Is the HMG Ultamid 2 the Ultimate??

Warning, this post written by a Dilley

I have been eyeing (salivating really) the Ultamid 4 for as long as I can remember. Huge, lightweight, doesn’t absorb water, great in weather, quick/dry setup, flexibility of interior options. I even bought trekking poles long before I bought this or any other trekking pole based shelter because I knew someday it (or a similar shelter) would be mine! 

Fast forward to about a month ago I bought….the Ultamid 2...wait what? Well first of all, I make a spreadsheet of an item I want to buy for quick comparison. It’s the only way to go. If you just look at websites then you get different units, different things are highlighted. It just becomes too much info to keep in your head. 

For the shelters I listed the Brand, model name, # of people (2p,3p), type (pyramid, tarp etc.), requires trekking poles?, Cost of Main piece (Ultamid 2 in my case), model name of insert, # of people for insert, cost of insert, other (like buying a pole, or some kind of attachments) name, other cost. At the end I total the costs and weight of all necessary pieces (minus trekking poles because I hike with those and when bikepacking I’m not concerned about their weight). 

This spreadsheet allowed me to see I had made a mistake in the weight of the Ultamid 4 with ½ insert. Which meant if I wanted something less weight or similar weight to my Fly Creek HV UL2 Platinum shelter which I call “The Coffin” then the Ultamid 2 would be my “ultimate” shelter. A.k.a. Rolls Royce of a shelter. Basically I could go line by line and simply change the font to “strikethrough” of the lines that didn’t meet my needs/gut checks. This way I could still clearly see those lines. 

When finished just sort so the non strikethrough lines are at the top...and then you have to buckle down and make a choice from what remains.   

In addition to the spreadsheet I had to listen to my gut...to some degree, but not 100%. I say this because I had never owned a trekking pole shelter. 

My gut checks were (I recommend no more than three): 

1. If price were not an option which shelter would I choose

   1. I know myselfI should probably then get that shelter otherwise I will whine about having not gotten it until the end of time

   2. This takes many things off the table, and one way to envision shelter suitability is to imagine going on your next trip or trips with that shelter. See if your minds eye informs your gut feelings or substantial issues/questions that may arise. Perhaps you would hate dealing with trekking poles, who knows!

   3. With jackets I know that if I just drop the cash on the $expensive item, I’ll be happy. Whereas in the past I would buy 5 different jackets on sale for around $100 (=$500). So buying the “expensive” thing, for me, is sometimes less expensive in the long run.

1. Will the tent be long enough

   1. I’m 6’2” and didn’t want my head and feet hitting the wet, condensation of the tent walls so that it soaks my sleeping bag, especially at the feet. Anything not meeting this was immediately crossed off the list. 

   2. This is really a “must have” as well, but I didn’t want to create yet another list of things to cross check

2. Am I ignoring something because I’m totally enthralled with the shiny expensive thing, but the less exciting thing would suit me much better

   1. For me this was the zpacks duplex, or similar tents from tarptent, Durston, Gossamer Gear, etc. Everyone has them so they’re not quite as “special” as the Ultamids

So by now you’re probably thinking, “where’s the review Dilley!!?” Well, I think that would be best served by a much longer second post. Also, I warned you this was written by a Dilley :-) 

To sum up, one needs to have their “gut checks” and a good spreadsheet (or some other objective way to compare items) in order to make a good choice. 

One major issue with all of the cottage tent manufacturers, and even the big boys is not being able to “try on” a tent. Due to the cost and lead times it’s just not economical to order each one and try it out in the living room. That would take a year and about $5,000. Not to mention my girlfriend probably wouldn’t like me putting pegs into the living room floor. That said, I hope that sharing some of my methods for gear comparison and making a choice on what to buy helps you to some degree.

There are a lot of things I left out, so feel free to ask questions in the comments. 

Love Dilley