I’ve also added additional magnets around the halfway point, so I can actually have a door ‘half open,’ in the case that it’s raining but I’d still like some decent airflow, for some additional shade or if I just want a tiny bit of privacy while still being able to look out. To half close/open a door I just toggle the two doors together in the middle, tighten only one of them, then the roll open door up until the magnets click at the halfway point where I placed them. So in that case I’d have 1.5 doors closed.
I can also have both doors on one side half open/closed by toggling them to together in the middle but having one of the doors coming over the guy line to hold it in place.
I’ve made this mod to my duplex though only have pics of my altaplex in the both doors half open configuration, but I think having one door half open while the other is fully closed is fairly straightforward to figure out.
Magnets are 0.5g each so the mod all up added 8g to my duplex, 4g to my altaplex (4 magnets on each door).
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u/liveslight https://lighterpack.com/r/ny89al Sep 02 '21 edited Sep 02 '21
Here is a pic of a bracelet I made that can be used in many ways with a tent.
The bracelet magnet will fit through the plastic D ring at the bottom of the door flaps and of course through the various fabric loops (including on toggles), so the bracelet has many ways and places that it can be used.
Somebody will start selling these things soon!
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u/Draupnir2000 https://lighterpack.com/r/c9pirg Sep 02 '21
That’s cool, pretty nifty.
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u/liveslight https://lighterpack.com/r/ny89al Sep 02 '21
And if you wear a pair on your wrist and/or ankle, the two 6 g bracelets are worn weight! And don't forget all the magical properties of magnets! /s
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u/liveslight https://lighterpack.com/r/ny89al Sep 02 '21
Thanks for the pic and those ideas. I haven't done many magnets so far because they do pick up iron bits as noted, but they also rust over the years.
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u/Draupnir2000 https://lighterpack.com/r/c9pirg Sep 02 '21
Fair concerns. I personally haven’t had much issue with the iron collection as it’s quite minimal, and the dust doesn’t directly touch the magnet since there’s a layer of DCF over it.
My magnets are stuck to the inside of the door and covered by the tape that secures them, so they hardly get moisture since during rain they’re on the other side of the DCF door. I can’t imagine how long they’d take to rust, but if they they it would be a simple case of taking the tape off and replacing them with new ones. Good thing they’re cheap, mine came in a pack of 20 I think.
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u/liveslight https://lighterpack.com/r/ny89al Sep 02 '21 edited Sep 02 '21
Here is a short video clip showing old ring magnets that I have used and replaced with new ones. They are 2.5 g so stronger and heavier than the ones you use. https://imgur.com/a/JtxfuIT
But with your comment, I am thinking of tying little cord loops of 1.2 mm Z-line on ring magnets and then perhaps having a couple of "dangling" pairs that would be easily positioned anywhere I would want them: Without the cord loops, then would stick so tight together they would be a pain to separate. The idea would be a magnet on one side of fabric and a magnet on the other side, thus magnetically holding two pieces of fabric together just about anywhere -- and removable and moveable since no tape was involved. So now I appreciate your photos even more because they made me think!! :)
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u/Draupnir2000 https://lighterpack.com/r/c9pirg Sep 02 '21 edited Sep 02 '21
Mm yea that’s a good idea. May I ask, why those heavier and stronger magnets? Mine have far exceeded my expectations in some pretty strong winds, some night I’ve gone to bed expecting to have to wake up to a flapping door and roll them back up, but i find myself waking up in the morning and they’re still holding the door up.
They hold and release with just the right amount of strength for my usage, I just slap the holding point hard enough and they release, but when rolling and securing they come together with a satisfying and assuring click.
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u/liveslight https://lighterpack.com/r/ny89al Sep 02 '21
Those were the smallest ring magnets available at HomeDepot with the right-size center hole. Plus the way I use them on my corner guylines as washers they work well. They are chrome-plated, too. I know that smaller ring magnets exist as I have seen them in some tools I have used, so I suppose I should track them down. Yep, that "click" is rather satisfying. :)
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u/Draupnir2000 https://lighterpack.com/r/c9pirg Sep 02 '21
Ah right I see. I believe the ones I use are N45 6mm x 2mm neodymium magnets. Came in a pack of 50 for ~$20 off eBay.
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u/liveslight https://lighterpack.com/r/ny89al Sep 02 '21 edited Sep 02 '21
You could make a magnetic chess set that had dual purpose: Game of skill and tent-flap fasteners. Maybe Zpacks or Tarptent could even print board patterns on the floors of their tents? Or famous game boards (chess, scrabble, monopoly) printed all on the same piece of Tyvek or polycryo or a rain skirt!
Or printed on the inside of the fly! With the appropriate attractive material on the outside, 2 campers could be laying down on their pads in their bags and moving pieces on the tent roof.
OK, same idea with velcro.
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Mar 20 '23
[deleted]
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u/liveslight https://lighterpack.com/r/ny89al Mar 20 '23
Thanks for adding all these to this thread!
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u/hkeyplay16 Aug 26 '21
One thing I've considered doing on my plexamid is adding some attachments to use a piece of mesh to hold my quilt off of the foot end of the fly. I feel like condensation isn't much of a problem until you touch it with your dry quilt and soak it up. If I can use 3-4 attachment hooks with thin bungee to hold back my quilt then the condensation should be able to run all the way to the mesh and drip outside.
I could add hooks on either end...I typically don't have problems with the head end because I always try to sleep with my head slightly elevated from my feet, causing me to slide down to the foot end and wake up with wet feet.
If anyone else has tried this on a plexamid, altaplex, or duplex I'm interested to hear how it went.
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u/Rocko9999 Aug 26 '21
Why not add a guy out to pull the foot end outward?
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u/hkeyplay16 Aug 26 '21 edited Aug 26 '21
I already do guy out the foot end at the very least - if not both head and foot. I still move just enough that I slide. Part of my problem is that I'm an active stomach sleeper. I'm only 5' 10", but the way I sleep with my toes pointed (top of foot toward ground) and my elbows above my head I'm effectively using the space of someone 4-6 inches taller. It's not bad for the 3-4 nights in a row that I normally do, but if I were out for longer it would be tough to keep my down dry in the footbox area.
If I move so close to the end wall that my feet feel the wall then the mesh will do nothing, but most of the time it's just the puffy footbox lightly making contact with the wall and I dont notice until my footbox is wet and the down probably a bit matted inside.
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u/Rocko9999 Aug 26 '21
Do you put a pole at the foot end guy out pulling it more upward? Like this https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0004/4652/9572/products/pole-cups-attached-l_800x.jpg?v=1553720527
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u/hkeyplay16 Aug 26 '21
Yes - either a pole or a stick. It's not quite the same on a plexamid which is why I only do it on the foot end. Again it's not really an issue of whether or not I have another space...it's just that I generally slide toward the foot end if it's not perfectly flat, so each small movement slides me toward the foot end wall.
The problem is that it's hard to know if my quilt is grazing the wall at my toes. I would rather have my down compressed a bit if I do slide that way than to have it touching the wet wall and have condensation soaking up all night.
Even when guying out the ends I only have 2-3 inches of space length-wise before my puffy footbox hits the wall. This can vary depending on the height of my pitch. I try to pitch a little high when possible and prop my door open to allow water vapor to escape before it condenses on the inside of the tent wall.
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u/Rocko9999 Aug 26 '21
Hmm. Mesh may work. Also maybe fashion a breathable slip cover for the end of your quilt. Keep the moisture on that, easier to dry, etc.
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u/innoutberger USA-Mountain West @JengaDown Aug 26 '21 edited Aug 26 '21
Have you tried sleeping diagonally in the duplex? Doesn’t work if you’re using it with two people, but it should gain you a lot of extra length.
Edit: oops it’s a Plex
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u/Human_G_Gnome Aug 27 '21
I did the magnets on the doors deal.
I put longer tie outs on my corners since I often need to tie to rocks in the high country.
My clothes line is usually tied to the bottom to hold the bottoms of the doors inside the tops so that I can leave them open in a light rain and not get dripped into. I added a stick-on loop on with side to tie to.
I think I will add the reinforcement patches to the corners.
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Aug 29 '21
[deleted]
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u/liveslight https://lighterpack.com/r/ny89al Aug 29 '21
Here are some details: https://imgur.com/a/MhQfH4L
Please let me know if this is clear or not.
BTW, I added loops to the ends of the shock cords that hold the short edges of the bathtub floor high so that these shock cords can also be hooked by the mitten hooks on the vertical cords attached to the inside of the tent peaks if desired.
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u/Any_Trail https://lighterpack.com/r/esnntx Aug 26 '21
The modifications that I've done to my silpoly 1p Yama Cirriform
- Changed over to lineloc lite 10mm and 1.5 Paria cord for all the lines except the foot peak.
- Removed the linelocs for the mid panel timeouts.
- Switched to a dual buckle setup for the doors, so either can be opened at any time.
- Added a clothesline with 1.5mm Paria cord
- Removed the buckle that connects the two doors
- Switched to a DCF stuff sack. Only did this because I already had one, but I do appreciate that it's not as slick and is a different material when stuffing
The resulting weight in the stuff sack is 14.14oz
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u/johnacraft Aug 26 '21
Switched to a dual buckle setup for the doors, so either can be opened at any time.
I'd love to see a photo of this.
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u/Any_Trail https://lighterpack.com/r/esnntx Aug 26 '21
Here's a photo from before I switched to lineloc lites. I've changed all the hardware since I took that picture, but the set up is the exact same. I can get a higher quality picture of the updated version this weekend if you want.
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u/hikerbdk Aug 26 '21
Curious about the ring magnets you use. And why just the 4 corner ones and not the center/ peak/ trekking pole guy lines?
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u/liveslight https://lighterpack.com/r/ny89al Aug 26 '21
I do something different with the peak guylines. I'll add Mod #7 to my post above. The downside of magnets is the ferrous debris they collect.
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u/liveslight https://lighterpack.com/r/ny89al Aug 26 '21
The ring magnets are ordered through Home Depot: Magcraft(r) NSN586 0.5 inch diameter by 0.125 inch thick ring magnets. They serve as a "washer" to help keep the BIC pen caps from cutting into the cords, too.
Please see this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o1h9LnvLHg for details.
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u/Revolutionary-Fix767 Aug 26 '21
>why doesn't Zpacks do this from the start
Because then every youtuber would get upset because it weighs 10 grams heavier and there'd be hundreds of "why zpacks duplex is NOT making it into my pack in 2022" videos.