The zPacks Hexamid has become my go to 3 season shelter. It sheds wind well and shelters against rain as along is it is set-up with the back to the wind, which I always seem to do. My Hexamid is made from lightweight .51 Cuben Tech fiber and with guy lines only weighs 3.63 ounces (103 grams). Most people use a trekking pole to set it up. Since I rarely take trekking poles these days, I purchased and carbon fiber tent pole from zPacks, which weighs 1.16 ounces (33 grams).
After my first trips with the Hexamid, I became wary of the pole. It had more bend to it than I liked and during a windstorm found that it was flexing quite a bit. I purchased a new carbon fiber pole from Ruta Locura, which is .450 inches thick (versus .293″ for the zPacks pole) and weighs 2.76 ounces (78 grams) versus 1.16 for the zPacks pole.
The Hexamid is a 6-sided pyramid. This means there is only one way to set it up. With a little practice it can be set up in about a minute. Some folks add line-locks to adjust the guy line length, but I use fixed length guys.
Being used to using tarps as shelters, the Hexamid is perfect for me. For those who are “tent people” the following options are available for zPacks:
- Inner net
- Doors
- Beak
- Groundsheet or Poncho/Groundsheet
There is plenty of headroom and living space. Notice the bathtub floor. This is a zPacks Poncho/Groundsheet. Also notice the full size NeoAir sleeping mat.
Close-up of the sleeping area.