Originally Posted by
colorado_rob
Might want to check out the zpacks hexamid solo-plus, in lieu of the duplex. I find it plenty roomy, seems like more room than my BA fly creek, but really never measured it. But it is plenty roomy for me and everything I'm carrying on a long hike. I paid less than $400 for it including the beak option (highly recommended), yeah, still expensive, but instead of the heavier, significantly expensive cuben ground sheet zpacks likes to sell you, I use a Gossamor Gear polycro ground sheet, a 2-pack for 10 bucks. One sheet lasts a couple months. You do have to pre-cut it to fit, plus I duct-tape on cord loops where the tent ties-ins are. Total weight of the ground sheet is 2 ounces, including the little cord loops, so total weight of tent including cords, groundsheet and stuffsack is right at 16.0 ounces. I tell you, it sure is nice carrying a 1-pound-flat full tent with bugscreen. Yeah, not freestanding, but I never quite got the mass appeal of a freestanding tent.
Be aware of a couple things with the zpacks tents: they have a small learning curve on proper, taut and bomber pitching, so practice in your yard more than once. The front stake is critical to holding the entire thing up, so I carry a dedicated, longer stake (still a UL Ti stake) for the front, and shorter UL Ti stakes for the other ties.
Also, these tents are hard to get into and out of, which puts a lot of people off, kinda like the BA fly creek vs. your BA copper spur. I find this in/out "difficulty" a non issue; I get into my tent and out of my tent pretty much precisely once per day. Who cares if it takes me an additional 5 seconds and slight contortions to get into my tent. I don't. Some do. You might. It would be nice if you could try one out before laying down the bucks, but not sure if zpacks has any sort of a trial-return policy, I doubt it.